by Dr Daniel Pretorius, Chairman of the Heritage Committee
The 1910 academic year opened with 140 boys (28 of whom were boarders) enrolled at St John’s College. Fr Nash lamented that enrolment numbers ‘might indeed have been higher, had we more boarding accommodation.’ The paucity of accommodation had resulted in ten applicants having to be turned away. This state of affairs prompted the College Council to rent the neighbouring ‘Golf House’, which was being given up by the ailing golf club that had hitherto surrounded the College like a crescent to the south, west and north. This gave the school ‘two bright cheerful rooms’ for junior classes, as well as dormitories to provide living quarters for an additional dozen boarders.
The results achieved by St John’s boys in external examinations written at the end of the previous year were satisfactory. Oswald Reid (Thomson) was the only boy to have written the Cape matriculation, and had passed in the second class. For the Cambridge Preliminary (in which 30% of boys and 40% of girls in the British colonies in southern Africa failed), St John’s had entered fourteen candidates, all of whom had passed. ‘We are proud of passing this year more than any of the South African schools which take this examination,’ wrote Fr Nash, ‘except Hilton, which also got 14.’ In the under 16 section, William Ogilvie (Alston) had passed in ten subjects, as had Harold Brayshaw (Nash) in the under 14 section, in which Hugh Falkland Robinson (Rakers) had achieved honours.
In his Letter of Lent Term Fr Nash commended Mr Bruce Murray (who, in addition to teaching the Lower III, ‘has been our head gardener’) and the matron, Mrs McLachlan, for the work they had done on enhancing the appearance of the area in front of the school building, on St David Road. In addition, Fr Hill had ‘raised a noble if less conspicuous kitchen garden.’ Fr Nash also recorded gratitude for a parting present received from Lady Selborne (‘a fine print of Raphael’s S. Cecilia’), as well as Mr W. E. Hortor’s gift of a print of Henry Holiday’s painting ‘Dante and Beatrice’.
The College was developing into a veritable hive of lepidoptery (if that is not an impermissible terminological mixture). In their spare time, boys in the boarding house were exploring the grounds with their nets and had gathered a good many specimens of butterflies, while both Mr Carey and Fr Thomson were avid collectors. Boys had also begun to press wild flowers, and Miss Steel of Cleveland Girls’ High School (later known as Johannesburg Girls’ High School, Barnato Park) had come to provide some guidance in this regard. ‘If we can but evolve a botanist,’ yearned Fr Nash.
The College Debating Society, the existence and activities of which had hitherto been characterised by a degree of informality, was now officially constituted. Fr Thomson was appointed to the chair, while Mr Ralph Griffiths and Llewellyn Shawe (Alston) were appointed joint secretaries. A committee comprising John Greenshields Moodie (Rakers) (who was also Senior Prefect and captain of the 3rd XI), Milton Thompson (Rakers), Wilhelm Küsel (Thomson) and Rupert Pilkington Jordan (Nash) was elected. The Debating Society was the exclusive domain of senior boys: only boys down to Form III were admitted as members. Motions debated included ‘That the English language stands in urgent need of Spelling Reform’ (which was carried by a large majority) and ‘That Wisdom is a greater power than Wealth’ (‘on this occasion wisdom prevailed over wealth by many votes’).
Fr Nash reported that, although Guy Nicolson (the 1st XI’s leading batsman in 1909) had been unable to play cricket due to injury, ‘we have perhaps never done so well in cricket.’ Despite the fact that a few ‘champions’ had been lost at the end of the previous year, Fr Nash said that if boys ‘will be keen and attend to so good a teacher as Mr Atfield they may even attain to the glory of heroes of the past.’ Oswald Reid had ‘grown into a fine bat, and his wicket-keeping was admirable,’ while Harry Marsh had ‘become an excellent bowler.’
On 2 February, the St John’s 1st XI played against Jeppestown High School for Boys and Girls. St John’s scored 178. Reid, who played a ‘great innings’ of ‘fine, resolute, vigorous cricket’, contributed 111 to this total. Marsh captured 6/31 and Harry Freeman 4/21 in dismissing Jeppe for 59. Thus, St John’s won by 119 runs. In keeping with precedent, Mr William Rockey (a member of Council and a Member of Parliament) donated a bat to the centurion Reid in recognition of his splendid innings.
