Colonel Gray Senior High School is named in honour of Colonel John Hamilton Gray (June 1811 - August 1887), born and educated in Charlottetown. He chose a military career and was sent to England where he was commissionedinto the 15th Foot in 1831. He transferred to the 15th Light Dragoons in 1839 and eventually to the 7th Dargoon Guards in 1844. He served in India and South Africa and was decorated for his service in South Africa. In 1852, he retired with the rank of Colonel and returned to Prince Edward Island where he became involved in politics and was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1854. The outbreak of the Crimean War in the same year caused Gray to resume his military service, but after the war he continued his political endeavours, successfully winning in the elections of 1858 and 1859. Gray became the government leader in 1863 and Chairman of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference which laid the groundwork for the British North America Act. Due to his wife's failing health, he resigned shortly after the Conference but returned to the military in 1867 as Adjutant-General of PEI. John Hamilton Gray died in Charlottetown in 1887.
Colonel Gray Senior High School is a part of the Eastern School District of Prince Edward Island, who built the school in 1968.
