Engraving of Queen Victoria laying the foundation stone of the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum, 11th July 1857. [SOURCE?]

In an elaborate, highly ritualised ceremony, Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum only a fortnight after she had awarded the first Victoria Crosses in a ceremony in Hyde Park (26 June 1857).

The London Standard (Monday 13 July 1857) described the context and events of the day in considerable detail, sometimes with a sardonic edge (More below...):

THE ROYAL VICTORIA PATRIOTIC ASYLUM.

On Saturday afternoon the foundation-stone of a new asylum for the orphan daughters of soldiers, sailors, and marines, which is to be erected out of the surplus of the Patriotic Fund, was laid by her Majesty. As will be, perhaps, remembered, the subscription for the Patriotic Fund was commenced, by the especial desire of the Queen, soon after the breaking out of the Russian war, and before its conclusion a total sum of about £1,500,000 was received by the Royal commissioners, of which amount the colonial possessions contributed a very large proportion. The sum was almost unparalleled in amount in the annals of public subscriptions, and although the number of individuals which the casualties of the war rendered objects to whom the assistance of the fund was eligible were very great indeed, yet, after giving full assistance to every case a large surplus was still left over.

With the surplus the Royal commissioners, under the sanction of the Queen, determined to erect and endow a permanent industrial school for 300 of the orphan daughters of men serving in the various branches of the army and navy, considering that some lasting memorial was due to those who fought and suffered during the late war. The situation of the proposed building is on an open portion of Wandsworth-common, a short distance from the Clapham-common station [sic] of the South-Western Railway, and a short distance both from the Wandsworth House of Correction and the Freemasons' School. The style of the architecture will be the same as that of Heriot's Hospital, at Edinburgh, though less decorative in its architectural embellishments. The cost of the building is estimated at about £38,000; while the sum set apart for its permanent endowment is £140,000.

The preparations for the ceremony were not only commensurate with the greatness of the occasion, but were much more extensive than was at all necessary. The platform on which the ceremony was to take place was placed in the centre of the ground, while on three sides of it were erected three large covered stands, which were for the accommodation of some 2000 or 3000 favoured individuals, among whom the tickets were distributed, while on the opposite side of the ground were placed long lines of palisades, from the rear of which some 8000 or 10,000 persons might have obtained a very excellent view of the whole proceedings; but with all the accommodation, the restrictions under which those who were disposed to take advantage of it were placed were sufficiently inconvenient in themselves, and stringent in their execution, to keep more than half of those who would otherwise have been there away. The ceremony was announced to take place shortly after five o'clock, while the holders of tickets were enjoined to be in their places at half-past three at the latest.

Now, the ceremony of laying a foundation-stone is not a particularly attractive one at anytime, and but for the gay cortege, the troops, and the saluting - the general accompaniments of such occasions - the ceremony itself would hardly afford sufficient interest and excitement to ensure the attendance of a dozen charity boys. But when the audience have to travel a distance of eight or nine miles, and have then to wait some two hours under a hot sun, it is not surprising that the military accessories, or even the presence of Royalty itself, could induce only a small proportion of the possessors of tickets to sacrifice their comfort to their curiosity. As the hour of her Majesty's arrival approached, therefore, the platforms and stands presented a sad array of empty benches, and the police were empowered for once to render themselves popular by selecting the most respectable among the crowd to occupy the vacant seats in order to make a decent appearance, which was really wanting.

Two large marquees were erected in the rear of the platform, one for the accommodation of the executive committee, and the other for her Majesty and the Royal family, and at the entrance of which the procession formed. A field battery of six guns was stationed on the common, a short distance from the spot, for the purpose of firing the salutes, while in front of the platform were stationed a guard of honour, composed of a few companies of the Grenadier Guards, accompanied by the band and colours, and the dais on which the ceremony was to take place were stationed 50 orphan boys belonging to the Duke of York's School, accompanied by their miniature band, and 50 orphan boys from tho Greenwich School, while on the other side stationed 100 orphan girls (50 from tho Sailors' Orphan Girls' School, and the same number from the Soldiers' Infant Home). The band of the Royal Marines was also stationed within the enclosed space, and by the performance of a number of popular airs tended to relieve the tedium of the long delay.

At five o'clock the firing of a Royal salute from the field battery announced the arrival of the Queen. The Royal party, consisting of the Queen, the Prince Consort, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, his Royal Highness the Prince of Prussia, and the Princess Charlotte of Belgium, and the various officers of the court, arrived in four of the Royal carriages, escorted by a troop of the 11th Hussars. Her Majesty at once proceeded to the pavilion, where she was received by the members of the executive committee and various persons of distinction, among whom we noticed the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Breadalbane, the Marquis of Abercorn, the Duke of Newcastle, the Earl of Hardwicke, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Chester, Lord Redesdale, Lord St. Leonard's, Lord Colchester, the Right Hon. Sir George Grey, the Right Hon. Sir J. S Pakington, the Right Hon. Mr. Sidney Herbert, M.P.. the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, the Right Hon. Colonel Spencer, etc.

