The Society caters for former pupils of King William's College and The Buchan School before and after the amalgamation of the two schools.
Brief History: King William's College, Castletown, Isle of Man was founded as an independent school for day and boarding boys and took its first pupils in 1833. The Buchan School was founded in 1875 as a girls' school and was initially called Castletown High School for Girls. The two schools always had close links and on 1st August 1991 their governing bodies were combined. Both schools are now co-educational and, after amalgamation, form a single institution, with independent status. The Buchan School is the Junior School with about 230 pupils and King William's College is the Senior School, with about 350 pupils.
King William's College Society: The King William's College Society, founded in 1889, is the parent body of the former pupils' societies. Its Alumni Office keeps a database of former pupils and staff, publishes a magazine and maintains this website. Its main objectives are to keep former pupils in touch with each other and to provide help for former and present pupils. It supports a limited number of small bursaries for members of the Society and their children and organises occasional reunions, the most recent being in May 2006. okws@kwc.sch.im
Kindred Societies: There are also kindred societies catering for former pupils on a regional basis. These have similar objectives to the KWC Society and concentrate on social events. You can find the contact details for these societies at the bottom of the page.
The Barrovian Society in the Isle of Man, which was founded in 1924, organises social events, some of which raise money for College. The events have recently included the Annual Dinner, a Drinks Party at Christmas and a Christmas Ball.
Liverpool & District OKW Society, into which the Manchester OKW Society merged, has records of officials back to 1905. It organises an annual dinner in November at The Artists Club, Liverpool and a golf day in the summer. Secretary Duncan Gibb via okws@kwc.sch.im
The London OKW and Buchan Society whose history certainly goes back to 1883, holds an Annual Dinner, occasional barbecues and a monthly drinks evening. The Annual Dinner is held in February/March.
London OKW & Buchan Social Monthly Meetings
These take place on the last Thursday of each month at 6.30 p.m. at The Naval Club, 38 Hill Street, Mayfair London W1J 5NS. All OKWs, Buchan Old Girls, their husbands, wives and partners are welcome. If you plan to attend, please contact either Christopher Kelly Christopher@Kelly.f2s.com or Philip M. Caine, 28 Crescent West, Hadley Wood, Barnet, Hertfordshire EN4 0EJ telephone 020 8449 6140 mobile 07773 414610 philipmc38@googlemail.com
The 2011 Annual Dinner of the Society will be held on Friday 25th February at The Naval Club, details as above. England play France at Twickenham the following day.
Subscriptions: To pay for the King William's College Society magazine and cover the expenses of maintaining the database and website, the King William's College Society charges a Life Subscription of £100. This is normally paid by parents on the second termly bill at KWC after which their offspring become pupil members of the Society. On leaving they become full members and are included in the mailing list for the King William's College Society magazine. During their time at College pupils will have been receiving The Barrovian, the school magazine, and the Life Subscription also covers the cost of the first copy published after they leave.
The kindred societies do not normally have a subscription but charge for social events and rely on donations.