A French view of the Channel Islands, 1849: more allies than subjects
An excerpt from the Magasin Pittoresque, 17, of 1849: 'Les Iles Anglaises de la Manche.'
Social History
Vraicing
From Redstone's Royal Guide to Guernsey, written by Louisa Lane Clarke, who produced a new edition in 1856 following Queen Victoria's visit to Guernsey. A rather rosy description of vraicing—the gathering of wrack seaweed—which was in fact a highly competitive scramble for a valuable and free commodity, much prized by the islanders.
Occupation ephemera: bureaucracy
A small selection of our collection of blank forms and regulations issued by the German military and Guernsey civil authorities. Some printed by Banks, Boosey & Co., Ltd., Guernsey. Click the links to see the items.
The lucky ones will be those who die quickly: Autumn 1944
A letter from A N Symons, Medical Services Officer, to the President of the Controlling Committee of the States of Guernsey, September 1944. From the Priaulx Library collection.
Anecdotes (updated)
A few amusing extracts from the Library collections.
Guernsey French
Written by Louisa Lane Clarke for Redstone's Guide to Guernsey, first published in 1841. A copy of this Guide was given to Queen Victoria when she visited the island, and it was retitled Redstones' Royal Guide. This extract is from the fifth edition, published in 1856.
Rimes Guernesiaises: a counting rhyme
Gros-det, aridet, longuedon ou maitre-det, Jean des sceâs ou Jean des sceaux, petit coutelas ou courtelas: telle est la nomenclature des cinq doigts, selon les nourrices.
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.'
Second Report of the Commissioners: The State of the Criminal Law in the Channel Islands: Guernsey
We whose hands and seals are hereunto set, Commissioners, appointed by Your Majesty's Commission, bearing date the 16th day of May, in the ninth year of Your Majesty's reign, for inquiring in to the Criminal Laws in force in Your Majesty's Channel Islands and into the constitutions and powers of the Tribunals and Authorities charged with the execution of such laws, humbly certify to Your Majesty that, having completed our inquiry so far as the same related to the Island of Jersey, the result of which we have already laid before Your Majesty in our First Report, we forthwith proceeded, in further obedience to Your Majesty's gracious commands, to the Island of Guernsey.Second Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into The State of the Criminal Law in the Channel Islands: Guernsey: London, William Clowes and Son for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1848.
Letters and fashion plates from the time of Jane Austen
Some fascinating letters from a young Caroline Guille Le Marchant to her friends in Bath and London, from Edith Carey's Scrapbook, and some contemporary winter ladies costumes for Christmas, from two bound volumes of fashion-plates, entitled in French Figures. The plates are hand-coloured; some are from The Fashions of London and Paris, a monthly magazine that began publication in 1798, published by Richard Phillips.