Ipswich, an industrial town with a large number of men employed at the railway workshops, the woollen mills and coal mines in an era where technical education was greatly needed.

At an auspicious meeting held on 26 June 1891, attended by leading citizens (1) of Ipswich a resolution was handed down stating “the time has come for a Technical College to be formed in Ipswich”. Funds raised by the local community of £1000 combined with a government grant of £2000, works began on an architect design of a Grand Public Building by George Brockwell Gill (2). Construction began in 1897 by contractor H Woodford and brickwork by. G Williams. The purpose-built college was a memorial to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria who unfortunately passed two weeks prior to her visit to the College.