| Admin_History | St Francis Xavier's College is a Roman Catholic school owned and operated by the Society of Jesus until 1974, when the direction of the College was taken over by the Brothers of Christian Instruction. Upon its opening in 1842 it became the first Catholic Secondary Day School in the country.
Rector Fr Francis Lythgoe SJ welcomed the College's first pupils on 27 October 1842 at 36 Soho Street, Liverpool, at this stage in time the College was called 'St Francis Xavier's Preparatory, Classical and Commercial Day School'. Similar to other boys' schools in the area the school started out with a Commercial School alongside a Classical School, in order to recruit boys from more vocationally orientated families. This meant that there were two departments of the same school, teaching separate curricula and charging different fees. The College kept its Commercial School until 1908, when the two departments were amalgamated.
In November 1843 the school moved to 43 St Anne Street before moving again in 1846 to 6 Salisbury Street, using rooms in the newly-built Presbytery, which it shared with the Jesuit Community, to host the 24 boys attending the school at this time. Here is where the College would remain, in various different forms, until the move to a new purpose-built location in Woolton, Liverpool, in 1961. Following this move to Woolton, the old school building at Salisbury Street was re-designed for the Liverpool Education Authority and re-opened as St Francis Xavier's Bilateral School. Unfortunately this school lasted only until 1974, when it was closed due to the re-organisation of St Francis Xavier's. The building was put to various uses in the 1980s and came close to demolition in 1991 before being transformed into a campus for Liverpool Hope University.
For the first 100 years or so of its existence, the College ran as an independent fee-paying school and initially relied heavily upon fees and donations for its survival. In the 1940's it became a direct grant school - meaning that it received funds directly from central government but was still afforded relative independence in its curriculum and decision-making.
In the late 1960s the Jesuits were faced with dwindling numbers throughout the English Province, causing difficulties in staffing their Colleges. Many options were considered, including closure and handing the College over to the Archdiocese. In December 1970 an agreement was reached in principle for the hand-over of the College to the De La Mennais Brothers of Christian Instruction. Four years later in April 1974 the decision was announced to the public and in July of the same year Brother Robert Power succeeded Fr Anthony Doyle SJ as Headmaster and the Brothers of Christian Instruction took charge. To this day (2019) the Brothers of Instruction are still the Trustees of the College and continue to undertake its direction.
For a full history see: Pat Heery, 'The History of St Francis Xavier's College: 1842-2001' (2002) |