19th century

100 men lost: HMS Boreas, 28 November 1807

James Saumarez' account of the loss of the 28-gun frigate Boreas, wrecked on the Hanois rocks on November 28th, 1807. This disaster was one of the major factors in the eventual decision to erect a lighthouse there. The number of men who died is uncertain; 77 were saved. Captain Robert Scott's wife is also said to have been drowned. From Cobbett's Political Register, Vol. 12, 1807, p. 928.

A bachelor's paradise: Guernsey ladies, October 1825

An extract from an article published in the Star of October 18, 1825. 'The observations that follow have been copied from The Morning Herald. They will tend to show what views some strangers are apt to form of our local peculiarities; if, indeed, they can be taken as the real views of the writer, which, from the incorrectness of his statements, and the exaggerated description he has given of advantages and disadvantages, beauties and defects, we more than doubt.' The young lady in the portrait is Anne Priaulx.1

The Town Hospital Gate, 1825

Detail from Moss print of Town Hospital, Guernsey, Priaulx Library Collection

The impecunious Thomas Le Marchant of La Plaiderie died in 1762, leaving a family of young children. His estate at L'Hyvreuse, which included what is now Beau Séjour, was bought by William Dobrée , his children's guardian. Part was then sold to the States of Guernsey; L'Hyvreuse house was demolished and the land used for recreation and as a parade ground for the militia. The imposing double gateway, 'similar to that called Ivy Gates, but much handsomer,' to L'Hyvreuse house was all that remained; it then served as an entrance to the New Ground, or what we now know as Cambridge Park, but…

1812, Prisoners-of- War

Local Prisoners-of-War held in France eligible for a share of a charitable fund made up of donations from islanders, and administered by Harry Dobree. The illustration is from the Gazette de Guernesey of March 1812; the actors were officers from the garrison (see note below).

September 1814: More Prisoners-of-War

Another list of local Guernsey and Alderney Prisoners-of-War held in various detention camps in France during the Napoleonic Wars, from the Gazette de Guernesey, September 3, 1814. The prisoners should officially have been freed in May.

Trial and Execution, July 1813

The execution of Cox and Shellard, from the Gazette de l'Isle de Guernesey, 17 July 1813. Final sentence handed down by the Guernsey Royal Court. [From the French.]

Notes on cider-making in Guernsey, 1823

Note on cider-making; by M. Bosc. (From The Accounts of the Meeting of the Agricultural Society of Rouen, 1823).

Experiment with Diving Dress, 1833

JOHN and JOSEPH ORCHARD having constructed a DIVING DRESS for the purpose of searching the Bottom of the sea in a moderate depth of water, beg leave to inform the public that they will, on TUESDAY MORNING at 10 o'clock, go down at the pier head and walk underwater towards Castle Cornet. This being the first thing of the kind ever made in this island, they invite the attention of the public to the above trial.

Mansell versus Robin: Brandy smuggling, 1833

Cadic's shop in 1845, Priaulx Library Collection

Lots of trouble over French brandy. The illustration is a detail from one of the earliest photographs in the Library's collection, dating from 1845, showing Cadic's 'inn near the South Pier,' not far away at all from Cow Lane, the scene of the crime. Next door to his establishment was the inn, the 'Three Tuns,' proprietor Mrs Simon.

August, two hundred years ago

Forgery; Street-cleaning; Miss Le Breton and Captain Arwe; Maingay and Collings; Daniel Guille; Williamson's French brigade; Maingy & Dunière and the Rebecca; Buying horse dung and dollars; Alderney public school.

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