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.
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Other events that occured in September
Channel Television takes to the air
- Channel Television, which is headquartered in Jersey and has studios in Guernsey, produces regional output for the Channel Islands.
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Construction of Gorey Railway begins
- The honour of cutting the first sod in the construction of Jersey’s new Eastern Railway line went to one of the directors’ wives.
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Soldier is killed picking flowers from a train
- A soldier was killed on the Jersey Railway when he attempted to pick line-side flowers from a moving train.
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Jersey is struck by a hurricane
- Jersey and its neighbouring islands were struck by violent storms, causing widespread damage, wrecking ships and resulting in some deaths.
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