- ZA ZAR STDS 2021-01-005-03-20200222
- Pièce
- 1982
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
A6 colour photo of staff
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
A6 colour photo of staff
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Ten A6 black and white photos
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
A5 colour photo with two pupils
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Eleven A6 black and white and a colour photos
St David's College Inanda
1983 Headmaster Mr Frielick planting trees on the Prep playing field
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
2 A6 colour photos
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
1 A6 colour photo
St David's Marist Inanda
1983 Trudy Elliott and S. Retzlaff
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
St David's College Inanda
1983 Fence construction on Rivonia Road.
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
2 A6 colour photos
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
5 box camera colour photos of boys performing a pyramid
St David's College Inanda
1983 Athletics Inter-house. Saturday 27 August
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Nine A7 colour photos including one of Mr Frielick
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Fourteen A 7 colour photos of the rugby teams at play and spectators at St David's
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Black and white photo rom yearbook
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Black and white photo rom yearbook
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Copyright St David's Marist Inanda
St David's College Inanda
1984 Carol Pageant at the Pool
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
12 A6 colour photos
St David's College Inanda
1984 Prep School Inter-House Swimming Gala
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
1 A6 colour photo
St David's College Inanda
1984 School Trip to Europe and Israel
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
6 A6 colour photos
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
A5 original colour photo with Willy Castle
St David's College Inanda
1985 Prep School Inter-House Athletics
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
4 A6 colour photos
St David's Marist College
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
37 A6 colour photos of pageant, pupils, parents and Brother Paul and Brother Anthony
St David's Marist College
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
4 A5 black and white photos of Grade 2 HAR, 2 HIL, 2S and 2A
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Three A5 original colour photos of the U8 A,B and C teams with Willy Castle
St David's Marist College
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Two A5 colour photos of the U12 A and B Soccer teams with Willy Castle
St David's Marist College
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
5 A6 colour photos
St David's Marist College
1988 Prep trip to Rustenburg Platinum Mine
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
21 A6 colour photos
St David's Marist College
1993 Grade O Playground with Tractor - Rugani 1
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
10 colour photos
St David's Marist College
1993 Helicopter landing on school rugby field
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
3 colour photos
St David's Marist College
1993 Roof Construction for the Swimming Pool
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
27 colour photos
St David's Marist College
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
16 colour photos
St David's Marist College
2002 Music Rehearsal with Terence Marais and Liam Carter
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
1 colour photo
St David's Marist College
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!1A4 Colour Brochure
St David's Marist Inanda
2004 St David's Forum - Wine Tasting Evenings
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
13 Colour Photos
St David's Marist College
2004 Grade 6 Camp in Ubugani Entambeni Game Reserve, Waterberg
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
63 Colour Photos
St David's Marist College
2004 School Musical - Guys and Dolls
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
33 colour photos
St David's Marist Inanda
2005 School Play - Ghost Writer directed by Geoff Kukard and Shaun Lawson
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
A5 programme 4 pages
St David's Marist Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
26 A4 colour photos and 104 A6 colour photos
St David's Marist Inanda
2007 St David's Marist Inanda tour of New Zealand and Australia
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
A4 Brochure
St David's Marist Inanda
1995 East London Football Tour
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
6 A6 colour photos
St David's Marist College
1995 School Tour to Gwalagwala
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
16 colour photos
St David's Marist College
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Colour photos
St David's College Inanda
2001 School Play - As You Like It
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
1 A6 colour photo
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
1 A5 Black and white photo
Marist Inanda
1943 Aerial photo of Marist Inanda circa 1940's
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
1 A5 black and white photo
Marist Inanda
1940 Koch Street, Johannesburg
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
1 A5 laminated black and white photo
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
2 A6 black and white photos. In yearbook p57 and 59
St David's College Inanda
Fait partie de St David's Photograph Collection
Black and white photo from yearbook
St David's College Inanda
Interview with Brian Austin 1962
Interview with Brian Austin - 1962
St David’s Inanda: some recollections before the Beatles
Brian Austin (1958 – 1962)
In those days it wasn’t called St David’s, though his name was there in the small print.
