Guernsey Bailiff 2x Letters 1942 & 1947, Carey & Sherwill, Guille-Allès Library For Sale

GUERNSEY BAILIFF’S OFFICE – TWO LETTERS, 1942 & 1947 Victor G. Carey (Occupation Period) & Ambrose Sherwill (Post‑Liberation) Both to Chief Librarian Charles Frossard, Guille‑Allès Library

A notable pair of administrative letters from the Bailiff’s Chambers, Guernsey, showing the island’s civil and cultural continuity from the German Occupation (1940–45) through to the post‑Liberation reconstruction period. Together they form a rare documentary sequence linking two successive Bailiffs and the long‑serving Chief Librarian Charles Frossard (1896–1971).

LETTER 1 – 6 NOVEMBER 1942 (Victor G. Carey)

Writer: Victor G. Carey (1871–1957), Bailiff of Guernsey throughout the German Occupation.Recipient: Charles Frossard, Chief Librarian.

Carey acknowledges the Library’s annual report and notes an increase in membership “at long last”. He asks how current membership compares with 1882–1889, the period of the Library’s reconstitution, showing his interest in long‑term institutional continuity. He also considers whether a Council meeting could be held in 1942 — a cautious administrative question given Occupation restrictions.

The Bailiff’s Chambers crest has been removed. Two punch‑holes at upper margin, consistent with filing.

A strong example of Occupation‑period civil governance, with cultural institutions still functioning under German oversight.

LETTER 2 – 12 DECEMBER 1947 (Ambrose Sherwill)

Writer: Ambrose Sherwill (1890–1968), Bailiff of Guernsey from 1946–1959.Recipient: Charles Frossard, still serving as Chief Librarian.

Sherwill recommends the newly published French regional volume “Poètes normands” by Louis Rivière (publisher: Ozanne, Caen), noting that it “may be of interest to your Library”. This reflects the post‑war cultural re‑opening of Guernsey after years of isolation. The letterhead retains the full Bailiff’s Chambers crest and blue stamp, contrasting sharply with the trimmed wartime example.

A clear illustration of post‑Liberation cultural rebuilding, with the Bailiff personally encouraging new acquisitions.

HOW THE BAILIFFS & CHARLES FROSSARD DEALT WITH THE OCCUPATION

Victor G. Carey (Bailiff, 1935–46) Carey adopted a policy of passive compliance to protect civilians. He maintained the Royal Court, negotiated with German officers, and preserved civil institutions wherever possible. His correspondence shows careful, non‑provocative administration designed to keep Guernsey stable under foreign rule.

Ambrose Sherwill (Attorney General; later Bailiff) Sherwill headed the Controlling Committee, interpreting German orders in the least harmful way. Arrested and deported to Germany in 1940, he became a symbol of legal resistance through dignity rather than confrontation. After Liberation he focused on rebuilding cultural and administrative life — reflected directly in the 1947 letter.

Charles Frossard (Chief Librarian) Frossard kept the Guille‑Allès Library functioning throughout the Occupation despite censorship, shortages, and reduced access. He maintained cataloguing, lending, and annual reporting, providing a cultural refuge and continuity of intellectual life. Both letters addressed to him show his central role in Guernsey’s cultural resilience.

Together, Carey, Sherwill, and Frossard represent the three pillars of Guernsey’s civilian endurance: administration, law, and culture.

WHY THE PAIR IS SIGNIFICANT

• Shows continuity of Bailiff–Library correspondence across two the shift from Occupation constraint (Carey, 1942) to post‑Liberation renewal (Sherwill, 1947).

• Both addressed to Chief Librarian Charles Frossard, a key figure in Guernsey’s cultural life.

• Strong documentary value for collectors of Channel Islands history, Occupation material, and library / administrative archives.

Sir Victor Gosselin Carey (Jul 1871 – Jun 1957) was a resident of Guernsey on the Channel Islands. He held the post of Bailiff of Guernsey from 1935 to 1946. Carey was a leading member of one of Guernsey\'s oldest families. In 1935, when incumbent Baliff Arthur William Bell died, Carey, who had been Receiver General from 1912 to 1935, replaced him because Procurer Ambrose Sherwill, to whom the role would have normally fallen, had been in office only a few weeks.Carey is controversial for his complicity in the deportations of three Jews, who were subsequently murdered in Auschwitz, living in Guernsey during the German occupation of the Channel Islands. Carey assisted the Germans by reporting a list of names of Jews on the island, which was drawn up by police chief William Sculpher

Sir Ambrose James Sherwill KBE MC (Feb 1890 – Sep 1968) was Bailiff of Guernsey from 1946 to 1959. In the early months of World War II, he helped in the administration of the Channel Islands when they were occupied by the class=\"MsoNormal\">From a single owner collection of 3,000+ items. A chaotic uncatalogued miscellany of items from 17th to 20th Century.

Containing, amongst many other things: ALSs (Autograph Letters Signed); Signed Photos, Posters, Ephemera, Album pages; Clipped Signatures; Signed Free Fronts; Misc Manuscript Items; etc, etc.

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