Montfort Hr.Sec School ,Yercaud The History of Montfort in essence is a history of ideas, visions and hard work of its pioneers, a cyclic poem written by time upon the memories of Brothers, Staff and Students. Montfort Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School is a Residential institution with a glorious history dating back to 1st June 1917. On the 11 th September, 1903, the first three French Brothers of St. Gabriel, Dennis, Martin de Vertou and Jean Baptist de la Salle landed in India at Pondicherry. Bro. Dennis was the Superior of the Gabrielist Mission in India Em-1904. He wanted to establish an institution which Would bring some resources to finance other works like orphanages and Houses of Formation. After thirteen years of experience in India, Bro. Dennis chose Yercaud as an ideal place to start a school of their own because of its salubrious climate, the presence of a fairly large European community and the absence of any boys school. On 27th July 1916, Bro. Dennispurchased the Belle Vue estate of ten acres of land with four bungalows for a sum of Rs. 14,000. In January 1917, a little community of Brothers consisting of Bro. Omar, Director, Bro. Henry Gabriel and Bro. Stanislaus was sent to Yercaud. They did all the spade work and Montfort school was started on 1st June 1917 with seven students - six boarders and one day scholar. Fr. Morin was the first Chaplain of Montfort. Bro. Dennis bought the Franc-Castle bungalow adjoining Belle Vue estate for Rs.4750. In September 1917, Bro. Eugene who needed some rest was sent to Yercaud, Bro. Omar had to go to France to join the army. So Bro. Eugene was appointed as the Director of Montfort, where he spent thirty years forming and moulding generations of boys. Montfort looks upon him as its founder. Bro. Victrice was brought to Montfort in January 1918 to help Bro. Eugene in running the school. Their dedicated and relentless service helped in the rapid growth of Montfort to become a great educational institution. Bro.Eugene came to be known as Montforts Man of Destiny. On 6th June 1918, the Montfort European Boys School was recognized as a Middle School by the Director of Public Instruction, Madras, with a fixed grant of Rs. 500/-, The schools strength went up to 27 in February 1918. In November 1918, the first Prize Night was held before a modest gathering - parents and well wishers. In February 1919, the strength rose from 27 to 43. Bro. Eugene borrowed money and bought, Les Charmettes, with building and furniture at a cost of Rs. 9000/-. In the academic year 1920, the permission of the Director to open Std. VIII was effected. The strength had now risen to 55 of whom 34 were boarders. His Excellency Lord Wellington, the Governor of Madras visited Montfort on 121 April 1921 and in June the school received a building grant of Rs. 41315/-. Side by side the building work thee leveling of the playground also was carried on. In May 1922, scouting was introduced in Montfort. A Chapel was constructed in this year. In course of time it was turned into an auditorium, then a laboratory, study hall and finally into the present library. The new building which was considered the best in Yercaud was officially opened on the 25th April 1924 by the Home Minister for Development Mr. T.N. Sivagnanam. Debating Society was started for the boys of Stds. 7t, 81 and 9t , Bro. Eugene went home on one year leave and Bro. Victrice took charge of Montfort as Acting Principal in February 1925. The strength of the school recorded 112 on the roll. Bro. Eugene returned after his holidays in France for the reopening of the school in 1926. Bro. Eugene had new ideas. He wanted to publish a School Annual containing a record of school work and progress. In 1928, there were 120 boarders and the big dormitory was found to be too small to accommodate all of them. Hence the seniors were shifted to Charmettes. This year the school was divided into three Houses: Montfort, Gabriel and Patrick. A new chapel, 113ft long and 32ft broad and quarters for chaplain were under construction. A new well had been sunk just below the playground. An aero-motor pump system with a tower 44ft high was installed to distribute water through pipes and taps to the entire school. In June 1928, Bro. Victrice re¬ joined the staff of Montfort, Bro. Eugene remained as Prin¬ cipal while Bro. Victrice was made the Headmaster of Montfort. For better administra¬tion a shared responsibility was brought into effect in May 1930. The standard of the school improved to enviable heights. There were now 130 boarders. At the Inter School Sports held at Salem our students won six cups and the championship shield. In February 1931, Bro. Basilio joined Montfort as the Art Master. At the Grigg Memorial Sports Meet held at Namakkal in October, our boys secured the overall championship shield as well as the senior and junior championship medals. The new building that had been completed was blessed and declared open by the Bishop Premier of Salem. Bro. Eleazar after his studies joined the staff as a Science teacher in March 1933. On 1 It April 1933, an Association for the Old Boys of Montfort was started and about forty old boys were present for the first meeting. The school now was well established and it moved forward steadily year by year. The performance of our boys continued to be good in sports. Since Montfort carried away all the prizes in every Sports Meet, other schools refused to compete with us. So Grigg Memorial Sports Association asked Montfort to withdraw from the Association. In August 1936, Bro. Victrice went to Secunderabad to take charge of