16th October 1858 — On this day 168 years ago, The Kandy Collegiate School, known today as Trinity College, Kandy, was founded by Rev. Ireland Jones with the objective of reaching out to the sons of the Kandyan chiefs and bringing them under the influence of a Christian education.
The school was in a flourishing condition during Rev. Ireland Jones’s time, and by 1860 there were sixty students on the roll. In the same year, Rev. Jones—who wished to devote his time entirely to evangelistic work—retired from the Kandy Collegiate School. He was succeeded by Rev. R. B. Tonge, under whose leadership the school began to decline in numbers and was eventually closed in 1863 or 1864.
However, the Sinhalese chieftains of Kandy, and particularly the members of Holy Trinity Church, were persistent in their appeals to the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) for the reopening of the school. Their efforts were successful when, in early 1872, Rev. Richard Collins of St. John’s College, Cambridge—then Principal of the C.M.S. Syrian College, Cottayam, Travancore—was sent to Kandy to revive the institution.
Rev. Collins secured the assistance of three capable men:
- Mr. Clement Edwards, an F.A. of Calcutta University from St. Thomas’ College,
- Mr. Andrew Loos from Royal College, and a matriculate of the same University, and
- Mr. Perera from the Cotta Institution.
With their support, he reopened the school on 17th January 1872 under the name Trinity College and Collegiate School, starting with forty to fifty boys. Very soon, the leading families in Kandy began sending their sons to this school, and by the end of that same year, there were 120 students on the roll.
In early 1877, the latter half of the name was dropped, and from that time onward the institution was known simply as “Trinity College.”
Article by: Trinity College Archives & Museum Team
