Kingswood Histroy
Incepton Through Endeavour
Kingswood College, originally known as ‘ Boys’ High School’ was an institute of formal education which opened its gates to the public on the 4th of May 1891 with a total number of 11 students. Sir Louis Edmond Blaze, better known as the founder of the currently prestigious school, had received his formal education in one of the largest schools in Kandy at that time; Trinity college, which was an elite school run by the Church Missionary Society, and had gone to receive higher education in India since only the very rich were able to enroll in universities such as Oxford or Cambridge.
Since L.E. Blaze was a young educationist, Boys’ High School Kandy was set up in humble lodgings rented out in Pavilion street kandy. Mr. Blaze very well knew that setting up such a small scale private school was not favoured by the Kandy community. Essential funds required to develop the school were not at hand, however, the undeterred founder continued with his set plans with the encouragement of some of the earliest well-wishers such as J.B Blaze and J.W Samaraweera. On top of that, a grant in aid was not given by the government until the school showed signs of a well grounded central student and teacher integration and a continuous expansion of both as well. Such unpretentious circumstances had to be overseen and tolerated by Sir L.E Blaze.
Ultimately despite the continuous support of friends and family, Mr. Blaze was unable to keep up with the standards of an educational institution and as a final resort he handed over the institution to the Methodist Missionary as a means of obtainingfinancial assistance. From 1894 Boys’ High school joined its female counterpart, Girls‟Highschool Kandy, as a part of the Mission‟s educational presence in Kandy. This linkage continued till 1961 when the school was taken over and lead by the government.
The creator
Kingswood’s founder, Sir Louis Edmond Blaze was born in September 1861, to Dutch Burgher parentage. He obtained his secondary education in Trinity College Kandy and is recorded to be the first university graduate to be moulded at Trinity and obtain his B.A at Calcutta university. Young Blaze initially wanted to follow the path of either law or education, but ultimately opts for the latter after 2 brief spells in India which includeda stay at Lahore Boy’s High School as the assistant headmaster in 1890.
When Blaze founded Boys’ High School Kandy, in 1891, he is inspired by stories and tales related to English Public school life. In his memoir KFE: the story of Kingswood College Kandy, Blaze highlights how he wanted to set up a school where teacher-student relations were cordial and friendly. He saw a distance between the two school groups which led him to compare the relationship to a “dictatorship”.
Blaze’s original vision seemed to be oriented in producing an “all-round” personality, which is not centered around examinations. In his writings, Blaze underlines that examinations were not the school‟s main priority. Early interests taken in sports such as Rugby, Cricket, and other outdoor activities such as Cadetting and scouts‟ movement indicate how Blaze intended his students to forge a physical culture that would balance their intellectual gaining. Other than the above-stated extracurricular activities the founder also insists on activities and subjects such as Debating, Literature, History, and Geography.
Blaze’s outlook as a Ceylonese is striking as a result of harbouring strong nationalistic feelings while upholding the British values which he has internalized as a young man. Blaze saw many positives in British culture but was also quick to catch up on the world heritage and culture of Ceylon. His textbook on Ceylonese history was used as a study text in Junior High school till the 1930s. Blaze also made political comments and urged social opinion in his „ prologues „: an annual verse which he wrote and was recited at the Kingswood prize giving. Some views brought out by his prologues were ahead of their time and can even be considered politically controversial even to this day. It is, however, a clear indicator that he wanted his students to engage and to be critical in the world they occupied.
Sir Blaze was careful when choosing that path along which he expected his school to travel. The school song penned an illustration of the values and qualities he expected from every Kingswoodian. While these lines include qualities such as loyalty, integrity, fellow feeling, the choice of right, perseverance of clarity and sight the values can be relevant to all Kingswoodians despite any time gap. Further, these values not only create a vibrant school community but also can be considered solid virtues on which an entire nation can be modelled. The selfless quote, which even was incorporated into the school song itself, “None for himself but all for the school” are words that Kingswoodians of all generations and creeds abide by.
