The Vale

This parish, which lies at the northern extremity of the Island, was formerly divided
by the sea at what is called the Braye du Valle. That part of it which at high water
was separated from the rest of the Island, and to which there was formerly no communication but by the bridge at St. Sampson’s, was in consequence termed the Close,
and the remainder of the parish, the Vale Vingtaine de l’Epine. The passage of the sea
across this flat is supposed to have taken place about the year 1204, as at the Chief
Plaids of St. Michael, held at St. Anne, in the parish of the Grand Sarazin (now called
the Catel), by Nicholas de Beauvoir, bailiff, Jean le Gros, James le Marchant, Pierre
de la Lande, Robert de la Salle, Colin Heavy, Rauf Emery, Gautier Blondel, and Giullet Lefebvre, jurats of the court of our Sovereign Lord John King of England, on the fourteenth day of October, 1204, a remonstrance was made on the part of John Agenor,
prior of the parish of St. Michael the Archangel in the Vale, and his brethren, Pierre de
Tieauvoir, Pierre Martin, Jean Effart, Jean Jehan, Pierre Nicole, Pierre Dupre, Jean
Agenor, Michael le Pelley, Jean Capelle, and others of the parish of the Vale and St. Sampson’s ;that they were greatly injured by the sea having broken in and destroyed
the passage between them, so that they could not pass in procession,or hold any traffic
one with the other, and particularly with the lands and parish of the Grand Sarazin,
unless they were permitted to erect and support a certain bridge passing from the Vale
to St. Sampson’s, to be by them kept in repair from time to time in future;which was
accordingly granted, and a survey appointed for the purpose, on St. Bartholomew then
next, and public notice was to be given as to such erection. The bridge was erected accordingly, which at all times afforded a ready communication at that part ;but the sea flowing from the other extremity at the Vale Church,and preventing all intercourse to the north-west, a causeway of large stones, called the Devil’s Bridge, or Pont du Val, was raised for the purpose of crossing the Braye at low water, and the sea continued to overflow a large tract of land every tide, till by the unremitting exertions of Sir John Doyle, the present worthy lieutenant-governor, ever watchful for the best interests of the Island, this overflowed land was recovered by shutting out the sea by another bridge near the Vale Church, by which eight hundred and fourteen vergees, or Guernsey acres, have been brought into tillage ;and though to all appearance little better than a bed of sand, yet, by the help of draining and good husbandry, it is nevertheless likely to become as fertile as the generality of low land in this parish. The recovered land, after settling the innumerable small claims of the several landholders bounding it on every side, of course became the property of the crown,and was publicly sold in one lot to some gentlemen for five thousand pounds ; who, parcelling it out amongst them, are now persevering in their efforts to bring it into cultivation, and have already been as successful as the time would allow : some corn has been grown upon it, and two good farm-houses erected. But this, though certainly a grand object obtained, is not the only benefit derived. At the intercession of Sir John Doyle, the crown very liberally gave up the purchase-money towards defraying the expenses of new military roads across the Island; nor has the liberality of the inhabitants in general been proportionably less forward in extending this much-wanted improvement in different directions; a sum of money, not less than five thousand pounds, having been already expended in this desirable undertaking, by which an extent of road, of nearly eighteen miles in length, has been accomplished (as may be seen by the map), of the greatest publicutility ;and will,no doubt, from time to time, as the means afford an opportunity, be continued in various directions throughout the Island, as useful in its defence, as advantageous to the community. In In the Close of the Vale, not far from the spot where the church now stands, the
fugitive priests from the Abbey of Mount St.Michael, in Normandy, about the year 962,
erected a monastery or abbey, which was likewise dedicated to St. Michael; and by the
exertions of these Benedictine monks, who thus formed the first regular settlement in the Island, the whole Close of the Vale was soon brought into cultivation. The abbot, it appears, had no regular grant of the lands from the Duke of Normandy, but assumed a
property in them for the maintenance of the monastery till 1032, when Robert Duke of
Normandy, the father of the Conqueror, granted them to the monks, by the appellation
of the fief St.Michael, which grant the Conqueror confirmed in 1061;and though at
first wholly confined to this parish, it then comprised one-fourth of the cultivated part
of the Island, including the Island of Erm, upon which a priory had been erected, and
also that of Lihou, where a chapel had been built,as well as lands in the several parishes
of the Catel, St. Saviour, St. Peter, and Torteval; in the two former of which, the
Catel and St. Saviour’s, other chapels had also been erected. In the old extent of
Edward III. the Abbey of Mount St. Michael is said to hold sixty bouvees and a half of
land in the Close of the Vale, paying to the King yearly twenty sols,two deniers, in two
payments, viz. at the feasts of Easter and St. Paul;and in the last extent of James I.
the minor fiefs, Nourmont and Au Legat, are mentioned as dependents of the fief
St. Michael, and lying within this parish. These lands were all enjoyed by the monks
of the abbey, till its dissolution in Henry VIII.’s time, when it is probable the edifice was
either pulled down, or suffered to run into such decay that no vestige whatever now
remains of it to trace the exact site, though the spot is pointed out upon which it is said
to have stood: there are some pointed arches on the south wall of the cemetery of the
Vale Church, which might possibly have been part of the chapel.

