From the Great Exhibition records at La Société. Picture: DAVID FERGUSON

JERSEY’S own ‘great exhibition’ rivalled – at least in the eyes of Islanders at the time – the Great Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 in London.

The second half of the 19th century was a time of national fairs and exhibitions designed to encourage trade and commerce. Among them were the French Exposition of 1844, the British Great Exhibition of 1851 and the great fairs in New York (1853) and Paris (1883).

Agriculture was the mainstay of the Channel Islands’ economies, so the core attraction at the CI Exhibition in 1871 was, of course, a cattle show, and cows from Guernsey were allowed to be imported to take part.

The exhibition attracted 30,000 visitors to the showground at Victoria College, and on the opening day the crush was so great that officials had to leave the Bagatelle Road entrance, where, according to newspaper reports, ‘several people taking advantage of the confusion managed to enter without payment’.

Before the opening ceremony on 28 June, mist and heavy rain had fallen overnight and dampened everyone’s spirits. But as morning drew on, the sun shone brightly.

The gates of the college grounds opened to the public at 11 am. Banners floated from the college towers and the roofs of the brightly decorated pavilions and the horticultural tent. Shedding for the cattle had been put up all round the school pitches, and the college cricket field held all the classes of horses and cattle, the entrants in the poultry and dog shows, and agricultural implements.

Along Bagatelle Road a procession of officials lined up waiting for the Lieutenant-Governor, Major General Philip Guy, who arrived at midday. The procession then marched forwards, involving the honorary police of St Helier, the exhibition committee, the secretaries of the exhibition’s departments, the committees of each department, naval and military officials, official guests, Deputies, Constables, Rectors, magistrates and the Bailiffs of both Jersey and Guernsey.

The Jersey Philharmonic Society band struck up Auber’s Exhibition Overture in a performance that was ‘slightly marred by the high wind’.

After the formal opening the Lieutenant-Governor toured the exhibition with the president of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society and the president of the exhibition committee, Charles (‘CP’) Le Cornu, who had provided the inspiration for the event.

Mr Le Cornu was the driving force behind the RJAHS at the time and had been instrumental in the foundation of the Island’s Herd Book five years earlier in 1866. It had been his idea to hold this exhibition.

THE Queen was asked whether a member of the Royal Family could visit the exhibition, but it would appear that they all had prior engagements. However, the Queen gave directions for a loan from her own private collection at Windsor Castle to be exhibited at the showground – a marble bust of her late husband, Prince Albert (who had conceived the idea of the Great Exhibition in London 20 years before), as well as a case of East Indian small arms and a sword, once the property of Christopher Columbus.

An exhibition catalogue held by La Société. Picture: David Ferguson

On the evening of the opening day a grand banquet was held at the Queen’s Assembly Rooms in Belmont Place. It was men-only, and 120 sat down to mock-turtle soup, filleted soles, boar’s head with pigeon pie, mayonnaise of lobster or boiled chicken and béchamel sauce, gooseberry tarts and cabinet puddings – to name a few items from the menu. There were no fewer than 25 speeches and toasts.

The agricultural showground included the latest examples of ‘agricultural machinery in motion’, displayed to good effect, including a piece of cutting-edge technology in the form of a poultry incubator. There were 550 entries in the agricultural section, requiring 2,446 feet of shedding and covering a total of 40,000 square feet.

The exhibition continued through early July and closed as ceremoniously as it had begun, with dignitaries, speeches, choirs and community singing.
A report on the exhibition was issued by the committee, a bound copy of which is preserved in the archives of the RJAHS. It appears to have been largely written by the honorary secretary, the Rev William Brine Le Maistre, Rector of St Peter. He wrote:

‘During the three weeks the exhibition remained open, it was highly valued, and the opportunity was taken advantage of by 30,000 visitors to see the magnificent show of cattle and the huge assortment of agricultural implements; to look on flowers of the richest hues and tints and emitting the most delicate perfume; to wonder at the variety shown in the canine tribe, and at the beauty of plumage in the birds; to examine the treasures of the land and the deep and to study the works of the old masters and of modern painters and artists; to attempt to unravel the ingenious contrivances of engineering skill or the mysteries of some novel mechanical fabric and appliance; to express their astonishment at the many monuments and proofs of patient toil and curious art; to gaze on curiosities drawn from all the quarters of the globe.

’N EVER were exhibited in this Island cattle and stock which excelled those brought together on this occasion. The beauty of the Jerseys and Guernseys left nothing to be wished for. The reputation of these islands’ horned cattle will by this exhibition be extended and made better known on the continent and elsewhere, thus directly tending to increase the wealth and general prosperity of the inhabitants.

‘In the Horticulture department upwards of 130 entries were exhibited with great effect. In the dogs and poultry class were contained many birds of rare beauty and excellence. From the gorgeous peacock and proud turkey to the pugnacious bantam and the useful hen, examples might be found of almost every class of domestic fowl, while in that heterogeneous class of rabbits, guinea pigs and other pets and foreign and home birds and bees were to be found numerous specimens sure to please the eye, and satisfy the taste of the most fastidious.

‘In the loan collection were specimens of the delicate workmanship of China and Japan, comfortable furs and fossils of the North; jewels and gold of Australia and of Peru; and a thousand other things brought to our shores by our enterprising seafaring men who have extended our commerce to the most distant ports.

‘The crowds of visitors who attended the show rendered the scene most animated. The long rows of cattle, the occupants of the horse shed, the number of implements exhibited, the machinery in motion – all combined to form a scene not to be easily forgotten.’

• With thanks to the RJAHS, Société Jersiaise library, and the Jersey reference library for their help in research.