Queen Victoria

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. On 1 May 1876, she adopted the additional title of Empress of India. Her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than that of any of her predecessors and is known as the Victorian era — a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military change, marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who died in 1820 when she was less than a year old. Raised under close supervision by her mother, she inherited the throne at the age of 18 after her father’s three elder brothers died without surviving legitimate children.

She married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840 — it was Victoria who proposed, as royal protocol required. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning her the title “the grandmother of Europe.” After Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria entered deep mourning. In the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered, and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of great public celebration.

The question that changed a Queen

Are we destined to pass our time on earth in continual uncertainty, not knowing whether we shall end in Heaven or Hell? Or may we know here and now that Heaven is our destiny?

Queen Victoria wanted to be sure. After attending a service in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, she asked her chaplain: “Can one be absolutely sure in this life of eternal safety?” But he knew of no way to be certain.

The “Court News” published her question, and it became widely circulated throughout the land. Moved by what he read, a quiet and unassuming evangelist named John Townsend began to pray about responding to the Queen himself. Finally, he sent her the following letter:

“To her Gracious Majesty, our beloved Queen Victoria, from one of her most humble subjects:

With trembling hands, but heartfelt love, and because I know that we can be absolutely sure now of our eternal life in the Home that Jesus went to prepare, may I ask your Most Gracious Majesty to read the following passages of Scripture: John 3:16; Romans 10:9, 10?

These passages prove that there is full assurance of salvation by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ for those who believe and accept His finished work.

I sign myself, your servant for Jesus’ sake, John Townsend”

Many prayers went up to God on behalf of the Queen. In about two weeks, Townsend received a modest-looking envelope containing the following reply:

“To John Townsend:

Your letter of recent date I received and in reply would state that I have carefully and prayerfully read the portions of Scripture referred to. I believe in the finished work of Christ for me, and trust by God’s grace to meet you in that Home of which He said, ‘I go to prepare a place for you.’

(signed) Victoria Guelph”

Full assurance

Some years later, the Queen was visiting the tenants on one of the Royal Estates when an old lady nervously curtseyed and said, trembling: “Your Majesty, will I see you in Heaven one day?”

Victoria smiled and replied: “By the all-availing blood of Jesus, you most certainly shall, my dear! I have His word on it!”

From the day she received that humble letter, the Queen knew that Heaven was hers.

The Queen Victoria Building

Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building stands on George Street on the site of the city’s original markets, chosen by Governor Lachlan Macquarie and later designed in part by convict architect Francis Greenway. In 1898, a majestic building arose on the site in the Queen’s honour. After serving various purposes over many decades, the building was given a $75 million restoration and on 18 November 1986 its doors were reopened, restored to a level of grandeur its original designers would have scarcely thought possible.