Vancouver College

Vancouver College is an independent university-preparatory Catholic school for boys located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1922, it is the only independent Catholic all-boys school in British Columbia. Despite the school's Catholic denomination, it is open to students of all religions.HistoryThe Early Years (1922-1939)The history of Vancouver College began in 1906, when the rector of Holy Rosary Cathedral, Fr. John Welch, applied to the Congregation of Christian Brothers, then known as the Congregation of the Brothers of the Christian Schools of Ireland, to establish a school for boys in Vancouver. The application was turned down at this time and a further application in 1912 was also turned down. The reasons were not given, but applications of this sort were usually turned down due to a lack of available Brothers at that particular time.Further applications were made by Archbishop Timothy Casey, then-Archbishop of Vancouver, to the Superior-General of the Christian Brothers, Br. Hennessey, and this request received a positive response. Four Christian Brothers, Jerome Lannon, Patrick Reid, Michael Murtagh, and John Keane, were missioned to Vancouver and began what was to be Vancouver College at the downtown site on Richards Street known as Rosary Hall. The first classes numbered 91 boys, and classes began in the fall of 1922. The first principal of the school was Br. Jerome Lannon.