Guernsey in County England History and Geography

GUERNSEY, a bailiwick, and one of the islands under the dominion of Great Britain, lying in a part of the English channel called Mount St. Michael's Bay, on the coasts of Normandy and Brittany, the port being situated in 49? 28' (N.Lat.), and 2? 33' (W.Lon.), 13½ English miles (N.W.) from Jersey, 7 (W.) from Sark, and 15 (S.W. by S.) from Alderney. It is the most westward of these islands, and the most distant from the coast of Normandy, being 26 English miles (S.W.) from Cape La Hogue, and 36 (W. by S.) from Cherbourg. The extreme length, from north-east to south-west, is about eight miles; the breadth, from north-west to south-east, nearly six; and the circumference about thirty. It contains 20,302 inhabitants, of which number, 11,173 are in the town and parish of St. Peter's Port, 838 in the parish of St. Sampson, 1215 in the Vale parish, 375 in Torteval parish, 1022 in St. Saviour's, 611 in the Forest parish, 1093 in St. Peter's du Bois, 1429 in St. Martin's, 1747 in that of the Catel, and 799 in St. Andrew's.

Respecting the early history of the island but few authentic particulars can be collected. Its surface was, in a state of nature, covered with woods and overrun with briars, when it was visited by the Romans, about seventeen years before the birth of Christ, and Octavius Augustus, then emperor, appointed a governor over it. It is the generally received opinion, that this is the island mentioned in Antoninus's Itinerary by the name of Sarnia; and that Alderney is called in the same Itinerary, Riduna; Sark, Sarnica; the little islands of Herm and Jethou, Armia and Sarmia, respectively. The next mention of Guernsey is about the year 520, when it was visited by Sampson, Bishop of Dol in Brittany, who is said to have landed at what is now called St. Sampson's harbour, where he built a chapel. His successor in the bishoprick, Maglorius, prosecuted the work of converting the inhabitants to Christianity, and built a chapel in the present parish of the Vale, on a spot still called St. Magloire, and by the peasantry, by corruption, St. Maliere. At this period the inhabitants subsisted entirely by fishing; and Guernsey was reckoned, though the most distant from France, the most considerable of these islands, on account of the safety and convenience of its harbours, and the quantity of fish on its coast; and in course of time, when the fishery was well established, most of the religious houses, and many of the great families in Normandy and Brittany, were constantly supplied with fish from it. As Christianity advanced, and the population increased, chapels were built in different parts of the island, near the seashore, and the priests that officiated in them were allowed for their subsistence the tithe of all the fish that was caught, which custom has continued ever since.

This island, which had anciently formed part of the province of Neustria, and, with the rest of that province, was included in the kingdom of France, established by Pharamond, in 420, became, in like manner, on the cession of Neustria to the Norman invaders of France, a part of the duchy of Normandy, created about the year 892. On the diminution of the ecclesiastical revenues in Normandy, by Duke Richard, the number of monks in the abbey of Mount St. Michael, on the Norman coast, being reduced in proportion to the reduction of its income, those that were driven out retiring to Guernsey, founded, in the year 962, an abbey in that part of the island now called the Close of the Vale, dedicating it to the same patron saint. Fishing having hitherto been the only occupation of the inhabitants, their dwellings were all built close to the sea-shore; but the monks soon prevailed on them to commence clearing the land and raising corn, so that, in a few years, the greater part of the Vale was brought into cultivation. The religious soon became celebrated for their great piety, not only on the continent, but in England; they were visited by devout persons from Normandy, France, and Britain; insomuch that. Guernsey acquired the name of the Holy Island, which it long retained, and by which it was designated not only in the papal bulls, but also in the charters and other acts of the Norman and English sovereigns. The Danes, in the course of their devastations towards the close of the tenth century, ravaged the monastery, and subsequently plundered the defenceless inhabitants of their corn and cattle. It was to afford means of protection from these ravages that a spacious castle was erected on an eminence in the Vale, originally called St. Michael's castle, or the castle of the Archangel, and now the Vale castle, which is still well calculated to defend the mouth of St. Sampson's harbour, where vessels of heavy burden find secure shelter. About the year 1030, when the fleet of Robert, Duke of Normandy, conveying the forces designed to support the claim of his cousins, Alfred and Edward, to the English crown, against Canute, was dispersed by a tempest, the vessel which contained the duke himself was, together with about twenty others, carried down the channel as far as Guernsey, where they would have been dashed upon the rocks, but for the fishermen, who hastened to their assistance, and piloted them into a bay on the north side of the Vale, where they moored in safety. The duke having landed, he was conducted to the abbey of St. Michael, and the stormy weather preventing his departure for some time, afforded him an opportunity of surveying the island. To reward the abbot for his hospitality, he gave to him and his successors, in fee, all the lands within the Close of the Vale for ever, by the name of the fief of St. Michael, with leave to extend the same without the Close of the Vale, towards the north-western part of the island, whenever settlers could be found to clear and cultivate the land. And to recompense the islanders for the succour they had rendered him, he left engineers and workmen to finish the castle of St. Michael, and to erect such other fortresses as might be necessary for protecting them and their property from the piratical invaders. The duke departed about a fortnight after his landing, and, in commemoration of the event, the place where his fleet lay has ever since been called L'Ancresse, or the Anchoring-place. In the course of a few years, the officers and artisans whom the duke had left, erected two other very strong castles: a part of one of these, called, from its marshy situation, Le Ch?teau des Marais, still remains in the Town parish, and, from its walls being mantled with ivy, has acquired the name of Ivy Castle: the site of the other, called the castle of Jerbourg, is on a point of land on the southern coast, now called St. Martin's point, but there are no remains of the buildings. At the same time mounds were thrown up on the most elevated parts of the island, to enable the inhabitants to observe when ships came in sight: one of these ancient alarm posts, called La Hougue Hatenas, remains in St. Martin's parish; and another, called La Hougue Fonque, in St. Saviour's.