We all knew it as ‘Inanda’, to distinguish it from ‘Obs’: those other guys who wore the
same funny stripey blazer. But many people around Joburg called both schools ‘Maritz’,
for obviously South African reasons but clearly without much appreciation of who these
Marist Brothers were. And, to distinguish us from them at Obs, ‘Inanda’ was always
regarded as the posh school where you went if you didn’t sound (or want to sound) like
Al Debbo (now there’s a name from the dark ages!).
I went to ‘Inanda’ (I’ll stick with that name) in 1958. My prep school years were spent at
the little Catholic school in Maryvale, St Paul’s Parochial School, that’d been founded by
the remarkable Fr Philip Erasme OMI in 1943. I’d been head boy there but was small fry
when I arrived at Inanda. Most of the guys in standard 6 had been together at the junior
school of Inanda and so they all knew each other and also who was king. New blokes
from other places – and there were a handful of us – had to slot into the established
social order. And Inanda had boarders and the boarders were the really important guys,
not day boys who still lived with their mothers. I was a day boy.
There was only one lay teacher in the whole senior school at that time. He was Mr
Bishop and he taught us English. Mr Bishop stood out for never having a hair out place
and he always wore impeccable suits. He used to read to us occasionally from a book
wrapped in brown paper. It was a war story and some said it was his autobiography,
hence the wrapping. In those days we got ‘lashed’ with the cane for various
misdemeanours usually to do with homework that wasn’t done. Old Bish could lash all
right. So could Br Andrew who was our official class teacher. He was a French Canadian
and always said ‘bon’, when you got something right. He taught us Maths and Latin. And
Br Benedict was the principal (I think that’s what he was called in those days. Later we
had a headmaster, but maybe not). Benedict was tall and gaunt. He was known as Beak
(or maybe Beek) and commanded respect. He could lash too.
The standard 6 classroom was stuck away down below the boarders’ dining room.
Remember that in those days the school didn’t extend north beyond the road that ran
down from the second gate (not the main gate) off Rudd Road. That property northwards
was a farm. And our classroom was alongside that road that ended up in the bicycle
shed. It also went past the swimming bath, which I see is now much bigger (according to
Google Earth) and somewhere else altogether. We had swimming as part of the
morning’s lessons one day a week in the summer, of course. I’d never dived into a pool
before then; I learnt to dive very quickly on the first swimming day. I was also known as
‘milk bottle’ because of my fair skin. Boys’ schools are very gentle and genteel places,
as we all know.
I played cricket because I loved the game. Rugby we all played whether we liked it or
not. In those days the school even had a professional cricket coach (a Mr Bannister)
who came out from England, believe it or not, to coach at various schools around
Joburg. He was a great coach and we didn’t have a bad U13 side as a result. The
captain was Roy Chisholm, a left-hander who bowled good in-swingers. I opened the
batting with Mike Ness who went to England the following year. So did Terry Coughlin,
the wicket-keeper. In those days, apparently, there was much traffic between some
South African ‘Private Schools’ and English ‘Public Schools’, such as Stoneyhurst in
Lancashire run by the Jesuits. In this context private and public meant the same thing
which would confuse anyone today not versed in such details.
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I remember Chisholm and I once ‘made a stand’ against Athone U13. He got into the
sixties and I made 53, precisely. Br Anthony (much more about him later) was umpiring.
The Athlone captain was a little squat fellow called Sammy. He placed himself at silly
mid-on (it gets technical here), just a few years to my left, and I was facing their offspinner
who bowled a gift of a full toss. I played a mean on-drive in those days and duly
caned the ball. It hit Sammy on the forehead and nearly decapitated him. He certainly
took off backwards and landed on his bum. Br Anthony, standing at the bowler’s wicket,
sauntered up the pitch to see if Sammy was still alive and then said to me: ‘that
should’ve been four”. Exactly what I thought too.
Standard 7 was a tough year. Our class teacher was a very young Irish brother whose
name now escapes me. He clearly felt challenged by pimply-faced, testosterone fuelled
fourteen-year olds with attitude. As a result he didn’t cope well and lashed us often,
clearly his only defence. A fellow called Ralph van Oppen would openly challenge
anyone who so much as dared look at him to a fight – and he always won. He once
organised a strike by terrorising the whole class who, at his say so, didn’t dare return
after lunch break. We just sat on the lawn. Somehow it was resolved (I don’t now
remember how) and we weren’t even lashed but van Oppen disappeared from the
school. A word, no doubt, was dropped into his father’s ear, though if the son was
anything to go by, Van Oppen senior must’ve been quite something. Perhaps he’d got
away before the allies captured Berlin? That was the year we started ‘Science’ as a
subject and I immediately discovered my métier. English too wasn’t far behind.
