Bishop Cotton School

Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, (Himachal Pradesh, India) is one of the oldest boarding schools for boys in Asia, having been founded on 28 July 1859, by Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton. Bishop Cotton also founded the Bishop Cotton Boys' School and Bishop Cotton Girls' School in Bangalore. The alumni of Bishop Cotton are known as Old Cottonians. The Bishop Cotton School, Shimla celebrated 150 years of existence in 2009.The school has produced army officers, ambassadors, judges, Ministers and politicians.Bishop Cotton School has been ranked among the best boys only residential schools of India by media such as The Times of India, Outlook and Education World magazine.HistoryBishop George Edward Lynch Cotton was a scholar of Westminster, and a graduate of Cambridge. In 1836 he was appointed Assistant Master at Rugby by Doctor Thomas Arnold, one of the founders of the British public school system. It was the young Mr. Cotton who was spoken of as 'the model young master' in Thomas Hughe’s famous book 'Tom Brown's School Days'. The school opened for students on 15 March 1863. Though mentioned in correspondence as the Simla Public School, it never actually bore this name. The first boy, Frederick Naylor, joined the school on 16 March 1863. Bishop Cotton reconnoitered ten sites in September and October 1864, and finally approved the South end of Knollswood Spur which belonged to the Rajah of Keonthal. After negotiations the site was acquired through the intervention of the Viceroy and the foundation stone for the new buildings was laid on 26 September 1866, by H.E. the Viceroy, Sir John Lawrence, brother of Sir Henry Lawrence, founder of the famous Lawrence School, Sanawar. In September 1868, the school moved to Knollswood, the present site. Bishop Cotton was inspired by the phrase, "Overcome Evil With Good" from Romans 12:21.