Maritime

On board the Tulloch Castle to Melbourne, 1852

27th July 2015

Journal Francis William Nicolle 1852, Priaulx Library Collection

The 1850s gold rush in Australia attracted thousand of immigrants and would-be prospectors, and Guernsey was by no means immune to gold fever. 18-year old William Francis Nicolle recorded his voyage to Melbourne in the summer of 1852 in his Journal, which was generously donated to the Library by Stephen Foote. Nicolle followed this with an account of his return from Australia in the freezing cold on board the Avon. His Journal also includes a substantial amount of family history material (Nicolle, De Garis, Lainé, Lamble &c.), as well as other accounts of later voyages made on board cargo ships. He was a carpenter by trade, and the book also includes carefully written instructions for calculations, presumably for reference purposes. Finally, his poem in memory of Nicholas de Mouilpied, who died on the voyage out, aged 22.

First Lord of the Admiralty in Guernsey

25th June 2015

Churchill in Guernsey from the Star August 39 1913, Librayr COlleciton

Winston Churchill visits the island. From La Gazette de Guernesey, 30 August 1913. The photograph from the Star shows him landing at the White Rock and in conversation with Colonel Macartney, Government Secretary.

Nicolas Lawrence, 1753

22nd May 2015

28 May 1753 Nicolas Lawrence, probably Nicolas Laurens [Old Bailey].

Report concerning the propositions of the Earl of Danbie Governor of Garnsey, 1627

12th May 2015

State Paper Office, December 18, 1627. Present: Earl of Totnes, Earl of Dorset, Lord Viscount Conway, Mr Treasurer, Mr Secretary Coke. From De Guérin's MSS notes in the Library's Forts and Fortifications file.

Medieval rolls

14th April 2015

The Library has a complete set of the Calendars of Patent Rolls, except for the years 1248-1280, (this volume can be accessed online.) Those below, of the last quarter of the 13th century, refer to the activities of the infamous Otto de Grandison, amongst other things.

The Good Intent, June 1777

A letter from Governor Le Mesurier to Mr Stephens, dated Alderney June 7 1777. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams considered Guernsey men as 'artful enemies.' The French, however, called the Channel Islands 'nids de guêpes'—'wasps' nests,' used in the sense they were a trap, a hornet's nest that one should not kick ...

Smuggling , April 1759

Plymouth, April 18th 1759, from Owen's Weekly Chronicle; and 1763, from the London Chronicle.

New Channel Islands yard, July 1947

A long-felt want in the Channel Islands waters is to be met by the establishment of a boat-building yard at St Sampson's, Guernsey. Basil C de Guérin in Ship and Boat Builder, July 1947, from de Guérin Scrapbook H.

May 1813

From Le Miroir Politique.

Shipwreck of the Fanny, January 1828

Wrecked at Jersey on New Year's Day, 1828; with Guernsey interest. The shock of this catastrophe traumatised the islanders, who were unable to help in any way despite the vessel lying just outside the harbour; the suffering of the passengers and crew was visible to those waiting for them on the quays, and eventually led to the introduction of a Jersey lifeboat. From the Star, 8 January 1828. As more bodies were washed up, the public and courts in Jersey began to turn on the vessel's Captain.

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