Sarnia
A poem from the Mercure newspaper, 20 October 1810.
April 1896: the Cemeteries
From St Peter Port Parish Chronicle, in History of the Guernsey Churches, Scrapbook MS in the Library. The Strangers and the Brothers' Cemeteries and their parlous state of preservation.
A prince of their own choosing: the proclamation of George I, 16 August 1714
A translation of part of Laurent Carey's manuscript On the Customary Law of Guernsey, from the Guernsey and Jersey Magazine, Vol. V, 1838, edited by F. B. Tupper. Carey's Essai, written around the 1750s, formed the day-to-day reference for the proceedings of the Royal Court, under whose auspices it was eventually published in 1889. Here he was illustrating the fact that the inhabitants of Guernsey can choose to accept the proposed sovereign or not, who, once accepted, becomes 'un prince de leur propre choix'—and display absolute loyalty when they do so. The photograph below shows the proclamation of George V in Guernsey in 1910. The letter above is an invitation from the Governor to the constables to attend the proclamation of 1714. Library collection.
September 1858
From the Star newspaper.
September 1814: More Prisoners-of-War
Another list of local Guernsey and Alderney Prisoners-of-War held in various detention camps in France during the Napoleonic Wars, from the Gazette de Guernesey, September 3, 1814. The prisoners should officially have been freed in May.
1812, Prisoners-of- War
Local Prisoners-of-War held in France eligible for a share of a charitable fund made up of donations from islanders, and administered by Harry Dobree. The illustration is from the Gazette de Guernesey of March 1812; the actors were officers from the garrison (see note below).
A barbarous murder: June, 1795
As printed in the Gazette de l'Ile de Guernesey.
Cadiz again: 1826
An extract of a letter from M. L. B. of the Brig J-, to a friend in this Island, dated Newfoundland, August 1826. Published in L'Indépendance, Saturday, 21 October, 1826.
The Town Hospital Gate, 1825
The impecunious Thomas Le Marchant of La Plaiderie died in 1762, leaving a family of young children. His estate at L'Hyvreuse, which included what is now Beau Séjour, was bought by William Dobrée , his children's guardian. Part was then sold to the States of Guernsey; L'Hyvreuse house was demolished and the land used for recreation and as a parade ground for the militia. The imposing double gateway, 'similar to that called Ivy Gates, but much handsomer,' to L'Hyvreuse house was all that remained; it then served as an entrance to the New Ground, or what we now know as Cambridge Park, but…
A bachelor's paradise: Guernsey ladies, October 1825
An extract from an article published in the Star of October 18, 1825. 'The observations that follow have been copied from The Morning Herald. They will tend to show what views some strangers are apt to form of our local peculiarities; if, indeed, they can be taken as the real views of the writer, which, from the incorrectness of his statements, and the exaggerated description he has given of advantages and disadvantages, beauties and defects, we more than doubt.' The young lady in the portrait is Anne Priaulx.1
Mr Sharshaw's shark, October 1847
The Star, Monday, October 18, 1847. The image is of a large blue shark being landed aboard the Guernsey fishing vessel, Josephine Marie, c. 1990, courtesy of Daniel Robins.
War Pictorial News, July 9, 1945; Die Deutsche Wochenschau, August 1, 1940
War Pictorial News, which ran from 1940-46, was produced by the Ministry of Information in Cairo, for distribution to allied troops in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.