Richard Harliston

Richard Harliston (c. 1425 – after 1495), became a yeoman of the king's chamber on the accession of Edward IV. He was made vice-admiral, in which capacity he came to Guernsey.

Harliston was born in Humberstone, Lincolnshire, and brought up in the household of Richard, Duke of York.

Three years previously the castle of Mont Orgueil in Jersey had been captured by a French noble, Pierre de Brézé, Compte de Maulevrier, who had since held the eastern half of that island against Philip de Carteret, Seigneur of St Ouen.

In 1468 Edward IV sent Harliston and his fleet to Guernsey, as part of a plan to invade France and recover Normandy. In Guernsey, Harliston learnt that this was a propitious moment to retake Jersey. He accordingly went quietly over to Jersey, secretly interviewed Philippe de Carteret, and immediate action was decided on before the French could get wind of what was to take place.

A body of Yorkist troops came ashore at Plémont, Jersey. A joint English and Jersey force then marched through the night to Mont Orgueil and began a siege of the castle. This lasted 19 weeks, but finally the garrison, which could not be supplied from the sea because of the presence of Harliston's ships, surrendered and returned the fortress and the island to English hands. Upon liberation, the people of Jersey chose Harliston to be their captain general, but he shortly went back to England.

A patent dated 13 January 1473 made him captain of the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Sark and Alderney; he was the first to bear this title of 'Captain in Chief'. Harliston held this office until 1486 and became very popular. In this time he added a tower to the Castle of Mont Orgueil which became the 'Harliston Tower'. It was said that at the time of the fall of Richard III, Harliston had thought to make himself "Lord of the Islands" under the protection of the French and the Duchess, Margaret de Burgundy, but had been prevented by the diligence of the inhabitants, not those who had wanted him for their captain general, mostly the supporters of Henry Tudor.

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