Unfolding untold stories as Ferguson High School marks 100!
View(s):Ferguson High School, Ratnapura celebrates a proud milestone as she turns 100 this year.
One hundred years ago, by the pledge of the Ceylon Baptist Missionary Council of British Ceylon, a school was born in the vestry of the Baptist church, Ratnapura. There, three girls sat together to learn their ABCs from the pastor’s daughter, Miss. Elizabeth Maldeniya. Two years later, in 1919, the class room was moved to a thatched roofed mud plastered hall constructed next to the Etherington House, the Mission House on the hilltop. In 1921, the school was registered as a Grant-in-aid English school with the name Baptist Mission School.
From humble beginnings FHS has charted a remarkable voyage
In 1928, the school authorities decided to rename the school Ferguson High School to honour John Ferguson, CLG, proprietor and editor of the “Ceylon Observer”, since the school was benefited under the John Ferguson Memorial Fund.From its humble beginnings, over the past 100 years Ferguson High School has charted a remarkable voyage offering a hands-on education over the generations producing dedicated women who have grown into creative, confident and civic minded adults who follow the school motto “Live Pure – Speak True – Right Wrong” with all their hearts.
As the school celebrates its century, the Colombo branch of the Past Pupils’ Association is publishing a book, weaving together the historical records, data from school journals and logbooks, and an invaluable archive of golden memories shared by the great minds who have taught there and those who blossomed there. Former Principals, teachers and alumni take a stroll down memory lane as they share their narratives about FHS with humour, insight, warmth and affection. A perfect archive of what past students hold dear about FHS, running to nearly 400 pages, edited and compiled by a committee of 15 devoted alumni led by the award winning author, Sunethra Rajakarunanayake, Former Director General Of Irrigation, Badra Kamaladasa, former Commissioner (Development) of Educational Publications Department, K.V.Nandani Sriyalatha.
“Ferguson Subhavithaya” is an ambitious effort, a work of many hands, illustrated with lively and entertaining anecdotes and perhaps never-seen-before pictures exchanged at FHS over hundred years. The book also includes an English subsection – Memoirs of a Century- a compendium of important historical data of school and articles contributed by alumni working and living across the globe, each one with a story to tell.
FHS celebrates the school birthday on March 27, the birthday of Evelyn Allsop, a former Principal who nurtured the golden era of the school for over 27 devoted years. On March 27 this year, the school will launch a series of programmes and events at the school premises to mark the centennial.
In parallel, the Past Pupils’ Association, Colombo Branch will launch their birthday gift to the school – the book titled “Ferguson Subhavithaya/ Memoirs of a Century” unfolding stories never told before.