Hartley College ( Hāṭlik Kallūri) is a provincial school in Point Pedro, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1838 by British Methodist missionaries, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools. The school is named after Wesleyan priest and missionary Rev. Hartley.
History Methodist missionaries from Britain arrived in Ceylon on 29 June 1814. The Wesleyan Mission Central School was founded in 1838 by Rev. Dr. Peter Percival. The school is located at the current location of the Methodist Girls' High School. The school transferred to its current site in 1874. The school was renamed Christ Church School in 1912 and Hartley College in 1916.
Most private schools in Ceylon were taken over by the government in 1960. Hartley College becomes a publicly funded school on 1 December 1960.
Following arson by the Sri Lankan government forces in 1984, the school moved to Puttalai from 1985 to 1990. In 1989, the school appeared on a postage stamp issued to commemorate its 150th anniversary. From 1996 to 2002, part of the school was occupied by the Sri Lanka Army, and the school remains in a high security zone. In 2005, part of the school was destroyed by a grenade thrown from a motorcycle.
Principals
1838-60 Rev. Dr. Peter Percival 1861-68 Rev. D. P. Niles 1868- Samuel Hensman -1878 J. C. T. Sherrard 1906 S. A. Paulpillai 1906-12 S. S. Kanapathipillai 1912-15 E. S. Abraham 1915-43 C. P. Thamotheram 1943-67 K. Pooranampillai 1967-71 S. Ratnasabapathy 1971-73 C. Rajathurai 1973-75 P. Ahamparam 1975-85 W. N. S. Samuel 1985-93 P. Balasingam 1993-97 K. Nadarajah 1997-99 P. Venugopalavanithasan 1999-00 N. Gunaseelan 2000-02 M. Sripathy 2003-05 V. Pathmanathan 2005-14 N. Theivendraraja 2014-21 T. Mugunthan 2021-24 T. Kalaichelvan 2025–present V. Uthayamohan
Notable teachers
Name Year Notability Reference Deputy Director of Education (1946–1950) Chief Justice of Sri Lanka (1991)
Notable alumni
Name Notability Reference Permanent Secretary – Minister of Agriculture and Food (1953–1959), Permanent Secretary – Minister of Commerce and Trade (1959–1965) Inspector General of Police (2002–2003) member of parliament – Jaffna (2000–2004), Kilinochchi (1970–1983) Vice-Chancellor Eastern University, Sri Lanka (1986–1989) Dean – School of Physical Sciences La Trobe University, Dean – Faculty of Science University of Malaya, Dean – Faculty of Science University of Ceylon Mayor of Colombo (1996–1997) Deputy Solicitor General (1999–2008) head – Department of Tamil University of Ceylon (1947–1965) Minister of Economic Affairs for Hamburg (2010–2011), Member of Senate of Hamburg General Manager Bank of Ceylon (1953–1969) (Vallipuram Vasanthan) Member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, first Black Tiger dean – Management Studies and Commerce University of Jaffna (1999–2005) Air Vice Marshall Chief of staff Air Force (2006 – 2011) Judge of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka since 2025 Vice President Singer Company Inspector General of Police (1982–1985) Speaker Parliament of Sri Lanka (1994–2000), Governor of Central Province (2001–2002) (aka Colonel Shankar) A member of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam engineer, hydrologist, academic educationalist, founder Association of Commonwealth Teachers Vice-Chancellor University of Jaffna (1988–1994) academic, historian, author Prime Minister (2000–2001, 2005–2010), member parliament – Horana (1960–1977), Kalutara (1994–2010)
See also List of schools in Northern Province, Sri Lanka
Notes
References
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