Kingswood College is an independent, co-educationalMethodist school in Makhanda, (formerly Grahamstown). Founded in 1894 by William C Muirhead, Clifford Witheridge Dold, William Burnett Stocks and Richard Restall Stocks, Kingswood caters for boys and girls from Grade 000 to Grade 13 (Bridging Year) from all over the world.[1]
Kingswood College was founded in March 1894 by William C Muirhead, Clifford Witheridge Dold, William Burnett Stocks and Richard Restall Stocks, who considered that there was a need for a school for boys on the same lines of the local Wesleyan High School for Girls. The foresight of the four visionaries initially led to the establishment of the Wesleyan Collegiate School for Boys, which subsequently became Kingswood College. The first Trust Deed formalising the establishment of Kingswood College was notarially executed by Lorimer Dold on 20 August 1895.
The College was based on the British Public School model and until 1972 was a boys only school, becoming co-educational in 1973, when the first girls were enrolled, and fully co-educational by 1975.[2]
The Kingswood College Council (or Board of Governors) bears an overall responsibility for the School's corporate governance by leading, governing and monitoring the overall business of the College. The composition of the Council covers a range of professional expertise and members are drawn from around the country, including an elected parent representative from each of the Junior and Senior Schools.[2]
The College Council is made up of nominated and elected members, with members of Senior Management also in attendance at meetings as Invitees. In terms of the provisions of the College's Deed of Trust, the President of the Old Kingswoodian Club is the Official Trustee.[2]
Campus
Kingswood College campus is located on the Eastern side of Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Running directly through the campus is Burton Street, which was internally renamed in 2019 as Rev Dr Simon Gqubule Avenue in recognition of the late Methodist Presiding Bishop.[1]
The College campus comprises a mix of buildings, combining the historic older buildings with newer ones being built through the 20th and 21st century. The first buildings of Kingswood College were designed by architect William White-Cooper. His design was in the Queen Anne Revival style, with its typical red brick, prominent gables and white painted woodwork. This distinctive style is interspersed on the campus with various historical buildings.[2]
The Kingswood Memorial Chapel, built in remembrance of all Kingswoodians whose lives were lost in the violence of World War 1 and 2, was opened in 1962.
The Memorial Chapel
From Kingswood's foundation in 1894 until 1961, the historic Commemoration Methodist Church in Grahamstown (dating back to 1850) was the de facto College Chapel, with Kingswood pupils occupying the pews in the gallery. In 1962, the College's MemorialChapel was consecrated, occupying a strategic and pivotal position on the campus between the Junior and Senior schools. Designed by an Old Kingswoodian architect and built in a cruciform shape, with North and South transepts and ambulatories, it has a pipe organ and numerous stained glass windows. A Norman style clock tower rises above the entrance to the Chapel.[2]
Boarding at Kingswood
Kingswood has six Seniors School boarding houses, and two Junior School boarding houses.
Senior School:
School House was built in 1894 and housed both Chubb and Gane House. In 1996, the house almost entirely destroyed by a fire. Rebuilt in its original style, School House once again houses both Chubb and Gane House.[1]
Chubb House: named after former Principal, The Reverend Theophilus Chubb (1892-1898).[1]
Gane House: named after former Headmaster, Colonel Ernest G Gane (1892-1927).[1]
Wood House: named in 1921 after Henry Richard Wood, one of Kingswood's founders and Chairman of the College Council from 1896 – 1921. It was originally a single storied structure known as Stanton's Wagon Factory and is the oldest building on campus.[1]
Jagger House: named in recognition of John William Jagger, a Johannesburg businessman and educational philanthropist who donated generously to the school.[1]
Jacques House: named after Reverend Dr George Henry Paul Jacques CMG MBE, who became Chairman of the College Council from 1938-1946. Originally the Main House of the Wesleyan High School for Girls (built in 1882), it was taken over by Kingswood in 1935.[1]
Kirkby House: named after Reverend Howard Kirkby for his contributions to Kingswood. It was officially opened in 2005.[1]
Junior School:
Hobson House, originally built as a private dwelling for Richard Restall Stocks, the house was converted to Kingswood accommodation in 1969. In 2017 it was demolished and construction commenced in 2018 to build the new Hobson House.[1]
Van Vuuren Village: named after retired maintenance manager, Eben van Vuuren for his contributions to Kingswood, and consists of a number of adjoining Kingswood properties.[1]
The Junior School also has four sports houses, namely:
Rich House: named after Captain Cecil Oliver Rich, who was Headmaster from 1949-1954.[2]
Slater House: named after Jack Slater, who was Headmaster from 1958-1963.[2]
Tarr House: named after Ray Tarr, Who was Junior School Headmaster from 1955-1968.[2]
Dacam House: named after Charles Dacam, who was Headmaster from 1964-1970.[2]
Music School
The Music School is situated in the historic Walton House. The Music School is home to seven music teachers who offer a wide range of instruments including flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, euphonium, violin, cello, double bass, piano and organ.
