Our History

Officially established as an Anglican Choir School in 1961, the idea for RSGC began in the 1950s as the dream of John Bradley and Healey Willan. Bradley subsequently enlisted the support of his fellow teachers at St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, most notably Jack Wright, who became the first headmaster of the School; John Allen became the second Headmaster after him.

 

The College (then St. George’s College) welcomed its first students in 1964 on the property of the Church of St. Alban-the-Martyr – our school’s founders envisioned a school that would combine the best attributes of the independent school traditions with the training of boy choristers in the music and liturgy of the Anglican Church. While RSGC is today a non-denominational school, we continue to honour and acknowledge our strong choral and Anglican roots.

 

RSGC’s commitments to a strong and challenging academic program, along with a central goal of developing boys into good and kind, community minded young men, built our strong academic reputation among families and the independent school community. Our enrolment grew, as did the campus. A modern classroom wing was built, complete with science laboratories, a library and a full-sized gymnasium. In the last decade our Junior School has been completely renovated, including the beautiful Ketchum Hall (our dining hall and meeting place) and a similar complete transformation of our Senior School is now underway, work having started in 2023.

 

In 1989, shortly after the College’s 25th anniversary, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II honoured RSGC by granting St. George’s College a Royal Designation, adding the ‘Royal’ to our name, and making RSGC the only pre-university institution in Canada with that distinction.

 

The historic Cathedral of St. Alban the Martyr (construction began in the late 19th Century and continued on and off until the early 20th Century) became RSGC’s Chapel in 1964 – our Senior School is built on the foundation of the unfinished nave of the church. The gem of our campus, the Chapel is of the architectural style, Gothic Revival and is notable for its beautiful and unique roof, the only ‘double-hammerbeam’ roof in Canada.

 

Our Central administrative building also has deep historical roots – See House was originally constructed as the Bishop’s residence. Today its gracious, comfortable and welcoming atmosphere is where we welcome families and visitors.