Buildings & Houses

Forts, 1850

8th October 2015

Fort Hommet before 1955 by S M Henry, Priaulx Library Collection

From the Gazette de Guernesey, 16 February 1850. 'We thought it would be useful to list here, for the benefit of our readers, those forts and fortresses, built by the States for the defence of this Island in time of war, which have been handed over to the Government, as very few people are aware of them all.' The photograph is of Fort Hommet, by S M Henry, in the Library Collection. For further details on the individual sites see the Billet d'Etat for March 1908 in the Library Collection.

How the old mill lost its vanes

18th September 2015

Ozanne's Mill, Le Hechet, Priaulx lIbrary Collection.

Ozanne's Mill, Le Hêchet. From The Star, June 1907. The detail is from a photograph of the mill in the Library collection, which was probably taken in 1905 by the late G W S Anderson (c. 1866-1955) of 2 Escallonia, Mount Durand (mentioned by Sheppard, op. cit. below, p. 408).

Guernsey's forgotten past, Carel Toms

17th September 2015

A list of the photographs in Carel Toms' book, Guernsey's forgotten past, published in 1992. Many of these photographs are in the Library's Carel Toms Collection; please contact the Library for further information.

The Maison des Pauvres and the old Brouard house

15th September 2015

An extract from a set of notes by Mildred Brock 'from information derived from Mr Arthur Brouard, the owner of the two houses, and her own researches into the records of the parish of St Pierre du Bois.' Read at a meeting of the Société Guernesiaise, 22 July 1933.

Century-old island business closing

5th August 2015

Collenette's shoe shop 1969, Priaulx Library collection

Businesses come and go in the world of high-speed commerce, but the 'Closing Down Sale' notice in the window of a long-established island concern always involves a little nostalgia, a little sadness, for someone. So it is with the shoe business of A W Collenette and Son, one of the Town shops which islanders have come to take for granted. From the Guernsey Press, c. 1969. [Scrapbook No 24, Staff F, p. 153.]

Family notes and pedigrees

4th August 2015

A notebook with transcriptions and extensive genealogical annotations made by Edith Carey. Staff (strong room). Please ask for further information.

Lost things: Beauregard water tower, 1933

28th July 2015

Edith Carey, Pump in Cornet Street 1929, demolished, Priaulx Library Collection

The Société Guernesiaise tried its hardest to persuade the authorities to preserve this ancient structure, but to no avail. From the Star, January 1933. The photograph is from the Library Collection. It was taken by Edith Carey in 1929 and shows the water pump in Cornet Street which drew from the well of the Tour Beauregard, and which was demolished along with the water tower in 1933.

A stroll through town as it was 70 years ago

23rd July 2015

Commercial Arcade circa 1903, Priaulx library Collection

From the Star, July 1944. Funeral cheese and scarlet eggs, Granny Ogier, and a leopard and a Lamb. The illustration shows the Arcade around 1903; the shops are Roger's the jewellers and Cox's bootmakers.

Memories of Old St Julian's

23rd July 2015

Old Court House 1861 from the Priaulx library collection

Old Court House again. From the Star, June 20, 1944. The photograph, from the Library collection, shows the house in 1861, ten years before the construction of the Avenue led to its demolition.

Livres de Perchage

23rd March 2015

The history of the Library's collection of Livres de Perchage, which we hold in hard copy and digital form, by Sue Laker, our Deputy Chief Librarian. 'A book of Perchage is drawn out by the sworn Douzaine of each fee, when called upon by the King's Receiver or Lord of the Manor, for the purpose of ascertaining correctly the admeasurement of the property in the possession of the tenants upon that fee, and is decisive as to the admeasurement and the name of the then possessor—nothing more.' Peter Jeremie, 1824.

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