Robert, Duke of Normandy, when about to depart for the crusade, among the other bountiful presents which he made to the clergy of his duchy, gave tracts of land in Guernsey to the Bishop of Coutances, the Abbess of Ca?n, the Bishop of Avranches, the Abbot of Mount St. Michael, and the Abbot of Blanchelande, by virtue of which grants, the priory of Lihou, or Lihoumel, and the abbeys of Normoustier, Blanchelande, La Rue Fr?rie, La Croix St. Geffroy, and Ca?n, were founded in the island. All these, except the priory of Lihou, were erected into franc-fiefs, the abbots holding immediately of the Duke of Normandy; but the priory of Lihou was an arri?re-fief, or appendage to the abbey of St. Michael. About the middle of the eleventh century, Guernsey was infested by a new race of pirates from the south coast of the bay of Biscay, who built a castle in the centre of it, called Le Ch?teau des Sarrasins, near the spot where the Catel church now stands. Duke William sent a force to their relief, under the command of his esquire, Sampson D'Anneville, who landed near the castle of the Vale, when a great number of the pirates was put to the sword, the remainder, with great difficulty, escaping to their ships: in reward for this service, Sampson received a considerable tract of land in the island, by the title of the fief and seigneurie D'Anneville. Other tracts being bestowed by the same sovereign upon other Norman gentlemen, the greater part of Guernsey was soon brought into tillage; and about this period it was divided into ten parishes. Each free fief had a manorial court for litigating disputes among the tenants; and the Abbot of St. Michael, and the Seigneur D'Anneville, had droit de haute justice, or the privilege of judging, condemning, and executing criminals, so that the civil polity of the island was completely settled before the Norman Conquest of England.

When the French, in the reign of Edward III., made themselves masters of these islands, Guernsey remained in their possession for some time, until it was re-captured by an English fleet under Reynold de Cobham and Jeffrey de Harcourt. In the same reign it appears to have been invaded by one Ivans, a descendant of the ancient Welch princes, who was sent by the king of France, with a numerous fleet and an army of four thousand men, to reduce these islands; and who succeeded in capturing Guernsey, after a spirited resistance: it is said to have been rescued by the arrival of eighty ships from England, when a conflict took place, in which five hundred men were killed on each side. A spot of ground in the New Town, called La Bataille, is supposed to derive its name from one of these sanguinary combats; and a very ancient legend states the invaders to have been Saragozans; to which assertion a degree of probability attaches, from the circumstance that Ivans, or Ivan of Wales, an inveterate enemy of Edward III., had been in the Spanish service, and that at that time, Henry, King of Castile, was an enemy to England, in alliance with France. In the reign of Edward IV., when Sir Richard Harliston, Vice-admiral of England, having arrived with a squadron at Guernsey, proceeded thence to re-capture Mont-Orgueil castle in Jersey, at that time in the power of the French, the men of Guernsey shared largely in the victory that followed; and on this occasion the laurel branch is said to have been first assumed as a crest to the arms of Guernsey: these services are also recorded in the preamble of the charter granted to these islands by Henry VII., in the first year of his reign. In 1549, Leo Strozzi, admiral of the French galleys, previously to his attack upon Jersey, made an attempt upon some English ships at anchor in the road here, but was driven off by the sailors, assisted by the inhabitants.

After the decapitation of Charles I., a force was sent by Cromwell and the parliament to reduce these islands, when Guernsey was first subdued, after a vigorous defence; but Castle Cornet held out for the king a considerable time longer: it appears, however, that the inhabitants of Guernsey were thought to have displayed on the whole less zeal for the royal cause than those of Jersey, since they deemed it expedient, upon the Restoration, to petition for the royal clemency; in answer to which petition a general pardon was issued, wherein several individuals were specified as having given ample proofs of their loyalty. In the reign of James II., some Roman Catholic soldiers were quartered in Guernsey, and a chapel was fitted up for them in the town; a popish priest was sent over to say mass; and a papist was made governor; but no sooner was the arrival of the Prince and Princess of Orange in England known here, than a plan was concerted to secure Castle Cornet, disarm the papists, and confine the lieutenant-governor. A day was accordingly fixed on, when, by rotation, the command of the castle would devolve upon a Protestant officer privy to the design, who had no sooner entered upon duty than the chief captain, accompanied by a body of the militia, seized upon and disarmed all the Popish officers and men in the town. This being done, a signal was immediately given to the commandant of the castle, who instantly summoned the garrison to arms. Being assembled on the parade, the Protestant soldiers having their muskets loaded with ball, as previously arranged, stepped out of the ranks, and, facing about, presented their pieces at the Roman Catholic soldiers, and so compelled them to lay down their arms, by which means the fortress was secured for the new king and queen.

During the late war with France this island was often under serious alarm from threatened invasion; but the well-regulated militia force, the number of regular troops generally in barracks, the augmentation and improvement of the ancient fortifications, which took place during that period, and the erection of the new fortress of Fort George, added to the natural precipitousness of the coast, have rendered it, in case of future hostilities, almost impregnable. The force maintained by the island of Guernsey consists of one troop of cavalry, two battalions of artillery, the second being composed chiefly of invalids; four regiments of militia, three of which are light infantry, and the royal marine corps. These regiments are clothed, equipped, and disciplined, in the same manner as the regular forces, but, since the termination of the war, they are only man'uvred six times in the course of a year. The natives are excellent marksmen, and fire not only with more precision, but with greater effect than the troops of the line, which is easily accounted for, as they are accustomed to the use of the fowling-piece from a very early age, even the peasantry being greatly addicted to the sports of the field. The superiority of the Guernsey artillery has long since been acknowledged, and although the tangent is not in use among them, the eye being the sole guide in pointing the piece, the islanders seldom miss their mark. The regular troops amount to upwards of five thousand, and the native troops to nearly three thousand; and there are mounted on the batteries and barracks, in various parts of the island, two hundred and fifty-five pieces of ordnance, forty-seven cannonades, and four mortars.

