page_title: Elizabeth College, Guernsey
section_title: Reform and reconstruction
hierarchical_section_title: Elizabeth College, Guernsey / History / Reform and reconstruction
caption_attribution_description: English: Rambles Among the Channel Islands, by a Naturalist, c.1860, en:Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau - ""Elizabeth College
context_page_description: The Royal College of Elizabeth, better known as Elizabeth College, is an independent day school for boys in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. One of the earliest members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, it is a public school in the British sense of the term. Founded on 25 May 1563 by royal charter from Queen Elizabeth I, the school is one of the oldest public schools in the British Isles, and the oldest public school in the Channel Islands.
  The school endured a difficult two and a half centuries after its foundation, with a number of principals being either dismissed or resigning following disputes with the local authorities. In response, the Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey, Sir John Colborne, established a committee to perform a full review of the school. It was subsequently re-chartered in 1824 with new staff and an improved curriculum to attract fee-paying pupils from England. Its current main building was completed in 1829, on the same grounds as the original school, overlooking the town and harbour of Saint Peter Port. During the German occupation of the Channel Islands, the school was evacuated to Great Hucklow, Derbyshire, where it operated for five years.
context_section_description: It took a further two and a half centuries before the school had proper buildings and sufficient staff, a period during which the pupil roll never exceeded 29. Many principals came and went, but were incompetent and uncommitted; either dismissed or resigned following disputes with the local authorities. In 1824, due to increased demand for a higher standard of local education and a properly-run College, the Lieutenant-Governor of the island, Sir John Colborne, established a committee to perform a full review of the school. The school was re-chartered in 1824; by 1826 there were new staff and an improved curriculum, and the school was in a position to attract fee-paying pupils from England. On 19 October 1826 the foundation stone of a new building was laid by Colborne, and the school was renamed the Royal College of Elizabeth. At the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone, Colborne made the following speech:
  With this part of the ceremony it is gratifying to reflect that the assemblage attracted here evinces the intense interest excited generally through the Island by the efforts of the States to renovate Elizabeth College. Laying the foundation stone, although a mere form, is in this instance so closely associated with the use of the intended superstructure, and with the prospect of it being greatly influential in bringing the institution into maturity, that we participate with delight in these ceremonies, and in perfect confidence that our hopes will be realised, we may venture to assert that as the approach to liberal instruction is facilitated, so will the prosperity of the island increase. A great stimulus to education has been already given by the deliberation and conduct of the States; they have armed the directors with sufficient power to carry their intentions into execution, and these guardians of the College and of the parochial and central schools, cannot fail in their office, for they will recollect, from what has occurred, that the tree which bears fruit thinly must be invigorated, and be encircled with fresh mould. [...] We trust that these excavations completed with so much perseverance and success, are emblematical of the industry and steady course that will be pursued by our young friends and by every member of College Elizabeth.
  The reform of the school also saw the introduction of the first official register of pupils, from which each pupil was allocated a unique, sequential school number. The first pupil to receive a number was Sir John Colborne's son, James, later Baron Seaton, followed by his other son, Francis. Many Old Elizabethans remain fond of their numbers, often using them on car number plates in the island. After the re-chartering of the school in 1824, the Rev. Dr Charles Stocker was appointed principal, and developed a reputation for 'unmerciful' flogging while applying himself to raise the academic standing of the school, as well as concentrating on the construction of the new main building. In the school's first year since the re-chartering, there were more than 100 boys on the school roll, however over the next couple of years the number of new entrants decreased as low as 17 in 1827. In 1829, three years after the laying of the foundation stone, the new building was ready to be occupied by students and staff. The building, which remains a prominent feature on the skyline of St Peter Port, was designed by John Wilson, who was also the architect of the Meat Market, Castle Carey and the former Church of St James. Upper Canada College, in Toronto, Ontario, was founded in 1829 by Sir John Colborne, based on his experience with the school.
  In the 1850s, a new form of punishment was introduced whereby the window recesses in the upper gallery of the school were converted into 'lock-ups' in which students would be held for short confinement during school hours. The wood-panelled walls of the cells were covered with carvings from those who had been held there. A popular ghost story from the lock-ups was that of 'Wilson', who was supposedly locked up and forgotten about for such a long t
caption: An illustration of the new main building from a nearby cemetery by Armand de Quatrefages, c. 1860
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