Royal Court & States

September 1658: A petition to Richard Cromwell

Epitomie of tyranny, pamphlet, 1659, Priaulx Library collection

Oliver Cromwell died on September 3, 1658. The States sought to send an address of condolence and loyalty to his son, 'his highness' Richard Cromwell, but were prevented from doing so by the Lieutenant-Governor, Captain Charles Waterhouse, who found their petition 'too submissive.' The leader of the republican party, Pierre De Beauvoir des Granges (1599-1678) and William De Beauvoir du Hoummet, potentially a less committed republican, wrote a defiant letter to Waterhouse, pointing out the Guernsey public's many grievances against him, and proceeded to sneak out of Guernsey and present their petition to Cromwell anyway, taking the opportunity to plead for the unpopular Des Granges to remain as Bailiff. Their actions prompted the publication of a pamphlet, An epitomie of tyranny in the island of Guernsey, which can be found in the Library. It was published anonymously at the beginning of 1659, and accuses the De Beauvoirs of all kinds of misdemeanors.

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.

Pierre Carey is under pressure at a States meeting, 1649

Pierre Carey in 1644, Priaulx Library Collection

A report from The Guernsey and Jersey Magazine of 1837. Historical Notices of the Channel Islands, 8, taken from Pierre Carey's private papers. This Pierre [Peter] Carey is the Parliamentary Commissioner who later made a daring escape from imprisonment in Castle Cornet. A transcription of his letter book is in the Library.

Dead cats and horsewhips: August 1825 in the Royal Court

Two unusual court cases from the Gazette de l'Isle de Guernesey, August 1825 [from the French].

Peter Bougourd and Henry Cumber, 1837

From The Star of April 10, 1837. Proceedings in the Royal Court, Thurday, April 6th, 1837.

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.

20 January, 1766: against Cockfighting

Cock-fighting in the churchyard after morning service on Easter Day had once been acceptable, because, according to folk-lore expert J. Linwood Pitts, in 1891, it had a religious origin, 'but became in time to be a scandal, and an Act of Court was passed, forbidding any but gentlemen paying tax on fifty quarters of wheat rent to indulge in the same.'

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