Welcome to the Guernsey Family History Page


Family History in Guernsey

Guernsey is a small place but has been continuously occupied for a long time and when you consider that the population today is less than 70,000 this shows that islanders were always adept at fishing and cultivating the land. The Normandy coast is clearly visible from Guernsey and this is where our strongest links lie even if, through a quirk of history, the islands remain staunchly British.

Consequently, there are many local families who can trace their ancestry back for centuries and throughout this time islanders have emigrated to all corners of the world and taken their unusual surnames (not quite French in spelling and pronunciation) with them.

For those researching local connections the island has some wonderful resources but two essential points of contact are:

La Société Guernesiaise, Family History Section, PO Box 314, St Peter Port, Guernsey This group runs an overseas membership as well as a local one and can be contacted if you wish to examine local sources or want to pay a small fee for a search.

Priaulx Library, Candie, St Peter Port, Guernsey, tel. 01481 721998 Contact the Librarian if you are looking for local materials, require research on your family or simply pay a visit to this unique archive of Guernsey-related books if you visit.

If you are curious about what goes on in Guernsey today then you can catch with the news on our local daily paper's site.