Charles Plummer

Munro’s first headmaster came from a Kentish family but spent his entire life in Jamaica. He started the school in 1856 with only seven or eight pupils, with his wife, Louise, as housekeeper and his brother, William, as an assistant master. His stewardship saw the school being removed to Potsdam from Black River and the number of students gradually increasing. Mr. Plummer headed the school until 1864.

Rev. Thomas Robinson, Charles Kenroth, and Andrew Willis

These three headmasters followed Plummer in fairly quick succession up to 1875, with not much change to the character of the school over the period.

Rev. William Simms

In 1875 William Simms, arguably Munro’s first great headmaster, succeeded Andrew Wills. A man in search of big challenges, he reportedly found the school rather disappointing, but was not daunted by that situation. Mr. Simms’ tenure in office brought about many changes at the institution, including an expanded curriculum. The changes helped to shape the reputation of the then Potsdam School as one of being able to produce quality scholastic results and offering an educational climate second to none on the island.

Rev. William Davis Pearman

William Pearman succeeded Simms in 1884 and remained in office until 1907. During his stewardship of the school, he spearheaded the building of the room in front of the Arches, as well as ‘Mount Grace’, better known as the Bachelors’ Quarters. It was Rev. Pearman also chose the school motto and had it prominently mounted on the school compound.

Albert “Wagga” Harrison

In 1907, Mr. Albert Edward Harrison took over as headmaster and carried the baton until he died suddenly of a ruptured appendix in 1937. He was educated at Potsdam School, and the first Old Boy Principal became well known for his intense drive, energy, and resourcefulness. He guided the school to growth in size, numbers, and prestige over the years, with Munro College emerging as one of the leading schools island-wide. He is the one who changed the school’s colours to blue and gold from red and black, and he changed the name to Munro College after Potsdam became an unpopular name during the First World War His methods, especially a penchant for harsh corporal punishment, were not always accepted all-round, but the results were generally impressive under his stewardship, and he is widely seen as Munro’s second great Principal after Rev. Simms.

Rev. A.G. Fraser

Munro’s third great Principal took over the reins of Munro College in 1938 and was in charge until 1946. A man of perhaps equal calibre as his predecessor, Rev. Fraser was, however, of a totally different disposition. His liberal approach was well received by both parents and students alike, with the result being remarkable progress made during his tenure, including a more than one-third expansion of the school. He not only widened the curriculum at the school, but encouraged extra-curricular activities, which filled a long felt desire among the school population, while not distracting in any way from the institution’s increasingly glowing scholastic record. Definitely a reformer and pioneer, Rev. Fraser not only spearheaded the erection of a number of new buildings on the school compound, but also guided the reformation of a number of key bodies within the school set-up, including the prefects body. Importantly, he was the one who returned the school to the wishes of its founders and enshrined Munro’s egalitarian ethos, by opening up the school to boys from every social background across Jamaica.

B.B. Ward

Barbadian, Mr. B.B. ward succeeded Rev. Fraser in 1946, and was in charge up to 1955. He essentially continued along the lines that had been established by Rev. Fraser and the physical side of the school was further developed. Academic achievements were generally maintained under his stewardship.

Richard B. Roper

Then came the legendary Mr. Richard B. Roper, the fourth great Principal, who led Munro College from 1955 to 1983. Rated as one of the most outstanding headmasters in Jamaica’s entire history, Mr. Roper was noted to have been an extremely hard worker, an efficient all-rounder in terms of his administrative capabilities, and a first rate organizer. He managed to maintain good scholastic results and good discipline at the school while overseeing an expanded range of extra-curricular activities and student organizations.

A visionary, he constantly proved himself to be a step ahead of his peers, and executed the seamless management of changing conditions which would have sent many schools today screaming into chaos. When the Common Entrance system was introduced, Roper had already prepared Munro to accommodate the increased number of students, and already had a transport system organized to accommodate the increased number of day students. When it became mandatory for all schools to have a farm programme, Roper already had one.

When the recruitment of overseas teachers stopped, Roper already had a staff room full of mostly Jamaicans. While being quite capable of delivering a firm hand when really necessary, he did so transparently, in consultation with his senior teachers, with whom, like the other members of his staff, he generally enjoyed very good relations. Another intriguing phenomenon about Mr. Roper was his amazing ability to maintain individual interest and contact with the roughly 650 boys at the school in his time, which was a massive increase over time from the roughly 140 which he inherited. The Roper era was the longest period of stability under a single headmaster since the time of Wagga Harrison, and where Roper perhaps truly outdid himself was that in addition to all the great things about his own leadership, he also built a crack team of ace Housemasters to help him run the school who were so outstanding, his team is compared to the Clive Lloyd era in West Indies cricket.

Former Headmaster Richard B Roper, with his wife Merle and youngest son Geoffrey, former CO of the JDF Air Wing, at the unveiling of a road sign at Munro in his honour on Sunday October 14, 2012, when he was also inducted unto the inaugural MCOBA Hall of Fame.

Vernon Forbes

Vernon Forbes succeeded Mr. Richard Roper in 1983 and was in charge for 14 years before giving way to Dr. Kevin Roper, second of three Munronian sons of Richard Roper.

Dr. Kevin Roper, Dr. Earle Hendricks, Branford Gayle, Albert Corcho.

These four Principals in fairly quick succession have come and gone since Vernon Forbes, and three acting Principals, Sonia Neil, Arnaldo Allen, and Alecia Morgan-Bromfield preceded the latest appointee, Mark Smith.

Mark Smith

Headmaster Smith brings greetings at the 2015 MCOBA Hall of Fame ceremony.

Mark Smith has been at the helm since July 2015, and his slim young shoulders carry the heavy expectation that Munro’s next great era is about to begin under his watch. He looks young enough to be a 6th former, but is very old school in his values and approach while embracing modern technology. He is not a Munro Old Boy, but sounds like one, carries himself like one, and appreciates our history as well as our glorious potential for the future. Like Harrison and Roper before him, he starts young, and we hope that like them, his mark will be indelible over the next 160 years.