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History & Archives
Townsville Grammar School is the oldest secondary school in North Queensland, opening its doors on Monday, 16 April 1888 at the North Ward site.
The School has earned an enduring reputation for educational leadership in the North, and has served and supported generations of families through day schooling and boarding. The School's alumni includes Rhodes Scholars and many prominent persons in government, law, defence, medicine, education, the arts, sport and industry. Townsville Grammar School also has a proud connection with the Australian Defence Forces, honouring the sixty Past Grammarians who lost their lives in service during the School's annual ANZAC Service.
With a proud history of more than 135 years, the School has expanded in line with Townsville's growing community. Today, Townsville Grammar School has a student population of 1350, from Pre-Prep to Year 12 across three Campuses.
The Senior and Middle School remain on the original site in the seaside suburb of North Ward - 6.53 hectares located at the base of Castle Hill, in close proximity to Townsville's Strand beachfront and CBD. Two Junior Campuses opened in Annandale (1997) and North Shore (2015), offering Pre-Prep to Year 6.
The School's original building, 'School House' still stands proudly in the school grounds at the North Ward Campus. In 1903, Cyclone Leonta severely damaged School House, causing much of the building to be rebuilt in 1903-1904 to a design by Townsville architects, Tunbridge and Tunbridge. School House has been proudly restored to it's former glory and is heritage listed.
Townsville Daily Bulletin - Thursday, February 9, 1889
"The establishment of a Grammar School in Townsville has done much to supply the wants of the heads of families in North Queensland. It is now unnecessary to send their children to Brisbane, or elsewhere in the State, to educate them, as they have a well-directed institution in their own part of the country, where tuition of the highest order is available under the direction of one of the best English Public Schoolmasters."
Townsville Grammar School has a deep connection with the communities of North and North West Queensland, and today the School continues to take pride in maintaining these strong connections in the same spirit that saw the lobbying for the establishment of the School in the 1880s.