The annual match between Mr Abe Bailey’s XI and Johannesburg Schools was played at the Wanderers on 10 February. Oswald Reid (Thomson), Harry Marsh (Rakers), Guy Stanford (Nash), Harry Freeman (Alston) and Vivian Edwards (Rakers) were selected to the composite Johannesburg Schools team. The boys batted first, Reid opening the batting. He ‘made the most of the fielders’ leniency, and hit out freely, his play including many fine strokes.’ He had made 47 when he was caught at deep square leg by Claude Newberry (Transvaal and South Africa) off the bowling of R. O. Schwarz (Middlesex, Transvaal and South Africa). The boys were dismissed for 194.
Mr Bailey’s XI had reached 192/7 and seemed set for victory, with Frank Mitchell (Cambridge University, Yorkshire, M.C.C., England, Transvaal and South Africa) already having scored 115. With Marsh bowling, Mitchell played an attacking stroke in search of a boundary that would secure victory, but was caught. The penultimate man came in, the score now being 192/8. After a single had been scored, the new batsman was stumped by Reid off the bowling of Marsh (‘whose bowling throughout needed close watching’), to make the score 193/9.
With shadows creeping across the pitch, and with Mr Bailey’s XI requiring a mere two runs for victory, Mr Bailey himself came to the crease: ‘the utmost excitement prevailed, the fielders straining every nerve.’ At 6.40 p.m. (by which time it must have been decidedly gloomy), a boundary was scored to give Mr Bailey’s XI a narrow victory. Reid won the bat for the highest score, and was commended for his wicket-keeping, while Marsh was noted for having displayed good all-round capabilities.
St John’s hosted Johannesburg College on 12 February. Not unexpectedly for that time of year, a thunderstorm intervened, thus reducing the time available. However, St John’s batted with confidence and scored quickly, declaring the innings closed at 123/7 (Marsh 29, Stanford 23). This left Johannesburg College only 1¼ hours in which to reach the target. They were sporting enough not to play for a draw, but were bowled out for 81 three minutes before stumps. Arthur McKechnie (Nash) returned good bowling figures of 5/26, while Marsh took 4/44. St John’s fielded well, and Stanford held a magnificent catch on the boundary.
It was the first time in ‘many years’ that St John’s had beaten Johannesburg College. Fr Nash wrote that Johannesburg College had ‘so long set such a high standard of cricket to Transvaal boys that it [was] an honour to defeat them at last.’
The match against Marist Brothers’ College was also won. However, on 16 February St John’s lost to the Bishop of Pretoria’s XI. The Bishop’s team included R. O. Schwarz, E. G. Wynyard (Hampshire and England) and ‘the famous lob bowler’ G. H. T. Simpson-Hayward (Cambridge University, Worcestershire and England). To justify their selection ‘in so ecclesiastical a team’, these three described themselves as ‘Churchwarden, Sidesman and Grave-digger’, respectively.
Observed by a ‘capital attendance’, St John’s, batting first, could muster only 116 (Reid and Thorp top-scoring with 16 apiece). When the Clergy went in to bat, the two leg-break bowlers, Marsh and McKechnie, opened the bowling for St John’s. The boys made a ‘creditable’ fight and delighted their veteran opponents by their plucky play: ‘they even at one time, with five of the foes’ wickets down for 49, looked a little like winning, till Mr McCormick and Mr Simpson-Hayward secured the victory.’ McKechnie took 3/41, but Freeman was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 5-2-16-3.
A few days later, on 19 February, the Old Boys’ Association’s annual meeting was held at the school. A committee comprising A. R. Holliday (1899) (chairman), W. N. Brown Constable (Rakers, 1908), H. Holt, J. B. Powrie, Chas. Steed and S. B. Stokes (honorary secretary and treasurer) was elected. It was also decided to form an O. J. football team and to enter the second division league. F. McKowen (Rakers, 1907) was elected captain of the football team.