The fief St. Michael has ever since belonged to the crown ;and the court, which
consists of a seneschal, eleven vavasors, three prevosts, a greffier, and serjeant, is held
three times a year, viz. on the day following each of the Chief Pleas of the Royal Court,
at which the tenants are obliged to attend. Formerly at these courts pleas were held of
such causes as arose within its jurisdiction,from whence appeals lay to the Royal Court ;
but the powers of the feudal courts having for many years past been curtailed, the
ordinary business of the fief, and mere outward formalities, are all that remain of their
judicial authority. Many religious ceremonies once added pomp to this fief court,
when the original owners, the abbots of St. Michael, aspired at all the superstitious
splendour of the Romish church. Amongst other rites to impose on the credulous, and
keep alive the devoted bigotry of the ignorant, the abbot’s procession with the host on
the feast De Dieu was perhaps the most pompous. Before this ceremony took place,it was
customary for the seneschal, vavasors, and all the members of the court, attended by
the King’s officers, to make a survey of the roads throughout the Island,to see they were
in proper repair for the procession, and to impose fines on all persons found negligent in
suffering the highways to get into a bad state, or who,by encroachment,might anywise
obstruct the ceremony.
When poperly declined, and the perambulation with the host was suppressed, these
surveys became less frequent, and for many years were entirely discontinued by the Governor, in whose name and authority they were afterwards made, as savouring too
much of Romish superstition, and more expensive than profitable, the fines being
seldom found of sufficient amount to defray the expenses attending it;an entertainment being provided at the King’s charge for the day of survey, and another afterwards
when the court met to review and levy the fines imposed. This ceremony of surveying the King’s highways, which had not previously taken place for twenty-seven years, was lately renewed. The cavalcade, or chevauchee, consisting of the lieutenant-governor and the officers of his staff, the seneschal* vavasors, and members of the Court St. Michael, together with the King’s officers of the Royal Court, allmounted onhorseback, the horses decorated with ribbons, and led by footmen, termed peons, dressed in white jackets and trowsers, bound and ornamented with rose-coloured ribbons, black velvet caps, and gilt-headed spears ;proceeded from the court-room at the Vale, along the high road through the town, St. Martin’s, the Forest, St.Peter’s inthe Wood, and Torteval, toPlein Mont ;from whence, after partaking of some refreshment in a marquee, provided for the purpose, they pursued their route through St. Saviour’s, by the King’s Mills, and the lower part of the Catel parish, to the place from whence the procession moved ;an officer, termed portelance, carrying a spear erect, measuring eleven feet eight inches, elevated from the
stirrup on which it rested to the height of about fourteen feet from the ground to the
point. If the spear came in contact with the boughs of trees, or other projections
overhanging the road, or such roads were not ingood repair, andof the width of the
spear’s length, theowners of the adjoining land were subject to fines, who are by custom bound to keep the highways in repair ;the lands on one side maintaining a good
foot-path, and the other a horse or carriage road.

