here is no record of the years of service of the pre-war teaching staff, but this list is in very rough chronological order of the year of appointment of each staff member. Thus, Mr Bennett Eyre Shaw, the first headmaster, leads the list with an appointment date of 1894. He himself taught the first classes of standards five and six when the V.I. was officially opened on July 30, 1894.

Mr. G. W. ("Gin Whisky") Hepponstall was the acting headmaster until Mr. Shaw arrived. His nickname and pink cheeks came from his fondness for gin. He wrote a textbook entitled "Hepponstall's Arithmetic", getting his pupils in standard five to work out the answers to the Standard 1 to 3 sums. Sad to say, he died a leper.

Mr A. C. J. Towers organised the St. Mary's Cadet Corps, comprising V.I. Boys of the Christian faith in 1900. The Corps eventually merged into the newly formed V.I. Cadet Corps with Mr. Towers as the first Captain. Towers was also interested in cricket and gymnastics. He left the V.I. to go to Ipoh in 1902 to become Secretary to three tin mines. Later he owned a rubber estate in Tasek, five miles north of Ipoh, and was known as the "Laird of Tasek".

The list includes names of several masters who survived the war and continued their service in the V.I. Their names therefore appear on the post-war list as well. They include Mr F. Daniel who was senior science master before the war. He was interned by the Japanese and returned after the B.M.A. period in 1946 to helm the school until 1949. Mr Daniel pioneered the teaching of science in the V.I. in 1930. He was joined by Mr Lim Eng Thye in 1931.

Several European teachers listed here died in the two great conflicts of the twentieth century: G. Barber died in 1916 during the First World War; Messrs H. D. Grundy, E.W. Reeve, A.C. Strachan, G.C. Tacchi and T. L. White fought in the Malayan campaign in the Second World War and died as Japanese prisoners-of-war.

The two staff members had V.I. Houses named in their honour: G. W. Hepponstall, and Miss Elizabeth Davidson, who was in charge of the school's infant department for 16 years. (Hepponstall House was later renamed Lee Kuan Yew House while Davidson House became Sultan Abdul Samad House).

J. H. Tyte from Devonshire joined the school around 1902 after matriculating from London University. He was O.C. of the Malay States Volunteer Rifles and trained hundreds of Europeans for service in Europe during the First World War. He was the first Normal Instructor in Kuala Lumpur. Tyte was an expert billiards player and represented Selangor and later, Perak, at soccer and hockey. He also introduced the latter two sports to schools in these states. He was the acting headmaster in 1905.

The training of local teachers was first started at the V.I. in 1904 and the first batch consisted of four Old Victorians, Chan Sze Onn, Ayadurai, Syed Jan and M. H. Foenander, who were appointed Pupil Teachers.

Messrs Towers, Tyte, Phillips and Proudlock were all keen gymnasts. The latter became gymnastics instructor and the first competition was held in 1905. Mr Proudlock was acting headmaster in 1911, in Mr B. E. Shaw's absence, when his wife, Ethel, was accused of the murder of a European manager of a tin mine. She was found guilty and sentenced to death. A petition for her pardon, signed, among others by V.I. staff and pupils, was made to the Sultan and resulted in her being released. The famous writer Somerset Maugham, on a visit to Singapore, heard of the incident and fictionalized it as a short story, The Letter, which was later successfully produced as a play. This was subsequently turned into two Hollywood film versions, one in 1929 and the other, starring Bette Davis, in 1940.

Mr Chan Hung Chin formed the first V.I. Orchestra in 1915 which rendered selections at the annual school concert of that year.

Mr. B. E. Shaw formed the First Selangor Scout Troop in 1909 and Mr W. C. A Dainton was put in charge of the Troop.

C. G. Coleman, centre half and also expert ball header later became Inspector of Schools first in Selangor and, later, in Perak.

Here is the list: