Castle Cornet threatens Napoleon
From Collins' Stranger's Guide to Guernsey, 1833, p. 66.
Military
The History of the Jeux St George: post 1858
Another extract from the Monthly Illustrated Journal, July, 1888.
Militia Drills, early 18th-century
The Library has in its extensive local militia collection a photocopy of what was no doubt a most invaluable document in its time: a suggested drill, and loading instructions for the flintlock musket, written in the early 18th century for the officers of the Guernsey militia by Phillips Loggers.
Sarnia: Brief Memorials of many of her sons (civil, military, and naval)
A digitized copy of Ferdinand Brock Tupper's collection of biographies of eminent Guernseymen, arranged chronologically, beginning with John Andros in 1554, and ending with the death of Bernard Ouseley Brownrigg in 1864.
Two letters on the Commissariat, by Havilland Le Mesurier
A supportive review of an important work by Havilland Le Mesurier, the letters following on from his System for the Commissariat of 1798, from The Critical Review, Vol. 9, 1807.
The Army Lists and Navy Lists: Tracing an ancestor who was in the Forces
The Regular Army and British Navy For up-to-date general information consult Family history in the wars: how your ancestors served their country, by William Spencer.¹ Army Lists A catalogue of Army and Navy Lists held at the Library can be downloaded at Historical Lists of Armed Forces Personnel at the Priaulx Library: Resource List 2 . These are useful to trace officers of the British Army and Navy and the East India Company, but not all years are available in the collection. The Official Army Lists in the Priaulx Library run from 1756 to 1844. We also have other lists from various years in…
Jerbourg Signal Station and the Saumarez Tower
The story of a picture in our collection, rather than a book; a black-and-white photograph of a watercolour showing Jerbourg Signal Station. Behind the signal-post is Saumarez Tower, the only known representation of this short-lived landmark. A copy of this watercolour is in the possession of the Guernsey Museum. In that picture, the roofs and the small cylindrical tower are shown as red. The photograph, taken at the behest of Captain Philip de Saumarez, was lent a century ago to local historian Edith Carey by Mrs Ozanne, the artist's descendant, and placed in one of Miss Carey's scrapbooks, now at the Library.
The Letters of Margaret Mann, ed. Danielle Delon
A fascinating collection of letters from Trinidad with strong Guernsey connections, that complement an important set of letters held in the Priaulx Library. The main families mentioned in the letters of local interest are: Baynes; Brock; Carey; Dalgairns; Darby; Davis; De Havilland; De Jersey; Dobree; Douglas; Durand; Edwards; Fitton; Freeman; Hardy; Hawtrey; Hayes; Hewer; Hutchesson; Kennedy; Lacy: Le Mesurier; Lenfestey; Le Maitre; Le Page; Le Sueur; Maingay; Mann; Mansell; McCrea; O'Brien; Powell; Powys; Priaulx; Routh; Saumarez; Selwyn; Tupper; Valpy; Wheeler (Anna Doyle); Whitchurch.'My dear Fanny, if you contemplate the bare possibility of marrying a soldier, take my advice and count the cost.'
Bimbashi Garland
Major Herbert Garland (1880-1921) was an explosives expert and the author of a short romantic novel set in Guernsey entitled Diverse Affections; his life is much more interesting than his novel. The effects of the devastating techniques he pioneered in Arabia are still being felt today.
Captain White's Logbook
Excerpts from the log-book of Captain William White of the Jerbourg Signal Station, as printed in the Guernsey newspaper The Star c. 1904.