GUERNSEY HISTORY 

Guernsey History – By year

Here's every post in the Guernsey History category organised by date, from St Sampson's ordination in 521, through the Occupation and right up to the present day.

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521
Saint Sampson was ordained a bishop
1066
Guernsey's king sets sail for England
1140
The original Torteval church is consecrated
1199
St Martin's parish church was consecrated
1204
Guernsey chooses England over France
1486
Guernsey's first governor, Edmund Weston, was appointed
1556
The Guernsey Martyrs are burned at the stake
1556
Guillaume de Beauvoir appointed dean in Geneva
1563
Elizabeth College was founded
1587
Queen Mary was beheaded while wearing Guernsey stockings
1640
Braye du Valle is gifted by the crown
1651
Castle Cornet surrenders in Civil War
1671
Castle Cornet is struck by lightning
1715
Isaac Newton commented on a Guernsey invention
1724
The first lighthouses are built on the Casquets
1747
Bailiff Sir Peter de Havilland is born
1757
Baron James de Saumarez was born
1783
Soldiers at Fort George mutinied
1786
Guernsey's first Methodist minister arrived
1790
Guernsey poet George Métivier was born
1793
Famed printer Thomas de la Rue was born
1794
Guernsey Post Office was established
1795
Guernsey's last duel was fought at dawn in Cambridge Park
1797
Earl Grey is appointed Governor of Guernsey
1801
Two deserters are shot after landing on Guernsey
1803
Guernsey's Royal Court sat for the first time
1803
John Doyle is appointed Lieutenant-Governor
1807
HMS Boreas sinks at Hanois
1812
Major General Sir Isaac Brock dies
1813
Guernsey newspaper The Star was first published
1817
Antiquarian William Collings Lukis was born
1823
Guernsey welcomes its first steam ship
1826
Guernsey poet and painter Denys Corbet is born
1826
Elizabeth College's foundation stone laid
1830
The papers are excited by a Guernsey execution
1831
The title Baron de Saumarez is created
1832
Guernsey is declared free of cholera
1834
The first mines are dug on Sark
1835
Guernsey guidebook pioneer Henry Inglis died
1835
Geologist cartographer John MacCulloch dies
1842
Former Bailiff Daniel de Lisle Brock dies
1843
Guernsey is struck by an earthquake
1844
Guernsey's first banker, Thomas Priaulx, died
1845
Bailiff John Guille dies in Plymouth
1846
Queen Victoria visits Guernsey
1848
Work starts on Victoria Tower
1848
Explorer Edmund Kennedy was speared to death
1851
Victor Hugo flees France and Napoleon
1853
Guernsey's first postbox was installed in Union Street
1853
Guernsey's first paid constables are hired
1854
John Tapner was the last man to be hanged on Guernsey
1855
Horticultural painter William Caparne is born
1857
Admiral Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin dies
1858
Guernseyman Edward Tupper was killed by cannibals
1860
Hanois Lighthouse's foundation stone is laid
1862
Guernsey-set Toilers of the Sea was first published
1862
Alderney was debated in the House of Commons
1863
Coffee trader William Le Lacheur dies
1866
Guernsey-born military architect Thomas de Havilland died
1869
Guernsey Mormon Sampson Avard dies in Illinois
1869
Guernsey is hit by a hurricane
1869
Naftel's paintings went on display
1870
Victor Hugo planted his United States of Europe oak
1872
Guernsey Ladies' College opens
1876
Saumarez Memorial foundation stone is laid
1877
The Channel Islands were cut off from the outside world
1877
Guernsey steam tramway is granted its concession
1879
Philip de Saumarez is discharged as a Jurat
1881
Guille and Alles lease the Assembly Rooms
1882
Guille and Alles opened their library
1882
Batterie Dollmann's namesake was born in 1882
1883
Renoir arrived on Guernsey to paint
1884
Sibyl Hathaway, Dame of Sark, was born
1884