Standard 8, or ‘J.C.’ (Junior Certificate) in those days, was a nondescript class and an
uninspiring time. It was 1960 and the time of Sharpeville but our pent-up anger
throughout they year had much more to do with yet more testosterone, I’m sure. Girls
now entered our spheres of interest but most seemed totally disdainful of us. Rosebank
Convent provided much that was attractive but it never reciprocated our awkward
posturing. And we produced a lousy rugby team, but smoking on the bottom field
improved markedly as the year went by. Br Walter, our class teacher, seemed older than
Noah by at least a generation. He was the most gentle of men. Seemingly near-blind
behind very thick lenses, and always somewhat befuddled, he taught us Maths and
Christian Doctrine. Sometimes there was so much fervour involved in both that it was
difficult to tell them apart. As a result, if one had any mathematical flair it was likely to be
kindled by Walter and mine certainly was. Others discovered they had ‘vocations’ and
talked of becoming brothers themselves. At the end of the year, having gained a ‘firstclass
J.C.’, I remember writing Br Walter a letter thanking him for making ‘the minutiae of
the subject’ (Maths) so amazingly clear. His flair with figures, equations and abstruse
geometry undoubtedly helped because I’ve used a fair bit of the subject ever since. On
the matter of our execrable rugby performance that year, I remember our being thrashed
by Jeppe 103- nil. How we dared arrive at school the next day remains one of those
mysteries on one’s educational life. The ignominy must’ve been indescribable.
Junior matric followed and another figure - in black (not white then) cassock, white bib,
rope around his waist and swinging crucifix - strode into our lives in very sharp focus.
Brother Anthony was the new principal and his Scots accent became part of our lives.
He was always known as ‘Ornge’ or ‘Ornges’ from the way he said ‘orange’. He also
caused much mirth when he spoke after the annual athletics sports day each
September. After thanking everyone for attending and making the occasion the success
it usually was, he’d then announce, into the microphone, that all were very welcome to
attend the ‘bry flies’ afterwards. Most did, if only to hear Ornge say it again.
Ornge was a phenomenal headmaster. I’d go as far as saying that he really made the
school into what it is now. Every morning at assembly he spoke from the upper balcony,
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looking down (but only metaphorically) on all of us standing in our rows, per class, in the
‘quad’. The prefects prowled around in between. I still vividly remember hearing one of
them, Martin Funston the nephew of Ken Funston the Springbok cricketer, tell a fellow
who happened to have a shock of red hair, and who was talking, to ‘shut up, copper
knob’. That actually occurred in 1958 but such things happened in 1961 too and just had
to be mentioned because the reaction of all within earshot was excruciatingly funny.
The matric class in ’61 (a year ahead of me) were a brilliant bunch and Ornge was very
proud of them. Dudley Mandy,with much swagger and I suppose what we’d call
charisma these days, was headboy. I think he also subsequently became a brother. The
cleverest bloke was Doug Hawkins, now a professor of Statistics in the states. ‘Dougie’
(but pronounced, as you’d expect, by Ornge as Doogie), was at least 6 foot 3 and gangly
too. Though clearly designed for the second row of the scrum, or at least the line-outs,
he didn’t appear on the rugby field. Having brains helped some escape. He was a
mathematical genius – a fact often mentioned by Ornge – and he also started the
Science club. His plan was that ‘Inanda’ should follow the Americans into the space
race; remember sputnik was launched by the Russians in 1957 and ever since the
Americans had been trying to catch up. Anything we could do to help would no doubt be
appreciated. Doogie wanted to design, build and launch a rocket and Ornge backed him
to the hilt. So, one morning at assembly, after he’d addressed us from the balcony,
Ornge called on Doogie to join him up there and tell us his plans for interplanetary travel
or whatever he had in mind. I was enthralled and when the great man asked for
volunteers to join in I was there.
