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Interview with George Lagoudis – 1957
George was a boarder from 1949 until 1957 and enjoyed his time at the school. His cousin Theo
Ananiades from Lorenzo Marques in Mozambique was the head of College House. The Saheti
school did not exist in those days.
Brother Edwin was the headmaster who ruled with an iron fist and was extremely conservative.
He was appointed Brother Provincial in 1957 and Br Benedict succeeded him as headmaster.
Br Benedict was a good man, housemaster for the A & B dormitories, he coached rugby and
was involved with sport at the school. Br Benedict had a more reasonable and modern
approach which was not understood by the boys and often abused.
The Brothers were clever teachers such as Br Ephraim who understood a lot of things and
taught Maths, Science and Latin and caned a whole class on one occasion.Br Bonaventure
taught Latin at matric level, Br Bartholemew taught Geography using humour to make his
lessons more interesting, he later became the principal of Koch Street. Br Lawrence was a nice
man who spoke a little Greek. Br Ralph, a big man helped with sport and specifically 1st team
rugby and showed the boys a lot of techniques. Br Gerald was in charge of the dormitories. Br
Charles Andrew Cowen was from America, presented himself to Br Edwin in his Saturday
clothes and was sternly reprimanded and told to don his cassock immediately. He had an
America approach to education which was at odds with the blinkered, regimental South African
model. Mrs Kempster in the prep was very strict but always had the best results at the end of
the year. It was nothing for her to strap the whole class 2 or 3 times a day – 10 and 11 year old
boys don’t concentrate well for too long.
Br Anthony got his nickname “Oanges” when George was sitting outside the dining room one
day playing with oranges. Br Anthony commented on this, hence the nickname.
George recalled that in his time there were about 70 boys to a class housed in the old study
beneath the old Chapel. Students always rebelled against the teachers and there was an
incident when one of the boys got hold of a cassock and bib and displayed it high up near the
water tower.
George was a thin, sinewy little boy and there was a big chap who bullied him until, one day he
came out of the dining room and in response to some comment, George swung around and
gave him a crack on his jaw and both of them ended up with bloody noses but the bullying
stopped. It was a difficult time for George because of the timing of the Cypriot campaign and he
was often singled out being the only Greek, with is nickname being “Greekie”. Because of this
he and Buchman, a German who was also bullied became friends. Other friends were Anton
Zunkel (North Transvaal) and Brian Jeffries (Durban).
There wasn’t much in the way of cultural activities but Mr Drummond-Bell did organize the boys
to sing the “Ave Maria” at the city hall. There was also a production of the “Pirates of Penzance”
but George’s voice had broken by this time. George remembers one debate against Obs where
the topic of whether the radio was needed or not was discussed. There was also the occasional
debate against Parktown Girls at their school.
On a Sunday, the non-catholic boys used to walk to the Church of England church, St Martin’s
in the Fields escorted by Father Bannon in his car. The boarders used to get one weekend off at
month end and visiting Sunday was every other Sunday of the month from 2pm until 6pm. The
food wasn’t bad but there was a lot of competition for the day boys’ sandwiches.
The boarders had lockers, George’s was number 807. The locker rooms were next to each
dorm which had 44 beds in each with a sleeping area, washrooms and the area where the
Brothers slept. In the middle were the racks for towels and gowns. One day after tea he
changed to go to the rugby field and a boy threw an orange which splattered all over George’s
locker and took Br Bartholemew’s glasses off.
The boys also stored their tuck in their lockers, which were not locked. Brian Jeffries used to
raid George’s locker and George responded by placing brooklax which looked like smarties into
a smarties box. As a result Brian subsequently spent a lot of time in the toilet and thereafter no
longer raided George’s tuck!
George was a good athlete involved with long distance running and together with Brian Jeffries,
head boy, was awarded the victor ludorum . He also played rugby 3rds, did a little swimming
and played tennis. He recalled the cinder track where the prep playing fields now stand. The
track was used by the university and for school events. The school competed against Germiston
and Springs Boy’s High Schools both home and away.
There was no official matric dance in 1957 due to a misunderstanding between the boys and
the Brothers, however the boys saved the money themselves and had an evening dinner and
dance at a night club in Eloff Street instead.
There was an annual dance in June/July when the rubber floor in the boarders dining room was
used to facilitate the dancing. The Arthur Murray dance school taught the boys to dance.
