Archive of the month

Archive of the Month, May 2012: Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in 1897, sixty years after she came to the throne in 1837.  A public holiday was proclaimed on 22 June and all over the country services of thanksgiving, processions, garden parties and suppers were organised as part of the celebrations.  The procession and pageantry that took place in London were recorded at length in newspapers and illustrated publications – the Victorian equivalent of a glossy magazine – but then as now a multitude of events were organised at a local level, of which Buckinghamshire had its fair share.

Across the country beacons were lit to mark the Diamond Jubilee. This photograph shows the beacon built at the Rye in High Wycombe (reference phHig 25).

Aylesbury had its own set of celebrations organised for 22 June. This photograph shows the gathering in the Market Square, suitably decorated for the occasion. (reference phAyles 982).

These photographs are on display in the Archives searchroom along with several other items from our collections relating to the Diamond Jubilee. They include a programme for the celebrations in Aylesbury (reference D/X 798/8), a form of service of thanksgiving which was held in most parish churches across the country during the week of Jubilee celebrations in June 1897 (reference D/X 798/7) and a photograph of a new public well built by public subscription on Lee Common. (reference ph Lee 4).