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On 22 September 1896, Victoria surpassed George III as the longest-reigning monarch in English, Scottish, and British history.  
 
The Queen requested all special public celebrations of the event to be delayed until 1897, to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee.  
 
The Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, proposed that the Diamond Jubilee be made a festival of the British Empire.  
 
In Brandon, Manitoba, city council responded to a British Council of Women request for a public meeting anent starting a Victoria Order of Nurses’ (VON) movement commemorating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.  
 
This was the sixteeth anniversary of the septuagenarian Monarch’s rein, and plans to establish the Order were on an internnational scale.  
 
Many leading citizens of Brandon indorced this cause, and on June 20th in St. Mathews Church, according to proceedures suggested by the Order of the Sons of England around the world.  
 
The Exercises were shared by other local Fraternities, City, 90th Regimental Bands, and Firefighters in full regalia. In accordance with the Queens wishes the collection was turnerd over to Brandon General Hospital.  
 
Print Records read: “Flags flew from public buildings, and private homes. Stores were on the most part closed. Decorations, though confined to a few places, were effective.  
 
The only merchants who showed their loyalty on the great occation by a lavish display were Wilson, Rankin & Company, W. Warner, and W. Miller. Their respective decorations made the Syndicate Block look its very best.”  
 
Source: Brandon a City, by G. F. Barker.  
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/castlekay/2618174135/