St. Thomas’ College – Matara was founded in 1844 by the Christian Missionary Society of England. In the early stages of the British rule in Sri Lanka, the main concern of various missionary institutions in Sri Lanka was to provide English Education. This resulted in St. Thomas College becoming a secondary school in 1914, St. Thomas College was established in a bungalow in Wellamadama Village, the present site of Ruhunu University.

The school was started in 1844 with a few students and three teachers by Rev. N. J. Ondatjee, the first Anglican missionary, who was succeeded by Mr. Kumaratunga Munidasa who promoted Sinhala language and literature. In 1960, St. Thomas College was taken over by the government after a long period of missionary rule. Mr. K. B. Jayasuriya became the first principal under the government. The Alumni Association of the College which was founded in 1934 by Mr. S. J. Gunasekaram and which has died out. Reactivated by Messrs. J. E. M. Fernando, K. B. Jayasuriya, and E. A. de L. W. Samarasinghe. In 1999, the Buddhist shrine built by the Alumni Association on the college premises was inaugurated by Madihe Pannaziha Thero, a Buddhist priest and an alumnus of the college. Our school is one of the oldest cricket-playing schools on the island and plays with St. Servatius’ College. This is the second oldest cricket match on the island and is also known as the South Blue Battle or Ruhunu Battle