KINGSTON, Jamaica – Hundreds of students, staff and alumni of the Wolmer’s Trust Group of Schools turned out Tuesday to celebrate the 295th anniversary of the institution, the oldest school in the Caribbean.

Wearing maroon and gold, the proud members of the school community – which includes the all-boys and all-girls’ high schools as well as the prep school – marched through the streets of Kingston in celebration of the occasion.

Rohan Powell, communications specialist at the Ministry of Justice, was among the many past students who participated in the festivities, which began with a thanksgiving service at 8am. He beamed with pride as he expressed what the school meant to him.

“I am very proud to be a Wolmerian. I am so happy that I entered this school gate in 1983. It was five years, some good years, some challenging, but I stood my ground, learnt a lot and it has helped me in my adult life. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“Two hundred and ninety-five years is a remarkable achievement and for us to be still around, still celebrating, is a joy,” Powell told Observer Online.

The Wolmer’s group of schools was founded on May 21, 1729, the day John Wolmer made his last will and testament, by which he left the bulk of his estate for the foundation of a free school in the parish in which he happened to die. The sum of the legacy was £2,360.

A sea of maroon and gold clad members of the Wolmer’s community march at National Heroes Circle in celebration of the school’s 295th anniversary on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

Little is now known of John Wolmer except that he was a goldsmith who had practised his craft in Kingston for more than 20 years. He died in Kingston on June 29, 1729.

There were some delays in giving effect to Wolmer’s will, but after many amendments and conferences between the House of Assembly and the Council, a law was passed and the Wolmer’s Trust, which would manage the affairs of the school, was established in 1736.

Before the end of the 18th century, in 1782, Wolmer’s began to enrol girls and had a record of 64 boys and 15 girls on roll. The staff consisted of a headmaster, a writing master and accountant, a teacher of mathematics and a teacher of the French and Spanish languages.

Holding the symbolic torch high, one student marches in a costume representing John Wolmer, the founder of the Wolmer’s Trust Group of Schools, amid the procession along National Heroes Circle.

The Wolmer’s school was situated in downtown Kingston prior to the 1907 earthquake. It was located on Church Street at what is still known as the Wolmer’s yard, now a parking lot and vendors’ arcade beside the Kingston Parish Church. In 1896, the schools were separated and independent heads appointed for the boys’ and girls’ schools.

After the 1907 earthquake, which severely damaged most of the school buildings, the school was moved to its present site north of the Kingston Race Course, or what is now the National Heroes’ Park.

In 2019, in honour of the Wolmer’s Trust of Schools’ 290th anniversary, Governor General Sir Patrick Allen declared May 21 as Wolmer’s Day.

A Wolmerian displays a collage of photos during the school’s 295th anniversary celebration.

This young Wolmerian proudly waves a flag in the school’s colours during the 295th anniversary celebration on Wolmer’s Day.

The proclamation hailed the school as being “among the most distinguished educational institutions in the island, and is recognised not only for its longevity, but also for its sustained excellence in academics, sports and creative arts.”

It also praised the school for producing “outstanding sons and daughters of Jamaica in many fields”.

Among the notable alumni are Sir Florizel Glasspole – the third and longest serving Governor General of Jamaica and a former Minister of Education; former Prime Minister Edward Seaga; Amy Jacques Garvey, journalist, publisher and activist; Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce; public servant and educator Dr Phyllis McPherson Russell; and entertainer Sean Paul.