Maritzburg College
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The Maritzburg College school crest |
Maritzburg College, known locally as
College, is a
public high school for boys situated in the city of
Pietermaritzburg, in
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa.
It was founded in
1863 and is the oldest high school in
KwaZulu-Natal and also one of the oldest schools in
South Africa. Today, it is regarded as one of the prime institutions of its kind in
South Africa and is attended by about 750 day scholars and 400 boarders.
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Maritzburg College in 1888 |
Maritzburg College was originally founded as the Pietermaritzburg High School in 1863 in order to accommodate the influx of children arriving at the relatively new city of Pietermaritzburg and its surrounding farmlands within the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. As the school swelled, city architects were commissioned to build a larger classroom and boarding block, which was completed in 1888 and later became known as "Clark House", honouring the school's third headmaster, Mr RD Clark (MA (Oxon)), who is often referred to as "the Father of College". Clark House is a well-known Pietermaritzburg landmark and carries South Africa's heritage seal, certifying it as a national monument. A similar honour was bestowed on the school's Victoria Hall, which was completed in 1897 (
Queen Victoria's
diamond jubilee year) and which served as a
British Army hospital from late 1899 until mid-1900 during the
Second Boer War.
Over the years, the school has established itself as a leading force at sports, especially rugby, cricket and hockey, with regular fixtures against its rival schools such as
Durban High School (founded in
1866) and
Glenwood High School in
Durban, and the local
private schools:
Michaelhouse,
Hilton College and
Kearsney College. Records show College to be the strongest sporting school in the province in sports such as
rugby,
cricket and
hockey.
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A sketch of the Victoria Hall. The building was completed in 1897 and was used as a military hospital by the British authorities during the Boer War |
In more recent years, the school's search for greater sporting competition has taken it beyond the province's borders, and each year in winter it has derby days against
Grey College in
Bloemfontein and
Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (known as "Affies") and
Pretoria Boys High School in
Pretoria, at which about 700 College boys take part.
Major sporting events between all these schools are usually large affairs, attracting big crowds and plenty of school-style participation.
The school, from 1942 to 1982 had
Skonk Nicholson on its teaching and coaching staff, who is iconic with Maritzburg College and schoolboy rugby, and well-respected in the South African rugby community as having nurtured many Collegians to national and international sporting fame.
Amongst its many notable Old Boys (known as Old Collegians), it can count about 180 sporting internationals, including 18 Old Collegians who have captained South African national sides. Four Old Collegians attented the 2004 Olympic Games, with
Darien Townshend winning a gold medal as part of the world record-setting SA 4 x 100 freestlye team, and Don Cech winning a bronze medal in the rowing.
These days, Maritzburg College offers a wide variety of sports, including rugby, cricket, hockey, athletics, swimming, water polo, tennis, shooting, soccer, basketball, squash and golf.
The school maintains a respected sporting reputation; Saturdays during the summer months can often yield 30 cricket teams (and under 14P XI has occasionally been produced), and 27 rugby teams and 18 hockey teams during winter.
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Badge of the Maritzburg College Old Boys' Association, which was founded in 1897 |
The school crest is a red shield with a crossed carbine and
assegai (a traditional
Zulu weapon), over the
Latin scroll bearing "Pro Aris et Focis" (For Hearth and Home).Considerable debate has taken place over the years as to the precise origins of the school's rather belligerent crest and colours of red, black & white. A popular belief is that they highlight the various skirmishes, battles and wars between the
British and the
Zulu that took place in the late 1800s, with the colours representing the warring parties (white and black) and the blood that was shed between them (red). As recently as 2005, this issue had not been conclusively settled by the school's Archives Committee. As an aside, 7 Old Collegians perished during the famous Battle of
Isandhlwana, at which over 1 300 British and colonial troops were slaughtered by the Zulus on 22 January
1879, during the
Zulu War. A memorial in honour of those fallen Old Boys was unveiled on the battlefield in
1969.
