Bishop Cotton Boys' School

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Bishop Cotton Boys' School
File:Bishop Cotton Schools crest.png
The School Arms
Address
St. Mark's Road

Bangalore
,
Karnataka

India
Coordinates12°58′7.0″N 77°35′55.6″E / 12.968611°N 77.598778°E / 12.968611; 77.598778Coordinates: 12°58′7.0″N 77°35′55.6″E / 12.968611°N 77.598778°E / 12.968611; 77.598778
Information
TypePrivate school
MottoNec Dextrorsum Nec Sinistrorsum (Latin)
(Neither to the right, nor to the left.)
Established1865; 159 years ago (1865)
FounderSamuel Thomas Pettigrew[1]
ChairmanP.K. Samuel
PrincipalS Edwin Christopher
Enrollmentapprox. 7,000
Campus size14 acres (57,000 m2)
HousesPope, Pettigrew, Elphick, Pakenham Walsh, Thomas
Color(s)Green and gold   
PublicationThe Cottonian, The Cotton Mill
AffiliationIndian Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (ICSE) and the Indian School Certificate examination (ISC)
Former pupilsOld Cottonians
Websitebishopcottonboysschool.edu.in

Bishop Cotton Boys' School is an all-boys school for boarders and day scholars in Bangalore, India, founded in the memory of Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta. The school has been described as "The Eton of the East".[2]

The school is bordered by Residency Road, St Mark's Road, Lavelle Road and Vittal Mallya Road, and is spread over 14 acres (57,000 m2) of land in the heart of Bangalore.

School heads in the early days included George Uglow Pope, Herbert Pakenham-Walsh, S. T. Pettigrew, William Elphick, Iowerth Lowell Thomas and A. T. Balraj.

The Boarding has around 200 students from all over India and also International students from Thailand, Nepal etc. The sister school Bishop Cotton Girls' School is located on the opposite side of St. Mark's Road.

Origins[edit]

The school's past extends back to the British Raj and the Victorian era with its beginnings in a house on High Grounds over which now stands the great ITC Windsor Hotel. It was started in 1865 by Rev. S T Pettigrew, the then Chaplain of St. Mark's Cathedral who had a vision of starting a school for the education of children of European and Anglo-Indian families. In his own words, he wanted to "establish a day and boarding School for the Children of Christian residents in the station and its vicinity." The school was named in honour of George Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta, under whose stewardship a scheme of education was organized for the Anglican Churches in India. After India gained independence from the British in 1947, the school began to be, and is still governed by the Church of South India.

In the first five years of the school it had three principals. It was only with the arrival of George Uglow Pope, a distinguished Tamil scholar (who translated the famed Tirukkuṛaḷ into English[3]) that the present site was acquired For Rs 47,500. The boys' school and the girls' school functioned on the same campus but under different heads. Under the stewardship of Pope, the school grew from strength to strength. A collegiate section was started and the school obtained recognition from the University of Madras. He gave the School its motto – 'Nec Dextrorsum Nec Sinistrorsum', meaning 'Neither to the right nor to the Left'.

When Pope left India in 1892 to take up the post of Reader at Oxford University, the standard of the school began to decline. By 1906, closure of the school was contemplated.

Henry Whitehead, Bishop of Madras, the chairman of the Board of Governors, as a last resort, invited the members of the Brotherhood of Saint Peter to save the school from closure. Herbert Pakenham-Walsh, of the Brotherhood of St. Peter, later to become Bishop, revived the school. The school still celebrates St. Peter's day amongst other traditions such as Guy Fawkes' bonfires. In 1911, the girls' school was moved across the road. William Elphick worked for a quarter of century for the growth of the school.

The last living member of the Brotherhood of St Peter in India, Father David, died of old age. He lived and worked in the school as the school chaplain.

General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Trust[edit]

The General K.S. Thimayya Memorial Trust pays tribute to the School, in memory of General K. S. Thimayya, Cottonian (1918 to 1922). The Trust organises the annual Thimayya Memorial Lecture, and awards the Thimayya Medal to Cottonians who have demonstrated exemplary public service. The Trust also operates a Benevolent Fund that supports former staff members of the School, monetarily.

Notable alumni[edit]

Science[edit]

Military[edit]

Positions of responsibility[edit]

Entrepreneurs[edit]

  • Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
  • Philip Wollen, ex-Vice President of Citibank; philanthropist and social justice advocate
  • Rohan Murty, Indian technical officer, junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, and the founder of the Murty Classical Library of India
  • Bharat Goenka, Co-founder and managing director of Tally Solutions
  • Varun Agarwal, founder of Alma Mater

Arts[edit]

Sports[edit]

Other notable alumni[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "About Us | Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore".
  2. ↑ Ebenezer, Abraham (1998). Eton of the East: The Story of Bishop Cotton Boys' School, 1865-1998. WordMakers Pub. ISBN 978-8185447124.
  3. ↑ Pope, G U; Drew, W H; Lazarus, John; Ellis, F W. "Tirukkural: English Translation and Commentary". Project Madurai. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2014. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch (help)
  4. ↑ "India's Most Eminent Nuclear Physicist". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Life Fellow

External links[edit]

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