ppointed hereditary captain (or
chatelain) of the castle of that name, which lies within the limits of
the fief, and is situated in the parish of St. Martin.

Among the records of the island, we find the following interesting
particulars:--In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Edward the
First, at a court of chief pleas held at Guernsey, in the presence of
the judges of assize, Matthew de Sausmarez made homage for his fief;
which appears to have been acknowledged by an act of Edward the Second
in the year 1313: and in the reign of Edward the Third, in the year
1331, an application was made by Matthew de Sausmarez for a
confirmation of his rights and prerogatives, as formerly enjoyed by
his ancestors.

On receipt of this petition, his Majesty sent an order to John de
Roches, guardian of the Channel islands, to make a perquisition
thereon; authorising him to give to it his royal assent if not found
to be prejudicial to the rights of the Crown or the privileges of the
inhabitants, who had, by consent of his Majesty's father, fortified
the castle of Jerbourg as a place of retreat and protection, as also
for the security of their effects in case of invasion by the enemy.

In pursuance of his Majesty's order, the guardian appointed twelve of
the most respectable inhabitants of the island to be examined before
the bailiff or chief magistrate, who declared upon oath that the
predecessors of Matthew de Sausmarez held that appointment from the
Crown, with sundry appurtenances and privileges, which, in
consideration of their services as hereditary keepers of the castle,
had always been, and ought to be, inseparable from the fief of
Jerbourg; and they further deposed, that these were not in any respect
detrimental to the prerogative of the Crown, or injurious to the
rights of the inhabitants, who still retained the advantage and
privilege of retreating into the castle, with their effects, in every
emergency.

The following curious and interesting fact, as attached to this
ancient fief, has been also recorded in a Guernsey periodical:
"Whenever the lord had occasion to go to Jersey, his tenants were
obliged to convey him thither, for which they received a gratuity of
_three sous_, or a dinner; but they were not obliged to bring him
back." And this exemption may be thus explained:--The lord, or captain
of Jerbourg, in those days held a fief in Jersey, called by the same
name, which no longer belongs to the De Saumarez famil