By then I was rather interested in radio. Not Springbok Radio but making radios and I’d
already made a few. Doogie said we needed radio communications, especially radio
telemetry, on our rocket. It would at least tell us where it was when it came down –
possibly in someone’s swimming pool. We agreed to meet at his house over the
weekend to discuss strategy and try to make a radio small enough to fit inside a (rather
small) tube that would be packed with explosives and after ignition would lift the missile
into space. It sounded fantastic and I was bursting to make my contribution. Doogie and
I, in his father’s garage the following Saturday afternoon, soldered and squashed
electronic bits and pieces together into the tube but never a peep came out of it. His
mother brought us tea and enquired how we were getting on. We said we were at ‘T
minus something and counting’ (that’s what they always said from Cape Canaveral just
before lift-off) but had hit a snag. She said she was sure we’d sort if out and then asked
us to try not to drop solder on the carpet.
I don’t remember the rocket ever being launched. Something about Pretoria and laws
against making missiles, if I remember correctly, but it was great fun and Doogie was
impressively tall. Others in that class who excelled cerebrally were Richard Hartdegan,
later a dermatologist in Joburg, Rodney Leigh (known as ‘Gripper’ for some reason),
another medical doctor, and Steven Fine, a dentist to be. And Emil Iglauer, built like the
proverbial brick toilet, hence he propped the 1st XV scrum with Darko Vidas (in my year),
became an electronics engineer, as I did too a while later.
In 1962 I entered matric. There were only 17 of us in the class and, of course, only one
matric class in those days. Our classroom was right at the end upstairs. Next door were
the junior matrics and next door to them was the Science lab which always stank of H2S,
but then so did some boys even though they never went near the place. I never earned
my colours blazer. You needed three ‘scrolls’ for that and despite being bananas about
cricket I never made enough runs to get that most prized (in my mind) of scrolls. I was a
prefect for which you also needed the ‘merit’ scroll. Presumably it meant what it said but
we didn’t know how they measured that. They just watched us, I suppose. We also
never had a head boy that year. The ‘watchers’ clearly decided that no one really stood
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out. Roy Chisholm was no longer captain of the 1st cricket XI because Rob Fiore had
arrived from St Henry’s (in Durban) accompanied by accolades about his sporting
prowess. So he captained both the first teams: cricket and rugby. I still opened the
batting and, in fact, had played in the ‘Firsts’ the previous year too.
Before that, in the 2nds, our captain was Bill Oliver (also lavatorially-shaped and so
another ‘Firsts’ prop) opened the bowling. For sheer spirit (if not stunning talent) that
2nds side was fantastic – and Bill was the reason. He was inspirational, not least
because most of the team were in classes below him and were at least 50lbs lighter than
he was. Bill had his own form of ball-tampering long before the term was ever used at
test match level. Before opening the attack with the new ball he would rub part of it
vigorously on the concrete wall alongside the main cricket field – the main rugby field too
– immediately on the right of the driveway into the school from the main gates. This
gouging of the leather near the seam gave Bill the purchase he needed when bowling
his assortment of deliveries, mostly short-pitched that reared up at pace, to all who faced
him from our neighbouring schools. He hated them all – a good sign in a fast bowler –
and he inspired us.
In 1961 I went with the 1st XI to Marist Brothers, Walmer (in P.E.) for the Marist Cricket
Week. Every year each Marist school in the country sent its first team to play against all
the others at one or another school. We didn’t do too well; as you might expect given the
fanfare that surrounded Fiore’s arrival from Durban a while before, St Henry’s walked
over everyone else. But Rob himself was picked to play for ‘S.A. Marists’ – as a bowler.
Until then he’d been a top-order batsman and occasional wicket keeper too. But in P.E.
our captain (Mike McGurk) told him to bowl medium pace, which he did, and he took a
mountain of wickets. Needless to say, this was yet more Fiore sporting magic.
My cricket in matric was obsessional. Alf Smith (who didn’t play at all but was a cricket
nut like me) and I used to ‘talk cricket’ at every break and often in between too. I still
opened the batting, usually with Renzo Brocco of the year below. He was also fullback
for the firsts at rugby (I was fullback for the ‘Thirds’). We had a few decent opening
stands when he scored most of the runs. I was just too dogged and Jackie McGlew-like
in that I stuck out my backside, gripped the bat too low down and lost the on-drive that
had nearly murdered the Athlone boy some years before. In the St David’s Magazine
that year (I think it was, by then, known as St David’s) the matric class had pen pictures
and photos. Alongside were our nicknames and any special idiosyncrasies, foibles etc.
