by Dr Daniel Pretorius, Chairman of the Heritage Committee
Lent Term saw 230 boys (of whom sixty were boarders and 75 were in the Prep) enrolled at St John’s College. The Prep was ‘quite full’. In view of the continuing growth of the school, ambitious plans were devised to build new dormitories and classrooms, a library and staff common rooms around a quadrangle (today’s Pelican Quad), as well as a dining hall. The intention was that the ‘upper school’ would be housed there and that the junior boys (then based in the Golf House) would occupy the original buildings (the current Prep). It was estimated that construction costs would come to £30,000 – a very substantial sum of money that was palpably absent from the school’s bank account.
The plans drawn by Herbert Baker show that the long-term objective was also to build a Chapel, but financial constraints meant that this would have to be delayed (and it was not included in the cost estimate for the intended construction project).
Meanwhile, the Community of the Resurrection had purchased the house known as ‘Uprise’ and its surrounding grounds, situated on the ridge to the west of the Golf House, from Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co Ltd. The purchase price was £1,800. It was intended that Uprise would eventually be used as a residence for the C. R. fathers but, for the time being, it was let to the College, at a monthly rental of £15, to be used as boarding accommodation.
Work had also begun on levelling the Front Field (today’s Mitchell Field): ‘The slope was so considerable,’ wrote the Headmaster, the Reverend Canon James Okey Nash, ‘that we felt it was useless to spend much on the surface, which was rough, until we got it level.’ Indeed, calling it a ‘field’ took considerable liberties with the lexical meaning of the word: it had no grass, and was destined to remain a gravel expanse, euphemistically called a ‘hard field’, until the 1960s.
The North Field in the Valley (more or less co-extensive with today’s Burger Field) was ‘attacked with convict labour’. It had previously been a stony patch of veld with one smooth space – the remnant of an ersatz green on the golf course that used to surround the College, in demilunar fashion, to the south, west and north. ‘Before long we hope to have a fine North Field of 120 yards by 85, a good cricket ground and full-sized football ground, in a most picturesque position … with ideal vantage grounds for crowds of spectators’. And how spectacularly Fr Nash’s wish was to come true in subsequent decades!
The boys’ sartorial elegance and uniformity were enhanced by the introduction of school blazers. These, said Fr Nash, ‘seem very popular, fashioned on the Oxford college pattern – plain blue with arms on the pocket. The Preparatory has its own blazer with the crest in gold, to indicate that all our little boys are as good as gold. We have also now new school sweaters, with colours on the neck, and grey flannel trousers and shirts.’
It might strike us as odd today that official blazers and school sweaters only made their appearance in 1913. However, it must be remembered that many St John’s boys of that era did not come from affluent homes. The school was intended to be affordable to ‘ordinary’ families who wanted a church education for their boys. To make the school accessible to such families, tuition fees were kept relatively low, and additional costs (such as those associated with uniforms) were kept to a minimum. For many boys, their school uniform amounted to little more than a white shirt and the school tie. In winter, some boys wore Norfolk-style jackets, and senior boys were smartly attired in suits on special occasions. But the uniform evolved slowly over the decades. Blazers remained optional for years.
In the first cricket fixture of the year, the College 1st XI lost to Pretoria Boys’ High School by 32 runs. This was followed by a drawn match against Chemists Cricket Club.
St John’s played against Jeppestown High School at Belgravia on 12 and 19 February. St John’s scored 163, Charles Pritchard (Hill) contributing 38 and Alan Bell (Hill) 30. By stumps, Alfred Goldstein (Hill) had restricted Jeppe to 22/5. When play resumed on the second day, Bell bowled very fast and had the Jeppe batsmen all at sea. Jeppe were dismissed for 58 (Goldstein 5/28, Bell 4/29). Following on, Jeppe scored 145/6, Jack Poole (Alston) taking 3/27. St John’s won by 105 runs on the first innings.
