then, the medium of instruction here was English and this was one of the
causes for the subsequent decline in the use of French, as Jersey’s élite families
sent their sons to the new college. The decline was compounded by the fact
that the college eventually assimilated the existing grammar schools of St.
Mannelier and St. Anastase which had previously provided quality education
for scholars from the east and west of the island respectively.
Dr. W. G. Henderson was appointed as the College’s first Principal. He
was just 34 years old and he was Principal during Augustin’s stay, during the
course of which he laid the foundations of the future prosperity of the
College. Originally, the school was divided into Classical and Commercial
sides. In 1855 a grant of £50 per year was made out of crown revenues for the
establishment of a (Channel Island) ‘Exhibition’ (scholarship) to the
University of Oxford. The Natural Sciences were introduced to the school in
the mid 1860s but they struggled for a place in the curriculum. A laboratory
was started but it met with little support, and by 1881 Natural Sciences were
briefly discontinued only to be re-introduced shortly afterwards as the school
tried to move away from the classics to a wider outlook. Even so, as time went
on, the teaching at the College became rather stereotyped; many of the staff
were getting on in years, and the demand for a more up-to-date education
became more insistent. A committee was appointed to enquire into the
administration of the College and subsequently, in 1892 G. S. Farnell—
educated at the City of London School and Wadham College Oxford—was
appointed to take the college further. Farnell became the College’s fifth Head.
He was an able scholar but this ability was firmly rooted in the classics and
although determined to build on previous progress, this provenance may not
have benefited the development of the sciences had he progressed. His career
however, was terminated by an unfortunate accident. In November 1895 the
College had a half-term holiday. Farnell went out to Plemont on the ruggedly
beautiful north east coast of the island to join two of his staff who had started
earlier. The day was foggy, and Farnell, who was rather short-sighted, in
searching for his colleagues, missed his footing on the cliffs and was found
dead at their base. Subsequently, in January 1896, L. V. Lester-Garland,
Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, became Principal. Lester-Garland’s
stewardship of the College lasted until 1911 and it would have influenced the
education of all three Le Rossignol children
19 but none more profoundly than
Robert (Plates 1.3, 1.4).
Like his predecessors, Lester-Garland was strongly in favour of classics as
the foundation of education, but equally he had long been pressing for the
development of the natural sciences in the College. His insistence eventually
led to a new block of buildings containing laboratories and classrooms which
10
D. Sheppard
causes for the subsequent decline in the use of French, as Jersey’s élite families
sent their sons to the new college. The decline was compounded by the fact
that the college eventually assimilated the existing grammar schools of St.
Mannelier and St. Anastase which had previously provided quality education
for scholars from the east and west of the island respectively.
Dr. W. G. Henderson was appointed as the College’s first Principal. He
was just 34 years old and he was Principal during Augustin’s stay, during the
course of which he laid the foundations of the future prosperity of the
College. Originally, the school was divided into Classical and Commercial
sides. In 1855 a grant of £50 per year was made out of crown revenues for the
establishment of a (Channel Island) ‘Exhibition’ (scholarship) to the
University of Oxford. The Natural Sciences were introduced to the school in
the mid 1860s but they struggled for a place in the curriculum. A laboratory
was started but it met with little support, and by 1881 Natural Sciences were
briefly discontinued only to be re-introduced shortly afterwards as the school
tried to move away from the classics to a wider outlook. Even so, as time went
on, the teaching at the College became rather stereotyped; many of the staff
were getting on in years, and the demand for a more up-to-date education
became more insistent. A committee was appointed to enquire into the
administration of the College and subsequently, in 1892 G. S. Farnell—
educated at the City of London School and Wadham College Oxford—was
appointed to take the college further. Farnell became the College’s fifth Head.
He was an able scholar but this ability was firmly rooted in the classics and
although determined to build on previous progress, this provenance may not
have benefited the development of the sciences had he progressed. His career
however, was terminated by an unfortunate accident. In November 1895 the
College had a half-term holiday. Farnell went out to Plemont on the ruggedly
beautiful north east coast of the island to join two of his staff who had started
earlier. The day was foggy, and Farnell, who was rather short-sighted, in
searching for his colleagues, missed his footing on the cliffs and was found
dead at their base. Subsequently, in January 1896, L. V. Lester-Garland,
Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, became Principal. Lester-Garland’s
stewardship of the College lasted until 1911 and it would have influenced the
education of all three Le Rossignol children
19 but none more profoundly than
Robert (Plates 1.3, 1.4).
Like his predecessors, Lester-Garland was strongly in favour of classics as
the foundation of education, but equally he had long been pressing for the
development of the natural sciences in the College. His insistence eventually
led to a new block of buildings containing laboratories and classrooms which
10
D. Sheppard