History
The institution had a very humble beginning. From the firsttwo destitute children to the present strength of nearly two thousand studentsis a far cry, yet it is a proof of the sound foundation and enlightenedleadership that this institution has been blessed with. It was on April 26th1885 that Rev. Fr. Norbert, O.F.M. Cap., the then Parish Priest of St. Joseph’sChurch, Hazratganj. [The present St. Joseph's Cathedral] took under hisprotection ISSAC and CHARLES CLAUDIUS and started teaching them himself. Thisposed to the good priest a serious problem but it was also a germ that producedan idea. Realizing that his congregation was in dire need of an educationalinstitution for boys, he went about putting his plan into action. It was a boldstep because in those early days schools of this kind were few and those thatexisted catered mainly to the British, the then rulers of this country. Fromthe pulpit and in his house to house visits to his parishioners, theenterprising priest spoke of his scheme and appealed for help. Without meansand without funds he started St. Francis’ School and Orphanage. He knew no helpwould be forth coming from Government yet he severed.
At first be converted a portion of his bungalow on thesouth-east of the church ground into classrooms and a small thatched room thatserved as his kitchen and store into a dormitory. Originally the Priest Houseat Hazratganj was situated on the plot where Cathedral School now stands.Children started flocking in. Mr. J. B. S. Boyle a |leading advocate of histime was generous with his advice and financial assistance and Mr. H. A.Cosgrove the first full time teacher. Unfortunately on 26th March 1886, FatherNorbert expired at a young age of forty years. He was succeeded by Fr. EmmanuelVan den Bosch, a Belgian Capuchin who carried on the good work with the samevigour. The school was still in its infancy but the rapid increase in enrolmentrendered necessary a new building programme. On Sunday, 4th May 1890, Fr.Bartholomew, 0. F. M. Cap., laid the foundation stone of St. Francis’ Boardingand Day School for boys. The cost of Rs. 5,094 was paid by the Bishop ofAllahabad, and some well wishers. In 1893, Fr. Bartholomew built the new priesthouse on the site where the Bishop’s House now stands and released tnc oldpresbytery to the school and served as the boys dormitory.
In 1894, Fr Petronius Gramigna,0. F. M. Cap., later tobecome Bishop of Allahabad brought the school under the Educational Departmentsecuring for it the recognition of a Middle School. Constant additions andre-adjustments were being made to cope with the continuous expansion but littlecould be done due to lack of funds and space. In 1908 it was brought to thenotice of the school authorities that a large and extensive property togetherwith a building in the centre was for sale. The property was adjoining thechurch compound on Shahnajaf Road and was purchased, the amount being paid forby Dr. Petronius Gramigna, the then Bishop of Allahabad. The said property isthe present site of St. Francis’ College.Fr. Celestine, 0. F. M. Cap., wasappointed Principal on 1st June 1910. Young and eager, he submitted to theEducational Department a building project to be erected, on the newly acquiredland. Though the scheme was approved of by both the Inspector of EuropeanSchools and Director of Public Education, sanction of the building Grant wasslow in coming. Too much precious time was used up in correspondence andfinalization of the Building Plan. Ultimately an amount of Rs. 85,410 was sanctionedwhile the remainder of Rs. 35,557 had to be met by the Diocese.
In May 1977, Fr. Leo Lobo was transferred and Fr. IgnatiusMenezes became Principal. The Council had decided to change the scholastic yearfrom January-December to April-March. This made it necessary to have two shortyears, one from January-May in 1978 and another from July-March in 1978-1979.In January 1979, Fr. Ignatius Menezes was elevated to the rank of Bishop ofAjmer-Jaipur (the third Principal of St. Francis’ College to be given thishonour) and Fr. Baptist D’Souza became Principal. Under him the College sawmany improvements. The entire front quadrangle and pathways were paved,old-furniture periodically replaced and classrooms and buildings givenfacelifts.
On May 6th, 1915, Fr. Celestine laid the corner stones oftwo imposing and spacious buildings on either side of the central bungalow. Onebuilding [present Concert Hall] was meant to House the school hall andclassrooms while the other [present Gymnasium] was to be a dormitory forBoarders. In the foreground was the front field [180 x 90 yards] suitable forgames and other school functions. The building contract was given to Messrs. P.Labanti and Company of Italy who despite the restrictions and high cost ofmaterial due to the war years was able to complete the building by January1918. On 7th February 1918, H. E. Sir James Meston, Lt. Governor of U. P. paida State visit to the new school. While construction work was going on theschool authorities were on the look out for more land. At the back of the out-houses was a large field 150 X 100 yards [Backfield] which was acquired for Rs.6,644. The acquisition of Dayal Bagh Land came next. Thus, St. Francis’ Schoolwas given its footing in a large open space with healthy surroundings. In 1921;the school secured recognition as a High School and affiliated itself to theCambridge University for the Senior Cambridge Examination. From the year on itscourse has been one of steady progress both in the educational field as well asin building expansion. In 1923, Fr. Stephen, 0. F. M. Cap., set free the schoolhall for study purpose by the erection of the refectory.