The peons, who are men of the very lowest order, hired for the purpose, or volunteering their services upon the occasion, have the privilege of saluting, or rather insulting, every female they meet, with out distinction, which in this instance was but too
rudely exercised indiscriminately upon the most exalted and humblest of the fair sex :
so that a dirty carman may now exultingly boast of having pressed the lips of some
colonel’s lady, or the hallowed check of the most fastidious first-class prude, who happened unthinkingly to stand in the way of his rude embrace.
The Castle of St. Michael, now called Vale Castle, erected upon an eminence on
the eastern side of this parish, was begun towards the close of the tenth century, to shelter the inhabitants from the ravages of the pirates continually infesting the Island,and carrying off the corn and cattle. It was many years completing, and, three centuries after, was then large enough to contain not only the people but their stock, where, in cases of alarm, they shut themselves up for protection, and bid defiance to the
invaders. Before the destructive invention and general use of gunpowder, it might well be considered impregnable; but the battering train of time, having now besieged it more than eight centuries, has reduced the original structure to little more than the bare circumscribing wall, in which are some flanking towers and the old portal. Buildings have been erected within-side for the accommodation of a few soldiers,by way of barracks ; and the Engraving at p. 56. exhibits a correct delineation of its present mouldering ramparts (upon which are some few pieces of ordnance), the most ancient structure now remaining in the Island.
It is impossible to state accurately the precise time when the erection of the Church
was begun, which was also dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel;but a very particular’account is preserved in several old manuscripts of its consecration, which no
doubt took place at its completion, in the year 1117, with great ceremony, the following dignified heads of the church, and others, being present at the solemnity : The
Honourable Caliste de Ganevis, Serjeant Honourable; Alexander Reveugier, Bishop
of Coutance; Brother Messias Romain, Abbot of Mount St. Michael; the Honourable Renault Montsauvage, Captain and Governor of the Castle and Parish of St. Michael du Vale;the Honourable Michael de Beauvoir; Sire Peter Carbaret, Curate of
the Chapel of Monte Tombe ;the Honourable Dame Martin du Valle, Abbess of
Caen; the Honourable Michael le Boutellier, Abbot of Blanche Lande; Brother Penart, the younger, Abbot of Rouen ;Brother Francis Franche Montagne, hermit
of the Isle of Erm; Sir Brandin Harriton, Governor of Jersey ;and John Buget,
gentleman, his lieutenant; together with the principal inhabitants.
The quantity of land in the Close of the Vale, measured and set down in what
are called books of percharge, is two thousand one hundred and ninety-six vergees ;besides which there are from seven to eight hundred vergees of common, or waste land,
not yet measured.

The lands without the Close are about one thousand three hundred vergees, making
together four thousand three hundred vergees.
There are now forty-eight dwelling-houses within the Close, and the population near
eight hundred persons : without the Close, there are only forty-two houses, and about
three hundred persons, making together a total of one hundred and ninety houses, with
a population of about eleven hundred.
The number of quarters in the whole parish, rated to public taxes, amounts to three
thousand seven hundred and fifty ;and the average taxation, one year with another, is
from nine-pence to one shilling per quarter yearly, which includes parochial exigencies,
as well as public necessities of the Island ;one-third of the latter being the quota
furnished by this parish. These quarters may be computed of the average value of
twenty-five pounds each, producing, or worth to the owner, at least five per cent.;
so that the whole taxation upon property may in this parish be averaged at little more than eight-pence in the pound, which is paid by the owner, not the tenant ;for
a person may rent land or houses to any amount, without contributing one penny for
general purposes, except on his own income or private property. The numbers of
quarters are fixed by the douzainiers, who act as assessors ;and if the party feels himself over-rated, he appeals to the Royal Court for relief, which is granted upon oath.
The incumbent of this living holds with it the adjoining parish of St. Sampson.
The great tithes and champart are in the hands of the King, the rector being thereout
entitled only to a small allowance, granted by the Abbot of St. Michael to the officiating
priest He has also some small tithes of fish, apples, &c.;and by contract dated
the ninth day of August, 1555, confirmed before the seneschal and vavasors of the
court of the fief of St. Michael, under seal of the said court, in the presence, and
by the consent of the King’s procureur, comptroller, and receiver, and the landholders and farmers of the tithes in the Close of the Vale, it was agreed between
them and the then curate, Thomas de Beaugy, that the curate of the church and
parish of St. Michael in the Vale should in future receive for the novals or tithe of
the desert hinds in the Close of the Vale, and the champart thereof, the fifth sheaf of
all corn, and one-fifth of the flax,produced on such lands ;upon condition that all the
books, letters, and evidences, relative to the deserts in the Close of the Vale, should
be destroyed : all which, it appears, were then burnt in the presence of the parties.
As this curious agreement may, by its preservation, prevent the possibility of dispute
as to the novals or deserts in this parish, I have subjoined a copy of it.

