29th September 1852

Jersey’s Victoria College opens for the first time

Named in honour of Queen Victoria to commemorate her 1846 visit to Jersey, work began with the laying of Victoria College’s foundation stone, and was completed with its opening on 29 September 1852. Both events were marked with a certain amount of pomp and ceremony. Much of St Helier was closed for the foundation stone’s laying, as 12,000 locals watched the Bailiff place a time capsule containing two medallions depicting Victoria’s arrival, an inscribed plate, coins and the Acts of the States authorising the college’s construction. The day of its opening was marked with a parade, speeches and the unveiling of portraits of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, which had been gifted to the school by the queen herself.