the changes. The history of Richmond are from original Mission Records held in the Methodist Mission Library, in Colombo and in England. In 1962, Richmond College, which was owned by the Methodist Mission, was vested in the government with no compensation to the Mission. D. G. Welikala, the first head of Richmond College under state management, was also its first Buddhist principal. With the takeover, the Methodist Vernacular School on Richmond Hill was amalgamated with Richmond. This school was referred to as the "Kaha Iskole (කහ ඉස්කෝලේ)" by some and "Pin Iskole (පිං ඉස්කෝලෙ)" meaning Charity school by others has been in existence from the time the Missionaries established a learning seat on Richmond Hill in 1858. During this period, considerable expansion and change had to take place to cater to the new situation. Richmond College faced the challenge of transition so successfully that the then Minister of Education commended Richmond on several occasions, describing it as a model institution among nationalised schools. Richmond College was one of the first schools in the island to start teaching agriculture as a subject. In 1969, it became the first school in the country to start an agricultural stream for the Advanced Level. In 1976, the College celebrated its centenary of upgrading. In terms of the provisions of the White Paper on Education, Richmond College was named a National School in 1986. Richmond College Old Boys' Association was incorporated in 1998 by Act #04 of Parliament of Sri Lanka. Principals The following are the heads of the school from 1876, to-date Samuel Langdon (1876 – 1879) Robert Tebb BSc (London) MA(Cantab)(1879) Samuel Hill (1879 – 1882) Samuel R. Wilkins (1882 – 1888) Arthur Triggs (1888 – 1893) Horatius Hartley (1893 – 1896) James Horne Darrell BSc(Cambs) MA(Cantab) (1896 – 1906) Percy T. Cash (1914 – 1915) W. J. T. Small (1906 – 1922) Alec A. Sneath MA(Manch) (1922 – 1939) John Dalby MA(Oxon) (1939 – 1940) E. R. de Silva MA (1940 – 1957), first Ceylonese principal A. Shelton Wirasinghe BA (1957 – 1961) Claude Ivor de Silva BA (1961), acting Richmond College (1962 onwards) D. G. Welikala (1962–1971), the first principal after nationalisation J. Munasinghe (1971–1973) S. Kariyawasam (1973–1977) N. P. G. Amarakeerthi (1978–1979) B. Suriarachchi (1979–1986) S. Illayperuma (1986–1994) W. N. R. P. Daniyas (1994–2004) G. V. S. B. Shanthasiri (2004–2008) E. M. S. Ekanayake (2008–2015) Sampath Weragoda (2015–2020) Thilak Waththuhewa