• Work among the students in Bombay was started, under the College Department, in a rented building in Girgaon Road in 1896 under the leadership of Frank Anderson, the College Secretary.
  • The well stocked Reading Room was used daily by about 60 students.
  • The programme included public lectures, debates and magic lantern talks.
  • At the turn of the century, the need for a building from which could radiate student activities to the four corners of the city was strongly felt and a search for a suitable plot instituted.
  • In August 1909, a plot of land 996 sq. yards in area, ‘at the corner of Girgaon Back Road and the new extension of Chunam Kin Lane to Sandhurst Road’, was purchased at a public auction from the City Improvement Trust.
  • The foundation stone of the building was laid on April 14, 1910 by the Governor of Bombay.
  • During the year 1908, a new Branch was established as an extension of the CMS Hostel at Dhanji Street. Membership was entirely Indian Christian and the language Marathi. Members were mostly from the factories.
  • To begin with there were 25 members and the programme was educational and religious.
  • In 1909, Dhanji Street was changed to Proctor Road. The Branch merged itself with the Student Branch when it was opened at Lamington Road in 1910.