After three or four months of uncertainty it was finally announced for certain that Mr. Henry Peto, M. A., Late Exhibitioner, Pembroke College, 2nd Class, Classical Tripos, and Honours, Theological Tripos, Cambridge. was appointed permanent Principal of the College Although the news of the appointment had reached St. John's much earlier, the new Principal's arrival in Jaffna on the 28th of May, the morning next after his landing at Colombo, was too sudden for the School to have had any appropriate demonstration. A formal reception was therefore held on the following Monday, 31st May. The function took the form of a Garden-Party, at which Mr. and Mrs. Peto made the acquaintance of many friends and Old Boys of St. John's as well as of representatives of the other Colleges in Jaffna.

The new Principal found in the College Staff of May, 1920, a body of men more than ready to co-operate with him in any measures he might undertake both to restore the College to its high position of a few years before and to advance it along the path of still greater usefulness. In his opening address in the College Hall on the day of his arrival, and in his sermon on his first Sunday in the College Chapel, the Principal laid emphasis on the three-fold division of a man's being, and on the duty of every boy and man being at his best, and giving to God of his best, in body, mind and spirit.

In pursuit of this ideal, the first thing to which attention was directed was the haphazard way in which the School began each day. It had been the custom for Christians to meet for Matins in the Church at 9 o'clock and for Others to meet in the hall. There was, however, no systematic checking of the attendance, and boys were turning up much as they pleased. These two separate gatherings were now superseded by one assembly of the whole College in the Hall. Boys had to be present at 8.55, and their attendance was marked, class by class just before 9 o'clock. An opening hymn. a five minutes talk by masters in turn, and a few simple school prayers provided a form of daily worship suitable to all. and the united assembly did much at once to foster the spirit of corporateness in the School.

In addition to greater punctuality, higher standard of conduct, class work attendance and fee-payment was required. Certain boys who were not likely to do themselves or the College any good by staying, were asked to leave. Boys in fees-arrears were, after due warning, sent home - June saw the highest sum on record of school fees paid within one month. The Principal found that the rumours of bankruptcy were really due to the large arrears of fees not recovered and to the unduly low scale of fee. In addition to the recovery of arrears therefore, the scale of fees was raised. In spite of the dismissal of unsatisfactory boys and of the raising of fees the number at once increased both in the boarding houses and in the day-school. A proper constituted Prefect body, nominated to the Principal by the Staff,. took the place of the two or three temporarily appointed prefects of the term before.

A great change was made on the athletic side by the division of the whole School into four 'Houses,,' called respectively Johnstone House, Pargiter House, Handy House and Thompson House, after four leading benefactors of the College, viz, the Rev. J. T. Johnstone, Principal 1841-1846, the Rev. Robert Pargiter, Principal 1846-1866, the Rev. C. C. Handy, Head-master 1889-1908, and the Rev. Jacob Thompson, Principal 1900-1919. This division and the introduction of inter-house competitions marked a great advance in all school games. By this system every boy in the School is placed in one of the four Houses on entering the College, and he remains in it till he leaves. The House games are so organised that every boy has a chance to play in turn, at least every other day, and is expected to play unless some good reason is given why he should not. The competitions in the various games have led on the boys to a healthy spirit of rivalry and very much improved the standard of games in 'the School.

The out-of-school Societies too received their due attention. The Literary Association was divided into sub-sections, so that every boy might not only find his own Association within his mental range but might also, with the smaller numbers, be able to take an active part. A Literature Club and a Historical Society also came into prominence. In November the College magazine was again published. It has since become an important feature of the School life and is taken by every boy above the Lower School.

The Y. M. C. A of the College had for some time ceased to exist. but the opportunity of the visit of the Travelling Secretary of the Student Christian Movement, in August, was availed of to revive it. The Association was henceforth called the 'St. John's College Christian Union', and regular fortnightly and later weekly, meetings were held in full term time. Since 1920 delegates from the College have been sent regularly to the annual Student Conferences held in different parts of Ceylon. It is noteworthy that the Principal and a few students attended the Quadrennial Conference of the India, Burma and Ceylon. Association, held in Poona in November, 1920.


The Cadet Corps, which had been started by Mr. McPherson, grew steadily and was registered in 1920. In August the Cadets attended the annual camp at Diyatalawa and thus gained a new experience. The new Principal was one who believed that the support and love of the Old Boys of a College were indispensable to its well-being. One of the first things, therefore, that he did was to put new vigour into the O.B. Association. A meeting of the Old Boys was held on the 26th of June, when a number of Old Boys spent the day in the College. Sports were held. and a meeting of the Committee took place in the afternoon. It was decided that, in order to renew the bond of fellowship among Old Boys and also to keep alive their love for their Alma Mater, the Old Johnians should meet, if possible, at least three times a year for dinner at Christmas, an Old Boys' Day in June, and a cricket-match in August.

Through the generosity of the Hon. Mr. W. H. Figg, the compound was again enlarged this year and a new playing ground for small boys was added.

