[1] Sir Thomas Munro asked for a Committee of Public Instruction to form in 1826.

The plans drawn up by the committee did not commend themselves to the Governor of Madras, Lord Elphinstone, who proposed nineteen resolutions that passed unanimously.

Meanwhile, the committee had invited Cooper from Hoogly College, Kolkata, to temporarily carry out the principal duties at a salary of Rs 400 per month.

Soon after Powell's arrival, and before the high school department opened on 12 April 1841, he returned to Kolkata.

[2] In 1870, the college moved to its present location in Kamaraj Salai, opposite Marina Beach.