Life in India

This page lists some former and existing schools in India which were established to cater to British, Anglo-Indian and Indian students. Links to their websites are also listed when available. If you have information or links to add, please update this page.

For an excellent, well-written book on former British schools in India, please see Hazel Innes Craig's book Under the Old School Topee. Reviewed in Society reading list

Alphabetical list of schools

Contents: 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Baldwin Boys School, Bangalore

A

• All Saints College, Naini Tal
• Auckland House, Simla

B

• Baldwin Boys' High School Bangalore. Previously known as the Episcopal Methodist School

• Barnes School, Deolali. Deolali (now Devlali) is near Nasik (Nashik), which is northeast of Bombay, across the Ghats. It was formerly a British school, then an Anglo-Indian school. This site contains a history of Barnes School.

• Bene-Israel Girls Vernacular School Rastya Peth, Poona, est 1882

• Bethany College, Darjeeling.

• Bishop Cotton School, Darjeeling.

• Bishop Cotton School, Madras.

• Bishop Cotton School, Simla.

The official website contains a history of the school. (Simla is now called Shimla.)

Old Cottonians Association also has the following:

Listing of Boys at the School 1863-2004

Search the Names

• Bishops High School Poona, est1864

• Bombay Scottish School, Bombay. Established in 1847 as the 'Scottish Female Orphanage', in 1856 as the 'Orphanage for the Sons of Presbyterians', the school was combined in 1863 to become the 'Bombay Scottish Orphanage'.

• Breek's Memorial School, Ootacamund, amalgamated with Hebron School (see below). Rodney Hall’s My first schooldays

C

• Caineville House School for Girls, Mussoorie opened in 1865 and continued until c 1950.

• Cambrai Hall, Dehra Dun.

• Carman School, Dehra Dun.

• Christ Church School, Cawnpore. Run by the S.P.G. [Society for the Propogation of the Gospel], it was first known at the S.P.G. Mission School, or Mission School and grw into a College affiliated with the Calcutta University in 1866.

• Church Missionaries’ Children’s Home. This school in England was run by the Church Missionary Society for the children of missionaries. It was founded in 1850 at Highbury , London and moved in 1887 to Limpsfield, Surrey. Further details in The history of the Church Missionary Society Volume 4, page 474 by Eugene Stock 1916. Between the period 1907-1916 the school became known as St. Michael's School Limpsfield. Postcard 1907 TheWeald.com. The England and Wales censuses show the children at the school at the census dates.

• Church Mission High School, Dera Ismail Khan. Henry Campbell Guyer served as its Principal.

• Clarence School, Bangalore.

• Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehra Dun.

• Conference Middle Class School Poona, est 1879

• Constancia School, Dehra Dun.

• Convent High School for Girls Poona, est 1860

• Convent of Jesus & Mary, Dehra Dun.

• Convent of Jesus & Mary, Lahore.

• Convent of Jesus & Mary, Murree. See Convent of Jesus and Mary , Murree Wikipedia.

• Convent of Jesus & Mary ,MussoorieGirl’s Catholic School in Waverley established in 1845.

D

• Darjeeling Schools. John Kingsley's archived website provides a list of schools in Darjeeling, along with official websites, where they exist.

• Doveton College, Madras. Now called the Doveton-Corrie High School.

• Dow Hill School, Kurseong. This is the Alumni Website for the school developed and run by Aubrey Ballantine.

• Dr Graham’s Homes, Kalimpong. The Homes were set up in 1900 by Dr Graham of the Church of Scotland to house, feed, educate and train abandoned Anglo-Indian children. Dr Graham's Homes are still in existence today and this website for the UK Committee has many photos of the Homes and the children. The official website provides a history and advises it was known as St. Andrew’s Colonial Homes until 1947. Wikipedia

• Dr Graham of Kalimpong by James R Minto 1974 and 1995. The story of the children’s homes founded for the children of tea workers.
• Dr Graham's Homes: a Century of Service by Douglas Evans FIBIS Journal No 17 (Spring 2007) For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals
• 1923 letters written to Dr Graham seeking admission from milnamowandjahansfamilyhistory.com, now an archived webpage.
• Kalimpong Kids : Anglo-Indian settlers in New Zealand "Between 1908 and 1938, approximately 130 young Anglo-Indian settlers arrived in New Zealand from Dr Graham’s Homes in Kalimpong, India. This website is for descendants of these emigrants and anyone with an interest in the Kalimpong community in New Zealand." Jane McCabe established this website as part of her PhD research. Includes a list of the 130+ surnames associated with this diasphora.

• Duke of York's Military School. A school in Dover, England for sons of soldiers and officers serving in India.

E

• East Indian Railway School, Oak Grove, Mussoorie, also called the EIR School (see Oak Grove School below).

