The school was founded on September 2, 1850 by a group of 21 Spanish Jesuits who had been expelled from Colombia because of their religious faith. The Colombian Government gave them approximately 9 hours to leave the country by any means necessary. After they failed to leave because there was no form of transportation available the government extended their time to 48 hours. At their head was Fath
er Emmanuel Gil, a distinguished scholar and Jesuit priest. Amidst a storm of protest against Roman Catholic priests opening Jamaica's first secondary institution for classical and scientific education, St. George's College began its long history. In the early years of the school's life was uncertain as it was closed several times in the first few decades of its existence, but the principal at that time bought the present property where the school still exists to this day. On 2 September 1850, in a rented house at 26 North Street, the new college opened with thirty-eight day students and thirty boarders. The first subjects taught at St. George's included Latin, Greek, French, English, Rhetoric, History and many more. After two years, the Spanish Jesuits, led by founder Father Gil, departed Jamaica to teach in Guatemala, turning St. George's over to the English Jesuits. The school moved to 5 Upper King Street and changed its name to the St. George's Presbytery Secondary School. There it remained until January 1866, when, for reasons which remain unclear, it was closed. A few months later, thanks to Father James Jones, the school reopened with twenty-five students and moved back to its original site at 26 North Street, again under the name St. George's College. Three years later, to the opposition of the Jesuit superior, the school was closed, a second time, around Christmas of 1871. On this occasion the strong petitions of 92 influential Kingstonians convinced the Jesuits to reopen St. George's College in March 1873, but on a smaller scale, with two Jesuit teachers. The school prospered until September 1877, when it was closed for a third time, but this closure, however, lasted only a few days. The return of Fr. Jones and the leadership of Thomas Porter, assured the continued life and growth of St. George's College, which has endured to this day. In March 1939 St. George's College built the first science laboratory in the island.
