Library Library News Library Review - Autumn 2006
Library Review - Autumn 2006
Anna was invited to be a judge for the Insurance Corporation Conservation Awards which took place in June. The panel of judges spent 2 days scrutinising the superb entries across the island. The competition was geared not only at schools but also individuals. Both Channel Television and Jersey Evening Post covered the presentation day, and Grainville School was awarded with £1500 over 3 years for their project. The individual prize of £2000 was awarded to The Barn Owl Conservation Trust (Jersey) which is trying to secure the numbers of barn owls and kestrels in the island. A display board of photographs of the entries kindly lent by Wallace Barnaby, who helped organise the competition, graced the library for a month. Anna hopes that 2007 will herald entries from Société members and has requested that posters, entry details and forms be made available for collection from the reception and library in the Spring of next year.
The library had a visit from 2 Ingouville family descendants from South America. Carlos and Luis Ingouville had attended the 150th anniversary VC celebrations held at Westminster Abbey, and decided to make a trip to Jersey in order to familiarise themselves with their heritage. They also planned to view the Victoria Cross held in the Maritime Museum awarded to George Henry Ingouville, and the Jersey Heritage Trust did the honours allowing the cousins to hold the Victoria Cross (in gloved hands!) for photographs, which delighted them. Their trip was featured in the Jersey Evening Post, in which they mentioned their appreciation of the hospitality they received at the Société Jersiaise, and wished to thank all those who gave up their time to show them around the Ingouville landmarks.
On the Victoria Cross theme, we were also delighted to meet Mrs Allen- Stevens and cousins who visited the library. As a descendant of the brother of Henry William Pitcher VC, Mrs Allen-Stevens was delighted to see a display board in the library which had been initiated by the History Section. It had, until recently, been in St Martin’s Primary School. Initially the board had been on display in St Martin’s Parish Church where there is a memorial window dedicated to Pitcher, whose mother Rose Mary was a Le Geyt before her marriage.
Anna took them to Green Street Cemetery to see the family tombs and Philip Le Brocq invited them to visit Victoria College where both Henry William and Duncan George Pitcher, his brother, had been former students.
The Association of Jersey Charities has awarded the Société a grant of £20,000 towards scanning equipment to begin a digitisation project in the library which would not only conserve and preserve material but also make the collections much more accessible. Together with a £10,000 bequest specifically for photographic equipment it is hoped equipment can be found that will be suitable for all the Société's collections. Gareth and Brenda are currently researching different possibilities and have been on a recent fact finding mission to the Priaulx in Guernsey. This turned out to be mutually beneficial to ourselves and the staff at the Priaulx.
Douglas Hooke, a volunteer who took on the mammoth task of sorting, collating and indexing a large collection of ephemera commonly known as the X files sadly passed away in July shortly after his 90th birthday. His sister in law told us one of the last things he spoke of was his delight at the presentation of the St Martin’s Parish book by the President and Société staff (this book was missing from his collection). Douglas was an active volunteer right to the end, I’m sure this would have pleased him.
Did You Know?
The Reverend Henry Charlton Beck (whose father was born on the Island) visited in May and June 1964 to write a series of articles for a New Jersey newspaper Sunday Star Ledger to mark the Tercentenary of American Independence. The intention of Father Beck was to make New Jersey aware of it's heritage.
"I brought with me some pieces of old New Jersey glass made by some of the old-time glass blowers enlisted seasonally by the Clevenger's in Clayton, Gloucester County, N.J. Already I have distributed it in strategic places, and have little doubt it is the first glass to be made from the old molds to have come to the island. There was particular joy in leaving Guy Malet de Carteret a brown bottle, shaped like a miniature log cabin for a special brand of whisky by a forgotten New Jersey bottle maker, E.C.Booz. Old Jersey now has evidence that "booze" synonomous with hard liquor the world over, emerged merely as the name of a New Jersey glass pioneer"
The original newspapers containing all seven articles are available for perusal in the library.
Volunteers
The Library depends on members of the Société for their invaluable knowledge and expertise in dealing with the many and varied inquiries we receive. We have several projects that require someone who has minimum keyboard skills (training can be given). Data inputting can be extremely satisfying and the knowledge that you are making Société material more readily available to members and researchers alike is a rewarding experience. If you have a few hours free, please come along and enquire about the projects that need attention.
Brenda Ross, Librarian and Anna Baghiani, Assistant Librarian
