Calcutta Boys' School

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Calcutta Boys' School

Dei Mundus Deo (L. The world of God for God)
Established	1877
Principal	Mr. Joseph Raymond Emmanuel (retd.) classes = Nursery (4+) to 12
Students	1850 (appx.)
Location	Kolkata, West Bengal, India

The Calcutta Boys' School was founded by James Mills Thoburn, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was opened in 1877. It was endowed the late Robert Laidlaw and others interested in the education of the sons of the Anglo-Indian and domiciled European community.

Contents 1 Origins 2 School 3 Principals 4 Famous Alumni

[edit] Origins

The origins of CBS are closely linked with the establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India. On January 9, 1873, the Reverend William Taylor, a famous evangelist, founded the work of the Thoburn Methodist Church in Calcutta. He was succeeded in January by the Reverend James Mills Thoburn. The latter's ardent preaching soon rendered the Entally Baptist Chapel, and the tabernacle in ZigZag Lane unable to cope with the ever-increasing number of converts. In February 1874, the old Chapel was dedicated and opened at 145 Dharamtolla Street. This Chapel was built at a cost of 16,000 rupees largely due to the generosity of one George Bowen of Bombay who donated 10,000 rupees. But soon even this chapel proved unable to accommodate the growing congregration, until finally a new and larger church was constructed at a cost of 76,000 rupees on Dharamtolla Street, where it still stands today. The New Thoburn Church was dedicated on December 31, 1875. Rev. James Thoburn remained an energetic and inspiring pastor of Thoburn Church for many years. In 1888, he was elected Missionary Bishop of South India - the first ever Missionary Bishop in India.

It was Bishop Thoburn who founded the Calcutta Boys' School. It was first located at Mott Lane, and then later housed in a room on Corporation Street near WHITEWAYS. From its inception, the school struggled for survival, without a building of its own. This it financially acquired in 1893 thanks, in large measure, to the generosity of a man who could be regarded as the chief patron of the school: Sir Robert Laidlaw.

Mr. Robert Laidlaw, ran a draper's store on the Esplanade. It was a popular firm in Calcutta at that time, and through zeal and enterprise of Mr. Laidlaw it grew into a great business known as Whiteway Laidlaw and Co. with branches all over India, Burma and Ceylon. He soon amassed a fortune which he used liberally in the cause of education and philanthropy. From his earliest days, Mr. Laidlaw associated himself with the Thoburn Church of which he was an official member for 24 years.

Mr. Warne was a Canadian by birth, he had experienced six years work as a missionary before arriving in India. He arrived in Calcutta as pastor of Thoburn Methodist Church in 1888."The Dharamtolla Street Church, as it was first called at the beginning of 1888, was our first appointmemnt in India", he recalled later. "The only property we had then in the city wholly paid for was the little Bengali Church now standing in the Lee Memorial compound. The Girl's School building was up (it had been erected in 1886, during the principalship of a Miss Hedrick, at a cost of Rs 1,30,000/-) and under a debt of Rs 1,00,000/-. The Boys' School had no property and was in a rented building since torn down to make room in the rear for expansion of the Whiteway Laidlaw Chowringhee Building. This building is now called the Life Insurance Building, at the crossing of S.N. Banerjee Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road (as of the year 1980).

[edit] School

The motto of the school is "Dei Mundus Deo" (Latin for "The world of God for God").It is said that the man who brought glory to CBS was its principal Mr. Clifford Hicks. It was also during his time as principal that the newest of the three buildings that house the school was built. Named unimaginatively as the "New Building," the construction was made with donations and contributions collected by the students of the school. This new building also houses the school's chapel–cum–auditorium which houses some of the best artwork in schools in India. The paintings of Biblical characters were by Mr. Victor Nag, the then art teacher of the school. Mr. Hicks was followed by Mr. Alfred Martin, who had also been a student of the school under the principalship of Mr. Hicks. But after Mr. Martin's exit the school was run by a series of acting principals before Mr. Girish Roy took over.

Calcutta Boys' School is also one of the oldest known names in the inter-school festivals circuit in Kolkata. Its own such event was named Concord, which is supposedly the oldest inter-school fest in the city. Some very well known Indian journalists were students of the school once, including Mr. M. J. Akbar. A landmark that every student who passes through the portals of that school will remember is the tiny bookshop next door, known as Graduate Stores. The school was once a residential school. Labour union problems among the class four staff led to its conversion to the day school that it is today. The four houses into which the students are divided on admission to the school are named after those who made the most contribution to the school and its cause of education - Thoburn for Red, Warne for Gold (the members prefer to call it gold instead of yellow), Henderson for Blue and Laidlaw for Green. The school uses the lords prayer as its school prayer.

[edit] Principals

Principals of Calcutta Boys' School:^[1]

• 1881 Clyde A Martin, Esq., B.A.
• 1883 A.S. Busby, Esq., B.A.
• 1885 The Rev. Wm A. Carroll, M.A.
• 1888 The Rev. Frank Latimer Mc Coy, Ph.D.
• 1889 G.S. Bomwetsh, Esq., B.A.
• 1894 The Rev. Benjamin J. Chew. D.D.
• 1897 J. Gordon Kennedy, Esq., M.A.
• 1902 The Rev. F.B. Smith, B.A.
• 1909 The Rev. John Wesley Simmons, B.A.
• 1914 The Rev. David Huron Manley, B.A., S.T.B.
• 1915 T.P. Campbell, Esq. M.A.
• 1917 The Rev. David Huron Manley, B.A., S.T.B.
• 1919 George Allen Odgers, Esq., B.A.
• 1923 Ronald Scott Gibbons, Esq. B.A.
• 1924 George David Allen Odgers, Esq., B.A.
• 1927 Rev. R.S. Gibbons, B.A.
• 1931 H.C. Fritchley
• 1953 Clifford Hicks, B.D., B.T.
• 1975 Alfred Martin, M.A., B.Ed.
• 1991 Girish Roy, M.A., B.Ed.
• 1997 Gilbert Samuel, M.Sc., M.A., P.G. Dip C.Sc.
• 2003 Joseph Raymond Emmanuel, M.A., B.Ed., J.E.D.

[edit] Famous Alumni

• Dr. Bhaskar Biswas
• Benjamin Walker
• Anup Sinha
• Amitava Chatterjee
• Rudrangshu Mukherjee
• M. J. Akbar
• Altamas Kabir
• Professor Swapan Kumar Chakravorty