Against St Mary’s, Jeppe, St John’s scored 264 (Stanford 55) before dismissing the opposition for 44. In the match against St Augustine’s Choir, which St John’s won by eight runs, Marsh scored 76. Against Mr Stanford’s XI, St John’s won by 141 runs (Reid scoring 88 and Marsh 65). Reid (who was then regarded as the best schoolboy wicketkeeper in the Transvaal) scored 133 in an innings of 304 against the Pretoria St Alban’s Cathedral XI. This match was drawn due to rain. In the return match in Pretoria, St John’s scored 165 (Reid 77) to their opponents’ 37, and thus won by 128 runs.
Reid scored 113 in the victory by 160 runs over the Fathers XI (for whom Mr W. E. Greathead, a regular umpire in College cricket matches, ‘was terrible behind the wickets’). Marsh took six wickets. Reid ended the season with 674 runs at an average of 51. Marsh took 57 wickets at an average of 9.21, while Freeman took twenty wickets at an average of only 6.70, and McKechnie took 28 at an average of 9.75.
The 2nd XI beat Jeppe but lost to Johannesburg College. The 3rd XI beat Johannesburg College and St Mary’s Choir, and won once and lost once against Twist Street Government School 1st XI. The ‘little boys’ scored 84/1 (Clarkson 40, Davies 30) against Park Town School, whom they then dismissed for 56.
Fr Nash said that, for the 1st XI’s success (nine matches won, three lost, one drawn and three abandoned due to rain), the College was much indebted to the unselfish work of the games master, Fr Alston, and to Mr Lowden, while Messrs Cochrane and Brown Constable O. J. had ‘taught the little boys’. Credit was also due to Major Pickburn and Mr Greathead (‘both splendid cricketers’), who, with Fr Hill, had taught at the nets. Fr Nash also thanked Mr Atfield, ‘who is really a grand coach and does wonders with the boys.’ Mr J. W. Carr was thanked for having donated ‘a railway line to be used for smoothing the cricket field, which should improve our fielding’.
On 16 March 1910 (Wednesday in Passion Week), the first Confirmation of St John’s boys took place in the College’s Tower Chapel. Eleven boys were confirmed on this historic occasion. They were Leonard Denny (Alston), Vivian Edwards (Rakers), Charles Green (Rakers), Reginald Green (Rakers), Charles Cecil Johnston (Thomson), William Ogilvie (Alston), William Powell (Nash), Ferguson Rettie (Rakers), Huntley Shillito (Thomson), Guy Stanford (Nash) and Arthur Villette (Alston).
In Venture of Faith, K. C. Lawson writes that most of these boys represented the College at cricket or football, ‘but to Nash they formed an eleven more truly representative of St John’s than any other team could be.’ The Bishop, the Rt Revd Furse, who kindly came from Pretoria for the ceremony, spoke with great feeling and said that the occasion carried him back to his own confirmation days at Eton.
Fr Nash mentioned, under the heading ‘The Old Boys’, that ‘the youngest of these’, Oswald Reid (who departed at the end of Lent Term), was going to Radley College, near Oxford, with a view to entering the University the following year. Edmund Selke O. J. (Nash, 1908) was preparing to go up to Hertford College, Oxford (Fr Nash’s old college), while Isidore Block (Alston, 1909) was on his way to Edinburgh University.
In addition, Harry Standish Ball O. J. (1904) had won the Chamber of Mines gold medal at Transvaal University College and had been awarded a research scholarship of £250. Two years later, in 1912, Ball was the top science student at McGill University, Montreal. Later, during the First World War, he served with the British Expeditionary Force in France, was appointed Commandant of the First Army Mine School, reached the rank of Major and was awarded the Military O. B. E. He subsequently held senior positions with various mining companies in Canada and South America, before being appointed Principal of the School of Metalliferous Mining at Camborne, Cornwall, in 1933.
