The St George's Girls' School, nowadays known as SMK (Perempuan) St George, is a school for girls founded by Anglican missionaries, similar to the Penang Free School. St George's Girls' School traces its history to informal classes conducted by Mrs Biggs, wife of Reverend L. Courtier Biggs, the Anglican missionary in Penang. At that time, classes were held at their home called "The Manse", located at Farquhar Street.
Mrs Biggs taught for a year before a formal school was established for girls. It was named after St George, the patron saint of English, whose name is often used throughout the British Empire for schools and churches established by Anglican missionaries. The first classes were held on 7 January 1885, and the school headmistress was Miss R.A. Shackleford.
In the early days of St George's Girls' Schools, the pupils mostly come from well-to-do families. They often come to class on trishaws, shielded from public view by a curtain, ferried right up to the school entrance. In those Victorian age, it was considered indecent for unmarried ladies - especially those of well-to-do families - to be seen in public.
In 1888, a bungalow was constructed next to the reverend's residence, and classes were relocated there. The building, now in a dilapidated state, is still standing, next to E&O Hotel. In 1909, the British government took over the running of the school, and renamed it Government Girls' School. In 1916, the government attempted to turn Government Girls' School into a co-educational school, but the idea was shortlived.
In 1920, the school was handed back to the Anglican church, at which time it reverted to its original name of St George's Girls' School. The school logo is a red crest of St George slaying a dragon. With further expansion and student intake, the school relocated to new premises along The building, now in a dilapidated state, is still standing, next to Northam Road (Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah). In 1954, it moved to its present located at Macalister Road, and the Northam Road school building was given over to the Northam Road Girls' School.
Among the alumni of St George's Girls' School include Tuanku Bainun, the former Raja Permaisuri Agung of Malaysia, and Faridah Marican, the entertainer.
Getting there
St George's Girls' School is best approached by private transport.
Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?
The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.
Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.
Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms.
