Looking around Guernsey 1972 – Part 1
What makes Guernsey different?
TO MANY UK visitors, the pleasant feeling of being both "abroad" and "at home" is one of the attractions of Guernsey.
They come to the island by sea or air, but have no passport problems. They can buy low-duty cigarettes, drinks, and luxury goods such as perfume at well below the UK price. Yet everyone speaks English, habits and food are much the same as in the UK, and familiar British chain stores and banks line the main shopping centres of St. Peter Port and St. Sampson's.
Nevertheless, Guernsey is "different" in many ways, and visitors often find these differences both fascinating and puzzling. Like the rest of the Channel Islands, Guernsey is part of the British Isles, but unlike Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, not part of the United Kingdom.
Guernsey has its own government, makes its own laws, fixes its own taxes — and has no representatives in the UK parliament at Westminster. The basis of Guernsey's Constitution is its chosen loyalty to the English Crown. In return, it has been allowed for centuries to go its own way but to export freely into England — and later into the United Kingdom.
They come to the island by sea or air, but have no passport problems. They can buy low-duty cigarettes, drinks, and luxury goods such as perfume at well below the UK price. Yet everyone speaks English, habits and food are much the same as in the UK, and familiar British chain stores and banks line the main shopping centres of St. Peter Port and St. Sampson's.
Nevertheless, Guernsey is "different" in many ways, and visitors often find these differences both fascinating and puzzling. Like the rest of the Channel Islands, Guernsey is part of the British Isles, but unlike Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, not part of the United Kingdom.
Guernsey has its own government, makes its own laws, fixes its own taxes — and has no representatives in the UK parliament at Westminster. The basis of Guernsey's Constitution is its chosen loyalty to the English Crown. In return, it has been allowed for centuries to go its own way but to export freely into England — and later into the United Kingdom.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes the smaller Channel Islands of Sark, Alderney, Herm and Jethou, which all acknowledge the Bailiff of Guernsey as their civil head and chief of justice.
As you will see on page 29, however, where these islands are described, they are independent of Guernsey in varying degrees, standing in something of the same sort of relationship to this island as Guernsey stands to England.
According to the 1971 census the island's population then was over 51,000 — and over 35,000 residents were Guernsey-born. Population of the Bailiwick as a whole was over 53,000.
One of the differences here that visitors spot quickly is that street names are in French as well as English. This is because Guernsey was originally Norman-French. Many older islanders are bi-lingual and still speak the Guernsey-French patois of their ancestry, which can also be traced in hundreds of Guernsey family names.
In following pages of this booklet you can discover more about what makes Guernsey different. We have touched lightly on these subjects, because this has been written for visitors who would like to know more about us.
As you will see on page 29, however, where these islands are described, they are independent of Guernsey in varying degrees, standing in something of the same sort of relationship to this island as Guernsey stands to England.
According to the 1971 census the island's population then was over 51,000 — and over 35,000 residents were Guernsey-born. Population of the Bailiwick as a whole was over 53,000.
One of the differences here that visitors spot quickly is that street names are in French as well as English. This is because Guernsey was originally Norman-French. Many older islanders are bi-lingual and still speak the Guernsey-French patois of their ancestry, which can also be traced in hundreds of Guernsey family names.
In following pages of this booklet you can discover more about what makes Guernsey different. We have touched lightly on these subjects, because this has been written for visitors who would like to know more about us.
How Guernsey became British
GEOGRAPHICALLY, Guernsey is much closer to France than to England — lying only 30 miles from the Normandy coast as against 80 miles from Weymouth. But when islanders talk about "the main-land", they mean the United Kingdom, to which they are bound by centuries-old ties of sentiment, economics and politics.
How has this allegiance to England rather than to France, the island's closer powerful neighbour, come about?
To answer this question, we have to go back to 1066, when William, Duke of Normandy, landed his conquering army in Sussex and became William I of England. His Duchy of Normandy included the Channel Islands — Les Iles Normandes — and these became part of the combined realm of England and Normandy. A hundred and thirty-eight years later, King John lost most of the Duchy of Normandy, but Guernsey and the other Channel Islands remained loyal to the English Crown.
From that time, the island became a focal point of the strife which was to rage for several hundred years between England and France. The French made many raids on the island and at times established temporary occupation, only to be driven off subsequently by the sturdy islanders, aided by the forces of the English King.
The frequency of these raids led to the mounting of heavy fortifications all round the coast, and the remains of these fortresses can still be seen — silent reminders of Guernsey's stormy history.
During this time, the island developed its own parliamentary institutions and legal system, which survive in modified form today, so that it is really a self-governing, -independent country. Despite the island's long loyalty to the English Crown, it must be remembered that Guernsey's origins are Norman-French, and there are still traces of this early character about its life and people.
The German invasion of the Channel Islands in July 1940 and their occupation for five dreary years by Hitler's troops did more than anything else in Guernsey's history to "anglicise" the island. Thousands of local people were evacuated to the UK, and a generation of children grew up in mainland towns and villages.