As was seemingly the custom in those days, we were also described by a current pop
tune. Mine was ‘Transistor Sister’ because I was also, by then, a confirmed radio (in the
electronics sense) nut as well. My cricketing prowess was, as I remember it, described in
equally unflattering terms too!
In matric, Br Anthony (‘Ornge’) taught us Maths, and very well too; Br Robert, an
extremely short Australian, taught us Science in a very methodical way, and Br Gerard
taught us English, quite inspirationally. He even made (some of) us appreciate poetry.
Best of all, he spoke impeccable English with much emphasis on correct ‘received’
pronunciation. For example, the list he put on the board included such words as
Wednesdee, ‘vittles’ (food to the rest of us), and ‘contriversey’, with the emphasis on the
first syllable and a delicate ee sounding of the second. And he could lash too, especially
when one hadn’t learnt the complete ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy from Hamlet, our
setwork of the year. If I remember correctly, Alan’s Paton’s ‘Cry the Beloved Country’
was another, as was Thomas Hardy’s ‘Return of the Native’ which allegedly caused
some consternation within the state censor’s office until it was pointed out that influx
controls were not being breached.
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Sportswise, the cricket coach of note was little Br Dennis or ‘Tickey’, as we knew him.
He taught Latin and History too. And, on the rugby field there was ‘Bodo’: Brother
Bonaventure, big, dark and almost brooding. He too wielded the cane with precision
while teaching us Afrikaans. Both he and Tickey, evidently, never stayed the course and
left the brotherhood some years later. Now, of course, there are no brothers left and old
Ornge is, so I hear, still doing a fantastic job out in the sticks tending to those whose
needs are far greater than ours, as very privileged white youths, ever were.
I was an active member of the Science club in 1962. I proposed a club project to Ornge,
which he accepted, and the school funded. S.A. Philips, the Dutch electronics company,
had recently published a remarkable book, written by its engineers in Joburg, called
‘Transistors for the Home Constructor’. It contained all sorts of circuits for various
electronic gadgets and I wanted to build the radio transmitter. Ornge forked out the
money and my father bought the bits and pieces. Then, two or three of us, set about
building the transmitter. It took a bit of fiddling but eventually we got it working and we
could walk all around the school grounds transmitting our voices to a good old fashioned
‘wireless’ set up in the science lab. And that was long before cell phones. My mates
thought I’d clearly become what I suppose we’d now call a ‘geek’ or a ‘nerd’. They felt I
needed to spend more time with girls.
I left ‘Inanda’ at the end of 1962 and spent nine months in the army before going to Wits
to do electrical engineering. Graduating, after a few hiccups along the way, with B.Sc
(Eng) degree launched me on a career that became my life, first in Joburg at the
Chamber of Mines Research labs, and then at Wits as an academic in my old
department and for the last twenty years, before I retired five years ago, at the University
of Liverpool. As a side interest, I also wrote the biography of Sir Basil Schonland, a
noted South African scientist who amongst many other things founded the CSIR, was
scientific adviser to Field Marshal Montgomery and ultimately, was director of Harwell,
the atomic energy research establishment in England. It was published in 2001. St
David’s (‘Inanda’) provided me with lots of good guidance, both academic and spiritual,
great company amongst one’s fellow pupils and, especially, a sense of pride in a
wonderful institution that thrived throughout my time there under an inspirational
headmaster always known to us as ‘Ornge’.
B.A. (Brian) Austin
West Kirby
Wirral
UK
(May 2010)
Egenrieder, Julie
Interview with Brother Aidan 1963 - 1984
Brother Aidan 1963- 1984
Br Aidan attended St Aidan’s School where he matriculated in 1953 and then attended Wits University in 1954.
As Br Aidan’s main ambition was to teach he joined the Marist Brothers in Pietermaritzburg. He then went to
Australia to complete his novitiate and eventually returned to Port Elizabeth’s Walmer School to teachAt the
end of 1962 he received a letter from the Bishop in Johannesburg to take up the post as bursar at Observatory.
