Queen's Royal College

Queen's Royal College, referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by past alumni, is the oldest secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago and is still regarded as the country's bastion of secondary-school education. The college is noted for its famous German Renaissance architecture and tradition of multi-faceted education which continues to produce some of Trinidad and Tobago's leading thinkers, athletes, artists and politicians.

The origin of QRC goes back to the Stuart Grammar School, at the corner of Duke and Edward Street, whose Principal was Edward Stuart. In 1859, when a new "collegiate school" was being contemplated, Stuart was invited by the colonial government to be part of the enterprise. The Queen's Collegiate School opened later that year opposite what is now Lord Harris Square, then known as Billiards Orchard.

The intention was, as Governor Arthur Hamilton-Gordon told the Legislative Council in 1870, "that its advantages should be open to those of every race and every religion, and that the education given should be of a decidedly superior character."

In 1870, the school became the Queen's Royal College and was housed in the supper room of the Prince's Building.

When the Government Farm moved from St Clair in 1899, part of the land was reserved as a new home for QRC through the intervention of acting Governor Sir Courtney Knollys.

The school, referred to in those days as Royal College, had 120 pupils, who did not wear a uniform but had to wear a hat or cap bearing the college crest. They learned algebra, geometry, arithmetic, Latin, French, English, geography, history and Greek or Spanish.

Today in Queen's Royal College uniforms are worn, as at almost all government schools, and QRC projects and involvements usually involve a blue theme, due to the well known uniform of blue shirtjack and long khaki pants. In 2009, the school implemented a new uniform for formal occasions as existed in the past. It's current principal is Lennard Hinkson and vice principal David Simon.