Memorabilia from a century of coronations revealed by Jersey Heritage

  • Megan Murphy took a trip down memory lane, looking at Jersey's past celebrations of the coronation

Jersey Archive has opened its collection to reveal some memorabilia that was preserved from previous coronations.

The collection includes items from several coronations over the past 120 years.

Following intense and careful preservation, the items show little sign of age, allowing future generations to reflect on the historic times of the past.

The official programme of the 1902 coronation was vibrantly painted, even including the old Jersey flag. Credit: ITV Channel

Looking at one of the items, Linda Romeril, Archives and Collections Director for Jersey Heritage, said: "This is an official programme from 1902, from the coronation of Edward VII.

"You can see just from the beautiful detail in the programme that Jersey really did go all out with the celebrations, you can see a programme of what happened and how schoolchildren were involved quite heavily in the processions - much like the present day."

Among the archive's collection, the team also have the original invitations of a Jersey couple to King Edward VII's coronation.

Original invites to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra's coronation in 1902. Credit: ITV Channel

"These are invitations for Colonel Charles Philip Le Cornu and his wife, who actually attended the coronation in Westminster Abbey," Linda said.

"It's lovely to have these personal mementos from somebody from the island who actually would have been present that day.

"I quite like the fact it's got a little map on the back so he knew where to find his seat in the Abbey."

The reverse of the invites showed guests where they were sat in Westminster Abbey. Credit: ITV Channel TV

There are also more modern items in the collection, including pieces from the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

A vase was produced in 1937 for King George and Queen Elizabeth's coronation, with portraits of the pair surrounded by Union Jacks.

For the late Queen's coronation, trinket boxes and commemorative tins were produced to mark the day.

Chocolate tins, tea caddies and oxo cube holders were rebranded to show the portrait of Elizabeth II and her coronation date, which some islanders held onto for the next 70 years.

Commemorative tins were produced for the late Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. Credit: ITV Channel TV

Jersey Archive has also taken a look at what items islanders should keep hold of, to remember the event for years to come.

Linda explained: "I think definitely it would be nice to keep a hold of any kind of memorabilia. I'm sure there'll be mugs and things out there.

"I suppose one of the interesting things now is, you know, we live in an age where everything is recorded digitally, this time we're going to have lots and lots of personal footage of celebrations around Jersey around the island - we won't just have the standard photographs, we'll have people's personal views as well.

"So I think keeping the actual physical objects but also maybe making sure that you keep a copy of any digital photographs or videos that you take that day of you celebrating the family."

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