Wesleyans celebrate 100 years on Guernsey
1889
Guernsey Steam Tramway stopped running
1889
Priaulx Library first opened to visitors
1890
The Star receives some "grave" news
1890
Guernsey Yacht Club is founded
1891
Osmond de Beauvoir Priaulx died
1891
Guernsey buys Fort Grey from the War Office
1892
Guernsey Railway Company ran its first services
1892
A Guernsey recruit regrets signing up
1893
St Peter Port inundated with fish
1894
A royal visit... of sorts
1894
A hospital worker stands accused of murder
1895
Reverend Harry Samuel was released from prison
1895
The Imperial Hotel opens for the first time
1896
Guernsey's telephone wars break out
1896
States Telephone Department is established
1897
Wartime diplomat Wilfred Gallienne born in Guernsey
1897
Guernsey celebrates Queen Victoria's jubilee
1897
A Cornish funeral for drowned Guernsey sailors
1898
A mail ship was wrecked on Black Rock
1900
Steamship SS Rossgull is wrecked
1903
Plans for the power station at St Sampson were approved
1903
Guernsey's oldest woman dies, aged 110
1905
The first Muratti football match takes place
1905
Guernsey man posts himself to Sark
1905
The Duke of Connaught visits Guernsey
1909
Guernsey hosts its first marathon
1911
A fugitive murderer committed suicide in St Peter Port
1911
Sark-based writer Mervyn Peake born
1912
Alderney residents line the coast to watch Titanic pass
1912
Charlie Chaplin plays in St Peter Port
1913
Winston Churchill visits Guernsey with his wife
1914
Guernsey's last witch trial took place
1914
Victor Hugo's statue was unveiled in Candie Gardens
1915
Guernsey Police Service appointed its first inspector
1915
Guernsey's island-wide police force was established
1915
Guernsey's stone crackers demand a pay rise
1916
Guernsey bigamist celebrates his second marriage
1916
6th Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment fights at the Somme
1916
Guernsey recruits cause concern in Parliament
1918
Royal Guernsey Light Infantry suffered losses at Ypres
1918
Guernsey deportee, nurse Gladys Skillett is born
1918
Archaeologist Crystal Bennett is born
1918
Spanish flu arrives on Guernsey
1918
Herm bribery case came to court
1918
Guernsey shipwreck results in Herm starvation
1919
A pensioner was buried in a St Sampson landslide
1921
Guernsey adopts the pound Sterling
1921
Ship sinks in St Sampson harbour
1923
Game of Thrones actor Roy Dotrice was born
1924
Typewriter artist Dom Sylvester Houedard was born
1927
The City of Paris acquires Hauteville House
1927
Victor Hugo's house opens to the public
1927
Alderney to Guernsey telephone connection established
1927
A minister is found dead at Icart Point
1928
Overdose verdict in Guernsey farmer's death inquiry
1929
Sibyl Beaumont marries Robert Hathaway
1930
Southern Railway took ownership of the Isle of Guernsey
1931
Work began on the Val Des Terres
1931
The mainland phone line was inaugurated
1934
Guernsey Railway company ceases operations
1934
Author Mary Ann Shaffer was born
1935
A Guernsey-built prototype plane crashed
1935
The States of Guernsey proposed a new airport
1935
Guernsey's first female murderer went on trial
1935
Val des Terres first opened for traffic
1936
St Johns performs its first Guernsey rescue
1936
Guernsey to Jersey plane crashes into the sea
1937
Building work began on Guernsey Airport
1937
Pollet guest house fire claims third life
1937
Murderer Peter Robin was sentenced to death
1939
A "dead" man was appointed to run Guernsey Airport
1939
Guernsey Airport opens for business
1939
First arrests are made at Guernsey Airport
1940
The Channel Islands are demilitarised
1940
Guernsey's school children are evacuated
1940
Guernsey's wartime controlling committee's first meeting
1940
Guernsey is bombed by German planes
1940
