JERSEY documents spanning 400 years are now open for public viewing at the Jersey Archive.

They are part of the Picot family archive, which dates from 1557 and is a collection of documents from a Jersey family that spans the reigns of 16 kings and five queens.

One of the more unusual documents in the collection is a statement of marriage for a ceremony that was conducted for two Jersey people in Christiania, which is a semi-autonomous part of Copenhagen. The original document is in Danish with an English translation.

There are also contracts, bills, inventories and military papers relating to members of the Picot, Nicolle, Baudains, de Ste Croix and Adderson families. The oldest document dates from 1557 and is a bail à fin d’héritage – or lease in perpetuity – between Jourdan Hamon and Drouet Corbel of St John. Archivist Trudy Foster (pictured) has been working on the collection for more than a year.