THE BOMBAY SEMINARY: At St. Xavier’s

As discovered in the earlier articles the Bombay Seminary, in its gypsy life, travelled from Fort to Dadar, Surat to Bandra and from Cavel to Mazagaon. In 1870 it struck camp at Dhobitalao. What led to this sudden change in campsite?

The answer is more practical. On January 30, 1869 St Mary’s, Mazagaon was recognized as a College of Arts by the Bombay University. But its affiliation was granted under the name of ‘St. Xavier’s’. When a major portion of the Jesuit Institution along Carnac Road (now Lokmanya Tilak Marg) was ready, the makeshift school at Cavel as well as the ‘Young Gentlemen’s School’ at Fort were transferred to this building.

St. Xavier’s was a dream come true for the Jesuits and hence they also decided to transfer the ‘College Department’ and the ‘Matriculation Class’ of St Mary’s Mazagaon to the new location at Fort. For the next thirty years the Bombay Seminary was a part of the St. Xavier’s institution but at two locations i.e. from 1870 to 1891 in what is now St Xavier’s High School and from 1891 to 1900 in what is now St. Xavier’s College.

At the Seminary at Carnac Road, the minor seminarians followed the school or college curriculum and wore lay clothes. The major seminarians wore cassocks and had classes early in the morning or late in the evenings since the professors had their hands full during the day. From 1888 one priest was exclusively set aside for the Seminary.