Gaining Ground
Following the years of the first world war, since becoming a stable educational institution, Kingswood once more encountered complications due to the rising number of the community which called for more spacious grounds and better buildings. Even though the managers of the school persevered to achieve this objective, the process continued at a slower pace than needed. As the search for the most suitable locations carried on a multitude of sites such as lands in Peradeniya, Getambe, and even Ampitiya were considered. At long last, a picturesque plot of land known as Solomon‟s Garden was deemed as a suitable location for education. As for the funds themselves, the Wesleyan Missionary Society in London granted £ 666 with a further £ 4000 from its Centenary fund. The construction‟s estimated amount for the new school ran up to Rs. 200 000. The generous English Methodist Sir John Randles donated £ 10 000 (Rs. 150 000) for the forthcoming improvement of the new school. The gates of the new school were opened in 1923 with the stones being laid for the Main Hall where L.E Blaze quotes the following words of Sir John Randles explaining his generosity towards Kingswood:
From this point onwards Kingswood College established a reliable source of financial support and a firm source of income as well, thus minimizing the struggle of maintaining a well-rounded school and optimizing the chances of facilitative advancements.
School Structure
The school began its daily routine at 10.30 a.m. and ended at 4.00 p.m. allocating half an hour for the interval thus making the school hours a total of 5 hours which was the standard of public education at that time. Classes were held from Primary grades to Cambridge Senior / Calcutta Entrance which was the equivalent of our modern A/Ls.
In 1922, the house system was implemented at Kingswood – with the names of four eminent public schools in England as the names of the houses. specific colours were given to each house. Eton (yellow), Rugby (green), Winchester (blue), and Harrow(red). A “kindergarten” or primary section was set up in 1923, under the guidance of then Principal of Princess of Wales College, Miss S.P Marshall and with a trained teacher, Miss Nancy Fernando as Head Mistress.
Epilogue
Like any triumph, Mother Kingswood witnessed its fair share of vicissitudes through the course of history due to undergoing the rapidly transitioning technology of our community. As a result, the school has been remolded, modified, adapted, and converted by former gentlemen of Kingswood to take the shape of what we currently refer to as Kingswood College Kandy. Those who lead the school over the next centuriesof its existence will need to preserve as much of this shape as possible. To achieve such a formidable quest in our current world of painful endeavors, will tax their skills and competencies to the utmost. But it is a challenge that should and will be met with the same spirit and courage that Sir Blaze portrayed as he established Kingswood College 130 years ago.
Introduction To Sir L.E. Blaze
Sir Louis Edmond Blaze, was the Pioneer who founded Kingswood College which owns a history of 130 years of excellence. He was a person with morals, principles, good values with gentleman qualities. He is the role model of every gentleman of Kingswood. He is the reason behind this magazine andmany more traditions and practices which have been in use for over a century. This is the story of that inspiration model of every gentleman of Kingswood College.
Sir Louis Edmond Blaze was born on September 29, 1861, as the fifth child and the fourth son of Pouis Ecekiel Blaze and Henrietta Charlotte Garnler. Little is known of his childhood, but we can imagine a spirited boy who
learned his lesson and played games with equal zest and who must have been an avid creator of stories in which the heroes and most of their adventures in Englishpublic schools.
His education began on sound lines, at Trinity College, Kandy. Here, at the age of fifteen he was responsible for the first attempt in starting a school magazine, and it appeared in manuscript from on May 15, 1876, with L.E. Blaze as the editor and manager, it was issued in a fortnight and was called “the Gleaner.”Some years later he became the first Trinity college graduate. When he obtained the B.A Degree after six months of formal connection with the Calcutta university, one of his school mates was Christoper Dreibig, who also went to Calcutta, where the foundations of a lifelong friendship was laid. Another of his schoolmates, destined for distinctions was Andreas Vell, who out lived him and died at the age of 92.