Alderney was occupied by German forces
1940
First Commando raid of the Second World War
1940
The RAF bombs Guernsey Airport
1940
German forces confiscate Guernsey's radios
1940
A plane crashes on Crevichon
1941
Guernsey issued its first ever stamp
1941
British papers report that the Dame of Sark has been deported
1941
Occupation resister Winifred Green is deported
1941
Guernsey switches to Reichsmarks
1941
Hitler orders Channel Islands' fortification
1942
Guernsey's entire police force was arrested
1942
Battery Mirus was test-fired for the first time
1942
Three Jewish women were deported from Guernsey
1942
German forces confiscate Guernsey radios
1942
Albert Lamy appointed Guernsey Police Chief Officer
1942
Sark is the target of Operation Basalt
1942
A Lancaster bomber crashes on Sark
1942
Herbert Le Patourel wrongly thought killed
1943
Occupation resister Marie Ozanne died in the Vale
1943
Operation Hardtack targeted the Channel Islands
1944
The team behind GUNS was intercepted by the Germans
1944
Specsavers founder Mary Perkins was born
1944
GUNS writer Joseph Gillingham is deported
1944
"Let em starve," says Churchill
1944
GUNS founder Charles Machon dies
1944
Guernsey was saved from starvation
1945
Occupying forces mounted a supply raid on Granville
1945
Final issue of Deutsche Guernsey-Zeitung was published
1945
Guernsey is liberated from German occupation
1945
Alderney was liberated at the end of the war
1945
Mainland papers were hungry for occupation stories
1945
The king and queen celebrate Guernsey's liberation
1945
The military government is disbanded
1945
Alderney's evacuees return after occupation
1946
Guernsey buys Herm from the mainland
1947
"Twink" went missing on its way to Guernsey
1947
Guernsey woman advised to leave for her own safety
1947
Guernsey is invaded by the Colorado beetle
1947
Racing yacht Westward was blown up off Guernsey
1947
Murderer sentenced to death in three hours
1948
Guernsey plays football against Tottenham Hotspur
1948
Guernsey's Reform Law is enacted
1949
Alderney elected its first president
1949
Royal theft inquiry headed to Guernsey
1949
A liberation celebration ends in disaster
1949
A mainland murder with a Guernsey connection
1949
The head of Guernsey CID was shot in St Peter Port
1949
Princess Elizabeth opens Guernsey's hospital
1949
Missing girl, Jetta, found in Guernsey
1949
Man "disappears" from a Guernsey ferry
1951
A Guernsey watchmaker helped hunt for the Stone of Scone
1952
The Channel Islands' Vicar General dies
1953
Guernsey-set film The Sea Devils reached cinemas
1954
A plane hits a car while landing at Guernsey
1954
Jethou tenant falls off his own cliff
1955
Norfolk pupils spend a week on Guernsey
1955
Two Guernsey cargo ships collide
1956
Guernsey Police moved to its new HQ
1956
Former Lieutenant Governor, Lord Ruthven, dies aged 85
1956
Guernsey got a new set of coins
1956
BBC makes its first ever Channel Islands broadcast
1956
The BBC makes its first broadcast from Sark
1956
Scout falls 250ft down Torteval cliff
1956
The melon king dies... long live the melon king
1957
Guernsey nurses went on hunger strike
1957
Fire at the Stocks Hotel on Sark
1958
A German minefield is discovered at L'Ancresse
1958
William Hedley Cliff bought Jethou
1959
Schoolboys and their teacher go missing off Sark
1960
Guernsey darts players set a new world record
1960
Sarnia Theatre celebrates its most successful year
1960
The desalination plant opens
1961
Hanois Lighthouse was cut off from Guernsey
1961
Car plane air crash ends in fireball
1962
Tenant of Jethou rescued from an up-turned boat
1962
Human remains are found on Lihou
1962
Channel Television takes to the air
1963
Puffin's Pla(i)ce was broadcast on ITV for the first time
1963
The Beatles play at Candie Gardens
