Castlereagh Street Campus

Sydney Boys High School's first campus (1883-1891) was in Castlereagh Street, Sydney, between King and Market Street.

The building was constructed as a school house in 1823. The convict architect Francis Greenway designed it on a much humbler scale than his other nearby buildings following the Bigge inquiry into Governor Macquarie’s administration.

It was intended as a “charity school” and, in 1823, the upper floor was devoted  to that purpose. At an early date, this school came to be known as the “Sydney Public School”. It was also sometimes referred to in those days as the “Georgian School”. Various forms of school associated with the St James’ parish and the Church of England operated on the site until the 1840s, including, for a brief period, the short-lived Sydney branch of The King’s Schools. (The Parramatta branch of The King’s Schools, now known simply as “The King’s School” continues to this day.)

The ground floor, on the other hand, was initially converted to use as a courthouse since the new permanent courthouse (originally intended to be the school) was not completed until 1827. The ground floor, therefore, witnessed the inauguration of the Supreme Court of New South Wales under the Third Charter of Justice on 17 May 1824.

When the Court moved to its new building in 1827, the ground floor was used as a temporary chapel for the Roman Catholic community pending the completion of St Mary’s Chapel (now the site of St Mary’s Cathedral) in 1833. The ground floor was then used as a Roman Catholic School until 1845 when the government granted the whole building to the Church of England parish of St James for use as a denominational school.

While under the control of the Church of England, the building hosted the first meeting of the Australasian Colonial Bishops on 5 October 1850. 

The St James’ School closed in 1882 and the government resumed the building. Some of the funds derived from the resumption were placed in a trust fund and used by the Church of England to establish the Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore). The building was then available as a quick solution to the problem of providing a home for the proposed Sydney Boys’ and Sydney Girls’ High Schools. The boys occupied the ground floor and their playground and entrance fronted Castlereagh Street. The girls occupied the first floor and their playground and entrance fronted Elizabeth Street.

The boys moved from Castlereagh Street at the end of 1891 to more modern accommodation in Ultimo, leaving the whole of the old building to the girls. However, the boys’ association with the old building did not end in 1891. A number of ex-students met in the old building in 1892 to form the Sydney High School Old Boys’ Union.

The girls moved to new accommodation in Moore Park in 1921 and the old building was demolished to make way for David Jones’ Elizabeth Street store.