Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

The Wiltshire Victoria County History Trust wishes to congratulate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the event of her Platinum Jubilee.

The Victoria County History project was initially dedicated to Queen Victoria to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. In 2012, on the occasion of our Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, she permitted the Victoria County History to rededicate its series of county volumes in her honour. To mark that occasion, the Queen was presented with a copy of the Wiltshire Victoria County History volume 18 on Cricklade and Environs by the then Wiltshire VCH editor Virginia Bainbridge.

During her 70 years on the throne, the Queen has provided a thread of continuity during which time Wiltshire has changed and developed. The work of the Wiltshire VCH began in 1947 during the reign of the Queen’s father, George VI, and has continued throughout her reign, producing authoritative histories of the county from the earliest archaeological records forward.

Today, the Wiltshire VCH is working on three volumes (19, 20, 21) covering Mere and the Deverills, Chippenham Area and South East Wiltshire. These will capture both the history of these communities from ancient times and their evolution since Her Majesty ascended the throne in 1952, based upon the same meticulous research and encyclopaedic writing that has characterised all the Wiltshire VCH volumes since the publication of its first in 1953.

During this Platinum Jubilee week, the Wiltshire Victoria County History Trust celebrates Her Majesty’s 70 years of public service and sends her all best wishes.