Guernsey (clothing)#Use in Australian sport

{{About|the knitten woollen sweater worn by seamen|the shirt worn by Australian rules footballers|Guernsey (Australian rules football)}}

File:Guernseymen selling produce at the Viaer Marchi.jpg (The Old Market), Guernsey]]

A guernsey, or gansey, is a seaman's knitted woollen sweater, similar to a jersey, which originated in the Channel Island of the same name, sometimes known as a knit-frock in Cornwall, especially Polperro.Mary Wright, Cornish Guernseys & Knit-frocks, 1979, 2008 Polperro Heritage Press

Origins

The guernsey is the mainstay of Guernsey's knitting industry which can be dated back to the late 15th century when a royal grant was obtained to import wool from England and re-export knitted goods to Normandy and Spain. Peter Heylin described the manufacture and export of "waste-cotes" during the reign of Charles I. The first use of the name "guernsey" outside of the island {{cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/625587 |title=22 May 1803 - Classified Advertising - Trove |newspaper=Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser |publisher=Trove.nla.gov.au |date= 22 May 1803|accessdate=2022-03-20}} is in the 1851 Oxford Dictionary,{{clarify|reason=The first pages of the OED was not published until 1884 while Oxford University Press publishes many dictionaries. Which one?|date=June 2020}} but the garment was in use in the bailiwick before that.Marr, L.J. (1982), A History of the Bailiwick of Guernsey Philmore & Co. Ltd

The guernsey was traditionally knitted by the fishermen's wives and the pattern passed down from mother to daughter through the generations. While commercially available sweaters are machine knit, the final finishing of these machine-knit parts is completed by hand.{{cite web|url=http://www.guernseyknitwear.co.uk/story.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070722013759/http://www.guernseyknitwear.co.uk/story.htm |archive-date=22 July 2007 |title=The Story of the Guernsey}}

Mary Wright argues that the use and wearing of guernseys throughout the British Isles for over a century and a half almost justifies the guernsey for qualification as a national costume.Wright, M. (1989) Cornish Guernseys and Knit-froks, Alison Hodge/Ethnographica Ltd. A guernsey from the Folk Museum Guernsey was included in the 2010 BBC project A History of the World in 100 Objects."BBC 'A History of the World'"[https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/vd4cmoXrQAqCUU802CkZiQ] accessed 23 June 2011

The term can also refer to a similarly shaped garment made of woven cloth, also called a Guernsey shirt or smock. There are a number of different names for the same garments, for instance Guernsey frock, Guernsey shirt, smock-frock, or fisherman’s frock. Essentially these are all the same garment, with the materials varying based on the purpose for which it is worn."The Guernsey Shirt, Smock or Frock"{{cite web |url=http://www.nationaltrust-gsy.org.gg/content.aspx?p=137 |title=Behind the Wardrobe Door: The Guernsey Shirt, Smock or Frock - the National Trust of Guernsey |access-date=2017-09-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928051834/http://www.nationaltrust-gsy.org.gg/content.aspx?p=137 |archive-date=2011-09-28 }} accessed 6 July 2011

Pattern

Two styles of guernsey exist: a plain "working" guernsey and a "finer" example that was generally saved for special occasions and Sunday-best attire.Lambert, G.A. (2002) The Taxonomy of Sweater Structures and Their Origins, Raleigh Traditionally, Ganseys were seamless and worked in the round using the circular knitting method.

The "working" guernsey design was kept simpler in order to reduce the amount of time and materials needed to produce. The sale of knitted garments to supplement family income was important to many island families and thus the garments that were sold were also of a simple design. It is estimated that a total of 84 hours was needed to complete a guernsey: a simpler design could be produced faster than a more elaborate one.Pearson, M. (1984) Traditional Knitting:Aran, Fair Isle and Fisher Ganseys, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company

Twenty-four principal patterns have been identified in Cornwall alone, each one again drawing inspiration from ropes, chains, waves, nets and sand-prints.

Worn as a source of pride and often knitted by prospective wives "to show the industrious nature of the woman he was about to marry", the "finer" guernsey was more elaborately patterned than its working cousin. With the advent of the machine-knitted guernsey and the decline in the knitting industry, this guernsey is a much rarer sight.

It is not uncommon for a guernsey to last several decades and be passed down in families. Guernseys knitted for children were knitted to be "grown into" and often came down to the knee.

Use in the British Armed Forces

The guernsey was first widely used in the rating uniform of the 19th-century British Royal Navy."The History of Rating Uniforms"{{cite web |url=http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3772 |title=The History of Rating Uniforms : Uniforms : RN Life : Training and People : Royal Navy |access-date=2006-03-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060418091414/http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3772 |archive-date=2006-04-18 }} accessed 6 May 2008"Traditional Guernsey knitwear and genuine Alderney sweaters from the Channel Islands"[http://www.channeljumper.com/?gclid=CJWNtM2TkpMCFQSKMAodvlxoYQ] accessed 6 May 2008 It is said that guernseys were worn at the Battle of Trafalgar (although these were probably made from woollen cloth, rather than knitted).

Orders for variants of the guernsey have also come from the Intelligence Corps, the Mercian Regiment, the Tank Regiment and Gurkha Logistics where they form part of officer uniforms."The guernsey becomes a fashion must-have" [http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2010/11/04/the-guernsey-becomes-a-fashion-must-have/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528154057/http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2010/11/04/the-guernsey-becomes-a-fashion-must-have/|date=28 May 2011}} accessed 22 June 2011

Export Market

Guernseys are still being knitted for local use and export. Japan is at present one of the biggest export markets. In January 2025 NHK(Japan's national TV network) came to the Guernsey to make a documentary about the island's famous knitwear.{{cite web |last1=Porter |first1=Tom |title=Guernseys and island pride on display in Town |url=https://guernseypress.com/news/2025/01/28/guernseys-and-island-pride-on-display-in-town/ |website=Guernsey Press |access-date=13 February 2025}}

Use in other languages

The translation for the word "jumper" or "sweater" in the Goidelic languages, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx, are "geansaí",{{Citation|title=geansaí|date=2021-12-08|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=geansa%C3%AD&oldid=64888942|work=Wiktionary|language=en|access-date=2022-01-03}} "geansaidh"{{Citation|title=geansaidh|date=2021-05-17|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=geansaidh&oldid=62541458|publisher=Wiktionary|language=en|access-date=2022-01-03}} and "gansee"{{cite web|title=jumper in Manx - English-Manx Dictionary {{!}} Glosbe|url=https://glosbe.com/en/gv/jumper|access-date=2022-01-03|website=glosbe.com}} respectively, all borrowings from the English guernsey/gansey. The Norwegian word "genser" is derived from "guernsey" and means sweater or jumper. In Danish a guernsey is called a "sømandstrøje", meaning a seaman's sweater.