The situation of Guernsey, in the Channel stream, produces a variety of currents on its coasts, the intricacy and rapidity of which render the navigation extremely difficult, except along the southern coast, where there is good and safe anchorage, in a sandy bottom, at the distance of a mile and half from the shore. The dangerous rocks called the Douore, lie in an exact southwest direction from this island, at six leagues distance, in Lat. from 49? 10' to 49? 16'. The form of the island is nearly triangular, and almost its whole circuit is indented by small bays and harbours. The southern coast, from the Hanois to St. Martin's point, and part of the eastern, from St. Martin's point to the town, is a continued high rock, or cliff, rising almost perpendicularly from the sea, to the height of about two hundred and seventy feet; and, excepting a few very narrow valleys, the parishes of St. Martin, the Forest, Torteval, St. Peter of the Wood, a great part of St. Saviour's, St. Andrew's, the Catel parish, and St. Peter's Port, are level ground, at nearly that average height from high water mark. The whole of the Vale and St. Sampson's parishes, except a few gentle elevations, are low lands, nearly on the level of high water mark; but there is not much marshy ground, nor are they subject to inundation, even in the winter season. The low part of the island is particularly fertile; the elevated portion, excepting nearly half of the parishes of Torteval and the Forest, is exceedingly good arable land; and even the steep rocky elevations on the eastern and southern sides of the island, produce fine pasturage for sheep down to the water's edge. The whole island is abundantly watered by rivulets. Its general formation, geologically considered, will admit of a very natural division into two parts; the more elevated part, to the south, consisting almost entirely of gneiss, and the low ground, or northern portion, of syenite and hornblend rock. The gneiss preserves nearly an equal elevation from the eastern shore, near the town, to the western coast, but its continuity is frequetly interrupted by short and deep ravines running to the south, and by irregular vallies sloping to the west and north. The character of the gneiss is much varied by the intrusion of the strata which usually accompany that rock, but its general aspect is porphyritic, and, when newly washed by the gurge, it exhibits most beautiful specimens of that species of marble.

Vegetables are produced in great variety and of excellent quality; those grown in the parishes of St. Sampson and the Vale are preferred. The trees, excepting the elm, are neither tall nor luxuriant. The fences in the upper, or southern, part of the island, are sometimes composed of quickset, and exactly resemble an English hedge, sometimes of high banks thickly studded with trees and underwood, and frequently of walls of hard brown stone, about four or five feet in height, the workmanship of which is usually very excellent. In the lower, or northern, division of the island, the fields are mostly enclosed by dwarf walls of stone and granite: the materials are rarely embedded in cement, but generally piled up to the height of about three feet, or even less, without regard to order or durability; occasionally, however, the fences even in the lower parishes are of regular and solid masonry. The timber grown in the island is chiefly elm, which in quality is, probably, not excelled by any in Europe: the female elm is much used for boat-building, being, when cut into thin planks, very tough, and yet so extremely pliable, that it can be formed into almost any shape. The oak grown here is equal in quality to English oak, but there is little of it, and it is seldom allowed to attain a large size: the ash is generally inferior and but partially grown: there are chesnut and sycamore trees, but they are not numerous Most kinds of European fruit grow in profusion; and so genial is the climate, that myrtles and geraniums flourish in the open air, and the more hardy species of orange-tree, the Seville, will bear fruit in winter with very little shelter. The orchards, chiefly composed of apple trees, are very productive, and a great quantity of cider is made and drunk in the island. The fig-tree attains great luxuriance, and sometimes a remarkable size. The aloe frequently blossoms here. Thousands of that beautiful flower, the Guernsey lily, are exported yearly to England and France, but will not blow a second time out of the island; not even in Jersey, although in a more southern latitude, and better shaded. As snow seldom lies longer than for one or two days, and the summer's heat is always tempered by breezes from the sea, the climate is peculiarly favourable to vegetation, and its salubrity is attested by the longevity of the inhabitants. There is neither a wood nor a coppice in any part of the island. There is no species of common game; but woodcocks and snipes are tolerably plentiful. Most of the British song birds are occasionally seen, but the nightingale is very rarely heard. Fish are caught in great abundance and variety: among the most common are mackarel, the sea-pike or garpike, whitings, pollacks, bream, and rock-fish: there are also turbots, mullets, soles, plaice, and conger-eels, the last sometimes weighing thirty or forty pounds. Shell-fish are no less plentiful: among them is the ormer, or sea-ear (Haliotis Tuberculata), commonly eaten by the poorer inhabitants, vast numbers of them being brought to market in the early part of the year, at which period they are found in the greatest abundance: they adhere to rocks and moveable stones so firmly, that it is very difficult to detach them during the ebb-tide, and in the attempt the hands are sometimes severely lacerated, but when the tide begins to flow they may be easily removed. Crabs and lobsters, of an enormous size, are caught off the coast; some of the former measure, across the body, three feet in circumference: the spider crab, which is much smaller, is almost peculiar to this coast; in shape it resembles the reptile after which it is named, and is much esteemed by epicures, as being more delicious than the common crab. Lichens, in great variety and beauty, are found attached to the rocks around the island, among which the Lichen Roccella is somewhat abundant. The mole, snake, and toad, are not found in this island, which is the more remarkable, as they abound in Jersey.

The agriculture of Guernsey is still in a rude state: the same kind of plough, harrow, and almost every other implement of husbandry, is in use now that was employed some centuries ago; yet the lands are clean, being sedulously cultivated, and, from the great fertility of the soil, yield most abundant crops. The English plough is sometimes used, but is not generally found to suit; the soil, in some places, being so deep, that nothing but the old Guernsey plough, which penetrates to the depth of eighteen inches, will turn it up effectually. The land, however, is subdivided into such small allotments, that few of the cultivators are able to raise more than sufficient for their own subsistence, and the payment of their rents. The want of manure is chiefly supplied by a species of fucus, which is used both as fuel and manure. The course of crops practised, with few exceptions, is of five years. First year, wheat, second (after sea-weed or ashes have been laid on the stubble, usually before Christmas, and the land has received three spring ploughings), barley sown in April, with clover-seed; third, clover; fourth, after once ploughing, wheat again; fifth, after the ground has been ploughed and harrowed in the autumn, the couch burnt, and again ploughed and harrowed in January, parsnips. In this course, the ground is only nourished by manure the second year; the parsnips, with the deep ploughing, being expected to answer the purpose of a fallow for the following wheat, which, as it is here asserted, is in general a more abundant crop than that after potatoes or turnips with manure. Beans and peas sometimes accompany parsnips, neither of them being a separate article of culture. A small quantity of turnip-seed is occasionally sown after the cloverseed in the second year, and the turnips are not supposed to do any injury, if they are removed before the clover germinates in the following spring: three good crops of clover are obtained in the course of the year, the first of which usually grows above three feet in height.

