Thomas Gosselin's servants
31st October 2016
From Thomas Gosselin's Livre des domestiques depuis 1811, in the Library collection.
Victorian
Academies and schools, 1849
18th October 2016
From Brouard's Guernsey Almanack of 1849, p. 51. Those marked with an asterisk were both boarding and day schools.
Cholera morbus, 1832
28th September 2016
The progression of the epidemic. From the Comet, Monday November 5, 1832.
Prehistoric remains in Guernsey, from the Lukis MSS
28th June 2016
In the early 20th century, local historian Edith Carey made copious notes from various manuscripts belonging to the Lukis family into scrapbooks which are now in the Library collection. She collected the following observations about early island archaeology together and copied them again into the notes she made to the book Guernsey Folk Lore, intended to aid her as its editor in a putative new edition, which she never completed. The Lukis family (Frederick Corbin Lukis and his children) were all deeply interested in archaeology, and these journal notes give a very Guernsey flavour of the beginnings of archaeology as a science. The photograph is of 'Frederick Lukis, Esq., at the Du Tus cromlech, Guernsey' from an album in the Library's Harvey collection (the Harvey and Lukis families were related.)
Spirit of adventure: Violetta Thurstan
25th April 2016
'Guernsey readers will read with interest of the adventure of Miss Violetta Thurstan, who is managing an ambulance unit in Spain.' This article, from the Star newspaper of April 1, 1937, recalls her war service and brings readers up to date with her activities in the Spanish Civil War. Violetta received the Mons Star, the Russian Royal Cross of St George, and, twice wounded, was awarded the Military Medal.
Remarkable literary incident
21st March 2016
From the Star, March 10 and March 17, 1866.
Ormer gathering
3rd March 2016
From Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878 (the engraving accompanies the article), together with a couple of newspaper extracts.
Ladies' College Christmas
15th December 2015
Kindergarten Christmas shows, from the Harvey family collection, recorded in Aunt Loo's Account of the Children, in blue Writing Album. The photograph, by C L Bienvenu of Cordier Hill, is of Elise Mauger, aged '9 years, daughter of HM's Sheriff of Guernsey. In fancy costume, 'The old Guernsey woman,' worn by Edith M Harvey at the Ladies' College Kindergarten cantata, 19th December 1896. Given to Miss Harvey by Mrs H D Mauger.' Winifred Harvey was very badly affected by asthma as a child, and missed long periods of schooling as a result. The Writing Album also contains programmes for the 1893 and 1894 performances, as well as a Matinée musicale of May 19, 1896.
Anne Sophia Harvey's servants, 1829-1845
15th December 2015
From Anne Sophia Harvey's account books Domestic Expenditure, [from] 1 January 1829 (brown leather), and Anne Sophia Harvey's Household Expenditure, 1 July 1838, which ends in December 1842, part of Library's extensive Harvey Collection. Anne Sophia Grut (1802-1844) was daughter of Peter Grut and Anne Collings, and married John Harvey. The illustration is a detail from a 'Moss' print of 1841, Market Place, Guernsey, in the Library Collection.
Hundreds on the hills: a letter from Afghanistan, 1879
6th November 2015
From Major Harry Harvey of the King's Own Borderers' Afghan Letters, in the Library. His letters were copied by his sisters into notebooks. The schematic above accompanies this letter and next to it is noted: 'This formation kept off the tribes of whom there were hundreds on the hills. They were afraid to attack. HH.'