Background and origins

The college now stands on what was once holy ground, being the site of a Roman Catholic church named St. Anthony's built in 1892 'ex voto'.^{[Note 1]} St. Anthony's was later demolished and replaced by an eponymous church in Pokfulam Road, which still stands today. Beside St Anthony's stood the Sacred Heart Chapel (1864–1892). This was built a few years before St Anthony's was built by the architect Mr. M.A. D'Aquino, and blessed in March 1879.^{[Note 2]} The land jointly occupied by the church and the chapel was named Inland Lot 755, and was the property of the Roman Catholic Church. Sometime after the construction of St Anthony's, probably because having two churches in such close proximity was seen as an inefficient use of holy land, the Sacred Heart Chapel was converted into an orphanage and school under the care of the Canossian Sisters – the Ling Yuet Sin Kindergarten of the present day. In 1920, there was a requisition order by government authorities for a portion of Inland Lot 755, the section where the Church of St Anthony stood.

Establishment and Pre-war era

School Garden.(Before war)

The Grand Entrance(before war). The destroyed bell tower and oriental glazed tiles roof can be seen.

School Library with its associated museum.(Before war)

In 1923, foundations were laid and construction work began. Site formation, the foundation works and construction of retaining walls were undertaken by Messrs. Foo Loong & Co. in the same year and the superstructure was erected by Messrs. Kin Lee & Co. in 1924. After three years of construction, the works were completed in 1926. The Saiyingpun School moved to the new campus in the same year and was upgraded to King's College and accepted. In September, the qualified pupils from Saiyingpun School transferred to the new college. The college was named in honour of King George V. A portrait of the king is exhibited in the college's building.^[27] The governor reported king's college as one of the chief schools.

The Hong Kong Administrative Report of 1926 described King's College as "one of the finest and most modern of school buildings with 29 classrooms, staff and common rooms, the latest sanitary arrangements, hat and cloak rooms, a museum and library, an art room, physics and chemistry laboratories, a workshop, swimming pool and dressing rooms, gymnasium, covered playground, fire fighting appliances and the usual complement of storerooms and offices".

Four months later, from February to December, the building was commandeered for use as a military camp-cum-hospital for the British Shanghai Defence Force dispatched to protect British subjects in the British Section of the Shanghai Treaty Port.^[28] In 1928, the building was returned to King's College, which was officially opened by the Governor, Cecil Clementi, on 5 March.

There was a museum housed in the library and the layout of classrooms was somewhat different from now. There were 29 classrooms, accommodating 30 students each, a playground and a swimming pool. Each floor had a cloakroom with enough space for hats, umbrellas, and baskets. The laboratories were then on the top floor of the north wing, above the gymnasium. On the middle floor of the same wing was the art room and library. The swimming pool was filled with filtered water. The playground consisted of a jumping pit and one court each for basketball, volleyball and tennis.

Each pupil was allotted a numbered desk and the total capacity was 720 students. The school year began on 1 November and ended on 31 July. School fee for Classes 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 was $60 per annum, payable in 12 instalments of $5 each, and $120 per annum, $10 for each instalment, for Classes 3,2 and 1. In addition, each pupil was charged a medical fee for $3 per year. From 1926 to 1930, it was a full-day school but thereafter changed to a half-day one, with activities in the afternoon. The first issue of the college magazine appeared in 1935, shortly after William Kay became Headmaster.

During the first fifteen years, the school followed the old system of class organisation with eight classes. Classes 8 and 7 (primary 5 & 6 respectively today) were primary ones, Class 6 equivalent to the present Secondary 1, and Class 2 the present Secondary 5. The enrolment stood at 840 boys. Above eighty percentages of staff came from British. Most of the teachers graduated from the two leading ancient universities in England – University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. King's College was one of the few well-developed English colleges.

The Pacific War

While the school was enjoying its prosperous days, the Pacific War broke out after the Pearl Harbour Incident in December 1941. King's College was used as a first aid station, having been fully equipped as such by the first principal, A. Morris St. John's Ambulance. When Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese on Christmas Day, King's College was used as a military mule and horse stable for the Japanese Army. Teachers like Messrs, Coxhead and Ferguson were taken war prisoners, while the principal, Mr. Wallington, was sent to the prison in Stanley. Mr. Coxhead was later sent to a labour camp in Japan.

The war did immense damage to Hong Kong and King's College was not spared. All normal activities of the school came to a halt. The school building was virtually destroyed by looters during the last two weeks immediately after the withdrawal of the Japanese Army, and only an empty red brick skeleton of the building remained.

Post-war era

In 1945, some former teachers led by J.J. Ferguson and some old boys of King's College revived the school. Subsequently, it moved back to Hollywood Road as Hollywood Road A.M. School.

Before the Japanese Occupation, King's College was a joint primary and secondary school. After the Second World War was over, the school campus had to be rebuilt due to the wartime destruction. On 18 September 1950, it was reopened with a new first floor and operated as a two-sessional primary school, namely King's College Primary School (KCPS) for a year. It had to share its premises with Northcote Training College Attached School. Mr. H. T. Woo was Headmaster. In 1951, the government gave a green light on additional buildings for King's College and decided to restore its status as a secondary school.