Weeding is here performed three several times, always with the sarcloir, which is formed of iron, and is from four to five inches wide at its edge, being inserted, by means of a straight spike four inches long, into a short wooden handle, which is curved near the centre, where it is grasped by the workman, who, when employed in weeding, places one knee on the ground: the sarcloir he thrusts under the roots of the weeds, turns them over, and with the flat side occasionally strikes the roots, in order to disengage from them the adhering mould. A strong spade, peculiar to the island, is also in use, of which the iron part is fourteen inches long, and eleven inches across, in the widest part; the edge is semicircular; the sides are narrow towards the middle, and continue to decrease in width to within three inches of the upper part, where it again widens, and is inserted into a wooden bar joining the handle. The barley is pulled up by the roots, women and boys, as well as men, being engaged in the operation; usually striking it against their shoes, to free the roots from the mould before it is laid down in rows for the binder: it is supposed that, by this practice, a greater bulk of straw is obtained, and that the clover crop derives considerable benefit from loosening the earth. The barley is usually consumed in bread, but, in consequence of the manner in which it is got in, it is found impossible to effect a complete separation of the gritty substances carried to the mill with the grain. The culture of oats is not so general as that of barley. In bringing new and poor land nto cultivation, oats sometimes form the first crop, and occasionally are substituted for barley in the ordinary routine of cropping. In the sandy district, on the south-west of the island, rye is sometimes raised; it is of good quality, and also made into bread. Parsnips are not in general use in this island as human food, but principally consumed in feeding milch cows, or fattening oxen and hogs: this plant thrives best in a deep light loam; with clays it does not agree, but each soil in its turn is destined to receive it. Spade labour was formerly universal, but of late years the grande querne, or large plough, has been introduced, which is usually drawn by four oxen and six horses; it is preceded by a common plough to open the furrow: digging would still be preferred if labourers sufficient could be procured.

As few farmers keep more than one or two horses and an ox, which would render deep ploughing for parsnips and potatoes here impracticable, the custom of giving mutual assistance during the season for that operation has long prevailed: each farmer fixes a day for what is termed his 'grand plough,' inviting his neighbours and friends, who assemble early in the morning with their horses and oxen, and, cheerfully contributing their own manual labour, generally accomplish in the course of the day the ploughing of as much land as is wanted for the growth of those vegetables; good fare and the like kindness in return being the only recompense expected. The grass lands are very fertile, sometimes producing a ton of hay per vergee. Five vergees of grass are computed to be enough for the support of a cow; and the custom of tethering cattle is general. This practice, as it exists in Guernsey, is certainly highly advantageous, since the fields are regularly eaten through, and, by the time the cattle have finished a meadow, the grass on which they commenced is usually forward enough to afford a second pasture. Few sheep are either bred or fattened in this island, fat sheep and oxen being generally brought from England, or France. The cows are highly celebrated, and the milk which they yield is so peculiarly rich, that it is not necessary to let it stand to produce cream, the whole being at once fit for the process of churning. The island breed of horses is a poor breed, the animals being ill shaped and usually ill fed. The hogs attain a great size, and are remarkable for the small proportions of their limbs and feet. Poultry are scarce and dear in time of continental war, but during peace the importation from Normandy and Brittany is considerable. The standard land-measure of the island is in feet, yards, perches, vergees, bouves, and carvees; twenty-one square feet are a perch, and forty perches a vergee; so that two vergees and a half are rather more than an English statute acre. Four vergees make a Guernsey and an Irish acre. The Guernsey vergee is equal to one thousand nine hundred and sixty square yards, which, multiplied by four, makes seven thousand eight hundred and forty square yards, being equal to an Irish acre. The denominations of the measures for corn, as established by law in the island, are quints, denerels, cabotels, bushels, and quarters. Five quints make a denerel; three denerels a cabotel; two cabotels a bushel; and four bushels a quarter. The English quarter, of eight Winchester bushels, is equal to ten Guernsey bushels of wheat; barley and other grain are measured by the same bushel, but heaped up, whereas wheat is struck. The lawful weight is the Rouen pound, being ten ounces one hundred and sixty sevenths five hundred and thirty-three-thirds more than the English avoirdupois, the English hundred weight being equal to one hundred and three, seven-ninths, Guernsey. The currency is by law said to be the money current in Normandy, and thus we see that accounts are in a great measure still kept in livres, tournois, sols, and deniers; these livres, however, do not express the same value in both islands. In Guernsey fourteen livres, in Jersey twenty-four livres, represent a pound sterling, but both in the one and the other the relative value of a pound, in the island currency, compared with a pound in that of England, is regulated by the exchange, which rises occasionally, in the same manner as the exchange between England and other countries. In all the islands the English and French coins are current, the latter pass for ten pence to every franc of their nominal value. To the nominal value of the English coins is added that of the difference acquired by the exchange in favour of England: thus, a sovereign will sometimes pass for one pound one shilling, and sometimes for more, even for one pound one shilling and sixpence.

