Legal

January 1816: Order-in-Council of February 1660

From the Gazette de Guernesey, January 6, 1816, respecting 'strangers' abusing their position by selling goods retail rather than wholesale and thus undermining the local economy. The 1660 letter from the Privy Council is in its original English: the Gazette provided a translation into French for the benefit of the malefactors, perhaps!

Philippe Le Boutillier, 1605

From Philippe Le Geyt's Manuscripts on the law, constitution, and customs of this island, (that is, Jersey); how you could legitimately be convicted on your reputation.

Largisses, c. 1932

'Un morchié de terrain qui n'a pas été frumai.' From the Star.

Kemp's rock

John Kemp, John Kemp, so bad they hanged him twice! The strange case of John Kemp, and the mystery as to why the rock was named after him is solved.

Dancing and dissolute music, 1583

From the Recueil d'Ordonnances de la Cour Royale, Vol. I, 1852, ed. R. MacCulloch. This seemingly repressive edict in fact represents the desperation felt by the authorities, who were unable to control the excesses of Guernsey youth, no matter how hard they tried.

Wasting the Court's time in Guernsey French: folles adjonctions, June 1826

Frivolous actions for defamation, from the Gazette de Guernesey of June 24, 1826. The newspapers liked to print letters and other examples of Guernsey French, but even the French language newspapers such as the Gazette often seemed to be scoffing at the 'rustics' of the country parishes: these antagonists were from the Forest.

A prince of their own choosing: the proclamation of George I, 16 August 1714

Giles Spicer letter 1714 Priaulx Library Collection

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.

February 18th, 1836: Louis Marin

Frontispiece of Dumaresq's Proposal, Priaulx Library Collection

From the Star of February 18th, 1836. Another way in which Jersey differed from Guernsey—the justice system; the Petite and Grande Enquêtes. The Star's readers must have been assumed to be unfamiliar with legal procedure in the sister isle, as the newpaper explains it at length. Marin was sentenced to transportation for life.

Disorder in the Court, 1790

Detail from Grisier's Les Armes et le duel, Priaulx Library Collection

From the Gazette de l'Isle de Jersey, January 8, 1791. The autocratic Le Marchants—the Bailiff and his two sons—and their provocative behaviour. The original is in French. The illustration is from Augustin Grisier's Les Armes et le duel, 1865, from the Library collection.

Le Pelley notes from Col. Ernest Le Pelley's MSS

Transcriptions of documents referring to the Le Pelley family, from Sark/Le Pelley file in the Library.

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