The OCA was officially started on 13th May 1910 when 17 Old Cottonians assembled in the Freemason’s Hall in Simla. However, it is interesting to note that the first gathering of OC’s was in 1878 when 28 old Cottonians attended the First Founder’s Day function ever to be celebrated. This was held on the 27th of July as 28th fell on a Sunday. These OC’s sat at the High Table for the meal that followed the function.

E.O. Wisley, the senior-most, had organised the meeting and was the first to sign the Roll of Association. With these seventeen acting as the core, the task was now to find and communicate with the numerous old boys who lay scattered across the world – England, Canada, Japan, China, New Guinea and of course, India. In under a year, the Seventeen had become 73.  By 1 May 1913, there were eighty-four members and this rose to 101 by October that year.