Bishop Cotton School Shimla

About Bishop Cotton School
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Founded 28th July 1859
Vince Mallum Bono - Overcome Evil With Good

Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, is one of the oldest boarding schools in Asia , having been founded on 28th July, 1859, by Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, a scholar of Westminster, and a graduate of Cambridge. In 1836 he was appointed Assistant Master at Rugby by Doctor Thomas Arnold, one of the founders of the British Public School system. It was the young Mr. Cotton who was spoken of as the 'the model young master' in Thomas Hughe’s famous book 'Tom Brown's School Days'.

The school opened for students on 15th March, 1863. Though mentioned in correspondence as the Simla Public School, it never actually bore this name. The first boy, Frederick Naylor, joined the school on 16th March, 1863. Bishop Cotton School is the first School in India to start the Prefectorial System. Bishop Cotton personally reconnoitered ten sites in September and October 1864, and finally approved the South end of Knollswood Spur which belonged to the Rajah of Keonthal.
After lengthy negotiations the site was acquired through the intervention of the Viceroy and the foundation stone for the new buildings was laid on 26th September 1866, by H.E. the Viceroy, Sir John Lawrence. In September 1868, the school moved to Knollswood, our present site.