# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Marett, Philip

​MARETT or MARET, PHILIP (1568?–1637), attorney-general of Jersey, born about 1568, was second son of Charles Maret, by Margaret, born Le Cerf, and was descended on both sides from Norman families long resident on the island. He was educated in a Spanish seminary, and was consequently described by his enemies as a papist, though he was ostensibly a strong supporter of the English church. Being well versed both in law and the customs of Jersey, he was in 1608 appointed advocate-general of the island, and in 1609 succeeded Philip de Carteret of Vinchelez as attorney-general, in which capacity he supported the 'captain' or governor, Sir John Peyton, against the claims of the presbyterian 'colloquy' or synod to exclude episcopally ordained ministers. In the complicated feud which raged between the governor and the bailiff, John Herault, Marett succeeded in rendering himself thoroughly obnoxious to the bailiff, whom he accused of every kind of usurpation. Herault rejoined by disputing Marett's title to the office of king's receiver and procureur in Jersey, with which Peyton had rewarded his adherent. The long strife culminated in 1616, when Marett, losing his temper, vented his abuse on the bailiff while the latter was presiding in the royal court, and accused Sir Philip de Carteret, a jurat of the island, of an attempt to assassinate him. For this outrage he was, in May 1616, ordered to apologise and pay a fine of fifty crowns. In the meantime his enemies sought to replace him in office by one of their own partisans. Marett, refusing to submit or to acknowledge the competence of the court, was ordered to England to appear before the lords of the privy council. By them he was committed to the Gatehouse for contempt, and finally sent back to the island to submit to the judgment of the court. Still refusing to appear in court and submit to his sentence, he was committed, in September 1616, to Elizabeth Castle, whence he piteously complained of the weight of his manacles. He was soon released, and found further means of evading his sentence. Charges and counter-charges were freely bandied about. Marett was doubtless a victim of much private and personal malice, but he is described, with probable truth, as 'proud, presumptuous, and hated of the people,' while his effrontery in denial earned him the title of 'L'Etourdi.' After numerous cross-appeals the case was referred to the royal commissioners (in Jersey), Sir Edward Con way and Sir William Bird, and, their finding being adverse to Marett, was eventually referred to the king himself, who ordered the ex-procureur back to Jersey to make public submission, or in default to be banished from the island.
Marett seems subsequently to have been reconciled with Herault, and was, 12 March 1628, elected a jurat of the royal court. In May 1632 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of the island by Sir Thomas Jermyn, during the temporary absence of Captain Thomas Rainsford. He died in January 1636-7, and was buried in the parish church of St. Brelade. By his wife Martha, daughter and coheiress of Nicholas Lempriere and widow of Elias Dumaresq, he had a son Philip (d. 1676), who was imprisoned by Colonel Robert Gibbons, the Cromwellian governor, for strenuous resistance to his exactions, in 1656.
A descendant, Sir Robert Pipon Marett (1820-1884), son of Major P. D. Marett by Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas Pipon, lieutenant bailiff of Jersey, was educated at Caen and at the Sorbonne, was constable of St. Helier, where he effected some notable mprovements, in 1856, and solicitor-general of Jersey in 1858. He was attorney-general ​in 1866, and was elected bailiff in 1880, when he received the honour of knighthood. He was distinguished on the bench, where his judgments in the case of Bradley v. Le Brun and in the Mercantile Joint-Stock scandals attracted considerable attention beyond the island, and he suggested some important modifications in the laws affecting real property, which were adopted by the States in 1879. He edited in 1847 the manuscripts of Philip Le Geyt [q. v.], the insular jurist, and was also the author of several poems written in the Jersey patois. These were published in 'Rimes et Poesies Jersiaises,' edited by Abraham Mourant (1865), and in the 'Patois Poems of the Channel Islands,' edited by J. Linwood Pitts (1883). François Victor Hugo reproduced one of Marett's poems, 'La fille Malade,' in his 'Normandie Inconnue.' Sir Robert married in 1865 Julia Anne, daughter of Philip Marett of La Haule Manor, St. Brelade's, by whom he left four children. He died 10 Nov. 1884.
[Payne's Armorial of Jersey, pp. 273-7; Le Quesne's Constit. Hist. of Jersey, passim; Cal. State Papers, Dom. Ser. Addenda, 1580-1625, freq.; revision by E. T. Nicolle, esq., of Jersey; materials kindly furnished by Mr. Ranulph Marett, fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, and only son of Sir E. P. Marett.]
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