A lot of emphasis was placed on sport and as a consequence, academic s suffered and George
had to repeat his matric at Damelin, a cram college. There were 30 -32 boys in his matric class.
On finishing his education, initially George worked behind the counter of Portas delicatessen
and found working with the public quite an education in itself. He worked as a representative for
Vaal Tobacco selling cigarettes and went into the air force, working during the day then putting
in his hours at Dunnotar air force base training school. Unfortunately he didn’t pass the exams
but then did a course in engineering drawing and spent several years as an engineering
draughtsman for EBS Metal which was the first company to produce lathes and small presses in
SA during the years of sanctions. Later he was offered a job with the Travena Group managing
a store in Springs and eventually bought his father’s business in 1970. His delicatessen Portas
– The Shunting Yard is now located in Sunninghil and he also sells model trains through a
German dealership.
George last visited St David’s about 30 years ago and his grandchildren attend the Saheti,
Greek school.
JLE February 2013

Colour photo

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

Interview with Jock Loseby 1951
MEMORIES : ST.DAVID’S MARIST , INANDA : 1946 TO 1951
On a mild August day in 1946 I came to St. David’s (SD) for the first time. Not only
was I to attend school there – I was also to be a boarder as where we stayed, on a
timber farm near Sabie, was about 6 hours drive away.
Attending school was quite a pleasure. I moved into Mrs Stirton’s grade 2 class
immediately. The rage of the day there was the percussion band with triangles, bells,
drums, clappers and goodness knows what. We even attended an Eistetford at the
city hall and were highly commended. My part was, with others, to ring our bells at
the right time.
Mrs Brophy, in standard 1, almost immediately passed me on to Mrs Walsh in
standard 2. I felt most comfortable with Mrs Walsh and prospered under her watchful
eye. She was also my teacher in standard 3 where I managed 100% at year end for
Arithmetic – the best in all the South African Marists. I got a similar prize, in standard
4, for Afrikaans under Mrs Kempster – a very disciplined and kind person .
Mr Bishop, my standard 5 teacher, was the hero of many – he managed the under 11
and under 12 soccer sides!
Mr Hoare, in standard 6, was a perfect gentleman.When we did something silly, he
would press his index finger on our temples, saying “dear me boy”. For more serious
offences, we got strapped on our behinds, in private, in the classroom, during the
lunch break. When we thanked him for the strapping, he seemed confused.
In standard 6 Brother Joseph was our Latin teacher. It was rumoured that he used to
be a Spanish wrestler – so we generally learnt our Latin grammar!
Boarding was of course, something new. I was immediately allocated to the most
junior dormitory. Brother Michael was the dormitory master.
He used to read to us each night, in the dormitory, before bed. We listened to the
Hardy Boys and Biggles et al and even got a sweet each half way through the
session.
I was the 2nd smallest in the dormitory, (and probably in the school) the smallest boy
slept next to me and sometime later he became my brother – in – law.
We had to keep our clothes lockers neat. After locker inspection, we received one
strap (cut) for each untidy item of clothing. We also had to send our dirty clothes to
the laundry. When my mother heard that I had been criticised for sending too many
clothes to the laundry, I was told to tell the brother – in – charge that “cleanliness is
next to godliness” I did not obey this instruction!
We also had to polish our shoes every evening – monitors inspected our efforts.
Sport played a big part in our lives – even at primary school.Cricket and soccer were
the main sports with swimming not far behind.
We had PT during class hours – probably up to standard 1 or 2.We sometimes had
boxing during PT and at other times there were adhoc tournaments. I hated boxing
especially being hit on the head and even more so if it was the smallest boy in the
school doing the hitting (my now brother – in – law). Harry Best was our PT
supervisor and he was also Johnny Arthur’s boxing trainer. JA was the South African
heavyweight boxing champion.
When I arrived at SD there were sand fields on the right of the entrance gate (as you
entered). On these both juniors and seniors played cricket (on matting wickets) and
soccer. In ca 1947, a grass rugby cum cricket field was built below the tennis courts
and in 1949, the old cricket/soccer fields were replaced by 2 grass rugby fields with a
turf wicket – between them I think. There were still some sand fields for cricket and
soccer on a piece of land that may have been acquired (or was it just left over)while
the grass fields were being constructed – these fields bordered the grass fields but
were further away from the school complex.