St. Patricks as its Principal With September 1936, there began a new chapterr in the history of Montfort. It was the dawn of the Titch Era, _Bro. Eleazar was now both Vice Principal and Headmaster.. Bro.. Eugene continued to be the Principal. The year 1937 witnessed a lot of improvements in the school and boarding. The strength of the boarding rose to 117. A news reading room was set up for the senior boys. Lord Erskine, Governor of Madras Presidency visited the school. He promised to help the school with government grants for a school hospital and electrification of the school. The work for the new chapel began during this period. The years 1938 -...1942 (the years of Silver Jubilee celebrations) were years of great progress for Montfort. The strength of the boarding increased steadily yearr after year. The scout camps had become an annual feature in Montfort. The present chapel, a masterpiece of Franco - Indian architecture, stands tall as a proud possession of our past heritage. This splendid structure was blessed and opened by the Bishop of Salem on 12r November 1939. On 24t March 1940 the school was supplied with electric current and everybody felt very happy.. The strength of the school rose to 140. On 6 November 1940 we had the first cinema show in the school. The school reopened for the academic year 1941, in February, with a total strength of 204 of whom 160 were boarders. On 201 January Bro. Eleazer was appointed a member of the board for conducting the European High School and Middle School examinations. On June P 1942, the Silver Jubilee of Montfort School was celebrated on a modest scale. There was a thanksgiving High Mass in our school Chapel and a grant lunch for all. On the following day the school conducted its Sports Day. At the Prize Night on 271 Nov, Bro. Eugene gave a resume of the working and progress of the school during the past twenty five: years. He alsoo announced Bro. Eleazer as his successor from January, 1943 and wished him great success in the discharge of his enormous duties. On 20ffi February, 1943, the schooll reopened with Bro. Eleazar at the helm of affairs and Bro. Herbert as Vice Principal. A new School Gate had been built opening to the Ornamental Lake. Bro. Eleazer was a great visionary, who transformed Montfort into a world class institution. His period was the golden era period in the history of Montfort and he is considered as the second founder of Montfort. A new playground 175ft x 80ft was added to the existing games facility. There were 172 boarders the highest ever in the school. The high and middle school results were announced in January 1944. In the High School, A. Chengappa stood firstt in the Presidency with seven distinctions and H. Friedman second with six distinctions. A school laundry was constructed where six dhobies were lodged. A gloom descended upon Montfort on 27th May 1944 following the sudden death of Fr. Mac Cormack. After reopening in 1945, digging of a new open well was started near the school gate close to the Ornamental Lake to solve water scarcity. A lot of work was done on the playground including the compound wall built from third field corner to the school gate. In September 1946, a triangular Inter School Sports Meet was conducted comprising Montfort, Vestry... and Stanes. On 15r November 1946, Bro. Eugene left to attend the General Chapter in Belgium. On 24 December, we received the sad news of his demise in sleep, Montfort lost not only its founder but also an eminent educator and a lover of children. May his soul rest in peace. The celebrations in connection with the Canonization of St.Montfort and the first Independence Day of India were the chief features of the year 1947. In the high school results that appeared in January 1949 K. Chandy stood first in the Presidency. The school reopened in February 1949 with Bro. Baptist as the new Principal. Under his patronage the Montfort OBA was revived to a three day celebration every year. A 35mm film was released on Montfort school, a film which even today our boys, both old and new enjoy watching. N.C.C. was startedd in the school with Mr. G. Mac and Mr. B. Wilson as N.C.C Officers. The year 1950 was marked by the visit of the Statue of our Lady of Fatima to our school on 11th May. In February 1951, Bro. Anastase, Superior General of the Brothers of St. Gabriel visited Montfort school. In 1953, the Brothers of St. Gabriel celebrated the Golden Jubilee of their arrival in India. In the same year a granite cross was erected in memory of Bro. Eugene. In 1955, Bro. Baptist left for Tindivanam and Bro. Bernardine became the new Principal and Headmaster. Two years later Bro. Eleazar once again became the Principal of Montfort school. On May 111 1957, Mr. Kamaraj the Chief Minister of Madras State visited the school. The strength of the school by now had risen to 304. In 1958 the Montfort Old Boys Association celebrated its Silver Jubilee. A Science Exhibition was held for the first time in November 1958. In 1959 on 22nd May the Union Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who later became the Prime Minister of Indiaa visited the school. Bro. John of the Cross assumed the office of the Principal for a short period. Mr. Jagajeevan Ram, Union Minister of Railway visited our school in November 1959. After Bro. John of the Cross, Montfort had Bro. Felix as its Principal in 1960. Bro. Felicissime who was the Treasurer of Montfort since 1948 passed away. Bro. Claudien was appointed as the new Treasurer.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 17:10:02 +0000
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