On 22 February and 1 March, St John’s hosted King Edward VII School. The College 1st XI was skittled for an abject 52. Victor Langford (Hill) was the most ‘successful’ batsman, with a score of 9 not out. But for the fact that there were 15 extras, the total would have been even lower. For K. E. S., Amm took 6/19. K. E. S. then amassed 304 (Amm 96). Herbert Sacke (Nash) took four wickets. In the second innings, St John’s scored 132/6 (Pritchard 43, Langford 34*) but lost on the first innings.
St John’s scored 162/3 declared against Marist Brothers’ College, who had a precarious 120/9 when stumps were drawn. Against the Old Boys, St John’s scored 135/3 before dismissing them for 126, the school thus winning an exciting game against the Old Boys. The Clergy XI scored 211/6, and St John’s replied with 122/6, the match being drawn.
The 2nd XI won their match against Jeppe by 135 runs, James Ware (Thomson) scoring 56 and taking 3/6, while Ronald Smith (Alston) took 4/11. The 2nd XI also beat Pretoria by 37 runs, but lost to Marist Brothers and to K. E. S. The 3rd XI beat Jeppe (Norman Brampton (Hill) taking 5/29), lost narrowly to Pretoria and Marists, and was thumped by K. E. S. The Juniors beat Pretoria, lost to Jeppe and drew with K. E. S.
In the inter-house cricket competition, Hill’s and Alston’s ended the league with an equal number of points. On playing off for the Challenge Shield, Mr Hill’s House won easily.
The annual swimming gala only took place in early autumn, on 14 March, at the Orange Grove baths. The open four lengths race was won by Charles Pritchard (Hill). Edward Wimble (Hill) won the middles (under 15) three lengths race, while Hamish Howie (Nash) won the under 11 race. The house relay was an exciting event, with Mr Hill’s House being the favourite. To general surprise, the winners were the Headmaster’s House, whose team comprised Harold Brayshaw, Charles Green, Raymond Humby and Percy Elkington.
Canon Nash conceded that parents sometimes ‘chaffed’ him and asked what would be ‘the next thing’ in his vision for the school’s expansion. ‘Well, I know what I should like,’ he said, ‘and that is a swimming bath. We have a glorious spot for it, if the Council gives its sanction. But as yet we have not got on far enough to lay it before our Governors.’ Mr Baker had conjecturally placed a pool in his plans – below the terrace to the north of the College Gymnasium (today’s Big School), where it would be sheltered from the cold south winds, would have the full benefit of sun throughout the day, and could draw rainwater from the Gymnasium’s roof. Mr Frank Fleming estimated that a bath of 60 feet by 30 would cost some £400 – again, money that the school did not have.
‘How to raise £400?’, asked Fr Nash. It was not a rhetorical question. He supplied the optimistic answer: ‘We have 230 boys, so that £2 per family would come near to doing it. And if some could not easily help, others might be able to send their five or ten pounds, not indeed limiting it to that.’
At the end of Lent Term, the swimming champion and 1st XI captain, Charles Pritchard (‘a cheery and keen captain who had for a long time always opened our innings and generally made runs’), departed from St John’s College. He went to Diocesan College, Rondebosch, before going on to Durham University and qualifying in Edinburgh as a medical practitioner. Alan Bell soon also went to Bishops, where he played in the 1st XI.
It was not unusual in those days for boys to leave St John’s to complete their schooling at more established institutions before going on to university abroad. Walter Albu (son of the Randlord George Albu, 1st Baronet Albu of Johannesburg), who had been at St John’s after the Anglo-Boer War, went on to Harrow. Gerald Hirst, who had also been at St John’s during the Tin Temple days, went on to Eastbourne College. John Tudhope (1902-’05) went to Tonbridge. Cecil King (1905-‘07) went to Haileybury. Eric Halliwell went to Brighton College in 1910. Louis Thorp (Nash, 1910) went to Clifton College in 1911. Cecil Bailey (Alston, 1910) went to St Alban's School in Hertfordshire. In 1912, George Trevor Benson (Rakers / Hill, 1911) was at Blundell’s, Huntley Shillito (Thomson, 1910) was at Oundle, and Oswald Reid (Thomson, 1910) was at Radley College. So, too, Guy Nicolson (Thomson, 1910) went from St John’s to St Andrew’s College, Grahamstown, where he won a Rhodes Scholarship. In 1913, Jack Nelson went from St John’s to Haileybury, and Cecil Taylor-Broun went to a school in Scotland, where he won ‘athletic renown’. In 1915, Maynard Hoyle went from St John’s to Oundle.
