House System

The House system came into existence as merely a change in classification of what was, at the time, unofficially known as the Dormitory system.

From its inception, the college enrolled boarders and as numbers grew, the number of ‘dorms’ needed also increased. Each of these dorms had a master in charge and was known by the incumbent master’s name. This meant that the name would keep shifting as new masters took over the responsibility. The day boys were all grouped together and simply referred to as ‘Day Boys’. Another difference between the initial system and the present was that the houses (or dorms) were made up of seniors or juniors rather than a mix of both. This naturally happened because boys would be boarded with those of a similar age. Around the turn of the century it was suggested that each dorm be given a permanent name after one of the important people in the history of the College. This idea was rejected at the time and it was only after the shift to Mount Lavinia took place that this idea was implemented. The houses were named Claughton, Chapman, Read, Copleston and Miller. There was also a small, rather short-lived Winchester House. At the time, Miller and Copleston were senior houses.

The next development was during Warden K. C. McPherson’s time. In 1926, the Warden decided to separate the day boys into five houses – Wood, Buck, Stone, Jermyn and Baly – according to the location of their residences. Wood house consisted of boys from Ratmalana, further south and from Nugegoda and Borella. Stone and Buck housed children from Mount Lavinia, the former consisting of those whose surnames starts from A to M, while the latter of the rest. Baly housed boys who lived in Wellawatte and Bambalapitiya. Children who were from Dehiwala, Slave Island and Fort were allotted in Jermyn House. This system was not successful because there were insufficient numbers to divide fairly and equally among five day houses. By the end of the year, Jermyn and Baly houses were discarded and the boys were allotted into the remaining houses according to their form (A,B or C). The same happened to the boarding houses and Read house was discarded.

In 1932, with the appointment of the Rev. R.S. De Saram as Warden and the availability of better accommodation, the boarding house system of two senior houses and two junior houses was discarded in favour of a system in which each house had a separate senior and junior dormitory.

Thereafter there was very little change until the year 1958 which saw the end of Warden De Saram’s tenure. In honor of the Warden’s service and contribution to the College, a new house was founded in his name. This system of four day houses and four boarding houses remained till a lack of numbers forced the amalgamation of the boarding houses into two and eventually just one house – the present Miller – Copleston House.