This parish has sixteen douzainiers, twelve of whom are chosen within, and the
other four without the Close of the Vale, but acting jointly for the whole parish ; the
duties of their office being no way separated, but in the making of the books of percharge for the King’s Receiver, which is done by the twelve alone.

St. SAMPSON

The parish of St.Sampson lies at the north-east extremity of the Island. All the lands
in it were in the hands of the Duke of Normandy, till William the Conqueror rewarded
Sampson d’Anneville with about one-fourth of the Island, among which was a part of this parish, then erected into the fief or royalty still called the fief D’Anneville. The
lands are now held by four different kinds of tenure, viz. frank-fiefs, or seigniories,
which are the most noble of all holdings under the crown, and formerly were only
bestowed on persons distinguished for their piety or skill in arms;and in later ages, on
such as are of the rank of gentlemen, and fit to attend the Sovereign in the field, in the
courts of justice, or in the cabinet. The second species of holding in the parish of
St. Sampson is called the bordages, or bordage-tenure, better known in England by the
title of villenage. There are other lands held in this parish by patent, grants, or title deeds, immediately from the crown, or from commissioners appointed by the royal
authority for that purpose; this tenure is called in the Island bail des commissaires.
The fourth and last kind of tenure in the parish of St. Sampson is freehold, or all odial
tenure,not owing to the crown,or to any feudal lord, any rent, chief rent, homage, or
acknowledgment whatever, except, as a subject, fidelity and loyalty to his prince. The fief D’Anneville,which,it seems, was the first grant to a layman in the Island,is
the noblest tenure in it: the lord of this seigniory is next in rank after the clergy, and is
so cited in the King’s courts, which he is obliged by his tenure to attend thrice a year,
viz. at the Chief Pleas, or opening of the terms ;and he is likewise bound, when the
King comes to the Island, to attend him as his esquire during his stay. This fief
escheated to the crown about the time Geoffroy Plantagenet rescued Normandy from
King Stephen, and continued so till Henry, son of Geoffroy, ascended the throne of
England in 11 54, by the title of Henry II. who ceded the Earldom of Mortaigne to his
younger brother William, and with it gave him Sampson d’Anneville’s estate in this
Island, which consisted then, besides the present fief of Anneville and its dependencies
in the parish of St. Sampson, of what is now called the fief Le Comte, situated in the
parishes of the Vale, Catel, St. Saviour, and St. Peter, which we shall hereafter
describe. The Earl enjoyed his title and estate only till the year 1158, when dying
without issue, it again reverted to the crown. About the year 1190, King Richard
gave the Earldom of Mortaigne, and with it this estate, to his brother John,who held it
till he came to the crown, in 1199, when he granted it to Robert de Vere, ancestor of
the Earls of Oxford, of that name, for a term of years. After the expiration of this
term, it was sold by King Henry III. in the thirty-second year of his reign, to
Guilliaume de Cheney, and was inherited by his descendant, Edmond de Cheney,
Governor of this and the neighbouring Islands, in 1366; it afterwards, by marriage,
descended into the family of Willoughby, and continued in their possession till 1509,
when it was sold by Sir Robert Willoughby, son and heir of Dame Margaret de Cheney,
to Nicholas Fachin, and which sale was confirmed by Henry VIII. the thirteenth day
of June, A.R. 38. It continued some years in this family, and then descended into
that of Andros, and is now in the possession of Thomas Fachin Andros, Esq.
What remains of the fief of Anneville unalienated is situated in this parish, and consists of seventeen bouvees of land, containing about three hundred and eighty-four
Guernsey vergees, divided, according to the last survey, among twenty-seven tenants.
This is what is called the fief or manor of Anneville, separate and distinct from its
dependencies, which are, first, the fief of Fauville, containing two hundred and sixty three vergees, five perches, divided among eleven tenants ; the fief Bouilleuze, containing twenty-three vergees, fourteen perches, divided between two tenants ;and the
fief De la Roziere, containing about two hundred and fifty vergees ; but the exact
