Victoria Day  In
Canada, the celebration of Victoria Day occurs every year on Monday, prior
to May 25th. It is the official celebration in Canada of the birthdays of
Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II. Victoria Day was established as a
holiday in Canada West (Now Ontario) in 1845, and became a national holiday
in 1901. Before Victoria Day became a national Holiday, people had
celebrated Empire Day , beginning in the 1890s as Victoria approached her
Diamond jubilee in 1897.
Victoria, queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland and empress of India was born on 24 May 1819. She
ascended the throne after the death of her uncle George IV in 1837 when she
was only 18. She ruled until her death in 1901 when her son Edward the VII
became king of England.
Sovereign's birthday
The Sovereign's birthday has been celebrated in Canada since the reign of
Queen Victoria (1837-1901).
May 24, Queen Victoria's birthday, was
declared a holiday by the Legislature of the Province of Canada in 1845.
After Confederation, the Queen's birthday was celebrated every year on May
24 unless that date was a Sunday, in which case a proclamation was issued
providing for the celebration on May 25.
After the death of Queen
Victoria in 1901, an Act was passed by the Parliament of Canada establishing
a legal holiday on May 24 in each year (or May 25 if May 24 fell on a
Sunday) under the name Victoria Day.
The birthday of King Edward
VII, who was born on November 9, was by yearly proclamation during his reign
(1901-1910) celebrated on Victoria Day.
It was not an innovation to celebrate the birthday of the reigning sovereign
on the anniversary of the birth of a predecessor. In Great Britain, the
birthdays of George IV (1820-1830) and William IV (1830-1837) were
celebrated on June 4, birthday of George III (1760-1820).
The
birthday of King George V, who reigned from 1910 to 1935, was celebrated on
the actual date, June 3 or, when that was a Sunday, by proclamation on June
4.
The one birthday of King Edward VIII, who reigned in 1936, was
also celebrated on the actual date, June 23.
King George VI's
birthday, which fell on December 14, was officially celebrated in the United
Kingdom on a Thursday early in June. Up to 1947 Canada proclaimed the same
day but in 1948 and further years settled on the Monday of the week in which
the United Kingdom celebration took place. George VI reigned from 1936 to
1952.
The first birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, in 1952, was also
celebrated in June.
Meanwhile, Canada continued to observe Victoria
Day. An amendment to the Statutes of Canada in 1952 established the
celebration of Victoria Day on the Monday preceding May 25.
From
1953 to 1956, the Queen's birthday was celebrated in Canada on Victoria Day,
by proclamation of the Governor General, with Her Majesty's approval. In
1957, Victoria Day was permanently appointed as the Queen's birthday in
Canada. In the United Kingdom, the Queen's birthday is celebrated in June.
Page Two:
Queen Victoria For
more information on Queen Victoria or Victorian England Check out:
The Victorian Web
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