Br Michael, the incumbent bursar at St David’s, met Br Aidan at the train station and, when they arrived at St
David’s Br Michael informed him that the position had changed from Observatory to St David’s as he, Br
Michael, had been appointed Provincial and therefore had to vacate the position. The job had included looking
after the boaders and their food etc. Br Michael had looked after the tuckshop, worked only for the boarders
and had to supervise that every afternoon and evening. The job also covered the ground staff. With Piet the
cook for the boarders, the catering turned out to be quite easy, Charles was the brothers cook and second IC
in the kitchen. Apart from being ther bursar, Br Aidan had 4 periods of teaching Monday to Thursday after
break and on a Friday afternoon he had to do the shopping which was a heavy load.Br Aidan was very
reluctant re taking this position as he really wanted to teach. Before the Bishop sent the letter to Br Aidan the
Marist Brothers had spoken to Br Aidan’s father who was a bank manager and asked if he thought his son
would be able to cope with the job. All his father stated was that he was not in favour of his son joining the
bank!
The brothers at this stage moved into the admin block from the house near the swimming pool but the
configuration of the new ‘house’ was not really suitable as offices and living areas. Br Aidan had installed a
safe in the office but there were only two burglaries in all the years he was bursar and each time nothing of
value was taken. Br Anthony had a secretary, the first ever – Mrs Macfarlane? Br Aidan remembered Phineas
Selima who worked with him.
The first year was tough but the second year was even worse. The accounting system that was used came from
France as they had to report to the Mother House each year. In 1965 the Provincial moved him to Pietermaritzburg
and then on to Walmer, PE from 1966 to 1967 where he taught and looked after the boarders.
Br Ephrem, the new Provincial, recalled Br Aidan to pick up the pieces and he stayed at St David’s from 1968 to 1984.
Piet was the first cook in the kitchen,then the school had a series of cooks including a Scottish couple with the wife in
the kitchen and the husband as groundsman. This didn’t last long and they were followed by Mr and Mrs Erdis. Once
they left there was a gap of many years before Willem van der Merwe was appointed. To begin with there was conflict
between the work force and Willem. The ground staff were really left to their own devices because Brother was far too
busy with other matters. The problem was solved and they have become a cohesive unit now.
Br Anthony appointed some parents to form an advisory committee (first mentioned in 1968), they were the
forerunners to the board of governors. Messers N Herber, P Paizes and T Marneweck were the first parents selected.
The Marist Provincial Council took the decision that each school should be governed by an appointed board
comprising people of varying expertise due to the declining numbers of Brothers. The old boys, especially Alf Smit
were very involved and wanted St David’s to continue.
As time went on Br Aidan found that it was increasingly difficult to keep the books. He was not proficient in double
entry bookkeeping and therefore suggested that the books should be outsourced. This was done and Mr Viera came
in once a week but this process was too slow so his services were terminated. Towards the end of the 1970’s Mrs
Audrey Williams, a school secretary, was employed as a bookkeeper.
In the early 1980’s the Marist Provincial Council felt that employing a brother to be act as a bursar was counterproductive.
Mrs Anne Evans, the bookkeeping teacher, took over as bursar in 1984 with Br Aidan taking the year to
hand over the reins.
The financial position was not good as the fees were not very high. The Science lab had been built as well as the new
swimming pool. The board were not happy with the way in which the brothers allowed some children to attend the
school without paying. The brothers didn’t give cash bursaries only book entries.
A huge financial boost to the school finances was the expropriation of the land adjoining Rivonia Road. The money
from this should have gone to the Marist Brothers as they owned the land but instead Br Anthony used the money to
pay for the building of the Science lab (Opened in 1972 together with the Br Urban auditorium).
Br Ephrem moved into Maryknoll once Mrs McGill Love went to a retirement home.(The property was purchased in
1963) The McGill family were hoping that the will could be revoked and that they would get the land back. This of
course did not happen and the superiors put pressure on the school to sell some of the land as they felt the school
would have no need for it.
An embarrassing moment was when the school started accepting black children. Br Aidan was so used to seeing
people waiting in the passage applying for work so this one day he greeted this gentleman and asked him what job he
was being interviewed for only to be told that he was there to enroll his son in the school!
On another occasion Heather Joseph and Carol Ansell were talking outside Br Aidan’s office window not thinking that
their conversation could be overheard. It was just after the holidays and Heather was bringing Carol up to date with
the holiday. Heather had been to Port Alfred and said the surf was great but on one occasion she had lost her bikini
top in the surf and had to run back to the beach. Br Aidan decided to use this episode and told Heather that a lady had
arrived at school with a green bikini top which she felt belonged to someone on the staff. Of course this wasn’t true but
caused Heather much embarrassment.
After Br Aidan left St David’s he was sent to Holy Cross in Soweto run by the Holy Cross Sisters in 1986. Here he
taught which he thoroughly enjoyed, however the year was very disruptive due to the 10th anniversary of the Soweto
riots. The sisters felt that their work was not being done and they decided to close the school and the Bishop decided
that the diocese would take over the school. The opening in 1987 was slightly delayed but the school finally opened
with over 700 pupils and very few suitably trained teachers. Br Aidan wasis still at Holy Cross at the time of this
conversation and was slowly handing over to lay staff but unfortunately once they are suitably trained they leave for
greener pastures.
In conclusion Br Aidan felt that all the effort that was put into the school in the 60’s and 70’s has been worthwhile. The
area around the school and the catchment area changed dramatically but he felt very proud when he returned to the
school.
November 2010
Egenrieder, Julie
Interview with Mike Eilertsen 2000
Interview with Mike Eilertsen – 2000
Coming from Rosebank Primary, Mike joined St David’s in 1996 when Paul Edey was
headmaster. He recalled that on the first day standard 6 underwent an induction on the
basketball courts and bullying was the big topic for the day and great emphasis was placed on
the boys being part of the Marist family. Rod Smith had been the victim of bullying in his youth
and was therefore strongly against it.
The teachers he remembers in particular are Mrs Snyman, Mr Fry, Mr McMillan, Mrs Cameron,
Paul Edey and Rod Smith. Debbie Cameron was impressive and once flicked and caught her
high heeled shoe before throwing it across the class when the boys were being particularly
unruly. Mr Cameron had an elastic ball which grew and grew as he confiscated rubber bands
from the boys. Mr McMillan used to squash paper and throw it at the boys, on one occasion
Mike caught it and threw it straight back. “Mac” used to hit the boys with his hand with what was
called a “Pucker”, he wasn’t vicious but made his point and often used to make the class stay in
after school. He had a little Scottie dog which followed him everywhere. Mrs Schumayn the
Afrikaans teacher would get so harassed by the boys that she would order the whole class out
of the classroom. Of course the boys took advantage of this until one day Mr Edey came by and
asked why all the boys were in the quad. There was a Mrs Leenstra who taught Maths and with
whom every boy fell in love. She was a warm person and beautiful on the inside as well as
being very attractive.
Mike was a very good sportsman excelling in athletics, was a good sprinter and received the
Victor Ludorum in 1999 and 2000. He was awarded an honours Blazer for general honours and
specific honours, sport, culturals, merit and leadership. Mike also got involved with school and
house plays, and public speaking which helped in his business career and is key with his
presentations. Academically Mike was in the top class but regarded himself a “B” student.
Mike went on to study a BComm Entrepreneurship at RAU but was unhappy with the content
and programme. He decided to open a business – “Breakfast Boys”, he initiated this and sold
breakfast packs at the corner of Jan Smuts and Conrad Drive for R10. He included pamphlets
about himself and what he was doing and business issues he was experiencing. The business
did well and he had a number of students who did the same thing at various key intersections
with him providing the packs. Someone then asked for coffee with the breakfast pack which led
to Mike buying some backpacks from Nestle and then flying to the US to acquire the rights for
the specialised backpacks. Two months later he took over the below line marketing for Nestle
and SAB and covered all the cricket matches and outdoor events including the World Cup. It
wasn’t long before Nestle and SAB bought him out. Together with Bruce Smith he got involved
with other ventures and now runs an events company, publishing and travel companies under
the umbrella “LiveOutLoud”. The hard cover magazine he publishes is available only to
exceptional people or SA business leaders.
