Bishops College Sri lanka
| Bishop's College in Colombo, Sri Lanka was founded by the Church of England in Ceylon in February 1875. Located in colombo 3, Sri Lanka, it was one of the earliest mission schools of the Church of England in Ceylon. The college was first known as Bishopsgate School. The Bishop of Colombo, the Rt.Revd. James Chapman (1845-1862) was instrumental in setting up Bishopsgate School. Bishop's College is the sister school of S.Thomas' College Mt.Lavinia and this influence has had a great impact in maintaining the discipline and quality of Bishop's College. The current principal is Mrs. Hemamali Bibile. Bishop's College with the postal address of No. 15 Boyd Place Colombo 3, celebrates its 125th Anniversary in the year 2000. 1875 is the official date from which the count begins but there is an earlier connection. Mrs. Frances Chapman wife of Bishop Chapman had set her heart on setting up a school for Christian girls with funds collected while in Furlough in England. She established a school in 1857, a school in their own residence in Mutwal called Bishopsgate, with 20 pupils she desired. The Principal was Mrs. Long, who had served earlier at the Church Missionary School in Nallur, Jaffna. In May 1859 Mrs. Chapman returned to England due to ill health, and Mrs. Long passed away in 1861. The school had to be temporarily closed and no reference to its reopening is available in the Diocesan Archives. So Bishop's College dates her new beginnings to 1875, when the school with 13 pupils was established at Fairfield House in Darley Road, under the same name - Bishopsgate school. Fairfield House is the present site of Link Holdings Ltd. Even today the words 'Bishopsgate' stands engraved at the entrance to the building. The first Principal to come out was Miss. Down., who on marriage became Mrs. Henry Drew. Among the first girls enrolled were Minnie Von Possner, Hilda Obeysekera, Dorah Aserappah and Caroline Peiris. The first boys to enter the kindergarten were James and Donald Obeysekera and Leslie de Saram. Monthly expenses in running the school were about Rs. 300/= which included rent, salaries, and the hire of a piano. The income in fees in the first month totaled Rs. 302/50! In 1887, three Sisters from St. Margrets Convent in East Grinstead, England had come out to Ceylon on missionary work. Theirs was a sorority founded by Dr. John Mason Neale in 1855, which had now expanded to overseas mission. After a short location at Greenpath, they established their Convent at Polwatta, Colpety. One of them, Sister Joanna Mary, was asked to help in the running of the school. Principals and teachers who came out to Ceylon to fulfil the goals of Christian Mission, often had to leave due to ill health, the rigors of the tropical climate or p+D2ersonal reasons. The answer seemed to be with the Sister of St. Margaret, and Sister Angela was the first Sister to be Principal of Bishopsgate school. The school was to be an institution to promote educational advancement, and also a finishing school for the daughters of Christian families. Subjects taught directed them to the Cambridge local examination: French, Drawing, Singing, and piano playing were also on the curriculum. In 1890, then Bishop of Colombo, Bishop R.S. Copleston, purchased the Maradatin Cinnamon Gardens bordering on Boyd Place, Colpety. The school moved from Darley Road to these premises in 1892, and was renamed as Bishop's College. Although the Sisters of St. Margaret had by now for some years been associated with the running of the school, it was now with this shift that the school was passed into their care. Proximity to St. Margaret's Convent at Polwatte, was of great significance. For an unbroken period of sixty years from 1895-1955 these Sisters guided the students of Bishop's College, not only in their mental development but in the levels of charity, community spirit and public service and upholding of he school motto 'Non Sibi Sed Omnibus' - Not for self, but for all. There were ten Sisters who were Principals of the school in this period of 60 years. They were in the order of their Principal-ship - Sister Bridget Margaret, Sister Bertha Mary, Sister Latitia, Sister Eva, Sister Marguerite, Sister Geraldine Mary, Sister Mary Kathleen, Sister Mabel, Sister Celestine and Sister Gabreil. A close bond was established between Bishop's College and St. Margaret's Convent, Polwatte, which remains up to now. The Sisters are revered guests at all school functions; Bishop's College participates in all their special occasions and upholds the motto they gave the school by helping to the Convent in fund-raising at their annual fair and in many other ways. The number of students when the school moved to Boyd Place, was 70. As early as 1896 an Association of Past Pupils known then as the Bishop's College Association was set up. As Bishop's College entered the 20th century the school chapel was dedicated to St. Agnes, the Roman Virgin and Martyr of the 4th Century A.D. The school faced Boyd place on the South, a property known as Arncliffe on the East, a building known as Edgecote on the West and a Government reservation adjoining the Beira Lake, on the North. The property on which the school was located was held in trust by the Bishop of Anglican Dioces of Colombo, with a board of three members. As the numbers on the school increased, additional staff had to be recruited and accommodation organised. The adjoining building Edgecote was rented out to house the kindergarten. Buildings within the premises were expanded. In due course the school built its own Kindergarten block and Edgecote was given up in 1929. Elscourt, a magnificent building on Turret Road, opposite the Victoria Park, at one time the site of the Colombo Orient Club, was gifted to the school to the school by a loyal past pupil Mrs. Maude Peiris. | ||
| Ceylon & Sri Lanka - Mint Stamps | ||
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