The whole of those in attendance were attired in full court uniform. After a few minutes' delay the procession started uniform. After a few minutes' delay the procession started for the raised dais in the following order:

The Architect. The Secretary.
The Executive and Finance Committee (two and two).
The Royal Commissioners (two and two).
The Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Bishop of Winchester.
The Lord Steward of the Household.
The Lord Chamberlain.
The QUEEN.
The PRINCE CONSORT.
Members of the Royal Family.
The Great Officers of State.

The procession having passed round the platform, his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, who was attired in the uniform of a field marshal, as the chairman of the executive committee of the Patriotic Fund, read the following address to the Queen:

"We, your Majesty's most dutiful subjects, tho commissioners appointed by your Majesty for tbe formation and application of a Patriotic Fund, approach your Majesty with the assurance of our devoted loyalty and affectionate attachment to your Majesty's throne and person, and with the expression of our gratitude for your Majesty's condescension in honouring by your presence and patronage the foundation of this building, intended for the reception and education of the orphan daughters of those soldiers, seamen, and marines, who have fallen in the late war with Russia, and of those who may hereafter lose their lives in the service of their country.

"The brilliant valour displayed by your Majesty's forces, in battle against the enemy early aroused the sympathy and admiration of their countrymen in every part of the British empire, which was augmented by the unflinching fortitude with which they encountered in turn the no less deadly foes, privation, toil, and sickness, which subsequently thinned their ranks even more than the sword. Nor was this feeling confined to your Majesty's subjects, for in numerous instances natives of other countries generously united in augmenting the contributions which were offered for relieving the wants of those widows and orphans who had been deprived of that support upon which they depended for their maintenance by the casualties of war.

"Your Majesty was graciously pleased to appoint us commissioners, under the Presidency of your Royal Consort, to receive the sums so subscribed, and justly and faithfully to distribute them in such manner as should seem to them best suited to secure the most impartial and beneficent application of them to the purposes specified in your Royal commission, and empowering us to appoint a committee for the performance of the executive duties of commissioners, under such regulations as we might direct, and these we have much pleasure in reporting to your Majesty the committee of noblemen and gentlemen whom we appointed have most satisfactorily carried into effect. The subscriptions, fostered by your Majesty's example and Royal care, and liberally contributed to be persons of every class of your subjects, have produced no less a sum than £1,446,985.7s; a detailed statement of which is herewith humbly submitted to your Majesty.

"The munificence of the country having thus enabled your Majesty's commissioners to provide a liberal scale of relief for the maintenance of the widows and orphans, and to extend the benefits of certain existing charitable institutions for the education of the children of soldiers, seamen, and marines (as well officers as men), by adding to their permanent endowment, they resolved, out of the surplus of the funds still remaining at their disposal, to found an institution for the maintenance and education of orphans, which should not only provide for those the more immediate objects of their charge, but also remain a permanent memorial of the national generosity which provided the means for its establishment.

"For this purpose we allocated a sum of £38,000 for the purchase of a suitable site, and the erection of buildings for the reception of 300 girls under 15 years of age, and have endowed it with £140, 000.

The orphans admitted into this institution will be carefully instructed in their moral and religious duties, and in addition to a useful elementary education will be taught those branches of industrial knowledge which will fit them to perform the duties of domestic servants; and, when they become wives and mothers, will enable them to manage their households with economy, and, by habits of cleanliness and order, to contribute to the comfort and cheerfulness of their homes.

Such is the proposed object of the institution which your Majesty is graciously pleased to patronise, by permitting it to bear your illustrious name, and by gracing it with your presence this day. Thus sanctioned, we now commit it to the care of that Almighty Being who has proclaimed himself specially the Father of the fatherless, humbly trusting that it may, under His guiding Providence, fulfil the objects for which it is intended ? cheering the heart of the widow and the is intended cheering the heart of the widow and the and attachment to the gracious Queen who thus personally sympathises in the sorrows of those who fall in the service of their Sovereign and their country.

"ALBERT."

The document having been handed to her Majesty, she delivered the following gracious reply:

"I thank you sincerely for your loyal and affectionate address. I gladly avail myself of this occasion to express the great satisfaction I have derived from the gratifying evidence presented to me of the manner in which my faithful subjects throughout the whole extent of my dominions, and in the most distant parts of the world, have evinced their genuine sympathy with my own feelings of admiration for the gallant conduct and enduring fortitude of my naval and military forces, by their munificent contributions to the funds for the relief of the widows and orphans of the brave men who have fallen in the discharge of their duty to their Sovereign and their country.

You have fully justified the confidence placed in you by your judicious and impartial distribution of those funds for the relief of the widows and orphans of the brave men who have fallen in the discharge of their duty to their Sovereign and their country. You have fully justified the confidence placed in you by your judicious and impartial distribution of those funds, and I entirely approve of the appropriation of a portion of them to the erection and permanent endowment of an institution in the success of which I shall ever feel the warmest interest.