Music as an academic subject begins in Grade 8 and continues through to Grade 12, while class music is a key component of the core curriculum for all pupils from Grade 1 to Grade 9.[1]
Memorials
There are several memorials on the Kingswood College campus, which serve to preserve remembrance on the past. Many of these memorials are made use of in daily campus life.
The Memorial Dining Hall: recognises the sacrifices of 61 Old Kingswoodians who lost their lives in the First World War between 1914 and 1918.
The Museum: previously known as the Memorial Library, the Museum remembers three Old Kingswoodians who died in an aircraft crash in 1940.
The main gates of Kingswood College: built with a large contribution made to the College by an Old Kingswoodian.
The Oliver Carey Lychgate: built in memory of an Old Kingswoodian.
The Neil Aggett window in the Memorial Chapel: in remembrance of Old Kingswoodian, Neil Aggett who died in police custody in 1982.
The Kingswoodian Club
The Kingswoodian Club is the umbrella association for the broader Kingswood community, including not only alumni, but past members of staff, parents, Council members and invited friends of the College. All alumni are automatically given life membership of the Kingswoodian Club on matriculating from Kingswood, as are their parents. School leavers are inducted as Old Kingswoodians at the end of the school year, when they are presented with certificates of life membership of the Old Kingswoodian Club and Club ties at a formal ceremony. The Old Kingswoodian Club, now incorporated under the wider Kingswoodian Club, was formed on 14 March 1902 and since then has been under the presidency of thirty two Old Kingswoodians. In terms of the College's Trust Deed, the President of the Old Kingswoodian Club is the Official Trustee of Kingswood College. The current President and Official Trustee is Chris Hobson.
Notable alumni
Academia, politics, business
Allan Mossop - Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court of China
Kenneth Kingo Smith - Regional Magistrate: Johannesburg
Neil Aggett - Medical doctor and political activist who died in police custody
Harvey Tyson - Editor of Johannesburg's The Star newspaper and author
Graham Beck - Founder of the Kangra Group,[3] business magnate, philanthropist, wine maker and horse stud breeder
Dr Geoffrey de Jager - Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and director of companies. Founder of Rand Merchant Bank and owner of Anglo Suisse Investment Holdings in the UK.
Luntu Ntloko - Represented SA at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, the 2002 World Cup and the Commonwealth Games in 2002. She was the first black woman field hockey player to represent SA at the Olympic Games
Murray Spiers - Winner of the World Windsurfer Class Championships in 1987, after becoming the first Kingswood pupil to gain full Springbok colours in 1982 competing at the World Championships in Sardinia
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kirkby, Howard; Kirkby, Joyce (1994). Still Upon a Frontier: A history of Kingswood College 1892-1993. Old Kingswoodian Club, Kingswood College. ISBN978-0-620-18220-1.
↑ "About". Kangra Coal. 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
South African Rugby Statistics (https://sarugbystats.co.za/springboks-down-the-years/)
Hawthorne, Peter; Bristow, Barry (1993). Historic Schools of South Africa - An Ethos of Excellence (https://antiquarianauctions.com/lots/historic-schools-of-south-africa-an-ethos-of-excellence): Pachyderm Press cc. ISBN0-9583247-3-5
Stevens, David (2009); Beyond the Frontier - A Contemporary History of Kingswood College 1993-2007: unpublished (Kingswood College Archives)
Dugmore, Syd (1978): Rugby Down the Years - An Eastern Cape and Border Schools’ Rugby History:Printed by Grocott & Sherry , Grahamstown
Personal interaction and digital communication for information with the Manager of the Kingswood College Foundation and the Archivist at the College Museum (https://kingswoodcollege.com/about/the-foundation/) (https://kingswoodcollege.com/about/history/)
Neil Aggett was a Kenyan and South African doctor and trade union organiser who was killed, while in detention, by the Security Branch of the Apartheid South African Police Service after being held for 70 days without trial.
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