Alexander Moncrieff Coutanche, Baron Coutanche (9 May 1892 – 18 December 1973) is a former Bailiff of Jersey and member of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Early life and education

Coutanche was born in Saint Saviour, Jersey

Saint Saviour, Jersey

-Notable sites:*Highlands College*De La Salle College*St. Michael's Preparatory School*Hautlieu School*Grainville Cricket Ground*Grainville School*Jersey Evening Post offices and printing works-External links:**...

; the younger son and third child to Adolphus Arnold Coutanche (1856–1921) and Jane Alexandrina Finlayson (d. 1909). He was educated at Jersey High School and Victoria College

Victoria College, Jersey

Victoria College is a fee paying States of Jersey-provided school in membership of the HMC, in St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. The castellated neo-gothic architecture is a landmark overlooking the town.-History:In the 1590s, Laurens Baudains - a wealthy farmer from St...

 before going to study law at the University of Caen. He then attended Carlisle and Gregson's London Academy with the intention of entering the Indian Civil Service. However, although he passed the entrance examination for the Indian Civil Service, he was rejected on health grounds due to the discovery of a systolic heart murmur.

Early career

Having studied law before attempting to enter the civil service, Coutanche entered the chambers of John Beaumont at the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

 in 1912. He aimed to practise at the Chancery bar, but was instead called to the Jersey bar in 1913. Upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Coutanche served as an assistant to a government secretary in Jersey. He was ineligible to join the Inns of Court regiment due to his previously discovered heart murmur. Therefore, he went to work at a munitions factory, rising from a worker through to management level. He was called to the English bar in 1915.

In 1917, he volunteered for work with the War Claims Commission and was posted to Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 with the rank of Lieutenant. During his time in Belgium, he won the Belgian Croix de Guerre

Croix de guerre

The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

 and was appointed chevalier of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)

Order of the Crown (Belgium)

The Order of the Crown is an Order of Belgium which was created on 15 October 1897 by King Leopold II in his capacity as ruler of the Congo Free State. The order was first intended to recognize heroic deeds and distinguished service achieved from service in the Congo Free State - many of which acts...

. He left the army in 1920 with the rank of Captain. He returned to his chambers in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, but then had to return to work at the Jersey chambers due to the illness of his father.

He was elected a Deputy of Saint Helier in 1922, and married Ruth Sophia Joan Gore in 1924.

Attorney-General and Bailiff of Jersey

In 1925, Coutanche was appointed Solicitor-General, and went on to reform the department of the law officers and reorganised the States Greffe of the States of Jersey

States of Jersey

The States of Jersey is the parliament and government of Jersey.The Assembly of the States of Jersey has exercised legislative powers since 1771, when law-making power was transferred from the Royal Court of Jersey....

. He was promoted to Attorney-General in 1931. In 1935, the bailiff of Jersey, Charles de Carteret, retired. Coutanche was promoted to this office. As the last bailiff appointed before the passage of a law on the Bailiff in 1936, he was the last bailiff appointed for life and the last under the sole prerogative of the Crown without the obligation to consult the States of Jersey.

As the bailiff of Jersey also fulfills the function of Deputy Governor, Coutanche took on the additional role of Governor of Jersey when the island was demilitarised in 1940 by King George VI. He was knighted

Knight Bachelor

The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 in 1946. He was made a life peer

Life peer

In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...

 in the Birthday Honours of 1961 taking the title of Baron Coutanche, of St Brelade in the Island of Jersey and of the City of Westminster. He retired as bailiff in 1961. During the period when he was simultaneously a member of the legislatures of Jersey and the United Kingdom he sat as a cross-bencher

Cross-bencher

A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and Australian Senate. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber; compare...

in the House of Lords; upon his retirement as bailiff he took the Conservative whip.

He was an honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple and Doctor of Laws of the University of Caen.

Styles

• Mr Alexander Coutanche (1892–1912)
• Alexander Coutanche, Esq. (1912–1917)
• Lt. Alexander Coutanche, Esq. (1917–1920)
• Capt. Alexander Coutanche, Esq. (1920–1946)
• Sir Alexander Coutanche (1946–1961)
• The Rt. Hon. The Lord Coutanche (1961–1973)