History
Muir College is one of the oldest boys' high school in South Africa, possibly tracing its origins back to 1822 when a Scottish educationalist, James Rose Innes MA (King's College, Aberdeen), established Uitenhage's first Free Government School in Cuyler Street on 12 October, with 60 pupils. Admission was open to all children, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or economic status, and by 1829 enrolment had increased to 167. Innes resigned in 1830 to take up the position of Professor of Mathematics at the South African College in Cape Town, and in 1839 became the first Superintendent-General for Education in the Cape. In 1865 the Uitenhage Proprietary School – a private, fee-paying school - opened in Uitenhage with the Rev Dr Robert Templeton MA (Glasgow) as its first headmaster.
In 1873 the Government School and the Proprietary School amalgamated to form the Undenominational Public School, and in 1875 the school moved to new purpose-built premises on the corner of Cannon Street and Park Avenue. In 1892 the school's name was changed to the Muir Academy in honour of the new Superintendent-General of Education in the Cape, Dr (later Sir) Thomas Muir MA, HonLLD (Glasgow).
In 1904 a new, red-brick school building designed by celebrated architect William White-Cooper was opened on the Park Avenue site by Dr Muir. By this time the school was officially 'Muir High School', but by 1907 it was universally known as 'Muir College'. In 1962 the college was split to create Muir College Boys' Primary School (housed in the college buildings on the south side of Cannon Street), and Muir College Boys' High School (housed in the red-brick buildings in Park Avenue).
In 1987 the high school moved to a new, very spacious campus in Vanes Estate, and Muir Primary moved into the Park Avenue buildings. The Senior and Primary schools were reunited in 1994 and currently occupy the Vanes Estate site where there are extensive sports facilities as well as boarding facilities for approximately 100 pupils.
Origin Of The School Badge: The school badge had its origin in the Proprietary School, and shows the rampant lion of Scotland in the left quadrant, honouring the first (Scottish) headmaster. Facing it is a cross taken from Uitenhage's coat of arms (from the family crest of the founder of Uitenhage, General J Uitenhage de Mist.) Below is a Xhosa warrior, representing the Eastern Cape, which also appears on the seal of the proposed Eastern Cape Colony. Although the division of the Cape Colony into East and West did not occur, a seal was prepared and is on view in the Cuyler Manor Museum. The last quadrant shows an anchor, representing the Cape Colony.
Rugby at Muir
Photographic evidence of rugby at Muir College exists from as early as 1893, while Grey High School record their first ever game as played against the Muir Academy in 1894. Headmaster John Mitchell had recorded in his diary on the 13th of April 1893 that “a meeting of pupils to decide on the football club was held.” Unfortunately this teething period of rugby came to an abrupt end in 1897 when new headmaster John Sutherland introduced soccer as the winter sport. Rugby was reintroduced in only 1923, and performances climaxed in 1931 with the 1st XV of that year recording 9 wins and 2 draws out of 14 matches to show that Muir College rugby had finally arrived.
Famous Muirites
Muir College has produced two rugby Springboks, namely Fred Smollan in 1933 and Garth Wright in 1986, while the writer on rugby Mel Channer was selected for Scotland shortly after the Second World War. Shane Gates, Michael Killian, Darron Nell and Marzuq Maarman are other notable Muirite rugby players.
Other famous Muirites include the Afrikaans poet A.D. Keet who passed his Intermediate exams at Muir where he also won the Nederlands school prize. He subsequently moved on to South African College School in Cape Town where he matriculated in 1905.
Sam Hobson was a classmate of A.D. Keet. He studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown and he became a school inspector in 1908. Between 1934 and 1944 he served Rhodes as a member of Senate. In 1942 he became Chief Inspector of Native Education and in 1946 Secretary of Education. After retiring he served the United Party in the Cape Province as Caucus leader. Between 1949 and 1963 he served as Chairman of the Senate at Rhodes University. Hobson House at Rhodes is named after him.
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