Maritzburg College

Maritzburg College
Pro Aris et Focis
Location
Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Information
Type	Public, Boys
Established	1863
Locale	Urban
Headmaster	Mr R Jury
Exam board	KZN
Grades	8 - 12
Number of students	1,200 boys
School Color(s)	Red, black and white
Fees	R 56 900 p.a. (boarding) R 22 700 p.a. (tuition)
Website	www.maritzburgcollege.org.za

Maritzburg College, known locally as College, is a public school for boys situated in the city of Pietermaritzburg, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

It was founded in 1863^{[citation needed]} and is the oldest boys' high school in KwaZulu-Natal^{[citation needed]} and also one of the oldest schools in South Africa.^{[citation needed]} Today, it is attended by about 750 day scholars and 400 boarders.^{[citation needed]}

History

Maritzburg College was founded as the Pietermaritzburg High School in 1863 to accommodate the influx of children arriving at the 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^{[citation needed]} 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".^{[citation needed]} Clark House is a Pietermaritzburg landmark and carries South Africa's heritage seal, certifying it as a national monument.^{[citation needed]} A similar honour was bestowed on the school's Victoria Hall,^{[citation needed]} the building of which was commenced 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.^{[citation needed]}

Sports

Maritzburg College offers a wide variety of sports, including rugby, cricket, canoeing, hockey, athletics, swimming, water polo, tennis, shooting, soccer, basketball, squash, and golf.^{[citation needed]}

The school has 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.^{[citation needed]}

The Victoria Hall. The building was completed in 1899 and was used as a military hospital by the British authorities during the Boer War

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 Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (known as "Affies"), Pretoria Boys High School in Pretoria, and, more recently, King Edward VII School (Johannesburg) (known as "KES") at which about 700 College boys take part.^{[citation needed]}

From 1944 until 1982, the school enjoyed the services of the noted geography master and schoolboy rugby coach, Mr Skonk Nicholson, whose name is iconic with Maritzburg College and schoolboy rugby, and who is 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 200 sporting internationals,^{[citation needed]} including 25 Old Collegians who have captained South African national sides and one, Kevin Pietersen, who has captained the England Cricket XI.^[1] Four Old Collegians attended the 2004 Olympic Games, with Darian Townsend winning a gold medal as part of the world record-setting SA 4 x 100 freestyle team, and Don Cech winning a bronze medal in the rowing; and six Old Collegians attended the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.^{[citation needed]}

Saturdays during the summer months can often yield 30 cricket teams (an under 14P XI has occasionally been produced), and 29 rugby teams and 18 hockey teams during winter.^{[citation needed]}

School crest

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).

Debate has taken place as to the origins of the school's 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 19th century, 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, four 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.

Mr RD Clark (MA (Oxon)) - "the Father of Maritzburg College"

"Fagging" and discipline

Over the years, some Old Collegians and parents have been outspoken about College's allegedly outmoded system of "fagging" - where second and third form boys wait upon and serve seniors, 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 in Pietermaritzburg where this structure is retained to something like its original extent.

Notable Old Collegians

Maritzburg College has produced many Old Boys who have distinguished themselves. Amongst its former scholars it can count eleven South African senators, five generals, an admiral, a Commissioner of Police, eight Officers Commanding of the Natal Carbineers, arguably South Africa's pre-eminent English author, two Chancellors of the University of Natal, three Directors of Education, an Anglican bishop, a Chief Justice, nine judges, three Attorneys-General, and twenty two Rhodes scholars.^{[citation needed]}

College has produced locally and internationally acclaimed sportsmen, with a tally of 200 to date, and as such is considered to be the most produced by a single South African school.^{[citation needed]}

List of notable Old Collegians (by year of matriculation)

• Sir Henry Bale, KCMC, KZ (dux 1870), former South African cabinet minister and former Chief Justice of Natal
• Henry Nourse (circa 1874), founder of Nourse Mines and former chairman of South African Olympic Committee
• Major-General WEC Tanner (1884), former Chief of Staff of Union of South Africa Defence Force
• Judge Walter E Thrash, MPC (1902), former South African senator and former Judge President of Natal
• HG “Nummy” Deane (circa 1910), former captain of South African national cricket team
• Prof Edgar Brookes (1911), former South African senator and former South African representative to the League of Nations
• Alan Paton (1918), author of Cry, the Beloved Country and political activist
• Philip J. Nel (1921), captain of "the Greatest Springboks" of 1937 - the first South African team to have defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand
• Hubert Freakes (1930), Rhodes scholar and former England national rugby union team player (killed whilst serving in the RAF during World War II)
• Lt-Gen Keith Coster, OBE (1936), former General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Rhodesian Army and Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of South Africa
• Lt-Gen Bob Rogers, DSO, DFC (1938), former Chief of the South African Air Force
• Cuan McCarthy (1945), fast-bowler in South African national cricket side
• Jackie McGlew (1948): former captain of South African national cricket team
• Rear-Adm Paul Wijnberg (1950), former OC of Natal Naval Command
• Cedric Savage (Harvard) (1955), former CEO and present chairman of the Tongaat-Hulett Group and former captain of South African national waterpolo team
• Paul Harris (Head Prefect 1967), former CEO of Rand Merchant Bank and present CEO of the FirstRand Group
• Ian Rogers (?), International Rugby Referee
• Craig Jamieson(1979) The first Natal Captain to lift the Currie Cup, 1995 Rugby World Cup Tournament manager.
• Joel Stransky (1985), South African national rugby player
• Jonty Rhodes (Head Prefect 1987), South African national cricket player
• Wim Visser (1987): Italian National Rugby Player, and member of the first Italian team to win a 6 nations match (vs Scotland).
• Craig Joubert (1995): International Rugby Referee
• Pieter Dixon (1995): Super 12 Rugby Player
• Shaun Morgan (1997) : Lead Singer and Guitar player from the band Seether
• Kevin Pietersen (1997), former captain of the England cricket team
• Butch James (1997), rugby player for Bath and Springboks
• Chad Erskine (1998), USA national rugby player
• Peter Grant (2002), Stormers, Western Province, Springbok and Barbarians rugby player
• Darian Townsend (2002) Olympic Gold Medalist in Athens, 2004. Member of the 4 x 100m Freestyle World Record Relay Team
• Cedric Mkhize (2003) rugby player for Sharks (2005 season)
• David Miller (2007) Proteas Cricketer
• Rikshay Ganasen (2013)

The school's Roll of Honour lists the names of over 250 former scholars who have given their lives in wars since the first Old Collegian casualty fell in 1871 (Robert Erskine, who was the son of the Colonial Secretary at the time). Most (if not all) of their names are displayed on College's numerous war memorials. The most Old Collegians killed in action on one day is seven - at Gelib in Italian Somaliland in 1941, during the infamous "White Flag Incident" that claimed the lives of 13 Royal Natal Carbineers. Four boys died at the battle of Isandhlwana in 1879 (see above) and eight during the Battle of Delville Wood, which was fought on 14–20 July 1916.

College has produced about 200 international sportsmen, including a former Mr America (bodybuilding), 25 SA captains, nine captains of polo alone, six 2008 Olympians, and the "man who won the 2005 Ashes" for England, Kevin Pietersen.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/19296.html?index=timeline

External links

• Maritzburg College official site
• Old Boys' Association official site
• Rugby365 article