After rehabilitation

In September 1951, King's College was rehabilitated with C. W. Sargison as principal. Then for the first time in the school's history, girls were admitted, most of whom were promoted from the Primary School. Total enrolment of pupils was 640.

The building was shattered and destroyed in the war, and was later restored with additional portions. The first phase of re-development of the school buildings was completed by 1953 with the addition of two laboratories, a Preparation Room, a lecture Room, an art Room and five classrooms in the South and East Wings. The enrolment figure soared to 750. However, during the next five years, owing to slow pace of construction after the war of school buildings, King's College had again to share the premises successively with Grantham Training College and Queen Elizabeth School and operated only on a bi-sessional basis. It was not until 1960 that King's College started to be the sole user of the premises.^[29]

In 1954, Mr. C. W. Sargison was transferred to King George V School. He was succeeded by Mr. F.K. Leung MBE, an old boy of Saiyingpun School and a pupil of A. Morris. Leung was the first Chinese principal of a government secondary school in Hong Kong. The school had restored the house system of prewar days. Instead of calling them North, South, East, and West, they are named after four former principals – Morris, Kay, Wallington, and Ferguson.

In the same year, an extra Secondary Upper Six was operated to make places available for students who planned to sit for the revised Hong Kong University Matriculation Examination. There were nineteen classes ranging from Form 2 to Upper 6 in total. Facilities of the school provided for the training of students doing the Hong Kong University Diploma of Education and of students from the Northcote Training College. The subjects taught are English, Chinese, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, History, Civics, Art, Music and Physical Training. In 1955, witnessed the first group of King's graduates, entering University after the war.

The pressing need for further expansion of the school finally received a positive response from the government. An additional floor was added to the South Wing and the two floors above the gymnasium were restored. Additionally, an extra floor was added on top of the East Wing in the front of the Hall gallery, which later became the library. The final stage of construction work was completed by December 1959 and fitting out of the new premises followed in the next few months.^[30]

It was during Coxhead's tenure of office (1960–1967) that King's College entered a new stage of alteration and progress.^[31] In 1963 Secondary Lower Six Arts classes were opened after a hiatus of several years. This restored the balance between Science and Arts classes though the demand for entrance to Science or Medicine classes was still greater. From 1966 onwards, girls were admitted only in Secondary 6.

In 1967 H.W. Clarke succeeded Coxhead as principal and it was during the next three years that King's witnessed a climax of academic attainment.^[32] In 1968 64 distinctions were obtained by King's College students in the Hong Kong University Matriculation Examination, an unprecedented achievement.^[33] By 1971, D.R. Madan was appointed principal and King's students continued to achieve magnificent feats in both academic and extracurricular fields.^[34][35]

In October 1977 K.F. Chu, an old boy who had graduated in 1938, became principal.^[36]

The fountain of the school garden was repaired and its pedestal was turned into a pond for the breeding of goldfish and various other species of carp. A Bauhinia tree was planted in the northern corner of the school garden while the palm tree planted in 1971 had grown to 3 storeys tall. In April 1986, a time capsule was buried in the school garden.^{[37][38][39][40][41]}

Late 20th century–present

In September 1986, W.T. Poon succeeded Chu Ka Fai as principal and the entire enrolment soared to 1200. Poon was famed throughout the Education Department for being his lively and enthusiastic personality. A public address system was installed in the playground, which proved to be effective in developing a greater sense of unity in students. Under Poon's leadership, the students won the International Mathematics Olympiad Championship.^[42]

For the first time in the history of the school, study tours to Singapore and Malaysia were organised with part of the funds sponsored by the King's College Old Boy Association. In March 1992 the first K.C. Student Union was formed after a democratic election.^[43]

In the transition year of 1997 in which the Handover took place, King's College was provided a chance to renew its oath to play a major role in the community of Hong Kong and China. Dr. Simon Li Fook Sean, and old boy of King's College, received the Grand Bauhinia Medal (GMB) from the HKSAR Government in acknowledgement of his stupendous contributions to Hong Kong and China. Dr. Li was among the first recipients of this award.^[44]

Following the appointment of a new principal, Mr. Ho Yue Shun, in 1998, King's College has undergone massive changes, especially on the information technology front. King's was enlisted as one of the few secondary school participants in a pilot scheme for the application of IT in education. A sum of HK$6M was granted for the acquisition of hardware and the installation of King's College's own intranet. An Information Technology Open Day was launched, which was followed by the launch of the school website, school intranet and a renovated IT room complete with modern computer facilities. Professor Robert F. Curl, 1996 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, visited King's College and met the senior students on 9 May 2002. On 29 October 2003, Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, visited King's College and met the senior students. In 2010, Mr. Ho Yue Shun was succeeded by Mrs. Chan Woo Mei-hou. King's College is one of the few surviving pre-war government school buildings in Hong Kong.

In January 2023, the school said that it would terminate contracts with external service providers if any of their activities were "found to promote political messages, express a political stance or views, endanger national security or violate the law."^[45]