Boys leaving St John’s to go to schools such as these was indicative of the fact that St John’s was still in its institutional infancy and that parents felt that their sons’ prospects would be advanced by broadening their educational horizons beyond Johannesburg.
The second Old Boys’ Gaudy was held on Ascension Day. As had become customary, the school and the Old Boys went up to St Aidan’s Church for Choral Eucharist, followed by an address by the Bishop of Pretoria, in which he made the congregation think of all that St John’s should stand for, both to the Church and the country: ‘This day of mighty victory must tell us of the completion that awaits faithful effort. Our school must train us to take our professions seriously; no one wants the mere amateur in life’s work.’
The Old Boys had assembled an excellent team for the Past v Present football match: Leonard Denny (Alston, 1911), Sidney Dunstan (1899), James Bell (1903), William Currie (1904), Harry Marsh (Rakers, 1910), Eric Bell (Thomson, 1912), Lawrence McKowen (1903), Cracroft Marshall (Rakers, 1908), Frank McKowen (1904), Bennett Donovan (Alston, 1908) and Hugh Theunissen (Alston, 1912). At full time the score was two goals apiece. Amidst great excitement, Sacke maior shot the winning goal for the College in extra time. ‘A great victory!’ exclaimed Fr Nash.
After tea, a concert was held in the Gymnasium. ‘Gaudeamus Igitur’ was meant to have been sung by the entire assembly ‘but they were either not joyful enough or a bit shy.’
The Council’s dinner for the Old Boys, for which there was ‘a goodly muster of some 70’, was held in the school dining room, with catering arranged by Mrs Luthje of the Langham Hotel. Mr J. Waldie Peirson was in the chair. A speech by Fred van den Berg (Alston, 1909) ‘quite brought down the house.’ (Van den Berg was later admitted as a barrister at the Middle Temple in London, where he achieved the top results in Roman-Dutch Law among 130 candidates.) ‘Songs and recitations closed a most enjoyable evening.’
The College’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was performed for patients at the Rietfontein Chronic Sick House on Saturday 14 June. Two days later, another performance was given in the Germiston church hall. This was followed by performances on 17 and 18 June for the Old Boys and parents in the Gymnasium, where there was a ‘mighty crowd’. The school’s cricket mats were put into requisition; in this way, the whole hall was warmly carpeted in an endeavour to thwart the mid-winter cold. These heating arrangements were so successful that Fr Nash felt flattered when some in the audience complained of its being too hot.
At the end of Easter Term a debate was held in which the motion ‘That this House considers that an air-fleet is more important for the defence of the Empire than a naval fleet’ was proposed by Harold English (Nash) and seconded by Frank Smart (Nash); it was opposed by Alfred Goldstein (Hill) and William Huftel. The arguments covered a wide area, so much so that Noah’s ark came in. But the motion was finally lost by a narrow majority.
Amendments to the Defence Act made participation in cadet training compulsory for all boys aged 13 to 17. There were two grounds for obtaining exemption but the commanding officer of the St John’s College Cadet Detachment, Captain Frank Carey, said that ‘at S John’s we do not expect many exemption certificates, for our boys are too healthy and their parents too patriotic. As we have over 100 boys of cadet age, I hope S John’s will soon take a good place in the town, and among the boys there seem to be some good shots.’ The training course for cadets was not limited to drill and shooting but included signalling, first aid, field sketching and cooking.
