The Bailiwick of Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

 includes the island of Guernsey and other islands such as Alderney

Alderney

Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The area is , making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick...

, Sark

Sark

Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...

, Herm

Herm

Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are also banned...

, Jethou

Jethou

Jethou is a small island that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is privately leased, and not open to the public.It is immediately south of Herm and has an area of approximately .-History:...

, Brecqhou

Brecqhou

Brecqhou is one of the Channel Islands and part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is located just west of Sark and has a surface area of approximately...

, and Lihou

Lihou

Not to be confused with Lihou Reef National Nature ReserveLihou is a small tidal island that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, Channel Islands. It lies off the west coast of Guernsey and is the most westerly point in the Channel Islands. Coordinates: . The island was bought by the States of...

.

Parishes

The island of Guernsey is divided into ten parishes

Parish (subnational entity)

A parish is an administrative division used by several countries. In the British Isles it is known as a civil parish to distinguish it from the ecclesiastical parish.-External links:* Editorial in The Guardian, 2011-05-16....

 (the parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 of Saint Anne, Alderney and the parish of Saint Peter, Sark

Sark

Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...

 are not generally included in the enumeration of parishes in the Bailiwick as the names are not of administrative significance):

EWLINE Parish Population (2001) Area (vergee Vergée A vergée, or vergee, is a unit of area, a quarter of the French acre. Other spellings include vergie and vrégie. It is not an SI unit. The SI unit of area is the square metre.The term derives from Latin virga... s) Area (km²) Area (sq mi) 1. Castel Castel, Guernsey Castel is the largest Parish in Guernsey in terms of area.It hosts the North Show and Battle of Flowers in August, annually... 10.200 3.938 2. Forest Forest, Guernsey The Forest is a parish in Guernsey. It is the highest parish on the island, with altitudes of up to about 100 m. The full title being Ste Margurite de la Foret after the parish church.... 4.110 1.587 3. St Andrew 4.510 1.741 4. St Martin 7.340 2.834 5. St Peter Port St Peter Port Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2001 was 16,488. In Guernésiais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port. The "port" distinguishes this parish from... 6.677 2.578 6. St Pierre du Bois St Peter's, Guernsey St Peter's , known officially as Saint Pierre du Bois is a parish in Guernsey... 6.257 2.416 7. St Sampson 6.042 2.333 8. St Saviour 6.378 2.463 9. Torteval Torteval, Guernsey Torteval is the smallest of the ten Guernsey parishes. Its name comes from the Guernésiais words for 'twisting valley'. The full title being Ste Phillipe du Torteval. It is the westernmost parish of Guernsey and is part of the Guernsey Western Parishes. The parish is split in two by the parish of St... 3.115 1.203 10. Vale Vale, Guernsey Vale is one of the ten parishes of Guernsey.Until 1806 the parish occupied territory on the mainland of Guernsey, the Vingtaine de l'Epine, as well as the whole of Le Clos du Valle, a tidal island forming the northern extremity of Guernsey separated from the mainland by La Braye du Valle, a tidal... 8.951 3.456

Administration

Each parish is administered by a Douzaine. Douzeniers are elected for a four year mandate, three Douzeniers being elected by parishioners at a parish meeting in November each year. The Vale elects four each year and St Peter Port five. The senior Douzenier is known as the Doyen (Dean). Two elected Constable

Constable

A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...

s carry out the decisions of the Douzaine, serving for between one and three years. The longest serving Constable is known as the Senior Constable and his or her colleague as the Junior Constable.

Nicknames

Inhabitants of each of the parishes of Guernsey also have traditional nicknames

Blason populaire

Blason populaire is an umbrella genre in the field of folkloristics used to designate any item of any genre which makes use of stereotypes, usually, but not always, negative stereotypes, of a particular group....

, although these have generally dropped out of use among the English-speaking population. The traditional nicknames are:

Parish	Guernésiais	English Translation
St Peter Port	Cllichards	(spitters)
St Sampson's	Rôines	(frogs)
Vale	Hann'taons	(cockchafer Cockchafer The cockchafer is a European beetle of the genus Melolontha, in the family Scarabaeidae.... s)
Castel	Ânes-pur-sàng	(pure-blooded-donkeys)
St Saviour's	Fouormillaons	(ants)
St Pierre du Bois	Etcherbaots	(beetles)
Forest	Bourdons	(bumblebees)
St Martin's	Cravants	(ray fish)
St Andrew's	Les croinchaons	(the siftings)
Torteval	Ânes à pids d'ch'fa	(donkeys with horses' hooves)