De Havilland, Constitution of Guernsey (1847)

Author(s): Thomas Fiott de Havilland (1775-1866)

Title: Some Remarks on the Constitution of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, formerly a part of the Duchy of Normandy

Remarks:

T.F. de Havilland, the son of Sir Peter de Havilland (Bailiff 1810-1821), was a Jurat of Guernsey's Royal Court, 1842-1855, following a career as a military engineer in India and elsewhere. He built Havilland Hall in Guernsey. His expressed purposes in these Remarks were to show (i) that the Channel Islands' constitutions predated the reign of King John; (ii) that Guernsey's Précepte d'Assise was wholly of the year 1331 (in which he was wrong); and (iii) that an alleged "jurisdiction of four knights" never existed in the island. The work remains useful largely for its appendices. Edition(s) (this copy in bold): 1847 Provenance of this copy: St John Robilliard Collection, late of Sir William Arnold (Bailiff, 1960-1973)

Further reading:

R. Hocart, Peter de Havilland: Bailiff of Guernsey, a history of his life, 1747-1821 (Guernsey, 1997), especially pp. 126-127. Second Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the state of the criminal law in the Channel Islands -- Guernsey (London, 1848), pp. 18-21, 289-291.