Victoria College, Jersey
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| Victoria College, Jersey | |
 |
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| Motto | Amat Victoria Curam (Victory favours those who take pains) |
| Established | 1852 |
| Type | Fee paying provided school[1] |
| Head Master | Robert G Cook B.Ed. (Hons), FRSA |
| Chairman of the Governors | Clive Barton |
| Founders | States of Jersey |
| Location | Saint Helier Jersey |
| Staff | 53 |
| Students | 985 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Houses | 5 |
| School colours | Black and gold |
| Former pupils | Old Victorians |
| Close links | Pembroke College, Oxford |
| Visitor | Reigning Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) |
| Website | www.vcj.sch.je |
Victoria College (in French: Collège Victoria[2]) is a fee paying States of Jersey-provided school in membership of HMC, in St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. The castellated neo-gothic architecture (architect: J. Hayward) is a landmark overlooking the town.
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[edit] History
Although in the 1590s, Laurens Baudains, a wealthy farmer from St. Martin, had persuaded the monarch and the States of Jersey to support a scheme for the establishment of a college to instruct the youth of Jersey in "grammar, latin, the liberal arts and religion", the scheme foundered.
The visit of Queen Victoria to Jersey in 1846 finally gave impetus to the long-mooted scheme of a college. The grounds of the Mount Pleasant property were purchased to provide a site for the building. The architect J. C. Buckler was selected for the project, but as a result of unacceptable budget over-runs he was replaced by John Hayward of Exeter. Hayward's Gothic Revival design used the form of a tall mediaeval hall framed with hexagonal turrets, mostly faced in in grey granite with some pink granite and sandstone tracery. The foundation stone was laid on Victoria's birthday 24 May 1850, and the college was opened in 1852.
Although French was still the sole official language in Jersey, the new college was consciously patterned after the English public schools. The medium of instruction was English from the beginning and was therefore one of the causes for the decline of French as the élite sent their sons to the new college.
Queen Victoria visited the college on her return to Jersey in 1859. The British monarch remains Visitor of the college, visiting as recently as 2002.
In the 1860s, the ancient grammar schools of St. Mannelier and St. Anastase closed and their endowments were used to fund scholarships at Victoria College.
The college was controlled by the Assembly of Governor, Bailiff and Jurats until 1921 when the States took over the assets of that Assembly (including the college) along with most of its powers. The Governing body now consists of a board of Governors, some States appointed, others taken from parents of current pupils. The main building of 1852 was supplemented with a new quadrangle to provide extra classrooms (architect: Edmund Berteau, States Engineer - 1911). The WWI memorial, a statue of Sir Galahad (1924) by Alfred Turner with a quotation from Tennyson, stands there. The WWII memorial is located outside the sixth form common room. Every Remembrance day the College holds a service to commemorate the pupils who died in the two wars, placing a wreath of poppies at both the base of the statue and the plaque outside the sixth form common room.
In 1935, the Howard Hall, built with the benefactions of T.B. Davis to commemorate his son, Howard Davis, who died during WWI, was opened by the Prince of Wales. The Hall was refurbished in 1996 and now exists as the Howard Davis Theatre where numerous types of drama are performed by the pupils.
College House, a boarding house attached to Victoria College (architect: Edmund Berteau, States Engineer - 1901), was used by the occupying German army as military headquarters during WWII. It was subsequently incorporated into the new Jersey College for Girls building when that institution moved to a site adjacent to Victoria College. Despite some initial opposition from staff and parents at Victoria College to this development, the pupils of both schools now share Design and Art facilities.
In the late 1990s, the school received unwelcome publicity from a scandal when a teacher, A.J. Dykes, was accused and sentenced for six counts of indecent assault and one count of possession of an indecent photograph of a child. The headmaster, J. Hydes, resigned as a result of the issue [1]. The Sharp report reviewing the case noted that "The handling of the complaint was "more consistent with protecting a member of staff and the college's reputation in the short-term than safeguarding the best interests of the pupil."[2]
As a result, firmer guidelines on child protection were implemented under the new headmaster, R. Cook.
