Queen's College Boys' High School

History

Queen's College started as Prospect House Academy when Mr C.E Ham first opened the doors to his school on 21 April 1858 at 6 Shepstone Street in Queenstown. The school was situated in an outbuilding on the property and consisted of a single room with a mud floor and holes in the wall for ventilation. The enrollment had reached 30 boys by 1859 and was also known as the Queenstown District School. It was in receipt of a government grant of £50, backdated to the initial opening of the school. From inception the school offered boarding facilities, in the home of Mr Ham, conveniently situated directly across the road from the schoolhouse.

In 1864, a dispute regarding financial support for the school by the district council, led to the abrupt closure of the school by Mr Ham and he ceased teaching in order to open a general store in the town. Boys returning from their holiday in July 1864 discovered that their school house had been let to another tenant and their schoolmaster had become a haberdasher. Public concern was such that a committee was formed, which decides that St Michael's Grammar School should assume the mantle of Prospect House Academy by accepting the status of a government-aided school. The resulting amalgamated school becomes the Public School for Boys and classes are held in a billiard hall.

It was only in 1910 that the school was renamed Queen's College.

Headmasters

• Mr. CE Ham (1858–1864)
• Mr. G Elliot (1864–1865)
• Mr. R McCormick (1865–1867)
• Mr. FJ Beswick (1867–1899)
• Mr. B Noaks (1899–1900)
• Mr. GFH Clark (1901–1904)
• Mr. H Wilkinson (1904–1929)
• Mr. A Parry-Davies (1930–1939)
• Dr. HQ Davies (1940–1964)
• Mr. TW Higgs (1965–1973)
• Mr. DH Schroeder (1974–1992)
• Mr. CP Harker (1993–2010)
• Mr. DCP Lovatt (2011–2012)
• Mr. BJ Grant (2013–2017)
• Mr. J van der Ryst (2018–present)

Hostels

The school currently has three hostels; Whitson House, Athlone House and Connaught House. Whitson caters for students in Grades 8–9, Connaught for students in Grades 10–12 and Athlone for Students in Grades 9–10. Athlone was reopened in 2021 after many years of closure. All hostel boys belong to Beswick House, a name taken from the school's fourth headmaster.

Originally, Whitson House was the first hostel of the school and was built in 1904. It was later renamed Connaught House. In 1932, this hostel was closed leading to the later opening of hostels Athlone and De Vos Malan in 1939. In 1975, Connaught House was renamed Whitson House after old boy Mr H Whitson. The new Connaught House was built in 1979. After a decline in boarders in the early 2000s most of the hostels were closed and converted into classrooms. Hostels outside campus were sold.

Sports

Queen's College has a long-standing tradition of annual derby days for both summer and winter sports with traditional rivals such as Dale College, Grey High School, St. Andrew's College, and Selborne College, dating back to at least the 1900s. Grey College was also a significant rival, but the yearly derby between these two rugby giants lost momentum, with 1996 marking the last of the annual clashes.

Queen's College is one of only two schools in South Africa equipped with an 8-lane tartan track. Completed in early 2024, the track meets the criteria to host national athletics events, and Queen's is set to host the National Junior Athletics Championships in 2025.

The main sports fields include the Queen's College Victoria Recreation Grounds, used for rugby and athletics; the Chris Harker Astro, where first team hockey matches are played; and the Parry-Davies Field, home to the first cricket team matches as well as rugby games. While the Chris Harker Astro is named after the school, it is a shared facility with Queenstown Girls' High School and Balmoral Girls' Primary School.

Notable Old Boys

Sport

Rugby and Cricket

Other sports

• Glen Dell, Advanced World Aerobatic Champion in 2004 and Red Bull Air Race competitor (1974)
• Le-Neal Jackson, South African field hockey player

Business and the arts

• Allister Sparks, journalist, author and former editor of The Rand Daily Mail (1950)
• Alan Scholefield, journalist and writer (1947)
• Don Pinnock, criminologist, naturalist and journalist (1965)
• Gideon Khobane, CEO of SuperSport (1995)

Military

• John ("Jack") Sherwood Kelly, VC CMG DSO, recipient of the Victoria Cross (also attended Dale College, Selborne College and St. Andrews College)
• Norman Walsh, Rhodesian and Zimbabwean air marshal (1949)

References

References

1. (2018-04-09). "This list with 200 of South Africa's oldest schools may surprise you".
2. Barry, S. G.. (1983). "History of Queen's College : 1858–1983". Mara Communications.
3. Veitch, Neil. (2008). "Queen's College, 1858–2008 : in this, her honour".
4. (1995). "Queenstown, 1824–1994". Queenstown and Frontier Historical Society.
5. "History".
6. "Queen's College : Whitson & Connaught House Gallery".
7. "QC on Travel Ground".
8. (2015-10-07). "Paige to become Springbok No 869. But who were 1-868?".
9. Mgedezi, Thando. (21 April 2022). "Jackson in Argentina for FIH Hockey Pro League".
10. (2016-02-18). "New CEO for SuperSport".
11. "KZN September 2017 newsletter - South African Military History Society - Title page".