Fr Nash also noted that ‘J. W. Zulch, who has been playing for South Africa v M. C .C., was once at S. John’s.’ Zulch had made his Test debut against England at the old Wanderers on 1-5 January 1910, in a match in which the St John’s cricket coach, Mr Atfield, stood as umpire. The England team included greats such as Jack Hobbs, Wilfred Rhodes and Frank Woolley. Opening the batting, Zulch scored 19 and 27. Having had a deficit of 102 runs on the first innings, South Africa won the match by nineteen runs, thanks to the efforts of Aubrey Faulkner (78 and 123) and Bert Vogler (5/87 and 7/94).
On 18-21 February, Zulch and N. V. Lindsay O. J. played for Transvaal against M. C. C. at the Wanderers. Lindsay scored 48 in the Transvaal second innings. A second match between the two sides was played at Berea Park in Pretoria on 22-24 February. Zulch scored 176* in Transvaal’s first innings. In the first innings of the fifth Test, at Newlands in March 1910, Zulch carried his bat and scored 43* in the total of 103 all out.
During Lent Term, the College formed a company of cadets. They made their first public appearance in May when Captain Frank Carey marched them to the Wanderers for the memorial service for the lately deceased King Edward VII, where they ‘bore themselves becomingly.’ Fr Nash added: ‘They have been taught how to storm a kopje, and alarmed us with volleys of blank.’ In addition, two patrols of Scouts were recruited from among the junior boys by Mr A. C. Tunstall B. Sc. (Birmingham), who had recently joined the staff.
On 31 May 1910, the Union of South Africa came into existence as a self-governing dominion within the British Empire. Four British colonies (the Cape of Good Hope, Transvaal, Natal and the Orange River Colony) constituted the provinces of the Union. In terms of the South Africa Act, enacted by the British Parliament, the franchise in each province was to remain as it had been in the corresponding colony before the Union. The Cape Province had a franchise based on property, income and education qualifications, open to men of all races. Black men accounted for about 15% of the electorate in the Cape. In the other provinces, the franchise was limited to white men over the age of 21. The first election was won by the South African Party, led by General Louis Botha, who became Prime Minister. Lord Herbert Gladstone (after whom the College’s first swimming pool was later to be named) was the first Governor-General. Lord de Villiers of Wynberg was the first Chief Justice.
On Union Day, St John’s boys visited the eponymous observatory located in the suburb adjacent to Yeoville, up the hill from the College. At the invitation of the astronomer, Mr Robert Innes, the boys went to see Halley’s Comet, which ‘had obligingly passed from impossible hours of dawn to eventide, and we returned talking learnedly of Jupiter’s moons and Alpha Centauri’, wrote Fr Nash.
By mid-1910, St John’s had 150 boys (of whom forty were boarders) and ten teachers, including four brethren of the Community of the Resurrection (Nash, Thomson, Alston and Hill). However, in September, Mr Anton Willem Rakers (who had been a housemaster and who had taught Dutch, French, German, science and mathematics at the College for ten years) passed away. Mr Cecil Shaw (a graduate of New College, Oxford, and previously a master at St Peter’s College, Adelaide, Australia) joined the College staff and soon proved his value. Another new recruit to the staff common room was Mr H. M. Muller, who was destined to remain at St John’s until 1944.
The College staged a performance of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice towards the end of Easter Term. Once more, the lack of a large school hall meant that the number of invitations had to be limited. Nevertheless, Fr Nash was very pleased with the performance: ‘this year’s play may with little hesitation be pronounced the best we have done.’ The Transvaal Leader commented that ‘of all the score of actors there was not one that was not good,’ but the Headmaster said that ‘our modesty may not make too much of this.’ Among the cast, Charles Green was highly praised for having delivered the part of Portia ‘with quite real power’. Fr Nash thanked those who had contributed to defraying the expense of the play. The list of donors included Herbert Baker, Esq.
The football season was not as successful as that of the previous year. The second league team was unable to retain the trophy it had won in 1909. The first team (captained by Guy Stanford), although it did not win many games, was ‘quite good … and a bit unlucky. If a certain goalkeeper had not been asleep on a certain occasion, perhaps the fortunes of the league might have been different.’ The inter-house competition produced some good matches, with Nash’s House winning, Alston’s being a close second, and Rakers’ coming third.
The College’s annual Athletic Sports took place on a ‘grand day’ towards the end of Trinity Term, although a sudden dust storm did clause some alarm. Fr Nash recorded particular thanks to Mr S. B. Stokes O. J. (‘a well-known Harrier’) for having taken the boys in hand with training. The only flaw in the day’s sport, said Fr Nash, was that ‘events went off so smartly that we reached the tea interval before tea was ready, and the great company of friends had to wait a little.’ Lady Ella Farrar (the wife of Sir George Farrar, chairman and controlling shareholder of East Rand Proprietary Mines and former leader of the opposition in the Transvaal legislative assembly) came to distribute the prizes. The Old Boys’ Champion Gold Medal was awarded to Guy Stanford (Nash).
The third annual Old Boys’ Dinner was held at Luthje’s Langham Hotel on 24 September. ‘Some 40 sat down. It was all hearty and merry.’ Mr William Rockey (a member of the College Council who had been involved in setting up the College in 1898) said that, instead of forty, he wanted to see 140 Old Boys at the next dinner. Fr Nash expressed the hope that a large number of Old Boys would back up their school by joining the Old Boys’ Association (secretary: Mr S. B. Stokes; annual subscription: 5s., ‘which provides Old Boys’ prize at Christmas, the Championship Medal for the Sports, &c.)
The Advent Term cricket fixtures started with a match against Berea. St John’s scored 149 and dismissed Berea for 59, thus winning by 90 runs. St John’s scored 139 against Marist Brothers’ College, who had 67/3 when rain caused play to be abandoned. St John’s again batted first against Arcadians, scoring 130 and dismissing them for 97 to win by 33 runs.
On 12 November, St John’s played against Johannesburg College. St John’s batted first but started in disastrous fashion, both Vivian Edwards and Eric Bell being dismissed without scoring. Thanks to useful cricket by Charles Pritchard (26), Guy Stanford (26) and Llewellyn Shawe (36), St John’s made a splendid recovery. Later on, William Ogilvie (19), Louis Thorp (21), Leonard Denny (11*) and Eric Israel (16) all reached double figures, and the innings closed for 187.
Johannesburg College lost half their wickets for 72, after which a partnership of 55 runs for the sixth wicket ensued before Poultney retired hurt. Then the end came quickly, and the innings terminated for 150, St John’s winning by 37 runs. One of the features of the St John’s fielding was the splendid catch by Israel to dismiss Cooper. ‘It was a real pleasure,’ said Fr Nash, ‘to have high praise from so good a judge as Mr Davies, the headmaster [of Johannesburg College], on [our] good fielding.’ Never previously having beaten Johannesburg College’s 1st XI, St John’s had now done so twice in one year.
The match between Johannesburg Schools and the Transvaal Cricket Union XI was played at the Wanderers on 16 November. Five St John’s boys appeared in the Schools squad: Guy Stanford (Nash), Eric Bell (Thomson), Harry Freeman (Alston), Vivian Edwards (Hill) and Charles de Villiers Pritchard (Hill). Bell was awarded the prize for the best fielding.
The Bishop of Pretoria’s XI was dismissed, on 19 November, a windy day, for 93. ‘The reason for the failure of most of the clergy was the really excellent bowling of H. G. Freeman, who took nine wickets for 35. He kept a capital length, and a small but effective off-break did the rest. The lads fielded well, a fine catch in the deep field by Ogilvie ... being the best performance.’ On the Collegians going in, Denny was dismissed early, but Pritchard, Bell (18), Stanford (17) and Shawe (19) all batted well. Pritchard played very steadily indeed for, going in first, he only left eighth wicket down, at 127, his score being 41. The innings closed on 149, leaving the College victors by 56 runs.
