Articles

The Library's unique collections are a treasure chest of unusual, interesting and sometimes surprising material just waiting to be found. This anthology, written by the Editor, is based on an eclectic selection of our archive. The author asserts her copyright on all material on the Priaulx Library website except where copyright of other authors is expressly notified. Permission to reproduce material from this website and full attribution to the author is required in all cases.

Buildings & Houses

Town Borders: Parishes and Barrieres de la Ville

St Peter Port Parish Magazine, July 1870. The Barrieres were redefined and extended for an important law of 1840 which modernised the Guernsey Law of Real Property. See Jeremie's commentary, On the Law of Real Property in Guernsey, Guernsey, Redstone, 1841.

The Grange again

The earlier history of the Grange, according to the Library's 19th-century Lukis MSS, transcribed by Edith Carey. Edith Carey's additions are in brackets.

Selected House Pedigrees

The History Section of the Societe Guernesiaise has produced a set of pedigrees of houses taken from Guernsey's Livres de Perchage, which list the owners of a particular house from the earliest times at which it was rated, together with a glossary of French terms found in these documents. These will prove very useful for genealogists and can be consulted at the Library, as can our collection of original Livres de Perchage.

Cachemaille's Descriptive sketch of the island of Sark: The School for Girls

The Seigneurie, Sark, from the Priaulx Library Collection

The generosity of the Seigneur of Sark, Peter Le Pelley, from one of the two books about the island written by his great friend, the Reverend J L V Cachemaille, for many years the vicar of Sark. In 1860, the diary of the former 17th-century Sark minister, Elie Brėvint, was found in a loft in Sark. Cachemaille was inspired by this to investigate the archives of the Seigneurie and to write a series of articles based upon what he found, which were translated by Louisa Harvey and published in the Guernsey Magazine. From this was published the Descriptive Sketch, published by Frederick Clarke, and then republished in 1928. See Ewen & De Carteret, The Fief of Sark, The Guernsey Press, 1969. The illustrations are from the Library Collection, the drawing showing the Seigneurie in Sark in Le Pelley's time.

Lamentations de Damaris: a poem about old Fountain Street

Deatil from Le Lievre's illustration in Pitt's Patois Poems, Priaulx Library Collection

The remodelling of Fountain Street was undertaken by the States at their own expense. They formed a Committee to oversee the works, which took place over several years in the 1820s. George Métivier wrote a poem in Guernsey French about the demolition of the street, which was so narrow in places that residents were said to be able to shake hands from the third storeys of their houses, from the point of view of one of its oldest denizens.

Lost things: Old Court House

Old Court House from the Priaulx Library Collection

Research into the Parker family of St. Peter Port led to an interesting line of enquiry into the history of their house, 'Old Court.' The Parker family are described as living in Old Court in the 1851 census, but the researcher was unable to tell the client where it was, or anything about it—no-one on the staff had ever heard of it before.

Search form