From time immemorial until the Revolution of 1688, the privilege of free trade in time of war, as well as of peace, between England and France, was enjoyed by these islanders, having been granted and confirmed by successive kings of England and dukes of Normandy, and even sanctioned by a bull of Pope Sixtus IV., dated in 1483, which was ordered to be published and observed in all his dominions by Charles VIII., King of France, by an ordinance dated in 1486. King William abolished this neutrality by an order in council, dated August 8th, 1689; upon which, this island actively engaged in privateering, and was very successful in the wars of that and the following reign; fifteen hundred prizes having been captured by the privateers of Jersey and Guernsey in those two reigns. During the whole of the last century, the trade of the island progressively increased; and the excise duties in England increasing also, a considerable portion of the commerce carried on was with persons engaged in the smuggling trade, until the years 1805 and 1807, when the acts of parliament for the better prevention of smuggling were passed. Before the commencement of the bonding system, this island may also be said to have served as a dep?t for storing foreign goods, particularly wines and spirits, in the same manner as they are now kept in the warehouses of the London docks and the bonding ports. Guernsey unites to a central situation in Europe, a temperate climate well adapted for the keeping of wines in store; a good harbour, the entrance to which is never obstructed by ice; the best vaults in Europe; and a great number of spacious and substantial warehouses: the wharfage and dues on goods in transition are very moderate. The carts employed for the carriage of wine and liquors are of peculiar construction; the body is very low and strong; at the end is a tail ladder: a solid iron axle passes under the body of the cart, which, rising on each side, receives the nave of a common sized wheel: in front is a capstan turned by a winch; to the cylinder are fastened two ropes that, in loading, pass round the barrel, and draw it up the ladder, which, being then raised and rendered steady by the same ropes, serves as a back rail to the cart. These machines will carry two pipes, and can be unloaded by the carman without any other assistance.

The trading vessels belonging to the merchants of Guernsey amount to seventy-four sail, and their burden, by admeasurement, to seven thousand seven hundred and forty-three tons. The quarries afford employment to a great number of the inhabitants, a considerable quantity of granite and stone being exported. From November 30th, 1828, to November 30th, 1829, there were shipped five thousand five hundred and eighty-three tons of paving stones, six thousand and seventy feet of the same, and twelve thousand five hundred and forty-seven tons of stone chippings. During the same period, there were exported one hundred and twenty-nine cows, one hundred and eighty-one heifers, and ninety-three calves. From the port of Southampton, all the British wool allowed by parliament for the manufactures in Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Sark, must be shipped; and when the general exportation of corn is prohibited in England, a certain quantity, sufficient, with the produce of the islands, for the maintenance of the inhabitants, is allowed to be sent thither. And as the country around Southampton produces many articles which the islanders are in need of, a constant trade is carried on, and passengers find very good accommodation in the trading vessels, which are large and well-built cutters, neatly fitted up for the purpose: they generally perform the voyage in about twenty hours, and as there are several employed in this trade from Guernsey, they are continually sailing to and from the island. The regular government steam-packets, conveying the mails, sail from Weymouth to Jersey every Wednesday and Saturday, taking Guernsey in their way; but as the distance from London to Southampton is much shorter, and as steam-vessels regularly sail from that port during the summer months, the latter route is generally preferred: a constant communication is also kept up with the opposite coast of France, so that, in time of peace, this port and Jersey may be considered regular thoroughfares for passengers between England and Normandy and Brittany. During the late war, a few small smuggling vessels and privateers were built here, but the first brig launched was in October, 1815, and named by Sir John Doyle, then lieutenant-governor, La Belle Alliance, in memory of the decisive battle of Waterloo; since that period forty-three vessels have been built (of the aggregate burden) of seven thousand two hundred and sixty tons), and twenty-four oyster smacks.

The common law of Guernsey is in substance derived from the ancient customs of Normandy, upon which the descent of property is in some measure founded. Real estates cannot be disposed of by will, but must descend to the heirs at law, and in default of such, escheat to the king, or the lord of the manor. The eldest son is here, as in Jersey, entitled to the principal dwelling, if not situate within the ancient bounds of the town of St. Peter's Port. He has also a certain portion of land, from fourteen to twenty-one perches, according to the value of the succession attached to the dwelling, as ascertained by the douzainiers of the parish, at whose valuation he is also, entitled to purchase all the enclosures of land attached to it, the entrance to which is open to him from the house without crossing a public road. As no law exists to prevent the partition of estates below a prescribed number of vergees, land in Guernsey is infinitely divisible, but the elder frequently purchases the shares of the younger partitioners, either for rent or immediate value. Male descendants have a peculiar right to what is termed the vingtieme, which they may either claim or waive at their discretion. If claimed, the estate is measured, and one-twentieth set apart, of which the eldest son first takes his privileged portion, and the remainder is equally divided among the males. The residue of the succession is then shared by the co-heirs, two-thirds being divided among the males, and one-third among females. If the vingtieme is not claimed, the whole succession, after deducting the precipat, as it is termed, to the eldest, is equally shared by children of both sexes. Among the most remarkable peculiarities of established usage are the two following: the children of parents who have lived for years in open adultery, but afterwards marry, are considered legitimate, and are entitled to inheritance; an insolvent person is exonerated from the payment of his debts, on surrendering upon oath the whole of his property, except his clothes, bed, and arms, and promising to make good the deficiency, if he should at any future time have it in his power so to do. Formerly, the insolvent claiming the benefit of this law was compelled to wear a green cap, and to lay aside his girdle; but these badges of humiliation have been for some time discontinued. The contracts in Guernsey are described in a very simple style, being free from the repetitions that abound in documents of the same kind in England. The parties appear before the bailiff, and two of the magistrates of the royal court, by whom the contract is signed. When a conveyance of property is made by a married man, it is necessary that the wife should appear, and make an affidavit that she was not acting under undue influence when she consented to the transfer. All mortgages on estates are required to be registered by the greffier; and when a mortgage is paid off, the party has credit given him for the payment, so that an account current being kept, to which free access may always be had, the exact condition of every estate in the island may be known, and its incumbrances ascertained without difficulty. On the sale of an estate, the purchaser is only liable to such obligations and claims as are duly registered. With respect to the power of the British parliament to make enactments binding upon the inhabitants, which power has on various occasions been disputed by the magistrates of these islands, on the ground that the legislative authority over them was vested in the King alone, as Duke of Normandy, it may be observed that, in an order of council, bearing date May 7th, 1806, it is declared, that the registering of an act of parliament is not essential to its operation, and that His Majesty's subjects in these islands are bound by law to take notice of an act wherein it is especially named, although it should not be registered in the royal court there.

