Elizabeth College
Guernsey’s Lt Governor in the early 1820s, Sir John Colborne, was dismayed that Elizabeth College had deteriorated to such an extent that there were hardly any pupils or staff. Spurred on by a Jersey businessman, George Le Boutillier, who was living in Guernsey, Colborne asked Colonel Thomas de Havilland to set up an enquiry into “irregularities which have pervaded every department of Elizabeth College”.
The conclusions of the enquiry led to the College subsequently being ‘rechartered’ and the States of Guernsey giving their blessing to the construction of a huge new building, paid for by a tax on spirits. The architect was John Wilson who had designed many other landmark buildings in the island and the civilian project was the largest of its kind Guernsey had ever known. The main building was opened to pupils in 1829 and was central to the College as a whole until 2023 when the Perrot Building was acquired and brought into use.
During the occupation of Guernsey from 1940-1945, the College became the headquarters of German forces stationed in the island. The liberation of the island in 1945 was proclaimed from the College steps.