THE ISLAND OF GUERNSEY Bailiwick consists of a group of small islands lying close to the coast of France, south east of England

GUERNSEY AND ALDERNEY

THE ISLAND OF GUERNSEY
Bailiwick consists of a group of small islands lying close to the coast of France, south east of England.

Guernsey is the largest of its bailiwick and as with all of the islands the sea is a major influence. Over the ages it has sculpted the spectacular south coast scenery and created the many sandy bays, rocky outcrops and long stretches of sand and shingle which ring the island.

The island itself consists of hard and ancient granite rock. For centuries this granite has been used by the islanders to build their homes, and the coastal defences which protected them from invaders, and for the harbours which protected their boats. From the time of the first settlement of Guernsey in AD 933 the key to the prosperity of the Island was the town and harbour of St Peter Port.

The harbour, sheltered by its neighbouring islands, and guarded by Castle Cornet has always been the best haven in the islands and its importance increased after the loss of Normandy by King John in 1204. In 1279 it was granted its own seal and a governor was appointed by the King, but the island maintained its old Norman ways and laws which were, and still are, administered by a Bailiff and twelve Jurats. During the wars of the 18th century Guernsey grew rich on the profits of privateering.

The threat of a French invasion grew and the island was fortified and garrisoned until it resembled a giant armed camp. In the long years of peace that followed the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, Guernsey extended its trade and prospered. Guernsey fought off all attempts by the French to capture the Island, but the links with the neighbouring Normandy were to remain for many years. Guernsey people spoke Norman French and even into the 20th century official documents were written in the French language.

The history of the Islands are well documented and have their place in history. The famous author Victor Hugo lived there, in Guernsey, in religious exile from France in the 1800s and wrote several of his novels, including "Toilers of the Sea". Interesting extracts from the novel include :

the rural and maritime populations are easily moved with notions of the active agency of the devil.. nothing is commoner than sorcerers in Guernsey in the 1850s...
the population of Guernsey is composed of men who have passed their lives in going about their little fields or in sailing around the world..
there are two classes of labouring people, the labourers on the land and the toilers of the sea..these rude seafaring men of the Norman archipelago have a certain amount of shrewdness....almost all can read and write....they have a peculiar satirical vein...
the first steamboat in the 1820s was known as a Devils boat...

Other interesting information comes from the book, the Bailiwick of Guernsey, by Le Huray. (The Harris and Le Huray families were related by marriage) :

In 1812 the main roads were laid out
smuggling was rife until the dawn of the 19th century
In 1821 there were 1522 houses inhabited in St Peter Port, and 1616 in country parishes, there were 11.173 people in St Peter Port in that year, and 9129 in the country.
The houses are built mainly of local granite, which is also used for street construction
the streets have drains down the middle and these cannot cope with the heavy rains of winter...the main streets were widened in the 1820s....
Fort George was finished in 1812, there were three churches, the main one being the town church which was substantially rebuilt in the 1820s, the royal court house was built in 1799, the town hospital (in which Richard senior spent his last days) in 1742, the new prison in 1811, and the public theatre in 1793.
The fields were about a half an acre in size, sea weed was used as manure, pigs, sheep and cattle were kept but there was little timber grown. The common labourer received pay of one shilling, with two bottles of cider, or half a pint of spirits. Masons got two shillings and carpenters three shillings.
By 1827 the population in the town was 12,132 and in the country 9,984.
The Ville Au Roi was haunted by a black dog (this is where one of the Harris children were born)
Longstore was named after a store housing military equipment. Longstore became part of the town in the 1840s

Guernsey was known as the Holy Island as far back as 1117, monks had arrived on the island by about 996 The island , known to the latins as Sarnia, is about 30 miles in circumference, 9 miles long,6 miles wide, and 25 miles from the French coast. The island is divided into 10 parishes, with in the early 1800s St Peter Port being the only town. In the 1820s the first steam vessels visited the islands and there was regular traffic to England and France. There were three English and three French papers in production. There were no practising Jews on the island, and few Catholics, except for some that had migrated from Ireland and France. It was at this time that the Harris family arrived on the island. New housing estates were being opened up, swamp areas were being drained and the ship building industry was thriving.

THE ISLAND OF ALDERNEY
the northern island of the group, retained its strategic importance to England and at the time of the arrival of the family a large breakwater was under construction.

The Island of Alderney is about three and a half miles long, and no more than one and a half miles wide. It lies some nine miles away from the French coast and to this day remains a quiet island with in the late 20th century only some 2000 or so residents. It has little public transport, and possesses only one town of any size, namely St Anne's. It still retains an old world charm, and the Alderney folk value the natural beauty of the island, particularly its rugged cliffs and beaches, despite the concrete bunkers erected by the occupying German forces in World war 2.

The peace of this island, like Guernsey, has been threatened by the possibility of, or actual, invasions over the centuries. For example in the late 1790s when the Harris family were still in Devon, the threat of a French invasion led to the British Government stationing over 300 men on the island. They and successive garrisons over the years were housed in a number of forts, one of the oldest being known as the Nunnery.

Go to photos of the GUERNSEY CHURCHES

Go to the NUNNERY POEM

Go to the main web page of Bob Harris (Harris from Devon and the Channel Islands)