St Margaret’s School – Singapore’s oldest girls’ school

St Margaret’s School, Singapore’s oldest school for girls, was established in 1842 by missionary Maria Dyer.^[1] The primary school is presently located at 99 Wilkie Road, while the secondary school is at 111 Farrer Road.^[2]

St Margaret’s School began as a missionary effort to save mui tsai (“Little sister” in Cantonese), or bonded domestic servant.^[3] In 1842, Maria and her husband Samuel Dyer of the London Missionary Society were transiting in Singapore on their way to do missionary work in China when Maria was moved by the plight of these girls.^[4] Maria already had some success in establishing girls’ schools in Penang (1828) and Malacca (1835).^[5] She obtained permission to house these homeless girls and began the work of teaching them English, the Christian faith and home economics.^[6] It was the first school for girls in Singapore established in a time when the education of women was considered unimportant.^[7] The school was initially located in a shophouse on North Bridge Road.^[8]

Samuel died in 1843,  and Maria left for Penang the following year to manage the Chinese Girls’ School there She handed over the running of the school to a Miss A. Grant of the Society for Promoting Female Education in China, India, and the East.^[9] Adhering to the society’s methodology, Grant held yearly or half yearly sales known as “Sales of Work” which were instrumental in sustaining the school.^[10]

One of the longest serving principals of the school was Sophia Cooke who succeeded Grant and began her 42-year service in the school in 1853.^[11] She was so strongly associated with the school that it was more popularly known as “Miss Cooke’s school”.^[12] However, Cooke’s distinct legacy was in building the character of the girls. The school’s reputation became so renowned that many Christian men, some as far away as China, sought the girls’ hands in marriage.^[13]

Being the only girls’ school for many years, the school grew exponentially and relocated several times before moving to 134 Sophia Road in 1861.^[14] By then, the school was known as the Chinese Girls’ School and had a boarding house on its grounds.^[15] The school was renamed the CEZMS School when the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society (CEZMS) took over the management of the school in 1900. The annual sales initiated by Grant continued to support the running of the school. ^[16] However, lack of funding soon led the school to seek grant-in-aid. This was given in 1939 on condition that the teachers be sent for training and that non-Christian teachers be allowed to teach at the school.^[17] The school gained  its  current name – St Margaret’s School,  named in honour of Queen Margaret of Scotland – only in 1949.^[18]

In 1960, the secondary-school section separated from the primary-school section and moved to a new school building on Farrer Road.The primary-school section remained on Sophia Road until August 1984 when the school building was demolished, and the school moved to a temporary location on Anthony Road. The school returned to its former site on Sophia Road,  and was officially opened on 16 November 1987 with a new address – 99 Wilkie Road.^[19]  

The secondary school was housed in temporary premises on Commonwealth Avenue between 1998 and 2000. It moved back to a completely new campus at its former location on Farrer Road in December 2000. The occasion was graced by Maria’s great-great-grandson, James Hudson Taylor III.^[20]

References
1. St Margaret’s Secondary School. (2014). The school’s history. Retrieved August 17, 2014 from St Margaret’s Secondary School website:  http://www.stmargaretssec.moe.edu.sg/cos/o.x?c=/wbn/pagetree&func=view&rid=37078
2. St Margaret’s Primary School. (2012). Contact us. Retrieved August 17, 2014 from St Margaret’s Primary School website: http://www.stmargaretspri.moe.edu.sg/contact-us; St Margaret’s Secondary School. (2014). Contact us. Retrieved August 17, 2014 from St Margaret’s Secondary School website: http://www.stmargaretssec.moe.edu.sg/cos/o.x?c=/wbn/pagetree&func=view&rid=42616    
3. St Margaret’s Secondary School, 2014, The school’s history.
4. St Margaret’s Secondary School, 2014, The school’s history;Lee, Y. M. (2002). Great is thy faithfulness: The story of St Margaret's School in Singapore (pp. 24, 27).  Singapore: St. Margaret's School. Call no.: RSEA 373.5957 SAI.
5. Lee, 2002, p. 30.
6. St Margaret’s Secondary School, 2014, The school’s history.
7. Lee, 2002, p. 27.
8. Makepeace, W., Brooke, G. E., & Braddell, R. St. J. (Eds.). (1991). One hundred years of Singapore  (Vol. 1, p. 461). Singapore: Oxford University Press. Call no.: RSING 959.57 ONE.
9. Lee, 2002, pp. 31–32; Colville, D. (2011, April 13). UCL Bloomsbury project: Society for Promoting Female Education in China, India, and the East. Retrieved from UCL Bloomsbury project website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-project/institutions/female_education_society.htm
10. Correspondence. (1907, November 21). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942). p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. Lee, 2002, pp. 32, 44.
12. Lee, 2002, p. 47.
13. St Margaret’s Secondary School, 2014, The school’s history; Lee, 2002, p. 44.
14. St Margaret’s Secondary School, 2014, The school’s history.
15. St Margaret’s Secondary School, 2014; Lee, 2002, p. 11.
16. St Margaret’s Secondary School, 2014, The school’s history; Correspondence. (1907, November 21). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942). p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
17. Lee, 2002, pp. 71–72.
18. Lee, 2002, p. 70; St. Margaret’s Primary School. (2012). Our history. Retrieved August 17, 2014 from St Margaret’s Primary school website: http://www.stmargaretspri.moe.edu.sg/about-us/our-history
19. Lee, 2002, pp. 90–91; St. Margaret’s Primary School. 2012, Our history.
20. Lim, S. J. (1998, May 30). Oldest girls’ school moves to a new site. The Straits Times, p. 66; Wong, D. (2000, December 3). St Margaret’s moves back to new home. The Straits Times, p. 29. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Lee, 2002, pp. 122–124.