19th October 2015
A letter transcribed in Andros correspondence, a 19th-century notebook which belonged to Charles Andros. To Madame Andros, en la Court de sa Majesté de la Grand Bretaigne. Peter de Jersey was the minister of the Town Church from 1659 through the Restoration until the turmoil of 1662, when he was replaced by Huguenot refugee Pierre Jannon. Mme Andros was the wife of the prominent royalist Amias Andros. She was Elizabeth Stone; her brother Sir Robert Stone was cupbearer to the Queen of Bohemia and captain of a cavalry troop in Holland. In the early years of the war she left the island for St Malo, but on the way was captured by the parliamentary forces and returned to her enemies in Guernsey. In 1645 she managed to escape from the beseiged Castle Cornet to Jersey, leaving her husband behind; they did not see each other again for nine years.
5th October 2015
'Réflexion sage, mais un peu Tardive de Madamoiselle Biard,' by the Reverend Elie du Fresne (b. 1692), from his collected poems, Poésie, written c. 1713-1745. Be prepared for 18th-century attitudes! On the flyleaf of the cover is written, 'These pieces of poetry were copied by her late regretted Father, John de Havilland;' the identity of the Miss de Havilland in question is not known. The illustration is from 'La vieille,' or 'The Old Woman,' a song on just this subject, from Chants et chansons populaires de la France, Paris: Garnier Frères, 1854, in the Library Collection.
16th June 2015
Chapter 47 of Les Soeurs des Saints Coeurs de Jésus et de Marie, by the Abbé A Leroy, Rennes: Simon. The foundation of the first Catholic primary schools in Guernsey. [The boarding school in the 1913 advertisement shown above was in Cordier Hill, but was run by a different order. For the history of this order, the Sisters of Mercy, in Guernsey, founded from Brighton, Sussex, and prominent in the education of islanders, see the Centenary Souvenir (1868-1968), in the Library collection. They acquired Blanchelande in 1956 from the Sisters des Saints Coeurs.]
21st May 2015
Storms and drought, famine and barrenness, illness and illegality: an Extraordinary Meeting of Guernsey's Colloque, held 24 May 1611, in the presence of the Lieutenant, the ministers, and an elder representing each parish, to arrange a special day of fasting, prayer and humiliation. Such fasting days were, in fact, a quite common occurrence, and continued to be organized by the Church in conjunction with the secular authorities in times of trouble until relatively recently.
15th April 2015
'How Alderney lost its minister in 1705.' From A N Le Cheminant's A Christmas Box of Channel Gems, in the Library's Channel Islands' Pamphlets XIV (Goss.-LeFebvre), pp. 29 ff. This 1700 law remained unrepealed, in Sark at least, and continued to have repercussions into the 20th century!
12th March 2015
Prince Edward Island off the Canadian coast of Newfoundland has strong links to Guernsey that are very much alive today. A question was put by a visitor to the staff in the Library, enquiring as to the reason for an emigration to the island that took place in 1806.
Laurence Poussin, troublesome priest. From History of the Guernsey Churches, Staff. 'Lord de Saumarez' MSS.'
Tonnerre, foudre et orage. From Pierre Le Roy's Notebook, edited and transcribed by the Reverend G Lee in 1893 under the auspices of the Guille-Alles Library. The woodcut is by Dr Thomas Bellamy, from his Guide of 1843.
An Ordinance of 19 April, 1658.
Guille manuscript No. 465, transcribed in Handbook of Guernsey Churches (MSS in the Library.) The petition of the parishioners of the Castel to have Mr Nicolas Nicols as resident Minister, 1654. This demonstrates the continuance of the Colloque as Church leadership, although the minutes for that period no longer exist.
