Return to my Societe Pages index

Return to the School Master Index: VCIndex1.htm

Return to a short history by A.M. Bellows 1972-1979

or a short history by A.M. Bellows 1980-1989

A Short History of Victoria College: 1972-1989

Sources and Selections

"The volumes before you (The Condensed History of Castrovalva) contain a condensation of the actual history itself," said Mergrave, and Ruther added: "What you are pleased to call the full version has taken our ancestors centuries to live through. However fond you may be of reading, sir, you would not want to spend that long with a book."
- Christopher Bidmead, "Castrovalva".

The primary source for College matters is "The Victorian"; also the Jersey Evening Post (references here for the period to 1994 and here thereafter), States Minutes and various Jersey history books and documents have been useful. Anecdotal evidence has placed a small part, but weighted against the other sources; I would prefer to treat that separately.

The Victorian itself is published in July and December each year, and the information therein may refer back to the previous year, as (a) it follows a school year rather than a Calendar year, (b) appreciations of individuals or details of events may appear an issue or two after they have occured.

Some selection is required in any historical writing, and I have tended to give more weight to matters of significance, such as new buildings, special events, College "firsts", important changes, and those matters or people who may have become notable in Island life later.

Readers may feel that there is insufficient note made of sporting events, the C.C.F. and House reports. This may be rectified to some degree in the future, but a sheer catalogue of sporting events, unless there is some really outstanding feature, is likely to make the history unreadable, and one of the features of any history, as G.R. Elton points out, is that it can be read. A separate and more statistical chronicle of Sporting achievements and the CCF is also planned for the long term.

The principal aim is to first complete the period 1972 to 2002, then fill in the gap years from 1951 to 1972 not otherwise dealt with by E.C. Cooper and J.S. Rowley. This will, to some degree, duplicate the work of D.J. Cottrill, but I will be approaching the matter on a year by year basis, in more detail.

I am missing two copies of The Victorian published in 1987, so the details for that year will be sparse. If anyone has a copy, they could lend, or send me some scanned pages / photocopies of pages, I would be most grateful. If you contact me, I will tell you the type of pages I most require.

Finally, this is not a completed work. When I have covered the period in question, I will continue to go over the records, to add to this. As stated above, a separate chronicle of Sporting achievements and the CCF is also planned in the future.

In conclusion, might I ask that anyone reading the history, and noting any errors (factual or grammatical) or significant ommisions e-mail myself with details at am_bellows@hotmail.com.