4th November 1895

Jersey college principal is killed

Thirty-four-year-old George Stanley Farnell, who was the principal of Victoria College, was found dead in a small cave at Plemont, having apparently drowned after going for a walk at Corbiere and subsequently been washed ashore by the tide. The Guernsey Star said, “The body was lying face downwards, with one arm outstretched, and was terribly injured, the head being much battered and both legs completely smashed”.

He had been principal since 1892, but his replacement, LV Lester-Garland, was not appointed until the following year.

In 1893, Farnell had been charged with assault after beating a 17-year-old student with a cane that, according to a doctor’s testimony at a subsequent hearing, had been particularly harsh. The court clearly agreed, as it bound over the headmaster to be less severe in the future. His cane was confiscated, and the Constable of St Helier proposed that corporal punishment be banned but was voted down by 14 votes to 12.