The assembly or convention of the states of this island, which is held only on occasions of great importance, when the general interest of the island is concerned, consists of the bailiff, twelve jurats, and procureur of the royal court, the beneficed clergy, and the constables and douzainiers of each parish, the total number being one hundred and seventy-four. The governor, or lieutenant-governor, whose consent is necessary to the holding of the states, has a deliberative voice in the assembly, but no vote; and the bailiff presides as speaker. The principal business of what are termed the states of election is, the nomination of jurats, and the appointment of the provost, in which every member has a distinct vote; but the raising of money to defray the public expenses is voted by the states of deliberation, consisting of the members above specified, but in which the constables and officers of each parish have collectively but one vote, so that the total number of votes in the latter assembly is thus reduced to thirty-two. Whenever the king's service, or the exigency of the island, requires the assembly of the states of deliberation, the bailiff, with the consent of the governor, or, in his absence, of the lieutenant-governor, or commander-in-chief for the time being, has a right to fix a day for the convention of the states, and to insert in the writs to be issued for such convention, the matters to be deliberated upon, without the concurrence of any of the jurats; but by usage long observed, the bailiff, prior to issuing such writs, communicates to the jurats in the royal court his intention of convening the states, naming the day that he proposes for the meeting, and the subjects for their consideration. These writs are prepared by the greffier, signed by the[p.273*] bailiff, and directed to the constables only, who are to communicate them to the rector, take the sense of the douzaine of their parish on the subject, and come prepared to give their vote accordingly. The taxes imposed by this assembly, except when they immediately regard the protection of the island, must receive the sanction of the king in council. The revenue consists of the general taxes, the harbour dues, the duties levied yearly upon licensed victuallers, or retailers of liquors in general, and the produce of lotteries. No writ from any of the British courts can extend to this island, except from the Admiralty court, which was decreed by an order in council, issued in the course of the late continental war. It is worthy of remark that although, agreeably to the numerous charters granted to these islands, the inhabitants are treated throughout the king's dominions not as aliens, but as British-born subjects, an Englishman is here considered an alien, being liable to arrest for the most trivial sum, even less than sixpence, and his bail liable to be rejected, though of known sufficiency: admission to the privileges of the island can only be granted at the pleasure of the royal court, which, after long residence, is sometimes, though rarely, conceded.

The civil and military powers appear to have been first disunited in the reign of Edward I., but in Guernsey the governor continued to appoint the bailiff until the latter part of the reign of Charles II. This island and its dependencies were under the same governor as that of Jersey until the reign of Henry VII., when the two islands were first divided into distinct governments. Although the governor has now no civil jurisdiction, his presence is sometimes required in the royal court, for enacting certain ordinances which concern the king's service, the security of the island, and the maintenance of the public peace: the court is under his immediate protection, and his authority is to be exerted, if necessary, in the execution of its decrees. This power likewise extends to the arrest and imprisonment, with the concurrence of two jurats, of any inhabitant suspected of treasonable practices; and every captain and commandant of a vessel landing passengers on the island, is obliged, under severe penalties, to make a return of them to the proper officer, and to see that such persons, as soon as it may be convenient after their arrival, attend personally to give an account of themselves. Before the governor's admission to his office he must produce his patent or commission before the royal court, and solemnly swear to maintain the liberties and immunities of the island. For a long period the governors have possessed the privilege, granted them by their patents, of executing the office by means of a deputy, whom they were formerly accustomed to appoint; but since the latter part of the reign of Charles II., the lieutenant-governor has been nominated by patent from the crown, or the king's sign manual; and when that functionary has occasion to leave the island, he delegates his authority, during absence, to the next senior military officer in command. The governors performing the office by a deputy, which has now for many years been invariably the case, take the oath before the privy council in England; the patents are transmitted with an order of council certifying such oath to have been taken, and the commissions are then registered in the royal court. The governor, whose patronage was anciently much more extensive, has still the presentation to all livings and schools in the island, and to the offices of greffier, serjeant, and king's receiver. The whole of the king's rental, or dues, has for many years been granted to the governor, without his being accountable to the Exchequer for the receipt thereof, but obliging him to pay certain small allowances to some of the civil officers, &c. The governor's first duty is the care and custody of the fortifications, which have of late years been much enlarged and improved. The principal of these is Fort George, built on an eminence to the south of the town, and garrisoned by regular troops: there are barracks for upwards of five thousand men. It was begun in 1775, being named after King George III., and it is of a square figure, quite regular in its construction, defending the town and harbour of Guernsey: the barracks contain fourteen or fifteen officers, and from three to four hundred men. It is constructed for forty-five pieces of ordnance; under the ramparts are bombproof casemates for men and guns. The fort cannot be enfiladed from any part; there are extensive outworks in connexion with it which include the house of the chief engineer, the quarters of the officers of artillery, the store-keeper's house, and other public buildings. Of late years the militia has been re-organized, on an improved plan: every male resident without distinction, between the ages of sixteen and sixty, able to bear arms, is enrolled, trained, clothed, and accoutred, and called out occasionally for exercise and review; in time of war, all of them, in rotation, are obliged to mount guard nightly at the different batteries round the island.