F

• Fairlawn School, Mussoorie. This School was established as the Sind, Punjab and Delhi Railway School in August 1877 with about 27 pupils. Following extensions about 1880, 45 children (boys and girls) could be accommodated. Later (after January 1886) it was renamed the North Western Railway School. Following the death of the Headmaster in 1894, the School closed and the boys were transferred to the Oak Grove School (see below). It is not known (2009) where the girls went.
• Free Church Mission School for Girls Poona, est 1850 in the camp
• Free Church Mission Institute Poona, est 1866 Poona,
• Free Church Mission for Girls Vernacular School Aditvar Peth, Poona, est 1882
• Free Church Mission School for Boys Aditvar Peth, Poona, est 1876

G

• Girls’ High School, Cawnpore (Wikipedia) now known as Methodist High School. Established 1874. It also admitted some boys.
• Goethals Memorial School. Built on the side of a hill in the Himalayan Mountains, Goethals Memorial School is situated near the picturesque town of Kurseong, a district of Darjeeling. British Raj by Raymond Rees-Oliviere from Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society. Memories of the Christian Brothers boarding school.

H

• Hallett War School, Naini Tal. Ethel Fowle, aunt of John Fowle, was headmistress 1941-42. A history of the school can be found at the Birla Vidyamandir School website.

• Hebron School, Ootacamund. Amalgamation of Hebron School, Conoor (originally Miss Orlebar's School est. 1899), Breek's Memorial School and Lushington Boys' School at the Lushington Hall site in Ooty. An unindexed history and memories of the school was published as Rain on a tin roof : 100 years of Hebron experiences by Rod Gilbert. Ootacamund, India: Centenary Committee of Hebron School Council, 1999

K

• Kimmins Girls' High School, an Anglican missionary college, at Panchgani inland from Poona. “Life in Panchgani” from An unforgettable journey by Maria van der Linden (1992). See also Life in India-Miscellaneous
• Kodaikanal International School. This began as a school for the children of missionaries in 1901.

L

• Lawrence Schools/Colleges at Mount Abu, Ghora Gali, Lovedale and Sanawar, the four Lawrence Military Asylums, founded to provide education for the orphans of British soldiers in India.

• Loreto Convent, Darjeeling. Fibis database contains List of pupils from roll of honour 1888- 1912

• Lushington Boys' School, Ootacamund, now called Hebron School (see above).

M

La Martiniere College

• La Martiniere College, Lucknow. This is David King's website about La Martiniere College in Lucknow.
• Mission School, Cawnpore. See Christ Curch School

• Mission Orphanage and Christian Boys Middle Class School Poona, est 1879

• Mission Orphanage Panch Haud Vernacular School Poona, est 1882

• La Martiniere College, Calcutta. Wikipedia, La Martiniere for Boys, Calcutta, La Martiniere For Girls, Kolkata

• Mount Hermon School, Darjeeling

Founded by Emma Knowles and previously called Queen's Hill (see below).

Old Mount Hermon Students' Association (UK) (secretary: Cindy Gibbs).

Another alumni (unofficial) website.

N

• New English School Poona, est 1880
• North Point. Refer St. Joseph's College, Darjeeling
• North Western Railway School, Fairlawn, Mussoorie. See Fairlawn School above.

O

• Oak Grove School, Mussoorie. Official school website includes a history. This School was originally known as the East Indian Railway School, Oak Grove and still has a strong railway connection. In 1894 it took over the boys from the Fairlawn School (see above) which was situated nearby, when the headmaster of Fairlawn died. Wikipedia Photograph of Senior Girls School pupils and another FIBIS on Facebook.
  Also see Oak Grove School-1949 Clothing List.

P

• Philander Smith College, Naini Tal. Founded by the American Methodist Episcopal Missionary Society. In 1905 the Philander Smith Institute of Mussoorie, founded by a Mrs. Smith, widow of Mr. Philander Smith of Illinois was moved to Nainital and "amalgamated" with the Oak Openings Boys’ High School and the result was the Philander Smith College.

Q

• Queen's Hill. Founded by Emma Knowles. Later called Mount Hermon (see above).

S

Bluebirds at St Denys School

• Scottish Girls High School Poona, est 1882

• Sherwood College, Naini Tal. Originally the Anglican Naini Tal Diocesan Boys School, founded 1867. History of Sherwood College, oldsherwoodians.com , the Sherwood Alumni website.

• Station School, Rawalpindi

• St Anne’s Middle Class School for Girls Poona, est 1873

• St Denys' School, Murree. Anglican girls school established 1882, but by the 1930's was admitting boys as well. Dr Ali Jan's archived site has photos and memories. Partly destroyed by a fire in November 2009.

• St Helen's School, Kurseong. Also includes Goethal's Memorial College (see above).

• St George's College, Mussoorie, near Dehra Dun. Founded by the Capuchin Fathers in 1854, it has been run by the Patrician Brothers, a Catholic order, since 1894. Also known as Manor House.
  • Memoirs of an IAF Technical Signal Officer Wg Cdr Locksley Percival Fegredo attended St George’s 1938-44. bharat-rakshak.com
  • Life in the Hills from An Indian Childhood by Eugene Blanchette born 1933 from his website. He attended the Irish Patrician Brothers boarding school from 1945 for two years, from age 11. his parents then decided it had become too dangerous to travel by train to Dehra Dun.
• St Joan's School, Kashmir. Ethel Fowle, aunt of John Fowle, was headmistress 1943-45.

