Pre-war There was a
Diocesan Native Female Training School founded in 1860 at Bonham Road and Eastern Street on
Hong Kong Island. That school was set up by Lady Lydia Smith, the wife of
George Smith, who was the first Bishop of Victoria sent by the
Society for Promotion of Female Education in the East, a sub-society of the
London Missionary Society. At first, it admitted only girls. In 1866, it was renamed
Diocesan Female Training & Industrial Schools. Because of financial problems, that school had to restrict its services solely to
orphans and destitute girls. In September 1869,
Diocesan Home and Orphanage was established at the same site for English, Eurasian, Chinese and other pupils, occupying the building at the corner of Eastern Street and Bonham Road. In 1894,
Diocesan Home and Orphanage became a boys' school and later renamed itself as '''Diocesan Boys' School and Orphanage''' since all girls were transferred to Fairlea Girls' School. In 1899, '''Diocesan Girls' School and Orphanage
was established in Rose Villas on Bonham Road. Diocesan Girls' School and Orphanage''' first received government financial assistance in 1900 as a Church of England School principally for Eurasian and European girls. It was placed under the grant-in-aid scheme, officially establishing itself as a girls' school. In 1913, the school moved to its present site at 1
Jordan Road,
Kowloon, formerly a rice
paddy field. In the 1920s, the school motto,
Daily Giving Service, was adopted. During the
Japanese occupation in the
Second World War, the school was taken over as headquarters of the Japanese
Kempeitai until it was re-opened in September 1945 by Ms. Gibbins, then headmistress, who was interned at
Stanley camp during the occupation. Immediately upon her release, she hurried back to reclaim the school premises despite difficulty in crossing the harbour, thus saving the building from being looted.
Post war In the 1950s, with the closure of the adjacent town-gas depot, the school was able to expand. The old Edwardian edifice was pulled down, and three school blocks were constructed to accommodate the enlarged student body. The school embarked on a large scale school expansion project, and two extension blocks were opened respectively in 1993 and 1996. The new phase of expansion had been completed and was opened officially on 12 January 2007. In 2005, DGS joined the
Direct Subsidy Scheme, in the view to enhance the facilities to meet the demand of increased number of classes. In site redevelopment has been chosen against the use of a new site provided by the
Education Bureau, based on cost considerations. The new school campus was designed by architects Palmer and Turner, and the preliminary designs was reviewed by a group of alumni. A fund-raising campaign was launched in 2008 for the redevelopment of the old school campus, which targets on HKD 380 million. In 2009, the classes in DGS were temporarily relocated to 101
Castle Peak Road,
Sham Shui Po, whereas DGJS was moved to
Tseung Kwan O during the reconstruction. In September 2011, the school returned to 1 Jordan Road upon completion of the new campus. ==Headmistresses==