Can you help?
This section is where we turn the tables and ask YOU for help. There are some mysteries out there that stump even our research teams and that’s when we need you to help us out. If you think you know the answer to the question posed or any information you may think is helpful then please contact us.
Is this Perelle?
Francis Payne of Auckland, NZ, has sent in two photographs that have been dated at c. 1925-6. The photographs depict an outing that looks as though it was a lot of fun - but Mr Payne would very much like to know where exactly the pictures were taken. His family album suggests that they were taken at Perelle Bay.
In the centre of the first picture stands Uncle Bill - Arthur William Hall [died 1938, aged 60] who spent his later years at La Jaonière in St Saviour's parish, as butler for Mr W. Rolleston (a master at Elizabeth College from 1910–30). Arthur was a postman before becoming a butler. Also in the picture is Arthur's niece, Edna Scott and friends. They are in the second picture too, with some young men. In this second photo, Edna Scott is sitting on the running board.
The first photograph was labelled in the family album as ‘Perelle Bay’, while the second looks to be the same location from a different angle. Does anyone recognise this location, or any of the people in the photographs? What is the tent-like building in the first photograph - was it a sort of bathing hut? If anyone can shed any light on this, please contact the Priaulx Library; Mr Payne will be most grateful!
Update
We have received some correspondence from Barry Paint, who very kindly gave us his reflections on these matters; he suggests that the first picture is likely to have been taken at Vazon Bay rather than Perelle, as he has no recollection of any bathing hut at Perelle and the terrain seems to him to resemble that of Vazon, near the beach kiosk.
The second photograph he thinks may have been taken at the Tabiatte, to the west of the central slipway at Perelle, which was used by fishermen to keep their boats in the winter. It used to belong to his family and was eventually sold as a building plot for a house called La Canchee (named after the large outer rock in the centre of the outer bay). The photograph shows land sloping away beyond the sea wall and Barry suggests that this is the slope leading down to the sea from Fort Richmond, while at the front of the car he recognises the gun emplacement called the Boue Marias; beyond that, to the East, is the slope of land following the Rue de Hamel.
His comments are both very informed and most interesting, and we would like to thank him for them. If you have any opinion on these new suggestions, we would be most pleased to hear them.
Librarians can't be serious all the time. Therefore, we have created a 'Priaulx Library book of funny names' for our non-serious moments. Searching through parish registers can often reveal strange, bizarre, silly or plain mad names. A few years ago, we started to write them down. Here are a few examples:
"Mary Butcher, daughter of Thomas Butcher and of Katherine Carver his wife, born June 14th, 1724"
"Marriage of John Norbert Casanova to Albertina D'Eberstein, November, 1855"
"Burial of Tryphean Godfray Spong, July 25th, 1907"
And that's just the tip of the iceberg...
If you would like to expand on this obviously vital piece of research, please send us your silly names, now! Your anonymity is guaranteed.
Do you recognise this man?
This kind-faced clergyman comes from a collection of unnamed Priaulx Library photographs. We would love to know who he is. Do you recognise the face? Can you see a family resemblance? The photograph was taken in the Central Studios of T. A. Grut. It is not dated, but the staff have estimated a date of 1905-1915.
Please contact us if you have any suggestions.
On January 10th, 1805, a man of unknown age was buried in the Sisters’ Cemetery, St. Peter Port. His name was Sercayman Andria.
Who was he?
Where did he come from?
What was he doing in Guernsey?
These questions have puzzled the Priaulx Library staff for many months.
Do you recognize the name? Do you have an idea of which country the name comes from? If you think you can help, please contact the Library.