number of acres or tenants is not known, for want of a book of measurement, or, as it is
called a livre percharge, which is properly a survey. We have therefore followed the
extent made in the reignof Edward III. which declares it to consist of the same number
of bouvees as Fauville : thus it is that the present manor of Anneville, with all its
dependencies, contains only, according to this calculation, nine hundred vergees and
nineteen perches. Most of the feudal services the tenants were liable to in the reign of
Henry IV.1406, when the above survey was taken, are now annihilated. The lord
holds a court yearly at Michaelmas, composed of a seneschal, three vavasors, a clerk or
greffier, and a provost. At this court all the tenants of the fief Anneville only (not of
Fauville, Roziere, or La Croute Bouilleuze) are obliged to appear and answer to their
names,as they are called over by the clerk ; in default of which, they areliable to a fine
of five sols tournois for each of the two first neglects; and the third time, their lands
are seized for the lord, and kept in his possession for one year. At this court, each
new tenant who has purchased or inherited any lands on the fief since the preceding
court-day is enrolled,as also his lands, for which he pays a fine of only five sols tournois,
be the quantity of land great or small. The tenants thus assembled annually choose a
provost among themselves for collecting the lord’s chief rents, which, for Anneville alone, are twenty-seven quarters of wheat, small measure, and the twelfth sheaf of every species of grain grown on the manor, which twelfth sheaf is called champart;* besides which, every house situate on the manor pays a couple of fowls, termed poulage. The revenues arising to the seigniory of Anneville from the appendages, are, for the fief Fauville, now containing two hundred and seventy-nine vergees, six perches, the champart, and a couple of hens for each of the ten houses situated in the said fief; on the fief Croute Bouilleuze, which now contains twenty-three vergees, eight perches, the rents due to the seigniory D’Anneville,are twenty-four sols tournois, four loaves of bread,four capons, and eighty eggs, together with the champart, or twelfth sheaf of corn arising from the lands. All the dues the seignior of Anneville was formerly entitled to on the fief De la Roziere inthis parish, which we have mentioned as dependent on Anneville, are lost, and the rents due to the crown thereon have not been received for many years, for want of a survey of the lands and tenements situated thereon. There were likewise two other minor fiefs or dependencies belonging to the seigniory of Anneville, called Canelly and Fantome, which like that of La Roziere, cannot be ascertained. The fief Anneville
is now reckoned to contain three hundred and sixty-two vergees and eleven perches, four
houses, and about forty tenants. Within this parish there are two other fiefs : that of Vaugrat, containing one hundred and five vergees, belonging to Mr. Samuel Hocart; and the fief Des Philippes, lately purchased by Mr. John Hubert, and measuring one hundred and three vergees. The bordage-tenures held of the fief Le Roy, are those of Testart, being two hundred and seventy-three vergees, thirty perches ; Geffrey, six hundred and ten vergees, twenty-one perches ; Fantome, two hundred and forty vergees, thirty-four perches ;besides the frank-fief Gallicien, containing two hundred and twenty-four vergees, thirty-one perches; which, together with the lands not inpercharge, viz, six hundred and forty vergees, belonging to the heirs of George Lefebvre, Esq. and fifty vergees to Mr. James Gould, make the total quantity of land within this parish to amount to two thousand nine bundled and ten vergees, thirty-seven perches, exclusive of that part of the lately recovered land at the Braye du Valle, to be considered within the parish, but not yet correctly ascertained.
In the last extent or rental of the crown made in the time of James I. the fief Legate,
extending likewise into the Vale, and dependent on the fief St. Michael, is mentioned as
being within this parish.
It is calculated there are about one hundred and twenty-five dwelling-houses within
this parish, containing a population of seven hundred and eighty-eight at least. The
number of quarters rated to public taxes is computed at three thousand and fourteen;
and the total rates to amount, upon an average, to about fifteen pence per quarter ;the
whole parish furnishing one-thirtieth of all public exigences of the Island.

