St. Peter Is In Fact 95 not out as of yesterday!

Students both former and present of St.Peter's College Bambalapitiya were in the midst of a great centenary celebration yesterday (January 18).

However, as history tells us, it could be correctly stated that St.Joseph's College Maradana opened its secondary school in Bambalapitiya on the 18th of January 1922 and named it St.Joseph's College South Colombo, the exact location of where St.Peter's College Bamabalapitiya is situated at present.

St. Joseph's College, Colombo was founded in March 1896.

St. Joseph's College South, later St. Peter's College, was built on neglected cinnamon land bordering the Galle Road and alongside the Wellawatte Canal, starting on 7 July 1921.

On 18 January 1922, Fr. LeGoc with a large number of Josephian students and Staff opened the new school.

Thus St. Joseph's College South was born on 18 January 1922.

Rev. Fr. D. J. Nicholas Perera was appointed President of the college, with classes from Grade 1 to Grade 7, while the number on roll was 204. However, five years later on the 29th of June 1927, St.Joseph's College South Colombo renamed its institution as St.Peter's College and appointed Fr. D.J. Nicholas Perera as the first Rector of the school.

History

In 1919, just after the end of World War I, Fr. M.J. Le Goc, Rector of St Joseph's College, Colombo, wanted to start a college in the southern suburbs of Colombo, and acquired a block of cinnamon land in Bambalapitiya.

Construction began on 7 July 1921 under the supervision of J R J Jayesuria, an alumnus of St. Joseph's College. In December 1921, Fr. Le Goc announced that St. Joseph's College South would open in January 1922.

The buildings were designed by Fr. Le Goc, and was built in six months. The quadrangle in front had an oval drive running around it. Fr. Le Goc also incorporated the concept of open-air classrooms.

The inauguration took place on Wednesday 18 January 1922.

204 students were admitted on that day and by the end of the year the number had risen to 268.

The First rector was Fr. D. J. Nicholas Perera O.M.I. So in reality, the centenary celebrations which falls on the 18th of January 1922, is in fact when St.Joseph's College Maradana commenced its secondary educational institution and opened its branch in Bambalapitiya.

History, therefore, tells us that the 'name' of the institution 'St.Peter's College' located at Bambalapitiya, is in fact five years short of its centenary mark and will in reality be 100 years on the 29th of June 2027.

However, the founding of the current institution named 'St.Peter's College' (95 years since name change) located at Bambalapitiya, even though initially named St.Joseph's College South Colombo and founded yesterday, the 18th of January 2022, is factually correct.