In January 1921 a great impetus was given to the College by the return of Mr. T. H. Crossette. M. A. as Vice-Principal. He threw himself once more with all his old vigour and enthusiasm into the task of improving and strengthening the work of the various classes, giving special attention to the foundations in the Lower School. The result was seen visibly at the Annual Inspection in the Autumn, when 82% of the Second Year Special Classes and 87% of the Seventh Standard passed the Government examination.

A far-reaching change made in January in the Secondary School was that of the formation of the Upper Third Form, by which the better boys from the Second Form could pass in one year to the Cambridge Junior Class. The experiment has proved, both in that year and since, eminently successful.

The Masters' Association, which had long lain dormant, was now revived again, and regular meetings were held, at which the different subjects and aspects of teaching were lectured on and discussed.

The first twelve months of the new regime saw the erection of five new classrooms. Three of them were of a temporary nature for the Secondary School and the other two completed the Lower School block of class-rooms ; from henceforth all the Lower School could be together. A long-felt want was supplied in May of this year by the provision of complete seating accommodation for the Robert Williams Hall. This was in part the gift of an anonymous friend to the College. Now the whole School could be seated by classes at the morning Assembly, and nothing could have contributed more to the general discipline of the School than this orderly beginning to the day.

Thanks to the steady coaching of Mr. A.S. Abraham from the time that a full supply of cricket materials had arrived the year before, the Cricket XI maintained an unbeaten record this year in the Inter-Collegiate League matches, even beating at the end of the season the Combined Colleges' Team, which, as Champions, they had to meet. On the strength of this success the Trinity College Cricket Team, which had won the Championship in South Ceylon, was invited to Jaffna. The match ended, as perhaps might be expected, in a win for the Trinitians by a big margin.

In June the Annual Prize-giving was held for the first time since the Great War. A feature of the day was the Inspection of the Cadet Corps by Col Clifford Coffin, V.C , General Officer Commanding the troops in Ceylon, who had come to preside at the Prize-Giving. Col. Coffin expressed himself very well pleased with the work and smartness of the Corps. At the end of the day's proceedings there was a torch light tattoo by the cadets, which again won the congratulations of the Colone!.

A unique distinction was won for the College this year by K. Nesiah, who obtained the second prize in the British Empire Senior Essay Competition. Schools from every part of the Empire had entered for this competition. The Examining Committee reported that the essays "reached a high level of excellence."

Inter-House Sports were held for the first time this year. The occasion was marked by the presentation for the final time of the Senior and Junior Championship Cups, founded respectively by our distinguished Old Boy, Mr. Willian: Wadsworth, District Judge of Jaffna and formerly of Colombo, and by the Old Boys of Jaffna. The Senior Cup was wor by J. M. Singanayagam, and the Junior Cup by C. A. W. Edwards.

In November of this year the first Christian Union camp was ' held at Mandativu. About twenty-five boys and several masters had a most enjoyable and inspiring three days. It was resolved that this should be the beginning of regular annual camps.

The Social Service Union, which had be n started in 1915 and revived in 1919, was reorganised this year. The Union was divided into patrols with a leader for each. The members soon gained the confidence of the people in the neighbourhood where they worked, and steady relief work continued to be done from this time forward.

The Thompson Boarding House, so called in memory of the Rev. Jacob Tbompson's long Principalship, was purchased this year and came into use at the beginning of the Michaelmas term, As the existing dormitories were full to over flowing, this new house, with accommodation for thirty more boys, was a most welcome addition. It also enabled the College boarders to be divided into three distinct grades, the seniors, intermediates and juniors, and to be lodged in three different houses with a House master for each.

An important event of the third term was the visit of the C. M. S. Delegation from England at the beginning of October. The members of the Delegation who came to Jaffna were Dr. C. C. B. Bardsley (Hon. Secretary of the C. M. S,), the Bishop of Dornakal, Dr. Garfield Williams, Mr. Ralia Ram and Miss Baring Gould. Their visit to Jaffna was a short one, but it represented a call and a challenge to all Jaffna Christians to undertake greater responsibility and self-support both in Church work and in education.

1921 was the 80th Anniversary of the College in Chundiculi, and the third term was chosen for the celebration of the event. An 80th Anniversary Extension Fund was opened, and an appeal made to Old Boys and friends of the School to mark the event by the building of a new Science Laboratory and by paying off completely the debt still existing upon the new Thompson Boarding house. The parent or guardian of every boy was asked to contribute Rs. 10 or 5 and the response to this was good. Two performances of The Merchant of Venice, on the 10th and 16th of September, also realised a useful sum, and further donations were received from many Old Boys and friends outside the College. At the end of December, on St. John's Day, a public meeting, at which Mr. Marrs, the new Principal of the new University College, was the chief speaker, was held. And this was followed by a most successful dinner. It may be mentioned that this 80th Anniversary Fund was in 1923 merged into the College Centenary Fund.

A well-forged link with the past was unhappily broken in the Autumn of this same year by the sudden and unexpected departure of the Head-Master, Mr. A. M. Nathaniel, B. A., to be Principal of Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda. Himself an Old Boy, Mr. Nathaniel had for fifteen years worked in connection with St. John's, giving himself freely and gladly for the welfare of the College. His long service had given him an unrivalled knowledge of the whereabouts and doings of Old Bovs, and his departure was deeply regretted by present boys and Old Boys alike.