1963
Spotlight is broadcast for the first time
1964
A bomb left over from the war was detonated
1964
Condor 1 hydrofoil undergoes its final sea trials
1964
Guernsey deputies voted to abolish execution for murder
1964
A tomato ship and a tanker collided
1964
The Rolling Stones play St Peter Port
1964
Major Guernsey employer Tektronix goes public
1965
Dame Sibyl becomes a dame again
1966
TV's Jeeves was rushed to Guernsey
1967
Torrey Canyon spilled its oil on Guernsey's beaches
1967
President Garcia was refloated in Saints Bay
1967
Guernsey holidaymakers head home itching
1968
Aurigny Air Services was founded by Derrick Bailey
1968
Occupation president Ambrose Sherwill dies
1968
Footballer Matt Le Tissier is born
1968
Guernsey Police makes the world's first underwater arrest
1969
A typhoid suspect holidaymaker flew home
1969
Occupation Controlling Committee's Sir John Leale dies
1969
Guernsey Post Office is established
1970
Guernsey elected nurse Elizabeth Lincoln to the States
1970
The original Guernseyman was born
1971
Sir Charles Hayward buys Jethou for £40,000
1971
The Dame of Sark appears on Desert Island Discs
1972
Guernsey banned smoking in public places
1972
Guernsey Fisher made its maiden voyage
1972
The Little Theatre is reprieved... for now
1973
Guernsey Zoo was sold
1973
A hotel porter was tried for murder
1973
Jeeves actor dies in Guernsey
1974
MV Prosperity was wrecked at Perelle
1974
First Guernsey competitor takes part in Miss World
1975
Point Law ran aground off Alderney
1975
The Story of Adele H opens in cinemas
1976
Striking Guernsey passengers stage ferry sit-in
1976
A Guernsey retiree's £1m offer attracted 57,000 requests
1976
Guernsey declares a State of Emergency
1976
Escaped Guernsey convict is caught again
1976
The court considers a Guernsey porn dealer's testimony
1976
Bean Sejour opened for business
1976
Ebenezer Le Page author GB Edwards died
1977
Guernsey passengers were battered by storms
1977
HMS Guernsey was launched in Aberdeen
1978
The Orion oil rig got wedged at Grandes Rocques
1978
Guernsey tackled an oil spill from the Amoco Cadiz
1979
Murderers stole a visitor's boat from St Peter Port
1979
Guernsey's comms links are severed
1980
Guernsey's new banknotes feature famous locals
1980
ITV's Enemy at the Door ends its run
1981
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page was published
1981
An Islander aircraft crashes on Guernsey
1982
BBC Radio Guernsey took to the air
1982
Asterix was discovered in St Peter Port harbour
1983
Jethou tenant Sir Charles Hayward died
1983
Jethou is put on the market for sale
1983
Guernsey optician Specsavers is founded
1983
Dad's Army actor John le Mesurier dies
1984
TV gameshow Treasure Hunt came to Guernsey
1984
Radiant Med sank with loss of life
1984
Oliver Reed is jailed in Guernsey
1985
Guernsey got its own flag and unique identity
1986
Channel 4 broadcast Sark-based comedy Mr Pye
1986
Guernsey wins double-silver at the Commonwealth Games
1987
Guernsey hosts the second Island Games
1988
Howards' Way comes to Guernsey
1990
Guernsey won gold at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
1991
Radio station Contact 94 goes off the air
1992
Commercial radio station Island FM launches
1992
Channel Television sees off rival broadcasters
1993
Guernsey opened its wartime files
1993
A French fisherman was arrested after abducting officials
1993
Brecqhou is put up for sale
1996
Doctor Who travelled to Guernsey
1996
Guernsey votes to legalise local abortions
1996
French fishing boats prepared to invade
1997
The States of Guernsey registered its domain on the web
1997
Plane overshoots Guernsey runway
1998
Guernsey commando Hubert Nicolle dies
1998
Herm tenant Major Peter Wood dies
1998
Guernsey's millennium Tapestry is completed
