1534 The export of hemp was prohibited under pain of confiscation. [1]
1682 Jean Poingdestre recorded the "sowing of hemp and flax for ye making of linnen cloth". [2]
1691 A petition was granted by the Privy Council to form a company to manufacture linen and paper in the Island stating that it "would be able to employ a large number of men, women and children and that the soil of the Island was very suitable for sowing and raising hemp". [3]
1781 Following the Battle of Jersey, Chaplain James Playfair wrote to his parents about life in Jersey at the time, commenting that: "They have no flax here, but commonly sow a small quantity of hemp to make ropes of." [4]
early 1800s "[Thomas Mallet] was a merchant in hemp, an activity doubtless connected with the family rope walks." [5]
"Ships were built here of the finest wood available, and rigged with the best Russian hemp, and as Great Britain at this time was imposing a high import tariff on these materials, the Jersey-built ships could be sold in England at a lower price than English-built ships on which lesser-grade materials had been used." [6]
1834 From 1828-1832, "Of hemp no less than 676 tons have been imported... Of these 179 tons of hemp have been re-exported... leaving an excess of nearly 500 tons of hemp... the large remainder of the excess of hemp... was no doubt used in rigging the shipping of the island, at a cheap rate. Not one pound of British hemp or cordage was imported during the above period." [7]
1839 Cannabis grew naturally "in several places between St Helier's and St Aubin's". [8]
1842 "The earliest account we have of Jersey manufacture is that of a kind of body coat made of hemp or flax, which were then grown in the Island: these coats were sent to England in large quantities." [9]
1896 Cannabis sativa L. was recorded as 'naturalized' in the Island. [10]