This year also the College suffered a very heavy loss in the death of one who was perhaps, at the time, its most distinguished Old Boy, Mr. William Wadsworth. The son of the Head-master of the Kopay Training School, Mr. Wadsworth had joined St. John's College in 1887. As student and teacher he remained there till 1897, when he took his B. A. Degree, being the first graduate who passed out from the College. In the same year Mr. Wadsworth enrolled himself as an Advocate student, won the Intermediate Scholarship in the following year, and passed the Final in 1901. A brilliant career at the Bar was crowned by the distinction of becoming the first Tamil District Judge of Colombo. His love for his old School was deep and sincere, and his busy life was never so full that he could not give time and advice freely to help that old School on. He was a Vice-President of St. John's Old Boys' Association, and was the first Old Boy who had ever presided at a College Prize-Giving; this he did in June this year. A lay-reader, he preached on the last Sunday of his life in the College Chapel, and had promised the College a course of Biblical lectures during the succeeding few weeks. As a token of respect to his memory the whole School was closed for his funeral, and boys and masters headed the funeral procession reverently from his house to the grave.

The year 1922 was marked in Jaffna by the opening of the eighth Secondary School in the Peninsula, Parameshwara College. As this School was built in a district from which St. John's was drawing many of its boys, it looked as if its coming might seriously affect our numbers which had just touched five hundred. Such fears were, however, not well founded About forty boys left, chiefly those who were dissatisfied because they had not received the promotions they had wished.

This Year the numbers near the top of the School necessitated the forming of the Cambridge Junior class. The institution of the Upper Third Form the year before bore fruit this year in December in the unusual success of nineteen boys (including one first-class and two third-class honours) passing the Cambridge Junior examination.

With a view to both greater efficiency and economy a new experiment in Union education was tried this year. The authorities of St. John's and Central Colleges decided to unite their Matriculation classes. A large house was rented out at as convenient a spot as possible from both Colleges and the teaching staff was provided as evenly as possible from both Schools. The Principal of Central College was Manager, and the Principal of St. John's College was Principal of this joint Institution, which was named 'Union College.' All went happily for the year, but at the end of the year it was found to be a real loss to a school to have her leading boys withdrawn just when they were becoming most useful as Prefects and Monitors; for the boys themselves too it was a still greater loss to forego the opportunities for the development of leadership and responsibility which their last year at School should afford them. In January 1923, therefore, the Matriculation classes were resumed in the Schools.

The Scout Troop, though started earlier than the Cadet Corps, had been somewhat deserted upon the formation of the latter. In 1920, however, Mr. C. T. Solomon aroused the troop into new activity. Towards the end of 1921 one of the scouts of the College had gone to Colombo to receive Sir Baden Powell on his visit to Ceylon, and in April of this year, 1922, the scouts joined the colleges in Colombo in celebrating the visit of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, to the Island.


The College was again very successful in sports. In the Inter-Collegiate Sports on the King's Birthday, St. John's ware easily first, and for the second time in succession the College XI won the Inter Collegiate Cricket Championship. There were no less than seven cricket bats awarded this season for scores of fifty. Runs or more ; out of these seven players who won bats, no less than five also scored centuries. This year the College blazer came into existence again. The ernbroidered pocket with the cricket or football crest indicates the winning of cricket or football colours.'

The plain College crest may be worn by those who have passed the Cambridge junior examination. The College 'crown ' was also introduced this year, to be awarded only for super-excellence in any field of sport or for outstanding service to the College.

Encouragement to develop ability in public speaking was given this year by Mr. C. Arulpragasam an Old Boy of the College, in the founding of the Arulpragasam Gold Medal for Oratory. The medal was first awarded at the Prize Giving this year, and was won by C. A. W. Edwards. The Oratorical Contest is now an annual fixture.

In August 1922 the College Masters' Association was remodelled under the name of St. John's College Masters' Guild. A slight chance was made in the constitution of the Guild in that the President, who was till then the Principal ex-officio, was now elected by the members of the Guild. The first President of the Guild was Mr C.H. Kathirvelpillai B.A under whose guidance the Guild has done useful work.

The great distinction ever conferred by the British Government upon an Old boy of the college was won this year by Mr C.Suntharam , of H.M. Customs,Colombo. For long and faithful service in the control and management of public food supplies, both before and during the Great War, Mr. Suntheram was decorated with the insignia of the Imperial Service Order. No small part of the pleasure the award brought to Mr. Suntheram was the thought of the distinction the Government had thereby conferred upon his old School.

Again this year a gloom was cast over the College and the Old Boys' Association by the death, in the prime of life, of Dr. S. A. Vairakiam. Though still a young man, Dr. Vairakiam had reached a leading position in the Medical profession in Colombo. Whatever he put his hand to he did with energy. His keenness for his old School was one of the outstanding things in his life. He was a Vice-President of the Colombo branch of the 0. B. A. and it was he who in 1910 had founded the Ryde Medal' for the best boy in the Cambridge Senior Local examination. His death, following so closely upon Mr. Wadsworth's death, was a heavy blow to the College,