Rippon College is the oldest girls' school in Southern Province, Sri Lanka.Wesleyan Methodist Mission, Quarterly Reports Extracts from quarterly letters 1817-1826, page 4 The school was established in 1817 by the Rev. John McKenny as the female branch or department of the 2nd Wesleyan English School in Ja koratuwa, Megalle, Galle in 1817.Methodist missionaries at Richmond Hill, Galle.Rippon & Southlands At the beginning the school was the Galle Girls' School. in 1857, the school was moved to Richmond Hill along with Galle School and several branch schools and was called the Richmond Hill Girls' Boarding school. In 1876, the Rev George Baugh separated it from the boys' school and renamed it as the Whitfield Road School for Girls, and later it was again renamed in honour of the Rev. Joseph Rippon who founded the Richmond Hill circuit and served as the Superintendent Missionary of Galle in Ceylon during the period of 1850 to 1860.Richmond College - the oldest school established by the Methodist Mission in Sri Lanka The school presently provides primary and secondary education to girls aged 6 to 19 and has a student population of around 2,550.
History and origins The first school for girls in Southern Province was established in 1817 by the Methodist Missionary Rev. John McKenny at Magalle on 1 December 1817 as the female branch or department of the second Wesleyan English School in Ja Koratuwa, Circular Road, Magalle, Galle. It was simply the female school of The Galle School (which was later upgraded as a high school and was renamed Richmond College) in the beginning. The school was moved to Seymour's Hill, in 1858 when The Galle School and several branch schools were relocated (by then known as Richmond Hill). The school was then called the Richmond Hill Girls' Boarding School in 1861, and in 1871 the school was separated from The Richmond Hill Boys' School (which was known as The Galle School since its inception in 1814). It was then renamed by the Rev. George Baugh as the Whitfield Road School for Girls, but later it was renamed in honour of the Rev. Joseph Rippon who purchased the Richmond Hill and served in Galle as the Superintending Missionary from 1850 to 1860. After the Richmond College was upgraded as a High School, Rippon too was upgraded in 1876. Until Miss Eastwood came as the principal towards the end of May 1876, the Rev. Samuel Langdon of Richmond and Mrs. Langdon looked after the school.
Past Principals 1871- 1876 - Ms. Ellen Eastwood 1878 - Ms.Tebb 1882 - Ms. Wilkin 1889 - Ms.Trigs 1893 - Ms. Hartley 1896 - Ms. Oliver 1897 - Ms. Prince 1905 - Ms. Tebb 1907 - Ms. Ward 1910 - Ms. Wightman 1914 - Ms. Allen 1914 - Ms. Bamford 1938 - Ms. Williams 1943 - P. C. R. Perera 1949 - Lesly 1954 - M. A. Perera 1958 - W. Stembo 1966 - D. W. Windsor Godawatta 1972 - G. Daniel 1976 - N. D. B. Senevirathne 1987 - V. G. U. J. Gunasekara 1999 - W. S. Ranasinghe 2003 - K. D. S. Mangalika 2003 - P. N. Rajapaksha 2010 - K. N. Ashoka 2011 - P. N. Rajapaksha 2014 - Devika Sirisooriya 2014 - M. S. R. Iranganie 2023 - D. L. Ginige 2025 - J. Renuka Pathirana
Houses The school houses are named after four past principals of the school. Prince - Ward - Tebb- Wightman -
Notable Alumni Wijeyananda Dahanayake Nelka Shiromala
See also List of the oldest schools in Sri Lanka
References
External links Rippon Girls College FB page https://www.facebook.com/share/1EbUgASTCS/