Chennai: Drums, clarinets, saxophones, trombones, and euphoniums — all once part of a grand musical tradition — now stand proudly in a colonial-era building at St Patrick’s Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, Adyar. These instruments belonged to the legendary St Patrick’s Band, popularly known as ‘The Governor’s Band’, which performed for British governor and was celebrated across Madras. Even today, students play these instruments on special occasions.
St Patrick’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, which started as an orphanage for Anglo Indian children, is celebrating its 150th year anniversary soon. The journey of the school started with the arrival of three Irish brothers – Ignatius Price, Paul Hughes, and Fintan Parkinson from Mountrath in Ireland on October 8, 1875. The brothers and Archbishop Colgan raised funds and bought Elphinstone Park or Shikar Bagh, a 150-acre land on the southern bank of the Adyar River, at the cost of 20,000 in 1885 and moved to the new campus with 100 orphans.
In its early days, St Patrick’s functioned primarily as a trade school, equipping students with life skills that were essential for self-sufficiency at the time. Training was provided in carpentry, shoemaking, tailoring, and other skilled trades, which were in high demand. “The financial support was meagre,” recalls Rev Bro John Kennedy, headmaster of the school. The Brothers relied on a govt allowance of just3 per month per student.
The school was temporarily moved to Coimbatore during World War II, and the buildings were used by the British Army. “Post-war, the brothers sold the wooden beams and pillars to provide free food and education for the boarders. To support free boarders, the brothers started St Michael’s Academy in the 1950s,” he said. After the 1950s, the school started to attract other students as well.
The vast 150-acre campus of the past provided students with ample space for adventure and learning. “The campus was so big that we even went hunting and catching snakes. Our school has produced many Olympians and national-level champions,” said B Sreemannarayana, an alumnus of the school and its chartered accountant.
The school plans to celebrate 150 years with a blood donation camp, interschool sports event, literary competition, planting 1,500 tree saplings on the campus and in the neighbourhood, and a global alumni meet on October 8.