On 26 November, St John’s batted first against Jeppestown and scored only 96 (Stanford 25, Freeman 17, Israel 17). For Jeppe, Nielsen took 6/41. Jeppe struggled to 44/7 but then a rearguard partnership for the eighth wicket took them to 87, with the result that nine runs were required to win with two wickets in hand. The last two wickets fell without any addition to the score. Thus, against expectation, St John’s succeeded in defending a low total. Bell took four wickets, and Freeman and Ogilvie two each. For the 2nd XI, Elias took 5/29 and scored 23 against Jeppe.
St John’s scored 115 (Israel 29) against the Old Boys, for whom Marsh took 5/38 and Marshall 2/13. The boys were then fortunate to dismiss one of the Old Boys’ star batsmen, Attwell, cheaply. (In a subsequent match for the Transvaal Cricket Union XI against Mr Atfield’s Combined Schools’ XI, Attwell scored a double century.) The Old Boys were dismissed for 113 (McKowen 52), St John’s thus winning by two runs. Bell took 3/38 and Teubes had figures of 4-1-4-3.
On 15 December 1910, the College 1st XI played against Mr Greathead’s XI as a precursor to the annual prize-giving. St John’s batted first. Bell (43) and Stanford (83, made ‘in fine style’, with eighteen boundaries) produced a partnership of 115 for the third wicket. Lower down the order, Ogilvie (37) and Israel (30) made handy contributions, St John’s reaching 251/9 (Mr Atfield 4/79). The boys bowled and fielded well, dismissing their seniors for 125 (Mr Shaw 32*). Fr Hill was out for a duck. Stanford took 5/30 and Bell 3/49. St John’s won by 126 runs. Thus, Fr Nash was able to report at Prize Day that the 1st XI had maintained an undefeated record for the term – played ten, won eight, drawn two.
The results of the Cape Matriculation examinations caused ‘general consternation’ as 50 percent of the candidates in all of South Africa were ‘ploughed’. In those years there was more latitude for candidates to sit the matriculation examinations at a younger age than is the case nowadays; and so it was not unusual for parents to accelerate their children’s passage through school. Fr Nash disapproved of this tendency. He commented that these disappointing results might mean a decided raising of standards, ‘which will stop the desire of many parents to rush boys through the Matriculation before they are decently educated … . The Matriculation ought to be something which should keep a boy at school until 17 or 18; and though I suppose we cannot avoid infant prodigies, they are not to be much admired or encouraged.’
Of the seven candidates entered by St John’s, three failed in one subject only, which meant that they failed the entire examination. By contrast, one passed in all the subjects but his aggregate marks were 30 short of the 725 required. The upshot was that only three of the seven St John’s candidates passed. John Moodie ‘got near a first’, and was awarded a bursary at Transvaal University College. (He later achieved the highest marks in the University of Cape Town’s B. A. Philosophy exam and won a scholarship to Oxford.)
Five boys were precluded by measles from sitting the Junior Certificate examinations; of the eight remaining, five passed. The younger boys performed well in the Cambridge Preliminary examination (in which a third of all boys and half the girls in South Africa failed): nine of the ten St John’s candidates passed – ‘more than any of the boys’ or girls’ schools in South Africa which takes this examination, except Hilton, which passed ten.’
Principal sources:
TRH Davenport South Africa: A Modern History (1987); F Welsh A History of South Africa (2000); KC Lawson Venture of Faith: The Story of St John’s College, Johannesburg (1968); M Meredith Diamonds, Gold & War: The British, the Boers and the Making of South Africa (2007); N Mostert Frontiers: The Epic of South Africa’s Creation and the Tragedy of the Xhosa People (1993)
Rand Daily Mail 11 February 1910, 15 February 1910, 17 February 1910, 16 November 1910, 8 December 1910, 19 December 1910; The Sporting Star 12 February 1910; The Star 14 September 1910, 16 December 1910; Transvaal Leader 15 February 1910, 17 February 1910, 15 November 1910, 21 November 1910, 16 December 1910; Jeppestown High School Magazine June 1910, December 1910
St John’s College Letter of Lent Term 1909; Letter of Lent Term 1910; Letter of Easter & Trinity Terms 1910; Letter of Advent Term 1910; The Johannian All Saints Day 1924, All Saints Day 1927