The forms of the feudal system have been preserved to a greater degree in these islands than in any other part of the British dominions, although few of the ancient feudal services are exacted, and little remains of the once extensive power of the feudal courts. Anciently a court was instituted in each of the fiefs, for deciding petty broils arising on it; besides which there was a superior court, composed of a bailiff and four chevaliers, or knights, who held annual assizes, at which the military tenants, or lords of fiefs, attended, and appeals from the inferior courts were heard. This kind of judicature continued until the reign of King John, who, by charter, established twelve jurats instead of the chevaliers, who immediately checked, and in course of time effectually abolished, the feudal system. The sixteen free tenants and the thirteen bordiers still attend the chief pleas, or opening of the court, on the first day of the three terms, when by-laws are made for the internal government of the island. The names of the free tenants are called over immediately after those of the bailiff and jurats, but they are not now, as anciently, consulted with respect to the by-laws and ordinances, nor are they obliged to attend in person according to original custom; any one may answer for them by power of attorney, but if they do not answer at all, they are subject to a small fine. An entertainment is on those days provided for the whole court, including the military tenants and bordiers, at the governor's expense. The original feudal rents in kind, viz., in corn, fowls, loaves of bread, eggs, and other articles, are still payable to the crown, besides some trifling sums of money in coin current in the island at the time of the original grant. When King John had lost the duchy of Normandy, he rewarded the loyalty of the islanders, who bravely resisted two attacks made by the French king, after that monarch had taken possession of the remainder of the duchy, by granting them a charter, called the Constitutions of King John, which formed the basis of the present constitution of the island, and established the royal court. This court consists of a bailiff appointed by the king, and twelve jurats chosen by the members of the states, all serving for life, unless discharged by the king and council: the officers of the court are the king's procureur, or attorney-general for the island; the comptroller, whose office is similar to that of solicitor-general, (these are termed the king's officers); a provost, or king's sheriff; the greffier, or registrar; and the king's serjeant. Since the establishment of the royal court, instead of the assizes being held annually, as had been previously the custom, the bailiff and jurats have administered justice three times a week in term time, and once a week during vacations, and even more frequently when necessary.

There are three terms in the year, commencing on the first Monday after January 15th, the first Monday after Easter, and the first Monday after September 29th, and each continuing for six weeks. On the first day, or opening of each term, called the chief plaids, or capital pleas, by-laws or ordinances are made, which have immediately the effect of law; but such of them as do not receive the royal approbation have only the same force as by-laws made by corporations in England. For the ordinary course of business, four jurats in rotation attend in each term, during which there are eight or ten court days for hearing causes in the first instance, when two jurats, with the bailiff or his deputy, who must always be present to compose a court, are sufficient: this court is called Cour Ordinaire, from which an appeal lies to a court of more jurats, termed Cour d' Appeaux, and from that again to what is termed the Court of Judgments, where at least seven jurats must be present. This latter court is held there times in each term; and if even the bailiff and all the twelve jurats are in court at the second hearing, an appeal still lies to the Court of Judgments, where only a part of them may happen to preside; and from this court alone appeals, under certain restrictions, are made to His Majesty in council. But if at the first hearing of a cause five jurats be present, appeal can then only be made directly to the Court of Judgments. The Mobilaire courts are held on Mondays, in which pleas for moveables or chattels are determined: the parishes are divided into two districts, called the High and the Low parishes, and the business of each is transacted on alternate Mondays, that for the Low parishes commencing first. On the Tuesday following the Monday's court for the Low parishes, judgments or final decrees are given; and on the Tuesday next after the court for the High parishes, courts of heritage are held, termed Plaids d' Heritage, for determining all suits relative to inheritance. The Saturdays' courts are for the passing of contracts, admiralty causes, and criminal informations; the intermediate days, either in or out of term, being devoted to the hearing of causes in general. But the Saturdays' courts for criminal causes continue from the chief pleas of Easter to the middle of July; from Michaelmas to Christmas; and from the 15th of January to the Saturday before Holy Week. When a prisoner is charged with a capital offence, the first step taken is to make out the accusation or indictment, and to take down his answer in what is called l' Interrogatoire, which is a most essential document to prove the innocence of the accused when his account is corroborated by the evidence, but tending on the other hand to the proof of guilt when that account is controverted and contradicted by that evidence. The prisoner on the next Saturday, if in term time, is brought before the court, where, the accusation being read to him, he pleads guilty or not guilty, and makes choice of his counsel; he is then remanded in order that witnesses may be examined, and a day is appointed for their examination in support of the prosecution. This examination takes place before the court, which need not be composed of more than two jurats, besides the bailiff or chief magistrate: neither the prisoner, nor his counsel, is present. The witnesses are introduced one by one, and sworn, when the greffier, or king's officer, proceeds to set down their name, age, and deposition. When all the witnesses of the crown officers have been thus examined, another day is appointed by the court for what is called the recollement et confrontation, that is to say, the verification of the evidence and the confronting of the witnesses and the prisoner. At the close of this sitting the prisoner is to state what witnesses he wishes to call forward in his behalf, and what particular facts he means to prove by their evidence. A note of this is taken, and another day appointed for examining them. When all the examinations have taken place, authenticated copies of the prisoner's interrogatories, and of the depositions of the witnesses, are furnished to the prisoner's counsel, in order that he may prepare his defence. On the day of trial, the court must be composed of seven or more jurats, besides the bailiff. The prisoner's interrogatories, and the depositions of the witnesses in support of the prosecution and in behalf of the prisoner, are read; after which the prisoner's counsel (who must be one of the six advocates licensed by the court, and who is obliged to give his services gratuitously, if the prisoner have not the means of feeing him) is allowed to address the court at as great a length as he may think proper. The king's procureur then offers his opinion upon the case, and states what sentence, in his judgment, ought to be given: this is technically termed 'Les conclusions du procureur du roi.' The king's comptroller follows much in the same way, and also gives his conclusions: the bailiff then sums up the evidence in a charge which he delivers to the jurats; after which each jurat present, from the eldest to the youngest, states his individual opinion, and the sentence is decided by a majority. Should there be an equality of opinions, the bailiff has a casting vote, and it is he who communicates the sentence of the court to the prisoner. It is not necessary to report the proceedings to the king before a condemned criminal can suffer death: the sentence is final and irreversible, except where it may appear to the court that the criminal, though found guilty, is a fit subject for royal clemency, in which case his execution is deferred until His Majesty's pleasure can be known: all trials are conducted in the Norman French language.