In January 1891 the best adventure of his life began with his arrival to Sri Lanka. He returned to Sri Lanka in January 1891 with a keen desire to start a school of his own and run it in his own way. It was to be a school in which the friendliest relations would prevail between teachers and pupils, where boys would really be educated in the right atmosphere and not merely trained to pass examinations. No such private school existed anywhere in Ceylon at that time. He had to labour under the heaviest handicaps to make his dream come true. But his determination and enthusiasm overcame every difficulty. No one knows the hardships he endured and the sacrifices he had to make in order to fulfill his ambition.
The Boys’ High School, as he called it, came into being on May 4th, 1891. This was the beginning of what later came to be known as Kingswood College, Kandy which established new educational ideas and traditions in Ceylon. The school of his dreams started with only eleven pupils in a small buildingin the Pavilion Street, Kandy. This was the beginning of reaching the dream of his life.
In July 1894 the School’s management was taken over by the Wesleyan mission and in 1896 it wasregistered by the government as a grant-in-aid school. In December 1897, it moved into a large premise in Brownrigg Street. The school hall was built here in 1898 and the Boys’ High School took the name of Kingswood.
One of the many stories may be related here to illustrate Blaze’s methods in dealing with the boys whom he always addressed as “Gentlemen of Kingswood”. He once threatened to cane a boy and turning to other boys present, said, ”will somebody bring me a cane?” one of them was a bit too eager to obey the principal and when he returned with the cane, it was he who got the caning, for being so keen on seeing another punished. It is not surprising that such a principal was loved as well as respected.
Blaze held office at Kingswood for 32 years, retiring in 1923.He had seen the school through its formative years and had securely established it. In 1925, thanks to a generous donation by Sir John Randles, Kingswood College moved into the building it now occupies known as Randles Hill, half- way between Kandy town and Peradeniya. He always kept in close touch with his old pupils, helped them to solve their personal problems, shared their
joys and sorrows, and did all he could, even in the latter part of his life, ”to keep the flames of loyalty burning” as he said as the purpose of Kingswood Week at Kandy and the Annual Kingswood service in Colombo.
Blaze’s service to the country as an educationalist was recognized by the government. He was made a Justice of Peace for the Kandy District, where he was highly esteemed and held in affection by people of all races and creeds. In 1929, he was among those whom the Order of British Empire was conferred. Twenty years later he was elevated to the Rank of Commander in the same order.
He endured personal sorrows with characteristic of fortitude and with the consolation of his only surviving daughter as the constant companionship. With numerous friends and hundreds of old pupils whom he called his sons, he could never be lonely.
In 1934 he published “K.F.E” the story of Kingswood College Kandy. It was dedicated to the gentleman of Kingswood, who had maintained its best traditions of loyalty and manliness. He took a keen interest in and had a vast collection of cutting of more than ephemeral interest in his library, to which journalists were glad to have access.
Blaze of Kingswood had nothing that could be measured in terms of wealth. But he certainly had all if we take an account of his books, his treasured memories, his friendships and loyal devotion of his old pupils.
He once defined the test of greatness, the extent of a man’s achievement, his character and his influence. It may be said that he stood all these tests with credit. His achievement was a school with distinctive traditions and a spirit of its own. His character was distinguished for calm courage and strict adherence to his ideals. And his influence was reflected in the loyalty and manliness of those who were true gentlemen of Kingswood. We shouldn’t hesitate to call him as a great Ceylonese as any of his countrymen who achieved eminence as scholars, lawyers, doctors, philanthropists, politicians or newspaper magnets who moulded public option and promoted the people’s welfare.
In short Sir Louis Edmond Blaze was a person who built a school which not only gives knowledge but also qualities, not a school with students but a school with gentlemen, not an ordinary school but a school with traditions and a culture, not just a principal but a role model to every Kingswoodian.
