Elizabeth College, Guernsey

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Elizabeth College
Motto Semper Eadem
Established 1563
Type All-male
Principal Dr. Nick Argent
Location St Peter Port, Guernsey, United Kingdom
Colours Blue and white
Rival Victoria College, Jersey
Website [1]

Elizabeth College is a public school in the town of St Peter Port, Guernsey.

Contents

[edit] History

The "School of Queen Elizabeth" was established as a grammar school between the years 1563 and 1568 by the Royal Commissioners of Elizabeth I. The first schoolmaster was Adrian Saravia, who went on to become one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible.

Until the 19th century, the school was poorly administered, and there was frequently only a very small number of students. Then in 1823 the governor of the island established a committee to perform a full review of the school, and by 1826 there was a new staff and a more complete curriculum, and the school was in a position to attract fee-paying students from England. That year the foundation stone of a new building was laid, and the school was renamed as the Royal College of Elizabeth. The building, which remains a prominent feature of the St Peter Port skyline, was designed by John Wilson, who was also the architect of the French Halles, Castle Carey, and the former Church of St James the Less.

The entire school was evacuated during World War II to Great Hucklow in Derbyshire as a result of the occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany, and tradition says that a ghost of one of the Nazi soldiers walks the corridors at night.

[edit] Admissions

Elizabeth College has traditionally been a boys-only College; in 1999, however, a co-educational Sixth Form was established.

As an independent school, the majority of pupils are fee-paying; however the States of Guernsey awards scholarships annually on the basis of eleven plus results. Students of Beechwood, the primary school section of Elizabeth College, are not permitted to take the eleven plus, and therefore must be fee-paying students if they are to attend the college.

The admissions department has recently installed a new system whereby children from states schools can also apply.

[edit] Alumni

Since the 1820s, all pupils have been allocated a unique (sequential) school number. These are quoted below where known.

[edit] Victoria Cross recipients

The College has four Victoria Cross holders amongst its former pupils:

[edit] Bailiffs of Guernsey

Main article: List of Bailiffs of Guernsey

The following Bailiffs of Guernsey were educated at Elizabeth College:

[edit] Members of British Parliament

[edit] Arts

[edit] Media

[edit] Academia

[edit] Sports

[edit] References

  • Elizabeth College Register, volumes I–IV

[edit] External links

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