Gibraltar Garrison Library

The Gibraltar Garrison Library extends its most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Tito Benady.

An eminent historian, writer and champion of our Gibraltar story. May he rest in peace.

Gibraltar Chronicle 225th Anniversary

1801 – 2026

This year marks an astonishing 225 years of the Gibraltar Chronicle!
As some of you may already know, The Chronicle was born in 1801 from a Gibraltar Garrison Library initiative. After bringing the printing press to Gibraltar in 1800, The Garrison Library Committee held a meeting on the 5th of May 1801 where it was resolved to create what would become the Garrison Library Printing Establishment and The Gibraltar Chronicle.

From a humble bulletin of intelligence from a campaign in Egypt, to a fully fledged daily newspaper and the second oldest in English to remain continuously in print. Today, as a beloved local institution read by many; we thought it would be interesting to take a look back in time to understand how the story of our local paper, the Garrison Library and a Frenchman are inextricably linked.

It was down to Mr Charles Bouisson, a French national and royalist who had settled in Gibraltar in 1794, to steer the success of this fledgling newspaper. Already Deputy Librarian, it seems his enthusiasm for Britain, the Library and the press knew no bounds as he remained first editor of the Chronicle for 54 years. A portrait of his can still be found in the Library Today.

We thought we’d congratulate our colleagues, past and present at the Gibraltar Chronicle on this milestone. We also remind all our followers that the complete archive of the Chronicle is held at the Library and we've put together a small exhibition of those rare and early editions for anyone who would like to come and see them.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. To commemorate this occasion, we are sharing a front page from a Gibraltar Chronicle, along with a special souvenir supplement published during Her Majesty’s visit to the Rock as part of her Royal Tour in 1954.

🌼 Easter Closure Notice 🌼

Please note that the Gibraltar Garrison Library will be closed as from 1pm on Thursday, 2nd April for the Easter holidays. The library will reopen on Tuesday, 7th April, resuming normal opening hours. We wish everyone a wonderful Easter!

The Gibraltar Garrison Library is home to a significant collection of maps, each reflecting various periods in Gibraltar's history and development. The photographs below, kindly taken by Cpl. Tim Hammond, highlight just a small selection of these detailed plans.

You can explore these images online at https://www.ggl.gi/maps/ or view them in person here at the library!

We thought our followers might enjoy these pen and ink sketches by William Mann depicting various scenes around Gibraltar, c. 1838.

🌩️Attention readers, due to the adverse weather conditions, The Gibraltar Garrison Library will remain closed today. 🌩️

In the meantime, you can still contact us online via [email protected] and we shall let you know as soon as we re-open.

Stay safe out there!

Clare Phillips (MA Royal College of Art) has been a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum since 1989. As a jewellery historian, she is a key part of the small team dedicated to the V&A’s jewellery collection. She has written extensively on jewellery: from Jewels & Jewellery, the definitive account of the V&A’s collection, and Jewelry - from Antiquity to the Present, Thames & Hudson’s accessible introductory text, to definitive works on the jewellery of Tiffany for Yale University Press and on Chaumet's tiaras for Thames & Hudson. In 2006 she curated the exhibition Bejewelled by Tiffany at Somerset House. In addition to her work with the V&A's permanent collection, she has been responsible for jewellery content within major V&A exhibitions, including - amongst many others - Art Nouveau: 1890-1914 and Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up. ��Lecture – Jewellery in Portraits. The Glittering Canvas 1750 to 1850�Jewellery has always been one of the most personal of art forms, and portraits through the ages have shown the importance of jewels to the people who choose to be painted wearing them. Jewellery's intimate nature prompts a multiplicity of references, meanings and messages, while its styles reveal in miniature the broader trends across the decorative arts. In this lecture V&A curator Clare Phillips guides the audience through a century of jewellery design revealed in portraits - from the stately formality of eighteenth-century diamonds, through the neo-classical elegance of post-revolutionary Paris, to the softened naturalism and emerging historicism of the mid-nineteenth century. From diamonds to cut steel, jewellery is our principal focus, with portraits helping to tell the wonderful stories of the pieces and of their owners.��As above The Garrison Library doors will be open from 6.30pm for registration for all. Wine, lager and soft drinks will be available and you can socialise with other members and guests before the talk. ���Non-Members who wish to enjoy the lecture can pay £15 at the Garrison Library Door on entry or can pay £15 to the below account and advise us accordingly.
Bank details: Gibraltar International Bank
The Arts Society Gibraltar 14190001
Sort Code 60-83-14/SWIFT GIBK GIGI

Here are a selection of photographs from this album, 'Operational Photographs Taken at Gibraltar, 1940–1945', which document the military activity conducted on the Rock during the Second World War.

We thought our followers might enjoy this photo album of Gibraltar, featuring snapshots from around 1870. The album was assembled almost a century later by Brigadier T. J. F. Collins, C.B.E., during his stay at The Convent in April, 1965.