He may be not here with us alive but he will be alive in the heart of every Kingswoodian.
Mr. L.E. Blaze’s Address to the school on 12th of March 1937
You know it has been customary to address students as “Gentlemen of Kingswood” not as “Boys” as “Kingswoodians” or even as “my dear young friends”, but as “Gentlemen of Kingswood”, with an emphasis on the “Gentlemen”. You may wonder why this custom was established, what you read below is the explanation of Sir. L.E Blaze, the founder principal and initiator of the custom.
A gentleman does nothing which is underhand or mean. A French proverb tells us that Rank has its obligations; and as the saying goes there are some things a gentleman cannot do, with other things that a gentleman must do. He never lets another down, but is loyal to his friends and his duty. He never takes advantage of another’s weakness or ignorance. He cannot be stingy, giving as little as he is forced to give, and that grudgingly – whether it be money, or labour, or time or anything else that is of value. He cannot sneak, or carry tales, either for his personal advantage, or out of malicious spirit of mischief making. He cannot “crib” or copy another’s answers to pass them off as his own. He cannot “funk” or behave in a cowardly manner in the presence of danger. However afraid he may be – and fear comes to the bravest – he must not show fear, or give way to it. True courage is not the absence of fear, but the overcoming of fear. Some of you will remember the story of Adigar Ehelapola’s children who were cruelly beheaded by the order of the King of Kandy. The eldest boy, eleven years old, shrank from his doom. He clung crying to his mother. The second Boy, only nine years old, stepped forward and bade his brother not to be afraid: “I will show you the way to die”.
The list of these things which a gentleman cannot do might be indefinitely extended; but as a general rule it will be sufficient if we remember that we cannot do whatever is mean or unmanly, whatever he would be, or ought to be ashamed of, if it was found out.
The list of these things that a gentleman must do, even if he suffers by it, are of course, the opposite of what he cannot do. He must be liberal in giving; not rashly or unwisely, but according to his means, and according to the nature of the cause he supports. There are causes which indeed he is under an actual obligation to support as ungrudgingly as he can – his family, his Church, his school. In the past our Old Boys were good givers, even to the extent of sacrifice, as you may read in the History of the school, in the chapter on the Kingswood Union. Let me take this opportunity of reminding you that, when you leave the school, your obligations to it do not cease. If you want the school to be proud of you, you must help to make the school one to be proud of; and that cannot unless you do your share, by your character, by your attainments, your loyalty, and your liberality. Whenever a future Principal proudly says in his annual report, “The Old Boys have been generous in their support”, ask yourselves, “How much have I given or done for purpose? What was my share in this support?”.
Another of the outstanding features of a gentleman is that according to the saying he can take a defeat in a proper way. He does not whine or grumble or make excuses. “The German Emperors die standing” – an old saying. No weak, cowardly yielding for them. I am reminded of an old incident connected with Kingswood. Mr. Boultan walking with a friend on the road by Bogambara Jail, when the singing, cheering, and laughing of our Boys were heard as they were returning home. “Hullo!” said the friend, “Kingswood has won a match?” “No” said Mr. Boultan, “They have just lost one” That is the Kingswood spirit even in defeat. When we say, as we do sometimes, “So-and-so is a gentleman”, what do we mean? That he is just, that he is kind, that he is courteous, that he is liberal in his gifts and in his outlook. A gentleman never boasts, never pushes himself forward, even when he has a right to do so. He is courteous, – not only to those in high place, but equally to those in humble situation. He gives up his seat to a lady, or an old man, or one who is physically frail. And when there is a Garden party for example, he will find a seat for anybody who needs one.
Is it not delightful to be known and spoken of as being a gentleman? It is even more delightful to be a gentleman, in our actions, in our speech, and in the thoughts of our mind. While you are here in school, in Kingwood, you have the opportunity of testing yourselves, of training yourselves. The word i leave with you is this,
Learn about past principals who built Kingswood
