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Godfrey Kelly from Wiseman’s Ferry was the first boy in the St Joseph’s College register, transferring from the Marist Brothers secondary boarding school in Harrington Street to Hunters Hill. The 55 boys in the first intake lived and studied in a temporary two-storey wooden building (located near the present swimming pool) that was not quite finished by the time the boys arrived.

Board and education, including school books, stationery, washing and repairing of clothes, was 30 guineas a year, in addition to a 4 pound entrance fee for use of bedding. An advertisement at the time read, “The site of the College is one of the most magnificent about Sydney Harbour and is all that can be desired for beauty of surrounding scenery, healthiness of position, facilities for saltwater bathing, and all the requirements of an educational establishment”.

Taking to the axe and crosscut saws themselves, the boys cleared spaces for games and recreation; they played cricket where the swimming pool and assembly hall are today. 

Construction of the permanent facilities began in 1882. The southern wing of today’s landmark sandstone building was built first and originally stood on its own. From 1889 to 1894, the northern and central wings were built, creating the beautiful, architecturally impressive school that still dominates the skyline from many viewpoints today.

The College, which began with a staff of eight Marist Brothers led by French-born Br Emilian Pontet, quickly established a reputation for academic excellence. In 1885, seven boys passed the Senior exam, the most of any school in NSW and Queensland, and 30 boys passed the Junior, a result surpassed by only two other schools. By 1888, enrolments had grown to 299.  

At its centenary celebrations in 1981 and until the early 1990s, ����̽�� was as it always had been – a full-boarding school with Marist Brothers still comprising a large proportion of the teaching and senior administrative staff. But things were about to change and, in response to falling enrolments affecting boarding schools everywhere, by 1996 ����̽�� was welcoming its first ‘extended’ day boys into Year 7.

Unlike other schools, however, there would be no delineation between boarders and day boys; no ‘us and them’ mentality would be allowed to develop. The boys were to be a united community, enabling the school to thrive into the future, while maintaining the strong boarding traditions that made ����̽�� so unique – and so successful in terms of students’ all-round achievements and becoming men of substance through their ����̽�� journey.

To that end, day boys were allocated their own dormitory press and bed, and could sleep at ����̽�� two nights a week. Otherwise, they came to school at 8.15am and stayed until 5pm or, on at least three days a week, until 8pm, on those days studying and eating dinner with boarders before going home. Like the boarders, they would attend sports practice during the week and games on Saturdays.

The new enrolment policy applied to Years 7, 8 and 9; Years 10 to 12 would still be compulsory full-boarding – until 2005, when the weekly boarding option was introduced. And in 2006, day enrolment became available from Years 7 to 12.

Along with the expanded range of enrolment options that saw enrolments surpass 1000 students for the first time in 2012, the new century saw the continuing secularisation of the ����̽�� teaching and boarding staff. By 2006, the vast majority of senior staff were lay, and the 27th and last Marist Brother Headmaster, Br Paul Hough, passed on the baton to the College’s first lay Headmaster, Mr Ross Tarlinton.

Today, St Joseph’s College is Australia’s largest boarding school for boys. Even beyond this distinction, the school stands alone among the nation’s boarding institutions for how it integrates its boarders and day students. As Headmaster Mr Michael Blake describes it, the only real difference between the two groups “is that half of them sleep over”. It is a community in which boys live, eat, pray, play and study together. The education and pastoral care they receive is of the highest standard, and the key Marist values of simplicity, modesty and humility are lived every day, translating into a student body that is unpretentious and egalitarian, and that places utmost value in being respectful, honest, trustworthy, inclusive, hardworking and determined.

The College, too, lives every day by its motto, In Meliora Contende, Strive for Better Things, providing the environment and opportunities for every boy to become the best version of himself. ����̽�� is not a selective school. It is about giving everyone a chance, fostering all abilities, and believing that everyone counts.

Its facilities are second to none, but ultimately St Joseph’s College is focused on the young man of substance who will walk out of its gates, equipped with the character and soul to build a productive and successful life, full of purpose and meaning.

The earliest lay teachers at St Joseph’s College taught Latin as Napoleonic decree forbade the French-based Marist Brothers from teaching it themselves. Nearly 80 years later, Old Boy Tony Lantry was the sole lay educator when he joined the staff as a mathematics teacher in 1961 and remained so for the next few years.

By the College’s 1981 centenary lay teachers numbered 20, still fewer than the Brothers, but from 1983 to 1991 they began to occupy higher administrative positions including the first lay Boarding Coordinator in 1987. The number of female staff was also on the rise.

As of 2023 there are no Brothers on the College staff. Lay educators, however, have taken up the mantle not only of helping boys reach their full academic potential, but of conducting the co-curricular and boarding life of the College. This includes coaching sporting and debating teams, supervising and caring for boarders, and putting great energy and passion into the all-round development and wellbeing of each boy.

The lay staff continues to support the Catholic and Marist charism and tradition of the College, embracing the vision of Marist Brothers founder St Marcellin Champagnat. Their contributions are also reflected in College nomenclature. The Tony Lantry Memorial Scoreboard was unveiled in 2014, commemorating Mr Lantry’s more than 50 years of service to the College as a teacher, cricket coach and mentor.

The families of boys enrolled at ����̽�� are as much a part of the ����̽�� community as the boys themselves. Parents describe enrolling at ����̽�� as akin to joining a family unit, and the College considers itself to be in close partnership with parents to ensure every boy reaches his fullest potential across his academic, sporting and co-curricular pursuits. 

The active role of families in supporting the school was formalised in 1935 with the founding of the Parents and Friends Association. Its fundraising in the decades since has contributed immeasurably to College facilities, from the construction of new buildings and sporting facilities to the purchase of school buses and general refurbishments.

Contributing to the College’s strong sense of continuity and community, many of its families are multi-generational, including a fifth-generation ����̽�� boy from north-western NSW whose great-great grandfather enrolled at the College the year after it opened in 1882.

The boarding tradition of the College has also given families a distinctive role in shaping the school’s egalitarian and inclusive culture. Since its earliest days, city and country boys have come together at Hunters Hill, from a diversity of backgrounds and walks of life.

City families have played a special role in supporting country families in times of drought, and in looking out for boys whose parents live far away. As leave provisions have loosened since the introduction of day students and weekly boarders, this role in caring for country boarders has only increased. In return, the ����̽�� community enjoys a long tradition of country families extending their own generous hospitality to city boys and their families during holidays.