"I am most happy to take a part in the foundation of this institution, and I ncartily concur with you in committing it institution, and I heartily concur with you in committing it to the Divine Care and protection, and in praying that the benevolent objects with which it has been designed may be to the fullest extent accomplished."

The Archbishop of Canterbury then offered up a suitable prayer; after which the stone was raised up to allow her Majesty to go through the formality of smoothing the bed of mortar on which it was to be placed. By this means the people in front first caught sight of her Majesty, who had previously been hidden from their view by the upper stone. The consequence was, that as soon as the illustrious visitors were visible they gave one hearty cheer. The infantile bands, who were placed rather out of sight of the proceedings, of course concluded that the ceremony was completed, and struck up the National Anthem, which, being heard by the artillery on the common, they considered it as a sufficient signal, and the Royal salute was fired before the stone was moved from its position.

The incident, though quite unavoidable, was extremely ridiculous, and occasioned a great merriment among those present. The glass tube containing the specimens of the current coin, which was enveloped in an illuminated scroll of vellum, having been placed in its proper position in a cavity in the bed, the stone was lowered, and her Majesty having ascertained its correct level by means of the plumb-line, gave the stone one or two smart taps with the polished mallet and declared the building begun. On the front of the stone was placed a brass plate, bearing the following inscription:

"On the 11th day of July, MDCCCLVII, in the second year of peace, Queen Victoria dedicated this asylum, erected from a portion of the free gifts of the United Kingdom, of the British Colonies, and the Indian Empire, and of many not subjects of the realm, to the nurture and education of the orphan daughters of those brave men who perished in the Russian war, and for the perpetual consolation and encouragement of those who hereafter may die for their country."

The richly ornamented trowel which her Majesty made use of of course became her property; it bore the following incription.

"This trowel was presented to Queen Victoria by the Royal commissioners of of the Patriotic Fund, on the occasion of her Majesty laying the foundation-stone of an asylum for the education and training of 300 orphan daughters of soldiers, seamen, and marines, who perished in the Russian war, and for those who hereafter may require like succour."

The procession returned to the pavilion in the same order in which it left, and her Majesty was pleased to approve of the inscriptions which are to be placed on the front of the edifice.

The first will be in Latin, as follows:

"New quas paterni consilii,
Et tutelae orbas.
Reliquit mors patrum praematura.
Juventute inculta languerent.
Filiabus.
Bene de patria meritorum.
Nunc et in perpetuum
Hac in aede
Perfugium decrevit.
Cum coloniis ac apud Indos imperio.
Exteris etiam non parce conferentibus
Britannia."

Tho second inscription will be in English, but will be placed on a different part of the edifice:

"For the Orphan Daughters
Of the Soldiers, Seamen, and Marines
Of the realm,
Now and henceforth,
England,
Her Colonies, and Indian Empire,
Aided by many not subjects of the Crown,
Erect
This Asylum
From a part of the Patriotic Fund,
Formed in 1854-5,
At the desire of
Queen Victoria."

The Royal party then again took their places in the carriages, and departed under the same escort of the 11th Hussars. As they emerged upon the road a third Royal salute was fired from the field battery. The proceedings then terminated, and the troops who took part in the ceremony marched off to town, the crowd of visitors dispersing at the same time. The ceremony did not occupy much more than half an hour.

[Source: The Standard, 13 July 1857 (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000183/18570713/007/0002, accessed 1.9.2103). View the original, of which this is an approximate transcription, here.]

PB:

Much of the report is perfectly factual. But there is perhaps a sense that the author is less than wholehearted about the elaborate (and presumably very expensive) ritual he is reporting. Notice, for example, the tart observations about "the ceremony of laying a foundation-stone is not a particularly attractive one at any time ... [it] would hardly afford sufficient interest and excitement to ensure the attendance of a dozen charity boys".

The report observes that the marquees and palisades erected to accommodate the "favoured individuals" with tickets served to needlessly obscure the view of the potentially far greater number without. Yet "even the presence of Royalty itself" was insufficient inducement for many ticket-holders to bother to turn up. With the prospect of waiting "some two hours under a hot sun", relatively few were willing to "sacrifice their comfort to their curiosity", which led to a "sad array of empty benches". (The police, "empowered for once to render themselves popular", only saved the day by "selecting the most respectable among the crowd to occupy the vacant seats in order to make a decent appearance, which was really wanting".)

The report then relishes the somewhat farcical premature artillery salute, and concludes abruptly by noting the brevity of the actual event: "The ceremony did not occupy much more than half an hour".

Incidentally, notice also Prince Albert's very limited expectations of the girls in this "permanent industrial school":

"The orphans admitted into this institution will be carefully instructed in their moral and religious duties, and in addition to a useful elementary education will be taught those branches of industrial knowledge which will fit them to perform the duties of domestic servants; and, when they become wives and mothers, will enable them to manage their households with economy, and, by habits of cleanliness and order, to contribute to the comfort and cheerfulness of their homes."