The Church, which has all the appearance of antiquity, was the first erected in this
Island;the consecration took place on the twenty-second day of May,1111,*by Anthony
de Suson, bishop of Coutance, in presence of brother Claude Panton, hermit of Erm, and
his holy brotherhood, the high and puissant Prince Juillien du Praile, governor and
lord of the Isles, Sire Richard d’Anneville, governor of the parish, Enoch Dupre, his lieutenant, and the principal parishioners. It stands on the south side of the harbour,
which,since the erection of the pier adjoining the town, has not been much used, except
for the loading of granite paving stones, quarried near, the only article of exportation
(save a few cows and a little cider) that can be considered the production of the
Island.
The parish officers in this and the other parishes, are two curateurs, or church-wardens,
one procureur despauvres, or manager for the poor, four collectors, two constables, and
twelve douzainiers, whose official duties have already been explained.

The following inscription is taken from the only monument within the Church:

Icy proche repose le Corps
d’Eleazar Le Marchant Esquier
en son vivant l’un des Magistrats dela
Com* Royalle de cette Isle de Guernezey
Lequel en fut appointe Bailly par sa
Majeste la Reine Anne suivant Ordre
donne aS’James le 7me jour du Mois de
Mars Anno Domini 1703.
II deceda a son Doinicille aux grandes
Maisons en cetteparoisse de S’ Sampson
le 30rae jour du Mois de November An :
Dom: 1716 Aage de 67 Ans et 9 Mois.

* Champart, as the word itself implies, seems to have been the ancient original reserved rent of part of the produce of the field when first brought into tillage or cultivation,before any fixed annual value could be set on the lands thus granted;and the poulage rent is perhaps of equal antiquity, though the latter, it is thought,might originally have been an allowance for the governor’s table.

PAROCHIAL DISTRICTS of GUERNSEY

It appears that the Island was divided into parishes during the Conqueror’s reign;but
at what time the churches were built,cannot exactly be ascertained;the insular manuscripts, however,furnish us with a very particular account of their dedication, a ceremony that no doubt took place immediately after their completion. The parishes are ten in number, and, according to the time of such consecrations,rank in the following order:
—
St. Sampson, – ————————————— 22nd May, 1111.
St. Michael, or the Vale,————————– 29th September, 1117.
St.Philip of Torteval,—————————— 1st November, 1130.
St. Saviour, ——————————————- 30th May, 1154.
St. Margaret of the Forest,———————– 3rd September, 1163.
St. Peter’s of the Wood,—————————- 29th June,1167.
St. Martin, —————————- —————– 4th February, 1199.
Our Lady of Deliverance of the Castle,—- 25th August, 1203.
St. Andrew, ——————————————– 1st October, 1284.
St. Peter’s Port,————————————— 1st August,1312.
PARISH OFFICERS
For many years before the militia of the Island was organized, there was in each parish a captain or centenier, who had the management and training of the men to the use of arms, and the care of two pieces of ordnance ;but the officer 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, which have each sixteen), chosen for
life by the parishioners, as representatives for their parochial district in the Assembly of
the States of the Island on all public matters, voting individually in the choice of the
jurats or magistrates, and giving their voice collectively, by the constables of their
respective parishes, on other subjects requiring deliberation. They have, in fact, the
regulation of all parochial matters.

