History Of St John's College

The Nallur English Seminary was established in March 1823 by Rev. Joseph Knight of the Church Mission Society of the Anglican Church. The school had only 7 students and was located in Knight's bungalow. In 1845 the school was relocated to Chundikuli and renamed the Chundikuli Seminary. In the same year the Church Mission Society took over the old Portuguese St. John the Baptist church. In 1846 to school moved into a hall next to the church. The church was demolished in 1859 and replaced by the current church.

The school was renamed St. John's College in 1891. The free education system was introduced by the government in 1945 but SJC chose to remain outside the system. In 1951 SJC joined the free education system. Most private schools in Ceylon were taken over by the government in 1960 but SJC chose to remain as a private and non-fee levying school.