by

Outgoing VSA President John Simonelli 

Outgoing VSA President John Simonelli 

VSA wreath ceremony

Queen Victoria Statute in Victoria, BC.

[Photo courtesy of Stacy Hampton.]

"Good afternoon.  My name is John Simonelli, and I'm the outgoing president of the Victorian Society in America.  I'd like to thank you for coming out this afternoon to commemorate the 100 years since the death of Queen Victoria. 

Today's ceremony is part of the Victorian Society in America's annual meeting.  The Victorian Society in America is the only national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation of nineteenth-century architecture and the appreciation of our 19th century heritage.  There are more than 100 delegates here this weekend visiting your beautiful city and the meeting is an opportunity to stress the enduring links between Canadians and Americans who study or work in the field of Victorian architecture, art and material culture.  Our delegates are visiting from the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Delaware, and California, among others. 

As a symbol of the long bonds of friendship between our two countries, it is particularly appropriate to note that this magnificent sequoia to my left, which was planted in 1861, was a gift from the people of the state of California to the residents of British Columbia. 

Today we’ll commemorate Queen Victoria's 64-year reign in front of this fine statue which was made by Albert Bruce-Joy and modeled after the famed painting of the young Queen that Franz Winterhalter painted in 1842 and which hangs today in Buckingham Palace.  A replica of Winterhalter’ s painting, painted in England in 1844 by R. Rowe, hangs in the University of Victoria library. 

Queen Victoria was especially fond of Winterhalter's portraits, and patronized him until his death in 1875.  Portraiture was always important to her, particularly as a means of expressing the idea of the monarchy.  There are over 100 of Winterhalter's works in the Royal Collection. 

On June 16, 1912, Premier Richard McBride announced that the government of British Columbia planned to commission a statue of Queen Victoria.  Albert Bruce-Joy completed the statue in England in 1914, where it was unveiled to public view.  It was unveiled again here in 1921 by Sir Victor Christian William Cavendish, the 9th Duke of Devonshire and Canada's Governor General from 1916 to 1921.  The statue is made of bronze and stands 13 feet tall.  The base is made of Swedish blue marble and granite. 

Other statues, busts and medallions executed by Albert Bruce-Joy can be seen today in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Westminster Abbey, London and in St. John's College, Cambridge. 

Members of the Victorian Society in the United Kingdom have also laid wreaths at statues of Queen Victoria over the past four months, including the National memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, and at the Albert Memorial.  There have been other similar ceremonies in Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. 

The wreath we will leave on the steps of the statue today is made of laurel leaves--symbolizing excellence and achievement--and three colored bands--representing the bonds linking Great Britain, Canada and the United States---and was donated by Miria Gordaneer, of Daisy Chain Florists/Chapman West Art Gallery here in Victoria. 

Not only does the year 2001 mark the centenary of Victoria’s death, but also today's date, May 24th, is the 182nd anniversary of her birth. 

Queen Victoria was undeniably an influential world figure.  During the years of her reign the British monarchy attained incredible prominence.  The Queen and her husband Prince Albert patronized the arts and were thought of as symbolically representing the vast British empire.  Victorian writers, artists, scientists and social commentators offered new ways of seeing Britain and the rest of the world.  Industry, technology, education and the urban and rural environment were affected by Victorian imagination and creativity.  The spectacle of the Great Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851 inspired the British to travel the World to learn about other cultures and societies.  Canadians and Americans benefited greatly from, and contributed to, this exchange of ideas and cultural commentary. 

It has been said that the Victorians saw themselves as the inventors of the modem world.  Certainly many technologies and ideas we think of as being modem, such as rapid transportation and communications, actually originated during Victoria's reign.  While today we might look critically at problematic political and philosophical strategies employed by the monarchy and Victorian society itself, there is much we can learn from the Victorians as we continue to explore our fascination with the period and its rich intellectual and material culture that profoundly influenced--and continues to influence--the way Canadians and Americans live and work today.

Thank you very much." 

Outgoing VSA President John Simonelli and Incoming President Pat Pixley 

place the VSA wreath at the base of the Queen Victoria Statute in Victoria, BC.

[Photo courtesy of Roberta Mayer.]