The royal court-house, as the date on the tympanum of the pediment of its principal front indicates, was erected in 1799, but it was altered and embellished [p.274*] in 1821, by John Wilson, Esq., at an expense of £4100. The building consists of an upper and a lower court-room: the former is fifty-one feet long, by twenty-six broad, with an elevation of nineteen feet; the latter twenty-six feet by twenty, and eleven feet high. There is a spacious greffier's office, in which are deposited copies of all the deeds and contracts relative to every transaction in heritage property belonging to the island. There are excellent apartments for the private deliberations of the jurats, committees, &c., communicating with the upper court-room. Nearly adjoining the court-house is the new prison for felons and debtors. A debtor who cannot support himself receives ninepence per day from the creditors at whose suit he is detained, and if the gaoler fails to pay him before nine o'clock in the morning, he can claim his discharge.

The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Guernsey was, with that of Jersey and the neighbouring islands, subjected to the Bishop of Coutances by Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy, and continued so till King John was dispossessed of that duchy in 1204, when they were united to the see of Exeter, but were soon restored to that of Coutances, to which they remained attached until, in the reign of Henry VII., they were, by a bull of Pope Alex ander, annexed to the diocese of Salisbury: they were afterwards re-attached to Coutances, and formed part of that bishoprick, till Elizabeth, in 1568, transferred them to the see of Winchester. At a synod held in Guernsey June 20th, 1576, it was agreed that the ecclesiastical discipline should be strictly presbyterian, which was rigidly adhered to till the act of uniformity passed in England, in the reign of Charles II., the provisions of which extended to these islands. The Dean presented by the governor to the Bishop of Winchester, and approved by the king, entered upon his functions accordingly, and, in 1664 obtained a commission of official from the bishop, investing him with the full power of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the island and its dependencies. The introduction of the litany and discipline of the church of England met with considerable opposition from the clergy and the people; and even so lately as the year 1755, the dean found it necessary to apply for the aid of the magistracy to enforce it: the use of the surplice is still discontinued; and although the sacrament of baptism is generally performed in the church, yet there is not a single font in the island. The dean holds the ecclesiastical court, whenever occasion requires it: this court consists of the dean and beneficed clergy, with a registrar and apparitor; most of the advocates of the royal court being proctors. Before the dean, as surrogate to the bishop, the wills of persons dying in the island are proved and registered, and from him administrations are obtained for the proper distribution of the property of persons dying intestate, copies of which are regularly transmitted to the consistorial episcopal court at Winchester: the dean has also the power of granting special licenses for the solemnization of private marriages. The ceremony of confirmation, which, according to the church of England, should precede admission to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, is necessarily omitted in these islands, the bishop never visiting them to perform it: private instruction, competent age, and the answering of certain interrogatories at the church in the presence of the congregation, are considered as ratifying the baptismal vow. The livings are of small value, from the loss of the great tithes originally belonging to them, which were first by the papal authority appropriated to the Norman monasteries, and at the Reformation seized by the crown. The small tithes, or share of the greater, allowed by those religious houses to the incumbents, are still retained, and have been increased by what are termed novals, or deserts, namely, the tithe of land since brought into tillage. Surplice fees were formerly paid, but having been given up by the Presbyterian ministers, from aversion to the name, they have not been revived; and the church dues for baptism, marriage, sacrament, and burial, are so very trifling that, except in the Town parish, which is populous, their amount is very small. The tithe of all grain and flax growing in the island is due to the king, and that of all apples, pears, cider, honey, calves, colts, pigs, lambs, geese, and fish, to the rector, but no tithe whatever is due to either for hay, clover, lucerne, potatoes, parsnips, or other vegetables. The champart, or portion of the field reserved by the chief lord, in lieu of rent, is the twelfth sheaf of the whole crop. The presbyteres, or parsonage-houses, are kept in repair at the expense of the respective parishes. The church service is invariably performed in the French language, excepting for the garrison, and at the new church of St. James.

The inhabitants are distinguished by several peculiarities from those of the rest of the British dominions. The Old Norman language, now gradually approximating towards the French, is generally spoken by all ranks of people; scarcely any of the country people speak English, but many among the higher classes have acquired a tolerably correct pronunciation of it: their dress and style of living, particularly among the higher ranks, are receiving great modifications from an increasing intercourse with England. Mediocrity of fortune seems to prevail throughout the island, and a rigid economy is practised.

The island appears to have been divided into parishes soon after the Norman Conquest of England. For many years before the militia was organized, each parish had a captain, or centenier, who trained the men to the use of arms, and had the care of two pieces of ordnance; but the office was discontinued when this military force was formed into regiments and better regulated. The douzainiers of each parish are twelve of the most respectable and intelligent inhabitants (the Town and Vale parishes excepted, the former having twenty and the latter sixteen), chosen for life by the parishioners, as their representatives in the assembly of the states on all public matters, voting individually in the choice of the jurats, or magistrates, and the sheriff, and giving their votes collectively, by the constables of their respective parishes, on other subjects requiring deliberation: they have also the regulation of all parochial matters. There are two constables in each parish, chosen annually, who preside and make part of the corps of the Douzaine: they may confine offenders both night and day, but must, in all cases, make their report to the bailiff and to the king's officers within twenty-four hours: they may also search for stolen property individually, but are in general accompanied by one or more of the assistant constables, particularly in town, in order to render their search more effectual. They receive the money raised for the public service from their collectors, for whom they are responsible, and apply it to the purposes intended. It is also their duty to visit, in the presence of two respectable persons, all taverns and cellars where liquors are sold, to see that such articles are wholesome, and upon finding any that are not so, to destroy them. The curateurs, of whom there are two in each parish, are officers exercising all the functions of churchwardens; and the office of procureur des pauvres, or manager of the poor, in each parish, is similar to that of an overseer: the poor-rates are collected by distinct officers, of whom there are two or more, according to the extent of the parish.

From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale