2nd March 2023 marks the official 160th birthday of Maritzburg College, the oldest boys’ school in the province.
The 1300 boys and 170 staff formed up in a 160 on our top field, Barns’, to commemorate this special event which also featured a live performance by OC and talented musician Matt Gardiner.
Overview
On March 2, 1863, Mr William Calder opened the doors of the new school on old Longmarket Street. The 36 students he taught that day became the foundation scholars of the then Pietermaritzburg High School. From such humble beginnings, Maritzburg College has flourished to stand alongside the greatest schools in the country as an educational institution of the highest calibre.
To so many, Maritzburg College is more than a school and remains a source of immense pride, a place of lasting friendships, loyalties and memories, and an enduring symbol of excellence. On 2nd March 2023, we salute our proud school and all those who have contributed in some way to our Alma Mater for more than a century and a half!
Mr Matthew Marwick gave an address to boys and staff gathered on Barns’ to commemorate the school’s 160th birthday;
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and proud, young Collegians of Maritzburg College, and welcome to Barns’ field.
Today, the 2nd of March, is a rather interesting day in history.
- It was on this day in 1498, that the Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, having discovered “Natal” on Christmas Day two months earlier, reached Mozambique, on his first voyage to India.
- In 1933, the landmark monster movie, King Kong
- In 1983, the CD was launched, revolutionizing the music industry.
- Today is also the birthday of James Bond himself: Daniel Craig was born in 1968. Happy birthday, 007.
But today marks a significant day in the life of our noble, old school, as it was on this day in 1863, under a hot March sun, in what really still was an old Voortrekker town, that a lean, fair-haired, young Scottish schoolmaster, Mr William Calder, opened the doors to a new high school located in a building in old Longmarket Street, the Langalibalele Street of today.
A photograph of the street at the time, with the new school in the background, shows a handful of humble buildings, a simple church, a battered old wagon, a dirt road, and simple dirt gutters for run-off water. Minutes after he swung open the doors to his new school, Mr Calder began giving lessons to 34 boys who are famously referred to in the school’s history as “colonial ruffians”; boys who were to be the Foundation Scholars of the then Pietermaritzburg High School. While some of the 34 scholars rose to the top of the settler society of old Maritzburg, FOUR were to perish in the upcoming colonial conflicts, including three at Isandlwana itself. Four out of 34 – that’s a tough statistic!
From these beginnings in a humble carpenter’s shop, Maritzburg College has flourished and prospered, and has grown into one of South Africa’s great high schools. Such great schools, wherever they might be in the world, have always played a leading role in the lives of their pupils and past pupils; a role that goes way beyond the actual academic teaching that takes place in a classroom (which of course remains of the utmost importance).
The ability of a fine and noble school like College to guide, mold and inspire the character development of its scholars is perhaps even more important today than it has ever been. So, as we honour our school today on its 160th birthday, let us also forever be mindful of the guiding and inspiring role that the sturdy, red-bricked “Old Walls” of Maritzburg College plays in all our lives – you Collegians, the thousands of Old Collegians around the world, and even us, the staff. And let us, too, remember the contributions made by so many people over the last 160 years, in the service of our school.
From its founding headmaster, to the “Father of College” Mr Clark, and to the many other fine headmasters; to the loyal and distinguished schoolmaster’s like Fluff, Madevu and Skonk; to the many people who served behind the scenes like Kwela, old Joseph and Enock; and to the thousands of Old Collegians, who have carried a slice of the Red-Black-White, and a little piece of Basher Ridge, wherever in the world they might have ended up.
And so we all salute our Alma Mater, Maritzburg College, the oldest boys’ school in KZN, on the occasion of its 160th birthday.
Well done, College, and happy birthday! PRO ARIS ET FOCIS
Pro Aris et Focis
For Hearth and Home
Okwesibaya Nomsamo