Mike’s company is a finalist in the Sanlam Entrepreneurial Award 2012, the youngest company
to be nominated and in the top 20. The company was placed in the annual Africa SMME Awards
where the best businesses in Africa and the most innovative were identified. Mike’s company
was placed second in the “Most Innovative Category”.
Mike believes that experience is as vital as qualifications and that the courage to go out and get
involved in something makes you stand out.
Mike would be interested in offering internships to boys in grade 10 and up and would be
interested to be involved with the matric rite of passage. He would be interested in the book and
getting involved in 2016 celebrations and MOBS.
JE September 2012
Egenrieder, Julie
Interview with Keith Farquharson 1952
Interview with Keith Farquharson- 1952
Keith attended St David’s from 1948 until 1952 and was a day boy who boarded for a couple of
terms whilst his parents were overseas.
Keith enjoyed the sport playing rugby and tennis but wasn’t particularly good at swimming or
cricket. His mission was to get his matric and go to university. He enjoyed the tours when the
boys went to play rugby at CBC and St Charles, it was not a regular occurrence and was a treat
to go away. Harry Best was the PE teacher in charge of general sports who introduced boxing
to the school. He didn’t allow fighting but if the boys had an issue they would participate in a
controlled boxing contest. Keith said that Paul Freemantle and Risi had quite a fight. Harry had
a link with a boxing gym in the Johannesburg city centre and when Vic Toweel was contesting
the World Bantamweight Title, Harry organised sparring partners for his opponent Jimmy
Carruthers the current holder of the title. A number of the boys used to go and spar with Jimmy
and were paid five shillings per round. Vic Toweel won the fight.
As a day boy Keith was able to buy cigarettes for the boarders and recalls he charged one
shilling for a box of commandoes. He also supplied the boarders with sandwiches.
Brother Urban was principal but when he died in 1950 Br Edwin was appointed. Br Edward who
was Spanish taught Maths, Br Benedict coached rugby, Br Thomas taught Science and
coached rugby and although he also carried his cane in his cassock, was his favourite brother
who took him to task on a number of occasions and took the class for the first period after the
lunch break. He used to enjoy his tot and was in charge of the B dorm. Once a month on a
Thursday he would have the day off and go shopping and bring home his tipple. He had to walk
from the terminus in Dunkeld and once fell, breaking his arm which meant he couldn’t
administer any form of corporal punishment.
Of his fellow pupils Jeff Truby came from Barberton and would bring back miner’s fuses after
the holidays. The boys used to then make bombs with the Sparklets soda siphon refills and
Hugh Miller, who was a keen chemist blew up the steps by the tuck shop and was put on
probation. Charlie Gilfilllian had a bad stutter and was never asked questions in class. Ray
Gibson and Mike Forrester dropped out. They were notorious for slipping out after late prep and
had girlfriends down the road. The belief was that they were expelled, both of them played 1st
team rugby and were sorely missed. B Cooper came from Hilton where he had refused to do
any fagging for senior prefects and opted out and came to St David’s. Unfortunately boys
coming home for the holidays had a vendetta against him and he often needed a group of St
David’s boys to escort him home. A sad memory is of Peter de Silla vice-captain of the cricket
team whose youngest son had a drug problem and ended up murdering Peter and his wife.
Norman Lazarus had the nickname Oogies where he came from, Paul Freemantle started at St
David’s in 1941 and his brothers Owen and Joe always attended the school. Dan Reeece was
the 1st team rugby captain and is reputed to have set up the biggest Ponzi scheme in South
Africa and attempts are still being made to extradite him from Switzerland. Cornelius Seeling
used to build kites and in August would secure them to the rugby posts on the main rugby field.
Peter Leigh whose father was the school doctor, Brian Stott, Victor Ludorum in 1952 was a
casualty of the lightening strike whilst playing golf at Johannesburg Country Club.
After matriculating Keith went on to Wits university and UCT acquiring financial qualifications
and also became a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. His
career was in the field of financial management working for Deloittes, Cooper and Cooper and
was surveillance manager at the JSE for 10 years until the 90’s when he became the financial
manager for E. W. Balderson. He lost contact with St David’s until 1963 when he and his wife
played hockey for Maristonians and he renewed his association with MOBs. Keith and his wife
Dorothy have a son and two daughters.
JLE November 2012
Egenrieder, Julie