The will of Jean Moorhead, 1688/9
From the Ecclesiastical Court records, transcribed from the original (which can be seen on microfilm in the Library), by Edith Carey in her Wills and Legacies notebook.
Library Document Collection
La Manie des sobriquets: late 18th century nicknames
From Edith Carey's Scrapbooks, Vol. I.; the Lukis MSS.
Scandal! Le Hardy vs Bonamy, 1697
From Edith Carey's extracts from the Acts of the Ecclesiastical Court, Library 41B, pp. 29-30. John Bonamy was made Vice-Dean on the 14th February 1700, and Dean in 1717.
What Sarah Fyers saw from a window in Gibraltar
17-year old Sarah Fyers was with her father with the garrison in Gibraltar in 1801, a few days before her wedding to Cornelius Mann, when she witnessed the first part of the Battle of Algeciras from the breakfast room. A handwritten copy of her eyewitness account is in the Dobree-Mann collection held at the Library. She was a close relation by marriage of Admiral James Saumarez, who played a crucial part in the battle and eventual victory.
An Eternal Stranger: Harman Blennerhasset
'Like mournful echo from the silent tomb, That pines away upon the midnight air, Whilst the pale moon breaks out with fitful gloom, Fond memory turns, with sad but welcome care, To scenes of desolation and despair, Once bright with all that beauty could bestow, That peace could shed, or youthful fancy know.' From The Deserted Isle, by Margaret Blennerhassett. Harman Blennerhassett was a clever but eccentric Irish republican who 'married' his niece, became involved in an abortive but notorious plot to make Texas independent, and ended up buried in Guernsey. The photograph above is from the Library Collection and shows the Cimitière des Soeurs, or Sisters' Cemetery, in 1870. The modern photographs in the article are of the Strangers' Cemetery as it is today.
Lost things: Les Maindonnaux, 1901
View from the North-east.
Elizabeth Le Cocq of Alderney, paillarde, 1736
Elizabeth refused to appear before the Ecclesiastical Court to admit 'paillardise'—licentiousness—having given birth to an illegitimate child. From Peter Mollet's Notebook in the Library.
The Journal of Jane Maria Barlow, 1833-38
Primary concern: Prettiness of self and other girls. Where are all the beaux? Were all the men really either tall or handsome in the 1830s? Obviously not: 'De Beauvoir De Lisle renewed his attentions which I am sorry for, I shall be obliged to draw a line.' A very annoyed Savery Brock bursts a blood vessel. Guernsey has very bad pavements. The photograph from the Library Collection shows a very benevolent-looking Jane in her old age, many years after this diary was written.
The Grand Bosq: Fautrart, Martin, Le Marchant
Le Bosq and the Royal Hotel: the Grand Bosq. The illustration is a plate from Berry's 1815 History of Guernsey.
The Will of Etienne Falla, 1667
The will of Etienne Falla, son of Etienne. Transcription by Edith Carey in the annotated Pedigree of the Falla Family. With references to the Lainé family.