Guernseymen are proud of the fact that their fealty to the Crown has been by choice and not by dominion. Indeed, as islanders sometimes good- naturedly point out, Guernsey was part of the land that originally conquered England, so that they can call England their oldest possession.
GEOGRAPHICALLY, Guernsey is much closer to France than to England — lying only 30 miles from the Normandy coast as against 80 miles from Weymouth. But when islanders talk about "the main-land", they mean the United Kingdom, to which they are bound by centuries-old ties of sentiment, economics and politics.
How has this allegiance to England rather than to France, the island's closer powerful neighbour, come about?
To answer this question, we have to go back to 1066, when William, Duke of Normandy, landed his conquering army in Sussex and became William I of England. His Duchy of Normandy included the Channel Islands — Les Iles Normandes — and these became part of the combined realm of England and Normandy. A hundred and thirty-eight years later, King John lost most of the Duchy of Normandy, but Guernsey and the other Channel Islands remained loyal to the English Crown.
From that time, the island became a focal point of the strife which was to rage for several hundred years between England and France. The French made many raids on the island and at times established temporary occupation, only to be driven off subsequently by the sturdy islanders, aided by the forces of the English King.
The frequency of these raids led to the mounting of heavy fortifications all round the coast, and the remains of these fortresses can still be seen — silent reminders of Guernsey's stormy history.
During this time, the island developed its own parliamentary institutions and legal system, which survive in modified form today, so that it is really a self-governing, -independent country. Despite the island's long loyalty to the English Crown, it must be remembered that Guernsey's origins are Norman-French, and there are still traces of this early character about its life and people.
The German invasion of the Channel Islands in July 1940 and their occupation for five dreary years by Hitler's troops did more than anything else in Guernsey's history to "anglicise" the island. Thousands of local people were evacuated to the UK, and a generation of children grew up in mainland towns and villages.
Guernseymen are proud of the fact that their fealty to the Crown has been by choice and not by dominion. Indeed, as islanders sometimes good- naturedly point out, Guernsey was part of the land that originally conquered England, so that they can call England their oldest possession.
Our ancient charters
AT THE top of Smith Street in St. Peter Port is the Royal Court, where the island's parliament meets and where the law courts are held. In one wing of the building is the Greffe or Record Office, and probably the most important documents kept here are the island's old, original charters. The Greffe is open to the public and you can see these treasured documents for yourself.
The charters, renewed on occasion by each succeeding English Sovereign, are the foundation for the special privileges that enable the islanders to fix their own rates of taxation. Further, under the provisions of the Customs and Excise Act, relief from duty on entry into the United Kingdom is granted to such important exports as tomatoes, flowers and cattle.
On a more warlike note, the charters establish that the islanders may not be called upon for military service outside the island except to rescue their sovereign if he is captured by his enemies, or to re¬conquer his kingdom if he is dispossessed of it.
Another interesting document at the Greffe is a copy of the famous Neutrality Bull of Pope Sixtus IV, which was later embodied in the Royal Charters. By the Bull, the Channel Islands "as far as the sight of man goes or the eye of man reaches" was declared a strictly neutral zone.
The Bull was posted for all to read on the cathedrals of Canterbury, London, Salisbury, Nantes, St. Pol de Leon, Treguier and the Church of St. Peter Port. It constituted a very valuable privilege for an island in the favourable trading position of Guernsey, and did not lapse until the reign of William III when privateering became a very popular and highly lucrative occupation.
AT THE top of Smith Street in St. Peter Port is the Royal Court, where the island's parliament meets and where the law courts are held. In one wing of the building is the Greffe or Record Office, and probably the most important documents kept here are the island's old, original charters. The Greffe is open to the public and you can see these treasured documents for yourself.
The charters, renewed on occasion by each succeeding English Sovereign, are the foundation for the special privileges that enable the islanders to fix their own rates of taxation. Further, under the provisions of the Customs and Excise Act, relief from duty on entry into the United Kingdom is granted to such important exports as tomatoes, flowers and cattle.
On a more warlike note, the charters establish that the islanders may not be called upon for military service outside the island except to rescue their sovereign if he is captured by his enemies, or to re¬conquer his kingdom if he is dispossessed of it.
Another interesting document at the Greffe is a copy of the famous Neutrality Bull of Pope Sixtus IV, which was later embodied in the Royal Charters. By the Bull, the Channel Islands "as far as the sight of man goes or the eye of man reaches" was declared a strictly neutral zone.
The Bull was posted for all to read on the cathedrals of Canterbury, London, Salisbury, Nantes, St. Pol de Leon, Treguier and the Church of St. Peter Port. It constituted a very valuable privilege for an island in the favourable trading position of Guernsey, and did not lapse until the reign of William III when privateering became a very popular and highly lucrative occupation.
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