1885 – 1939
St Andrew's Cathedral School was founded by the third Bishop of Sydney, Dr Alfred Barry. The School was opened on 14 July 1885 in the St Andrew's Schoolroom in Pitt Street, just south of the Bathurst Street intersection.
At the School opening, Bishop Barry stated that St Andrew's was established to provide 'the choristers with a high-class, free education on Church principles, in addition to a musical training'. The School opened with 27 students, 22 of whom were choristers who paid no fees. Non-choristers paid tuition fees of three guineas quarterly.
Bishop Barry sought two special characteristics for the new School: 'First, the acknowledgment of the need for careful moral and religious training for the lads: next, recognition of the study of music, not merely a technical training but an educational influence which is daily gaining in all thoughtful minds'.
St Andrew's was established in the tradition of English choir schools that trace their musical heritage back to the founding of the Song School at Canterbury in 597 following the founding of the first Cathedral Church at Canterbury. Historians have pointed out that where a Cathedral or Minster was built, schools of grammar and song soon followed. In following this pattern, St Andrew's historic precedence draws from music and academic traditions far older than exist within the Australian independent school system.
