St. George's College, Jamaica

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St. George's College is an all-male, Roman Catholic high school in Kingston, Jamaica; as of 2005, the College opened its Pre-University Programme (Sixth Form) to female students. It was established 1850 by 21 Spanish Jesuits who had been exiled from Colombia as part of a religious persecution. Today, it is one of the oldest and most respected learning institutions in the country, having produced at least six Rhodes Scholars.HistoryEarly beginningsSt. George's Colonial College was founded in 1850 by twenty-one Spanish Jesuits who had been exiled from Colombia as part of a religious persecution. The Colombian Government had given them approximately 9 hours to leave the country by any means possible. After they failed to leave, due to unavailability of transportation, the government extended their time to 48 hours; within the 48-hour time, a lone ship was leaving for Jamaica, which they boarded.At their head was Fr. Emmanuel Gil, S.J., a distinguished scholar and former court preacher to the King of Spain. Amidst a storm of protest against Roman Catholic priests opening Jamaica's first secondary institution for classical and scientific education, St. George's College began its long and proud history. The early years of the school's life were uncertain, as it was closed several times in the first few decades of its existence, but the principal at that time bought the present property where the school stands to this day.On September 2, 1850, in a rented house at 26 North Street, located on the southeast corner of North and Orange Streets, the new college opened with thirty-eight day students and thirty boarders. The first subjects taught at St. George's included Latin, Greek, French, English, rhetoric, history, mathematics, logic, metaphysics, ethics, drawing, and calligraphy.

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