Known for being one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean having been founded on May 21, 1729. This was the day John Wolmer made his last will and testament, leaving the bulk of his estate for the foundation of a free school in the parish of his death. The sum of the legacy was £2,360.

Little is known of John Wolmer except that he was a goldsmith in Kingston for more than twenty years. It is possible that he was originally from Switzerland. We know that he was married in the St. Andrew Parish Church on July 1705 and that he died in Kingston on June 29, 1729.

There were some delays in giving effect to Wolmer's will but, after many amendments and conferences between the House of Assembly and the Council, a law was passed and in 1736 the Wolmer's Trust, which would manage the affairs of the school, was established.

The original Wolmer's Trustees then, as now, were persons of great repute in society. In fact, in the early days the trustees threatened to outnumber the students. They included the Commander-in-Chief and four senior members of Council. There was the Speaker of the House of Assembly; the Chief Justice; the Custos of Kingston; the four senior Magistrates of Kingston; all the members of the Assembly for Kingston; the Anglican Rector; the Church Wardens and vestrymen of Kingston plus six free citizens to be appointed each year.

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