[edit] Houses
In the style of the English public school system, the school operates on a house system, each house named after a pupil who was awarded the Victoria Cross as the college lost many of its students to the First World War and the Second World War, namely Braithwaite (only mentioned in dispatches, and not awarded the Victoria Cross), Bruce, Dunlop and Sartorius. In 2002, under Headmaster Robert Cook (originally from Wales), a fifth house, Diarmid, was added in recognition of a VC winner who had previously not been assigned one.
[edit] Headmasters at Victoria College
Although Victoria College is a state-owned school, the headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) which is one of the traditional definitions of a public school.
| Year | Year | ||
| From | To | Duration | Headmaster |
| 1852 | 1862 | 11 | Rev WG Henderson, MA, DCL |
| 1862 | 1863 | 2 | CJ Wood, MA |
| 1863 | 1881 | 19 | Rev WO Cleave, MA, LLD |
| 1881 | 1892 | 12 | Rev RH Chambers, MA |
| 1892 | 1895 | 4 | GS Farnel, MA |
| 1896 | 1911 | 16 | LV Lester-Garland, MA, FLS |
| 1911 | 1933 | 23 | AH Worral, TD, MA |
| 1933 | 1940 | 8 | JH Grummit, MA |
| 1940 | 1945 | 6 | PA Tatam (acting headmaster) |
| 1946 | 1967 | 22 | R Postill, TD, MA (see also Obituary) |
| 1967 | 1991 | 25 | MH Devenport, MA |
| 1991 | 1992 | 2 | BH Vibert (acting headmaster) |
| 1992 | 1999 | 8 | J Hydes |
| 1999 | 2000 | 2 | P Stevenson (acting headmaster) |
| 2000 | Current | RG Cook |
[edit] Motto
The school motto is the Latin phrase Amat Victoria Curam. The translation of the motto is ambiguous. Literally it may translate as "victory loves care". However, other scholars suggest[citation needed] that "victory favours those who take pains" is more appropriate. Further, the phrase is a play on words, referring to either the school's name or indeed the name of the patron, Queen Victoria. Thus, of the numerous other possibilities are "Victoria (as in Queen Victoria or Victoria College) loves industry".
[edit] Alumni
Past students of Victoria College, Jersey are referred to as Old Victorians.
[edit] Victoria Cross holders
Five Old Victorians have won the Victoria Cross.
- Victoria Cross
-
- Umbeyla Campaign
- Lieutenant Henry William Pitcher, VC. He later achieved the rank of Captain. (1841 - 1875)[3]
- Umbeyla Campaign
-
- First Ashanti Expedition
- Major Reginald William Sartorius, VC, CMG. He later achieved the rank of Major General. (1841 - 1907) [4]
- First Ashanti Expedition
-
- Second Afghan War
- Captain Euston Henry Sartorius, VC, CB. He later achieved the rank of Major General. (1844 - 1925)[5]
- Second Afghan War
[edit] References
- ^ Education (Provided Schools) (Jersey) Regulations 2005
- ^ Loi (1860) au sujet du Collège Victoria
- ^ Editorial Team, Société Jersiaise, (Autumn 2006), Société Jersiaise Newsletter, vol.45, page 7, (Société Jersiaise: Jersey)
- ^ Victoria College, Jersey: Sartorius House Webpage
- ^ Victoria College, Jersey: Sartorius House Webpage
- ^ Victoria College, Jersey: Bruce House Webpage
- ^ Victoria College, Jersey: Diarmid House Webpage
- Buildings in the Town and Parish of Saint Helier, CEB Brett, 1977
- Victoria College, Jersey, 1852-1972, Cottrill, D.J., Phillimore & Co Ltd, ISBN / EAN: 0850332850
- The Devenport Years 1967-1991, Stephen Lucas
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