Additions to the staff common room during the course of the year included the Revd Henry Symonds M. A. (a treble first of Oxford, where he had won first-class honours in Classical Mods, Greats and Theology) and Mr T. E. Nash B. Sc. (London), who was coming to St John’s from Denstone College and who was ‘keen on cricket and football’.
In the football season, the first team did not do well. However, the under 15 team, coached by Fr Alston and captained by Derric Fleischer, was undefeated. The team played eleven matches, won ten, and drew with K. E. S. In the semi-final, St John’s beat Booysens 3-0. The St John’s team was victorious in the final, against Jeppe Central, played at the Wanderers, winning 1-0. The trophy was presented to the team after the match, and the great event was celebrated that evening by the team being taken to see the famous Australian actor Oscar Asche in his play ‘Kismet’. Nash’s House (captain: Charles Green) won the inter-house football competition.
The annual athletic sports day, which by now had become an institution in the Johannesburg social calendar, took place on 13 September. As the Front Field was in the process of undergoing levelling, a track had to be improvised on the East Field (today’s Rice Field), which ‘had some declivities’. Sadly, it was ‘the record dusty day of the year’, but the event nevertheless ‘brought out the heroic virtues of our citizens, especially the ladies, who in crowds braved the elements.’ The Senior Prefect, Kenneth Johnson (Alston), set a new record in the open half mile (2 min, 13.15 secs), and was named victor ludorum. Alston’s House, led by Cyril Wackrill, won the house team relay race over 880 yards.
Afterwards, mused Fr Nash, even ‘the most lion-hearted were well content to adjourn to the Gymnasium and dissolve some dust with the plentiful tea.’ Later that evening, the annual Old Boys’ Dinner was held at the Luthje’s Langham hotel, with a ‘large attendance’. Toasts were proposed to ‘the King’, ‘the School’ and ‘the Old Boys’. In Fr Nash’s report on the event we see the appellation ‘Old Johannians Association’ used, perhaps for the first time.
St John’s came third in the Inter-High School Sports, after K. E. S. and Pretoria Boys’ High but ahead of Jeppe, Potchefstroom Boys’ High and Marist Brothers. Kenneth Johnson won the half-mile and the hurdles, and Alfred Goldstein won silver in the high jump.
Trinity Term ended with a service at St Aidan’s. The address was given by the vicar, the Revd W. J. Roxburgh. He said it was incumbent on Christian boys ‘to hold to the highest ideals as against a spirit which would make money-getting the criterion of success in life.’
By the beginning of Advent Term, there were 240 boys on the College roll (including the Prep). The College Council, after much preparation, launched a formal appeal for donations to finance planned expansions to the College buildings. The first phase of the project was to involve the construction of the Upper School quadrangle and Darragh Hall, in accordance with Herbert Baker’s far-sighted diagrams, which provided the blueprint for the layout of the College.
The school might conceivably have been content with cheaper haphazard additions to the existing buildings. But the Governors were persuaded by the perfectionism of Baker and Fleming, who strongly opposed such an approach on technical and aesthetic grounds: ‘Orderly architecture, as in the great schools of England,’ they said, ‘can be, in South Africa, a useful handmaid to education.’
Fr Nash observed that this fundraising and building campaign ‘is, or could be, a turning point in our history.’ He thanked The Star and the Transvaal Leader for ‘the friendly manner in which they set our case before the public.’ But unless substantial donations, which were now being solicited by the Council, materialised, all Baker’s grand plans would remain in the realm of architectural hypothesis.