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Mr RD Clark (MA (Oxon)) - "the Father of Maritzburg College" |
Over the years, some Old Collegians and parents have been outspoken about College's allegedly outmoded system of "fagging" - where a second year boy waits upon and serves the senior boys, as a butler would. However, this system - together with the general "privilege" system that underpins the school's ethos and sense of discipline - is carefully monitored by the staff, hostel masters and senior prefects. College's rigorous structure of traditions and concepts date back to similar styles found in pre-1900 British boarding schools, and this is perhaps the only school where this structure is retained to something like its original extent.
Maritzburg College has produced a number of Old Boys who have distinguished themselves in many fields of human endeavour. Amongst its former scholars it can count 11 South African
senators, 4 generals, an admiral, a Commissioner of Police, 7 Officers Commanding of the Natal Carbineers, South Africa's pre-eminent English author, 2 Chancellors of the
University of Natal, 3 Directors of Education, an Anglican bishop, a Chief Justice, 9 judges, 3 Attorneys-General, and 21
Rhodes scholars.
College has produced numerous locally and internationally-acclaimed sportsmen, with a tally of 180 to date, and as such is considered to be the most produced by a single South African school
List of Notable Old Collegians
*Sir Henry Bale (dux 1870): Cabinet Minister, Chief Justice: Natal, KCMC, KC;
*Henry Nourse (c1874): Founder: Nourse Mines, Chairman: SA Olympic Committee etc;
*Maj-Gen WEC Tanner (1884): Chief of Staff: Union Defence Force etc;
*Judge Walter Thrash (1902): Senator, Judge President: Natal, MPC;
*HG "Nummy" Deane (c 1910): captain of SA cricket team;
*Prof Edgar Brookes (1911), Senator, SA representative: League of Nations etc;
*
Alan Paton (1918): Internationally acclaimed author of "
Cry, the Beloved Country";
*Philip Nel (1921): captain of "the Greatest Springboks" of 1937 - who remain the only SA team to have defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand;
*Hubert Freakes (1930):
Rhodes scholar, England rugby international (killed whilst serving in the RAF during World War II);
*Lt-Gen Keith Coster (1936): General Officer Commanding: Rhodesian Army, OBE, Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of SA;
*Lt-Gen Bob Rogers (1938): Chief: SA Air Force, DSO, DFC (and Bar) etc;
*
Jackie McGlew (1948): captain of SA cricket team;
*Rear-Adm Paul Wijnberg (1950): OC: Natal Naval Command;
*Cedric Savage (1955): CEO: Tongaat-Hulett, captain of SA water-polo team;
*Paul Harris (Head Prefect 1967): CEO of FirstRand Bank;
*
Joel Stransky (1985): SA rugby international;
*
Jonty Rhodes {Head Prefect 1987): SA cricketer;
*
Kevin Pietersen (1997): English cricketer.
The school's Roll of Honour lists the names of over 250 former scholars who have given their lives in various battles and wars since the first Old Collegian casualty fell in 1871 (Robert Erskine, who was the son of the Colonial Secretary at the time).
* College is the oldest high school in
KwaZulu-Natal.
* College has produced more than 180 international sportsmen, including a former Mr America (bodybuilding), 18 SA captains, 8 captains of polo alone, four
2004 Olympians, and the "man who won the 2005 Ashes" for
England,
Kevin Pietersen.
* Its annual Reunion Day is often attended by more than 2,000 former scholars.
* College has retained many of its old traditions that often date back many generations - like the saying by juniors of "please" and "waiting at doors".
* The most Old Collegians killed in action on one day is 7 - at
Isandhlwana in
1879 (see above) and at Gelib in
Italian Somaliland in
1941, during the infamous "White Flag Incident" that claimed the lives of 13 Royal
Natal Carbineers.
* Its old buildings are rumoured to still be inhabited by ghosts - including that of Mr WE "Fluff" Abbitt (long-time resident master of Clark House), Mr Clark himself, and the troubled souls of the dozens of British and colonial troops who died in the Victoria Hall when it was a fever ward during the Boer War.
* One of its more colourful former scholars was Bill Payn (scholar 1906-10), who played provincial sport in 5 disciplines, represented the Springbok rugby team against the British Isles in
1924, and gained lasting fame by running the
1922 Comrades Marathon in his rugby boots.
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Maritzburg College official site*
Old Boys' Association official site*
Rugby365 article
