7th July 2016
The introduction to 'The Guernsey dialect and its plant names,' by E D Marquand, Associate of the Linnean Society of London, and Membre Correspondant de la Société des Sciences Naturelles et Mathématiques de Cherbourg. 'The old Norman language which is still spoken in the Channel Islands deserves more study than it has yet received, because in all its main features it is the same that was used by the cultured classes of England as far back as eight centuries ago.' From the Transactions of the Guernsey Society of Natural History and Local Research, V (1905-1908), pp. 32 ff. The illustration is of the Haye du Puits, Castel, by Celia Montgomery, c. 1832.
25th April 2016
'Guernsey readers will read with interest of the adventure of Miss Violetta Thurstan, who is managing an ambulance unit in Spain.' This article, from the Star newspaper of April 1, 1937, recalls her war service and brings readers up to date with her activities in the Spanish Civil War. Violetta received the Mons Star, the Russian Royal Cross of St George, and, twice wounded, was awarded the Military Medal.
20th April 2016
From our newspaper collection. The Channel Islands News and Views, Vol. 2, no. 5, May 1948. Published by the Jersey and Guernsey Branches of the Communist Party, 30 Hue Street, Jersey and 6, Burnt Lane, Guernsey, and printed by Dorchester and District Newspapers Ltd. Joint editors: N S Le Brocq, 30 Hue Street, Jersey, and R G Hale, 6, Burnt Lane, Guernsey. Price: 2d. This number is the only example in our collection. Owing to its fragility, a scanned copy is available in the Library's Newspaper files. Any information about this publication would be most welcome. Here: A call for working-class women to stand for deputy in the island elections.
15th April 2016
A list of the contents of one of the former Chief Librarian's cuttings books, articles by Durand which he contributed to various publications, concerning his travels in Africa and elsewhere. The photograph above is one of several pasted into the book, and shows an abandoned Boer encampment.
20th November 2015
From the Star 9 December 1904. 'Cohu's new establishment in High Street.' What is now Burton's and Townhouse was once a very grand residence.
17th November 2015
From the Guernsey Evening Press, October 19, 1945. 'Exiled children made a mansion their home.' The evacuation of the children to Bury and the fate of the Home itself under occupation.
17th November 2015
'A place of romance and mystery.' From the Guernsey Evening Press, June 13, 1919. The cromlech at Delancey had been discovered just a few days earlier.
18th September 2015
Ozanne's Mill, Le Hêchet. From The Star, June 1907. The detail is from a photograph of the mill in the Library collection, which was probably taken in 1905 by the late G W S Anderson (c. 1866-1955) of 2 Escallonia, Mount Durand (mentioned by Sheppard, op. cit. below, p. 408).
26th August 2015
Correspondence on local and family history from the Edith Carey collection.
24th August 2015
'The evolution of an aeroplane designed, built and flown in the Channel Islands.' A cutting from the magazine Flying, January 3, 1934, written by local journalist and aviation enthusiast, Basil C de Guérin, in his Scrapbook 1919-1934, p. 91, in the Library. The photograph, from the Guernsey Press, shows the aeroplane ready for a test flight on Vazon in September 1933, with its designer and builder C W Noel at the controls. The Library has just received a very interesting donation from a descendant of Harry Kaines, who was one of the builders of the Wee Mite. The scrapbook contains cuttings and several fine photographs. The plane eventually crashed and was written off; its story is told by Bill Green in his autobiography, Guernsey Green.