The launch of the appeal was accompanied by the publication of a new College prospectus. It said that St John’s was being ‘carried on as far as possible on the lines of an English public school.’ It described the progress that the school had made since the ‘vicissitudes’ of the post-war years. The prospectus stated that St John’s met ‘a widely felt need for the existence in the Transvaal of a school conducted on English public school lines, and independent of Government control.’ The time had now come to undertake a comprehensive scheme of building development, ‘framed so as to provide for school premises of a dignified and adequate character.’ It was stated that ‘the boarders make the backbone of the school’; although day boys were drawn entirely from Johannesburg, the boarders came from all parts of the Transvaal and further afield. As boarding accommodation on the school premises was not sufficient, it was of great importance to increase boarding capacity. It was hoped to raise £30,000 within three years to complete the entire building scheme with as little delay as possible.
After the school had enjoyed an unblemished health record for some years, Advent Term saw a change in fortunes. Some hapless youngster, wrote Fr Nash, ‘brought in mumps, which found a happy hunting ground in the Preparatory. Then someone else was ill-natured enough to catch chickenpox, and that, too browsed around a bit.’ The sanatorium was put to its intended use for the first time, but when ‘one misguided boy went out of his way to contract both plagues at once’ it became necessary to put up an additional tent, ‘to the huge delight of the sufferers, who, to tell truth, spent most of their time playing cricket in the valley.’
The 1st XI played against Jeppestown on 19 October, a cold, dull and windy day. The St John’s batting was neat but lacking in enterprise. St John’s declared at 217/9 (David Joffe 68). At stumps, Jeppe had 92/2, Victor Langford taking 2/30 and the match ending in a draw. The St John’s 2nd XI beat Jeppe by one run, Jeffrey Sacke (Thomson) taking 5/2 and Allen Weir (Nash) 3/8. The 3rd XI won by 32 runs, James Baker taking 5/29. The under 13 team won by sixteen runs, Roland Wright taking seven wickets.
St John’s defeated Marist Brothers’ College by two runs. Victories were also chalked up over Berea Cricket Club, the Rubber Co XI, Mr Vos’s XI and Langlaagte Mine. The match against Pretoria was lost.
The Synod of the Church of the Province of South Africa was held in Johannesburg in October 1913. The clergymen took advantage of a few days’ break between the Clerical Synod and the General Synod to play cricket against St John’s College. The Clergy XI was captained by the Bishop and included the Revd M. G. Ponsonby (who had played for Eton) and Mr Elsdale (who had played for Lancashire).
It was the first game on the newly-laid Front Field; previously there had been a heavy slope but now the ground had been levelled and was vastly better. Many clergymen and ladies were present for the occasion, and tea was provided. The Clergy XI batted first and scored 138 (Ponsonby 55). Langford took four wickets (including that of the Bishop), while Kenneth Thomson, Archibald Pilkington-Jordan and the captain, Jack Poole (‘a good Prefect but not good at exams’), took two each. The boys batted carefully and reached 74/3 at stumps (Jordan 22, Langford 18, Poole 14*), the match thus being drawn.
All Saints’ Day was the occasion for the annual St John’s College gymnastics display at the Wanderers. This had become an important event: ‘about our best performance of the year,’ thought Fr Nash, ‘and it excels all others in that every boy in the school takes part.’
The cricket match against K. E. S., played at St John’s on 22 and 26 November, was lost. Having been sent in to bat, K. E. S. scored 289, Sacke taking five wickets with his slow deliveries. The St John’s first innings yielded only 81 (Goldstein 18; 26 extras), and a score of 114/5 in the second innings could not avert a heavy defeat.
The 2nd XI won against Marists, Jeppe, the Old Boys and S. A. Railways Juniors, but lost to K. E. S., Pretoria and Twist Street Old Boys. The 3rd XI’s results were virtually the same. The 4th XI beat Yeoville Government School twice but lost to Park Town School. The Junior Team won against Yeoville, Marists and Jeppe but lost to K. E. S. and P. T. S.
Towards the end of Advent Term, there was a debate on the ‘patriotic’ motion ‘That the climate of South Africa is the best in the world.’ Harold English (Nash) and Leslie Urquhart (Thomson) made ‘capital’ speeches in favour of the motion and carried it by a large majority despite some detraction on the one side of the house.