There are two constables in each parish, chosen annually, who are likewise members of
the States, entitled to vote in the same manner as the douzain. The office of constable,
improperly called high constable, to distinguish it from the assistants to the constable, is a trust of no little consequence, and held in as much reverential awe by the lower
orders of people as the court itself: indeed, in one instance I shall mention, the constables
seem to have more power; for on complaint of any little misdemeanour, for which they
do not think proper to bring the offender before the court, they have (but from what
authority derived I know not) the arbitrary power in their own hands, of banishing the
culprit from the Island without a judicial hearing before a magistrate. This power, it
must be acknowledged, may be very improperly used, should the office fall into the
hands of men of tyrannical dispositions, unable nicely to discriminate between justice
and oppression.

The peace of the district is committed to their charge, which they are to preserve
night and day. They formerly set the watch, visited and discharged it, and were to
see that all orders from the captains of the parishes, bailiff, and jurats, were strictly
obeyed.

They are, during night, to confine offenders ;but if,in their opinion, the crime deserves
corporal punishment, they are to produce the culprits before the magistracy.
Formerly, when a jurat was to be elected, the constables took the general opinion of
the parishioners of their respective parishes, and declared upon oath, on whom the choice had fallen by majority of votes, who was accordingly declared duly elected, and sworn in to office. But this mode of electing jurats, which seems to have accorded with the Constitutions of King John, has been discontinued nearly three centuries, and the
choice of magistrates is now determined by vote, in an assembly of the states of election.
The constables are to make search, in the presence of two respectable persons, for any
stolen property reported to them, and to inform the King’s procureur, the bailiff, and
magistrates, of the result of such search.They are to question every stranger who may arrive and have no place of lodging, as to his last place of residence, and every other particular, and to conduct him to an inn, according to his circumstances; and if found to be suspicious,are to in form the procureur, or the captain of the parish, that they may act as the case requires. They receive the money raised for public services from their collectors, for whom they are responsible, and apply it to the purposes intended.

The petty customs, or pier duty, was formerly collected by the constables, for which
they accounted before the expiration of their office, but it is now collected by the harbour master.

It is the duty of the constables 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 throw them away. They are, by right and ancient custom, entitled to receive from the vendors of liquors, for every pipe or butt of wine, beer, or cider, one pott (two quarts), and for every barrel one quart; and on refusal of this allowance, the parties were liable to a fine.
Formerly vagabonds and persons able to work,found begging, were by the constables
put in employment, and clothed at the charge of the parish ; and they had the power of
sending out of the Island, by the first vessel bound to their native country,all strangers
who refused to work as prescribed ;but the establishment of poor houses, regulated as
in England, has taken this troublesome duty out of their hands.
They formerly visited the bake-houses, to see that the bread was carried to market,
and was of just weight, according to the value of wheat ;and if found deficient, gave
such bread to the poor, the party offending being subject to fine at the discretion of
the judge: but this practice has been long laid aside; every little shopkeeper makes and
sells bread, in loaves of different weights, at such price per pound as the value of flour
may justify, no regular assize being fixed, though now and then the constables of the
Town parish, by public advertisement, assess the price.

The curateurs, of whom there are two in each parish, are officers exercising all the
functions of church-wardens, and the procureur des pauvres, or manager for the poor,
in each parochial district, is an officer similar to that of overseer. Formerly the
parishes were subdivided into vintains, and an officer, called vintonnier, was appointed
over each vintain or district, who collected for the constables the parish rates, served
public notices, and performed other minor duties;but he now only warns the militiamen on duty, which being considered rather a troublesome office, is an exemption
from personal military service in the ranks ; collectors of rates being now a distinct
office, held by two or more persons according to the extent of district.

The messier, an inferior officer, now but little known, had formerly the charge of all
cattle found astray committing trespass, which might often happen before the lands were enclosed, notwithstanding the generally adopted plan of tethering. It appears this
officer must have been entitled to certain fines over and above the damages occasioned
by trespass, as it formed one of the complaints to Council, some years back, that the
messier had exacted sums of money from the owners of cattle found trespassing on
their own corn-lands: no doubt to enforce more care, for being at liberty, other people
were equally liable to suffer depredation by the trespasser.