17th century

Elie Brevint on witchcraft

Detail of torment by touch, Perier 1724, Priaulx Library Collection

Elie Brevint (1587-1674) was minister of Sark from 1612. His father Cosmé, also a minister, was a Huguenot refugee from Angoulême who had accompanied Helier De Carteret from Jersey in his colonisation of Sark. Transcriptions and microfilm of Elie's 14 Notebooks, which were found in a loft in Sark in the 19th century, are held in the Priaulx Library. Elie appears to be a sensible and rational man with a curious and detached mind, until he turns to these sorts of subject: the Pousseresse, perturbateurs, and salamanders. The illustration is of the Tormento do Tacto, or Torture, from Alexander Périer's O Desengano dos Pecadores of 1724, in the Library.

Chefs Plaids, Jugements, Ordonnances &c, 16-19th centuries

Bound MSS, staff E. Metal fastening engraved: 'LF 1773.' Contact the Library for further details. The material falls into several sections: the first, detailed below, is in two hands and lists in rough date order Acts of the Royal Court in which the judgment passed down is of some legal interest; the last Act noted is from 1719. Then follows an interesting set of documents covering the Civil War period and the reign of James II, some of which are Lord Hatton correspondence and may be unpublished. Finally a later hand has transcribed Acts relating to the Militia; the last of these dates from 1769. The back of the volume was reversed and charters and other early Acts and Ordonnances have been transcribed.

Notes from reports of Historical MSS Commission: Notes from inquisitions post mortem

Staff XI. MSS transcriptions; some in full, others only references. Historical MSS Commission. The majority concern the Civil War period.

The White Shroud of Penance

Shame and humiliation, the penalty for not conforming: the Amende Honorable, or Porter le linceuil.

Ever-happie Iles: Michael Drayton's Poly-olbion

The sprightly Muse her wing displays. And the French islands first surveys—Drayton's poetic description of Britain, written in 1612, opens with the Channel Islands. This is the 1813 rendition into modern English by Robert Southey. The Library has a facsimile of the 1622 edition, published for the Spenser Society in 1889.

Guernsey Weights and Measures, from Warburton's Treatise, 1682

Extracted from a review of Guernsey by the then Governor, Lord Hatton, known under the pseudonym of 'Warburton.'

The Legge Report, or King's Survey of the Channel Islands, 1680

Sue Laker, our Deputy Chief Librarian, tells us about a wonderful book, of which a magnificent facsimile has been donated to the Library by the publishers. The beauty and interest of the illustrations alone make it well worth a look.

Will of Richard de Beauvoir

21st October 2015

Balmes House, Hackney, Environs of London II, Cadell and Davies, 1795

'From MSS in possession of Mrs Fred. Dobrée, The Laurels, Candie. Notes taken 20 November 1909.' From the de Beauvoir files in the Library, which include a full copy of this will and others from this branch of the de Beauvoir family; and a letter of 1681 in French (here translated) from Richard to his brother James in Guernsey, taken from an undated newspaper cutting. The illustration of Balmes House is a figure from the Rev. D. Lyson's Environs of London &c, Vol. II. the County of Middlesex, London: Cadell and Davies, 1795, in the Library Collection.

Will of Thomas de Lisle, 1627

16th September 2015

An extract from Mildred Brock's notes in the Library collection (Houses file), prepared for the meeting of the Société Guernésiaise on 22 July 1933.

Job de Jersey's estate, 1671

7th September 2015

Original document, from the de Garis family file in the Library.

Search form