Two years later in 1925, Fr. Cclestine realised his longcherished dream by providing the school with an Infirmary [Present Principaloffice and Staff Room] and Chapel. In 1929, another urgent need was supplied bythe erection and equipment of a Science Laboratory (present ChemistryLaboratory and Balance Room). This was made possible by a grant from theeducation department arida contribution by Bishop Poli. At the death of Fr.Celestine on 1st April 1941, who had been Principal of St Francis’ High Schoolfor over 30 years, his place was taken by Fr.John Chrysostom, 0. F. M. Cap.,who went all out to provide new classrooms and remedy a long felt want. So farthe central building an old house, served as Principal’s and Headmastersoffice. Principals and Disciplinarians living quarters in addition to housingthe library and classrooms. In front of the infirmary, on 12 October 1941, thefoundation stone of the St. John Chrysostom block in keeping with the style ofthe other buildings was laid. Part of the cost was given by the Government andthe rest by the mission. It housed the Principals and Disciplinarians livingquarters. Principal’s office and some classrooms. About the same time in 1940,due to the rapid expansion of the Church in North India, the Diocese ofAllahabad became too big to be handled by one man. Hence the Diocese of Lucknowwas carved out and Fr. Conrad De Vito, 0. F. M. Cap., was appointed as itsfirst Bishop. However due to the war the British had interned all foreignmissionaries at Dahradun and so it was not till 16th February 1947, that Fr.Conrad was consecrated as Bishop of Lucknow.
In post Independence year the school was ushered into a newera of progress and expansion and brought in line with the new educationalpolicy. The old central building had become an eye sore and was pulled down,and a new double storey building containing 14 airy classrooms erected. Thecorner stone was blessed by Bishop Conradde Vito and was laid by Dr.Sampuranand, Minister of Education, U. P,, on August 2nd1947, “as a pledge ofco-operation between the Catholic Church and the State in the field ofeducation in the new and independent India” and declared open on 21st March1951by H. E. Shri H. P. Mody, Governor of U. P. The new block was dedicated toBishop Poli as a mark of gratitude for his endeavours in the field of educationduring his 50 years ministry, and for the keen interest he took in the schoolduring his 32years as Bishop of Allahabad. The St. Francis’ Hospital andCharitable Dispensary was officially opened on 8 February 1953, thus providingthe school with a well equipped and up to date infirmary making its formeraccommodation available for the school library and Principal’s office. Since1920 the school had dreamt of a Teachers’ Quarters. On 6th July 1959, theBishop had the satisfaction to bless the new Teachers’ Quarters at the entranceto the school compound. While these three major tasks were being done theauthorities did not lose sight of general improvements and minor additions, tothe already imposing pile of buildings.
New classrooms, a garage, re-modelling of the servant’squarters were all part of the integral plan of adaptation to present times. Butdemand for admissions was relentlessly increasing. More classrooms were theneed of the hour. Thus in 1963 an old-house at the back of the central buildingwas polled down and a three-storey building containing eight classrooms, astudy hall, a new unitary block, two large dormitories and a library wereconstructed by the Principal Fr. Ramano, O.F.M. Cap. The building was opened on30th September 1963, by H. E.Shri B. N. Das, Governor of U. P. The original dormitorywas given wooden flooring and converted into a well equipped and modernGymnasium. In the same year the name of the Senior Cambridge Examination waschanged to Indian School Certificate Examination. In 1968 Fr. Romano left forItaly after a long and faithful tenure in India. In recognition for the servicerendered to the school, the new Principal, Fr. Cyril, 0. F. M.Cap., institutedthe Fr. Ramano Merit Scholarship’ for poor Catholic students in recognition ofthe work done by Fr. Alfred during his tenure as Principal from 1953 to 1958.In1971 the school was handed over to the Diocesan Priests and Fr. Leo Lobo becamethe second Indian to become the Principal of St. Francis’ School, the firstbeing Pr. Raphel who was Principal from 1949 to 1952.
In October of the same year Right Reverend Dr. Cecil do Sa,was consecrated as the second Bishop of the Catholic Diocese Of Lucknow as asuccessor to Bishop Conrad DC Vito who had expired in November the previousyear. Still the demand for admission kept increasing. In 1972 the St. JohnChrysostom block was pulled down and the foundation stone was laid for a juniorblock. The new two-storied block was completed in July 1974 and opened by Fr-Raymond in the absence of the Bishop. Meanwhile the Council had decided to doaway with the old I. S. C. Examination at the end of Class Eleven and introducethe new 10+2 system with an examination at end of Class Ten (Indian Certificateof Secondary Education called I. C. S. E.) and another at the end of ClassTwelve (Indian School Certificate examination called I. S. C. (12) leadingdirectly to University education. In 1975, the first batch of I. C, S. E.students appeared for their examination. Since there was a lack of IntermediateColleges in Lucknow where our students could join; it was decided to openclasses eleven and twelve and the institution was re-christened St. Francis’College in January 1976. But the Science Laboratories were small to meet thesedemands, thus the existing laboratories were broken down and in its place a twostoried structure was put up.
In July 1981, Fr. Baptist D’Souza was transferred and Fr.Oswald Lewis took over the reins of office. In January 1984, Bishop Cecil de Sawas appointed Archbishop of Agra and in September of the same year Bishop Alande Lastic took over as the third Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lucknow.Meanwhile in 1983, a third storey was added to the Junior block by the presentPrincipal. Today St. Francis’ College is recognised but unaided Anglo-IndianCollege established and administered by the Catholic Diocese of Lucknow, acharitable registered Society. It aims at imparting modern education tocatholic students in a manner that will preserve their religion; language,script and culture but admission is not denied to students possessing otherfaiths. The College provides education from Class I to Class XII and English isits medium of instruction and examination. It strives towards the integral andpersonal formation of young boys who will grow into mature, spiritually orientedmen of character. It encourages boys to keep their ideals high and strive forexcellence in every field. It endeavours to inculcate into them the value offreedom and its judicious use. Besides catering to scholastic needs the Collegeattaches great importance to extra and co-curricular activities in an attemptto produce physically and mentally alert citizens of India.
Late. P. A. J. Lewis (Old Franciscan – 1952 – 57)
Science Master 1971-1988 |