{"id":296,"date":"2019-07-04T12:31:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T10:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/?page_id=296"},"modified":"2023-08-16T14:21:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T12:21:00","slug":"our-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/our-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Our History"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” css=”.vc_custom_1563198441290{padding-top: 50px !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/06\/watermark.png?id=31) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1562842386446{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

Our History<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1562842419167{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Rondebosch Boys\u2019 High School was founded in 1897 in response to the pressing need for a boys\u2019 school in the growing suburb of Rondebosch.\u00a0From humble beginnings in a rented church hall with an initial enrolment of only eight boys, the High School has flourished under the leadership of ten Headmasters.<\/p>\n

A newly constructed building in Campground Road was occupied in 1898 and served through to 1948 when the much expanded facilities were opened next to the Canigou Estate \u2013 these are the High School buildings still in use today. The Campground building is now used exclusively by the Prep School. The first Headmaster, Mr Robert Ramage, initially accommodated a few boarders in his own home and in 1900 had the foresight to purchase the nearby Canigou homestead, which became the much loved boarding house. With Canigou came extensive grounds which have been developed into the sports fields on the school side of the Black River that runs through the premises.<\/p>\n

During the 1980s appeals were made to the then government for Rondebosch to be opened to all races.\u00a0This permission was denied and it was only from 1990 that Rondebosch was allowed to do so. Headmaster Chris Murison, himself a former pupil of the school, said, ‘Rondebosch boys must emerge as often as possible from their comfortable cocoon, both to render the community service their privileged position makes them capable of and also, for their own sakes, to become more aware, from first-hand experience, of the world they live in.’<\/p>\n

Generations of Rondebosch boys have been fortunate to fall under the tutelage and guidance of excellent teachers, mentors and coaches.\u00a0These include Headmasters Sydney \u2018Dad\u2019 Mason and Wally Mears, masters Arthur Jayes and Tickey de Jager and the much revered Prof I de V \u2018Tinkie’ Heyns among many other legendary and much loved figures.<\/p>\n

Mr Mason\u2019s self-imposed task was keeping in contact with all Old Boys and staff who were serving during the two World Wars.\u00a0He was instrumental in helping to raise funds for the building of the Rondebosch War Memorial Library \u2013 now the Reeler Music Centre \u2013 and the Memorial Hall, which is the symbolic and spiritual center of the School.\u00a0Over time, the initial basic school facilities have been expanded and enhanced with further boarding in Mason House, the multi-purpose Mears Centre, two swimming and water polo pools, squash and tennis courts, cricket pavilion, Reeler Music Centre, Chris Murison Center (library and IT), Art Center, Technology Room, Carleton Lloyd Stand, hockey Astroturfs (shared with WPCC) and several pavilions.\u00a0Most of these facilities were funded by former pupils in appreciation of the education which they received at Rondebosch.<\/p>\n

Old Boys of the school have excelled in varied pursuits in science, business, law, academia, culture and sport.\u00a0Alan Cormack who was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1979 for the work he did in developing the CAT scan, Reverend Peter Storey served as President of the South African Council of Churches and was chaplain to Nelson Mandela while he was imprisoned on Robben Island, the world-famous painter Gregoire Boonzaier, Chief Justice Michael Corbett who inaugurated President Nelson Mandela, cartoonist Jonathan \u2018Zapiro\u2019 Shapiro, botanist Lyall Watson and almost 70 international sportsmen all attended Rondebosch.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner attached=”true”][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1562152468876{padding-top: 100px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][mk_image_switch src_first=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/heritage.png” src_second=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/heritage-over.png” image_width=”” image_height=”” crop=”false” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Frondebosch.com%2Fobu%2Four-history%2Fobu-heritage-centre%2F|target:_blank”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][mk_image_switch src_first=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/archives.png” src_second=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/archives-ove.png” image_width=”” image_height=”” crop=”false” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Frondebosch.com%2Fobu%2Farchives%2F|target:_blank”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][mk_image_switch src_first=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/family.png” src_second=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/family-over.png” image_width=”” image_height=”” crop=”false” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Frondebosch.com%2Fhigh%2Four-family%2F|target:_blank”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”50″][mk_image src=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/shadow-bottom.png” image_size=”full” align=”center” margin_bottom=”0″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/stay-bg.png” bg_position=”center top” bg_stretch=”true” padding_top=”100″ padding_bottom=”100″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_row_inner el_id=”tickets”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1562162948532{padding-right: 70px !important;}”][mk_image src=”https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/07\/canigou.jpg” image_size=”full” align=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1562686667748{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

Hostel<\/span> History<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1562686447780{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The land upon which Canigou and much of the High School is based was first used as a farm by a free burgher in 1791.\u00a0In 1837, Colonel John Bell purchased the property and named it \u201cCanigou\u201d after Mont Canigou in the Pyrenees in Southern France where he served in the British Army in a war against the French. Colonel Bell had also been Aide de Camp as the personal assistant to the Duke of Wellington who later defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_btn title=”READ MORE” style=”custom” custom_background=”#ffffff” custom_text=”#0a233f” shape=”square” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Frondebosch.com%2Fhigh%2Fhostel-history%2F|title:Hostel%20History||”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row fullwidth=”true” fullwidth_content=”false” css=”.vc_custom_1563198441290{padding-top: 50px !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/rondebosch.com\/high\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/06\/watermark.png?id=31) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1562842386446{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”] Our History [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1562842419167{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Rondebosch Boys\u2019 High School was founded in 1897 in response to the pressing need for a boys\u2019 school in the growing suburb of Rondebosch.\u00a0From humble beginnings in a rented church hall with an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-296","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nOur History - 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