The establishment of the college dates back to 1901. A group of prominent Chinese businessmen approached the
Church Missionary Society to administer a school for their sons. The inspiration came from
Sun Yat-sen. The aim was to achieve a standard of teaching and level of equipment comparable to the best public schools in England. In 1903, St Stephen's College was officially established on
Bonham Road in
Western District. In the 1920s, the government granted the school on the
Stanley Peninsula in recognition of
outstanding contributions to education. The foundation stone was laid in April 1928 by the
Governor of Hong Kong, Sir
Cecil Clementi, and in May 1929, the college was fully functional in its new buildings, many of which are still in use today. During the
Battle of Hong Kong in the
Second World War, heavy fighting took place around the college, which was among the last British strongholds to surrender to the
Imperial Japanese Army. Shortly after the surrender, the Imperial Japanese Army broke into the college (which served as a military hospital during the battle) and murdered wounded soldiers of the
Allied forces, in what would be known as the
St. Stephen's College massacre. The Japanese later merged the college with part of
Stanley Prison to form the
Stanley Internment Camp. The college reopened after the war and a chapel was built in 1950 to remember those who died during the Japanese occupation. Originally a private school, St Stephen's College became a government-funded public school during the late 1900s. Since the 2008–2009 academic year, the college has become a
Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) school, which is a historic change to the college as it freed the school from the centralised funding system that currently administers secondary education in Hong Kong. Students enrolled in the 2002 Primary 1 class at St Stephen's College Preparatory School, also based in Stanley, were the first group of students to enter the DSS system. In order to upgrade the school administrative level, this is the first secondary school in Hong Kong to employ a registered professional housing manager on its staff to manage and handle all property and facilities-related issues for and on behalf of the school.
School principal • 1903–1914: The Ven E. J. Barnett • 1914–1915: The Revd. A. D. Stewart • 1915–1928: The Revd. W. H. Hewitt • 1928–1953:
Canon E. W. L. Martin • 1956–1958: Mr. C. T. Priestley • 1958–1965: Mr. J. R. F. Melluish • 1965–1973: The Revd. R. B. Handforth •
1973–1974: Ven. W. N. Cheung (Acting) • 1974–1999: Mr. Luke J. P. Yip () • 1999–2005: Mr. D. R. Too () • 2005–2010: Dr. Louise Y. S. Law () • 2010–2023: Ms. Carol C. Yang () • 2023–: Mrs. Julie M. W. Ma () ==Houses==