• St John's Vestry School, Trichinopoly. Extract from the autobiography of Richard Harington Martin, the Chief Engineer of South Indian Railways, 1928-36. Reproduced in "Southern Railway Heritage Centre - Marvels of the South Indian Railway 1859-1951" pages 251-255 and Wikipedia "St John's Vestry School"; Retrieved 23 Jun 2016</ref>

• St Joseph's Academy, Dehra Dun.

• St Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore.

• St Joseph's Boys High School, Vepery, Madras.

• St Joseph's Boys Higher Secondary Schoool, Coonoor. A school founded and run by the Patrician Brothers, a Catholic order. An advertisement from The Nilgiri Guide and Directory 1916, where it is called St Joseph's College

• St Joseph's College, Northpoint, Darjeeling. The official school website. . A Jesuit school, also known as North Point. St Joseph's College, Darjeeling - Arijit Sen's website. North Point Alumni Association Of North America. "The Toy Train" from One hell of a life: an Anglo-Indian Wallah's memoir from the last decades of the Raj, page 75 by Stan Blackford 2000 describes the train trip back to school.

• St Joseph's Convent School, Saugor

• St Joseph's Convent School, Karachi

• St Lawrence High School, Calcutta. Free School Street, Calcutta.

• St Mark's, Jabalpur

• St Mary’s Convent School (Ramnee) Naini Tal, est 1878

• St Mary’s Girls High School Poona, est 1867

• St Mary’s High School, Mount Abu. This webpage has lists of the students in attendance at St Mary’s High School in various years. Life in the Hills from An Indian Childhood by Eugene Blanchette born 1933 from his website. He attended the Irish Christian Brothers boarding school from 1942 for three years, from age 8.

School Crest of St Paul's School, Jalapahar

• St. Michael's School, Limpsfield, Surrey England. Previously called the Church Missionaries' Children's Home, see above. At some point the school became a girls' school, and closed in 1996.

• St Patrick’s, Asansol. This is the official website of the school.

• St Patrick's High School, Karachi

• St Paul's, Jalapahar, Darjeeling. A very expensive school, attended by the children of the highest Imperial officials. Official website. Wikipedia.

• St Teresa's Girls' High School, Darjeeling.

• St Thomas' School Kidderpore, near Calcutta - founded 1789 as the Free School. The current address is 4 Diamond Harbour Road, Kidderpore Kolkata 70023 West Bengal.

• St Vincent’s School, Asansol. This is the official school website.

• St Vincent Roman Catholic High School Poona, est 1867 includes anglo-indian section,

• St Xavier's School, Amhedabad.

• Sind, Punjab and Delhi Railway School, Mussoorie. See Fairlawn School above.

• S.P.G. Mission School, Cawnpore. Refer Christ Church School.

T

• The Pensioner's Middle Class School Poona, for boys and girls est 1864

V

• Victoria School and Dow Hill Schools, Kurseong. This is the Alumni Website for these two schools developed and run by Aubrey Ballantine.
• Victoria School, Kurseong. This is the official website of Victoria School Kurseong.
• Victoria Girls High School Poona, est 1876

W

• Wellesley Girls High School, Naini Tal. Founded by Emma Knowles, who also founded Mount Hermon (see above). Boys attended until their 9th birthday.

• Woodstock School, Landour, Mussoorie. Founded in 1854 as the "Protestant Girls' School.
  • Woodstock School offical website
  • Woodstock School wikipedia
• Wynberg-Allen School, Mussoorie, was opened in 1887 with a Nonconformist leaning and moved to the Wynberg estate in 1894. History, Wikipedia.

Z

• Zanana Mission Anglo-Vernacular School for Girls in Sukravar Peth, Sadasiv Peth Civil Lines and Kamathipura, Poona, est 1882

Records

• Results of the Junior and Senior Cambridge examinations are available from the Cambridge University Library Archives. These results were reprinted in Indian newspapers

See also

• Orphan Schools in Madras
• Hill schools
• Railway schools
• School images - Further images held on Fibiwiki

External links

• Wikipedia has articles on many schools in India (of varying quality). An incomplete list of schools is also available.
• The Magic Mountains: Hill Stations and the British Raj by Dane Kennedy, 1996 contains information in Chapter 6 about schools. University of California Press
• Problematic spaces, problematic races: defining 'Europeans' in late colonial India by Elizabeth Buettner. Article in Women's History Review, Volume 9, Issue 2 June 2000, pages 277 – 298. Read the article in Women's History Review, Volume 9, Issue 2 June 2000, pages 277 – 298. Mentions schooling.

Historical books online

• This link includes the schools and colleges in India and Burma run by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (USA) c 1919. Archive.org
• Information about many schools in Britain is included in Index Scholasticus: Sons and daughters. A guide to parents in the choice of educational institutions, preparatory to professional or other occupation of their children; clerical, ministerial ... educational ... etc by R. Kemp Philp 1872 Archive.org, with Index

Making Contact

• Batchmates This is a site where you can register your interest in a particular school in India that you attended in youth.
• Indian Alumni This is a website to help alumni of Indian schools make contact with each other.