1998
Guernsey and Jersey papers agree to merge
1999
Channel Express Airways plane crashed on Guernsey
1999
Alderney experiences a total eclipse
1999
Sark women are finally allowed to inherit
2000
Guernsey Press registered its domain
2000
Cricketer Charles Grieve dies in Shropshire
2000
A Guernsey planning dispute heads to Europe
2002
An Alderney arrest sparked a "riot"
2003
Guernsey-born Spurs footballer Len Duquemin dies
2003
The States of Guernsey buys Airigny
2003
Guernsey hosts the Island Games 2003 closing ceremony
2003
Trident VI runs aground returning from Herm
2003
Jersey swimmers set round-Guernsey record
2003
Express & Star buys Guernsey Press
2004
Guernsey Airport's new terminal opens for business
2004
ITV broadcast first episode of Island at War
2005
Horse racing returned to L'Ancresse after 13 years
2006
Guernsey lifeboat made a chemical tanker rescue
2006
The airline Rockhopper became Blue Islands
2006
Sark votes for democracy
2007
An Aurigny pilot spotted a UFO as he approached Alderney
2007
States of Guernsey lowers voting age
2008
The lease of Herm was back on the market
2008
Potato Peel Pie book is first published
2008
HD Ferries made its last crossing
2008
Guernsey lifeboat saves a Swedish schooner
2008
Sark held its first election
2009
Aurigny founder Derrick Bailey dies
2009
Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Museum opens
2010
Guernsey-set This is Jinsy debuts on UK TV
2010
A Guernsey student goes missing in Virginia
2010
Guernsey votes for equal age of consent
2010
Guernesiais linguist Marie de Garis dies
2010
Wombles author Liza Beresford dies
2011
Sark was awarded Dark-Sky status
2011
Guernsey joins the Football Association
2011
The Devil's Rock has its opening night
2011
States of Guernsey hires first independent vet
2012
Price Charles and Camilla visit Guernsey
2012
Trudy, Guernsey's biggest ever import, is installed
2012
Sark's vineyards were vandalised
2013
Channel Television disappeared
2013
The Guernsey Language Commission was formed
2013
The Guernsey Society celebrated its 70th anniversary
2013
Guernsey was clearing up after a two-day blizzard
2013
Police find a bomb in Bluebell Wood
2013
Guernsey and Jersey consider merging
2013
A Trislander eats itself mid-flight
2013
Guernsey Monopoly board game goes on sale
2013
Channel Islands Securities Exchange founded
2014
Guernsey suffered its worst storms in 25 years
2015
Alderney's first full-time radio station took to the air
2015
Condor Liberation entered cross-channel service
2015
G-JOEY completes its last flight
2015
Guernsey number plate sells for £240,000
2015
Sark features in the music charts
2016
Guernsey's secondary heads campaigned against the 11-plus
2016
Guernsey hosted its first Parkrun at Pembroke
2016
Role of Guernsey's Chief Minister was abolished.
2016
Laura Kennington starts Channel Islands triathlon
2016
Seigneur of Sark, Michael Beaumont, died aged 88
2016
Guernsey passengers experience extreme turbulence
2017
Guernsey emergency services prepared for the worst
2017
Guernsey's new population law came into force
2017
Songs of Praise was broadcast from Guernsey
2017
A Guernseyman cycles to Herm
2017
Archaeologists find a porpoise grave
2017
Guernsey aims for equal adoption rights
2017
Royal Guernsey Light Infantry memorial unveiled
2018
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie film opens
2020
Coronavirus returned to Guernsey

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Check out The Sarnian’s email newsletter for Guernsey history, features, puzzles and pictures. It’s also the first place where you’ll find out about the Sarnian series of books, including sneak previews and discounts.

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