An innovation was a mock trial, which was held ‘with full solemnity’. Mr Carey prosecuted the hapless accused, for whom Maurice Epstein (Alston) was ‘a very voluble and witty’ defence counsel. The incognito accused was found ‘very guilty’ of a ‘dastardly’ attempt to rifle a safe. The ‘austerely gowned Judge’, in the form of the Senior Prefect, Kenneth Johnson (Alston), imposed ‘an appropriate sentence’ (we are not told what this entailed) on the man convicted of this heinous deed.
The College’s annual gymnastics competition was held at the end of Advent Term. It was won by Kenneth Johnson (the selfsame ‘austerely gowned Judge’), whom Mr Vieyra described as the best boy gymnast he had come across in thirty years – high praise indeed from so distinguished an instructor.
The Prize-Giving was held on Dingaan’s Day, 16 December. The day began with a Choral Eucharist at St Aidan’s Church, followed by the annual Past v Present cricket match. The College XI batted first and scored 126 (Edward Wimble 37, Robert Lillico 22, Alfred Goldstein 20). For the Old Boys, Harry Marsh (Rakers, 1910) took four wickets and Isidore Rosenberg (Thomson, 1908) three. The famous Springbok batsman J. W. ‘Billy’ Zulch opened the batting for the Old Boys but was caught by Lillico off Wimble’s bowling for 17. Bernard Stokes scored 35 and there were 34 extras as, in an exciting finish, the match ended in a tie (though, said Fr Nash, ‘it was whispered that a recount just gave it to the School’). Langford took four wickets and Wimble three.
After a short concert, the prize ceremony took place in the Gymnasium. The Governor-General, Lord Gladstone, presented the prizes. He said that boys are at school to learn how to give useful service not only to themselves but to their country and Empire. (‘Applause’, added the Rand Daily Mail report in parenthesis.) Boys had to acquire the ‘power of being a good citizen in full’, and had to learn ‘the gloriousness of fair play to everybody, of courage, loyalty and devotion.’
Frank Smart (Nash) and Harold English (Nash) were the joint winners of the form prize for Form V. English also won the English and Science prizes, while Smart won the Latin and Mathematics prizes. Kenneth Johnson (Alston) (who was on his way to St Augustine’s College, Canterbury, to train for missionary work) received the Good Fellowship Award, and Robert Atkinson the singing prize.
Reporting on the external examinations written at the end of the year, Fr Nash said that ‘the Matric has not only ploughed but made hay of most of the schools in South Africa’: of the 1,371 candidates who sat the Cape Matriculation, only 540 passed. Only three St John’s boys passed. Fr Nash acknowledged that it was necessary to raise the matriculation standards in South Africa: ‘at Oxford it was soon found that the Cape matriculation was not sufficient, and the Rhodes scholars were required to pass the Intermediate before being accepted there.’ He asked parents to note the conclusions to be drawn: ‘1. that we shall not enter boys unless they are well up to the mark’ 2. that we shall not promote boys to a higher form who have not passed, in Form IV, the Cape Junior Certificate, and in the Lower V the Transvaal School certificate … 3. It means that the school-age will be raised.’ The silver lining around the dark cloud was that Kenneth Thomson achieved a first-class pass in the Cape Junior Certificate.
Principal sources:
KC Lawson Venture of Faith: The Story of St John’s College, Johannesburg (1968); W Macfarlane Greater Than We Know: The History of St John’s Preparatory School (2004); ES Thompson Let Me Tell You: The Story of the First 73 Years of the Old Johannian Association (1976)
Jeppestown High School Magazine June 1913; King Edward VII School Magazine June 1913 and December 1913; Rand Daily Mail 13 October 1913; The Star 21 November 1913
St John’s College Letter of Lent & Easter Terms 1913; Letter of Trinity & Advent Terms 1913; Letter of Lent, Easter & Trinity Terms 1914; The Johannian December 1934; The Johannian May 1957