2
So with the grass fields rugby began in earnest. In 1950 or 1951 I played rugby at
scrumhalf for the lowest team in the school – under 13B. In our first game we lost to
KES 15-0.
The turf wicket was also a great improvement. I watched a senior school practice
where Brother Benedict hit many straight sixes.
I was lucky enough to captain the U13 cricket team.
At this stage Brother Urban had been replaced by Brother Edwin as principal.
During the school féte held at about this time Vickie Toweel defeated Manuel Ortiz to
become Bantamweight champion of the world and also
 Leon Norgarb and Eric Sturgess played an exhibition tennis match (Mrs
Strauss, our coach, often told us how she had played tennis with these
gentlemen)
 Sid Brews hit some towering drives on the upper grass fields and also
amused us with some trick shots and
 We could win money by scoring goals past Phil Snoynan, the SA goalkeeper
And now something about the food.
There was no white bread in the first year or two I was at St David’s and sometimes
for tea we were given thick brown bread sandwiches with peanut butter in them.
Many times the day boys gave us some of their lunch. Enrico Giglioli, the Italian
ambassador’s son, was particularly generous to me in this regard.
Some interesting parts of our menu were
 Frogs eggs – particularly sticky sago pudding
 Army biscuits with weevils in them and
 Lumpy porridge.
But before our longer holidays we had beanos – lovely food, ice cream cool drinks
and sweets.
Of course, I did have some heroes:
Brother Urban, a charismatic, dynamic person.
Brother Edwin, a deep person
Brother Benedict, a man’s man
Michael Clarke, a friend of Cor? Vermeulen, played first team cricket, got 6B’s in
matric, became a schoolteacher on leaving school.
Ian Irvine and Grisdale, prominent athletes
Roy Gibson, good boxer, flyhalf for first rugby team
Setti? Risi, scrumhalf for first rugby team
Johnny Westwater, very dynamic, eventually became a champion jockey
Bobby Perinho, hit 5 fours in one over
Rosmarin made a century for the first team
Buffa, a good high jumper and
Asher Swede, a generous patron of the school.
Our religious upbringing was taken very seriously.
Catholics had Mass about 3 times per week including Sunday, Confessions were on
Thursdays, there were daily? RD lessons and we were prepared for 1st communion
and confirmation – I was confirmed by Bishop Whelan at the Rosebank Parish in
1951.
My non catholic friends were encouraged to be committed in their specific faiths.
What an unforgettable and happy experience I had at St David’s!
Jock Loseby
28 April 2007

Interview with Setty Risi – 1950
This is more of a series of recollections by Setty Risi during his time at Inanda. He was initially
at Koch Street.
Setty joined St David’s or Marist Inanda as it was then known in 1947. That year saw the start of
a transformation the college firstly in the scholastic field with the first junior matric class and in
1948 the first senior matric class began. In 1950 the senior and junior matrics prepared for a
mid-winter exam which was introduced by Br Edwin together with the College of Education in
preparation for the final exams.
The boarding section was situated opposite the classrooms and consisted of four dormitories
with A and B on the top floor and C and D on the bottom. Each dorm housed plus, minus 60
boys. The boarders study and college chapel were located at the opposite end facing the junior
school; the former on the ground floor, and the latter upstairs. The boarders’ dining room and
kitchen faced the quadrangle. The college chef, Piet Tshabalala who retired in 1950, had been
with Marist Brothers for over 40 years and had been personally employed by Br Frederic at
Koch Street. Setty met Br Frederic when he was a boarder at Marist Brothers, Uitenhague. Br
Frederic sadly died 4 weeks before his 100th birthday.
The brothers had their own cottage, which has since been demolished situated directly opposite
the old swimming pool.
The principal of the junior school was Mrs Kempster and the senior school, Br Urban until he
passed away in 1949 and Br Edwin took his place. Br Urban, a strict but fair man, very proud of
the progress achieved during his term as principal, was loved and respected. He believed that
every Marist Inanda scholar should take heed of the college motto – Comfortare Esto Vir –
Strive to be a Man. He had planned a trip to his homeland Australia but died in the presence of
his colleague Br Justin.
Br Edwin was a South African and came from a well know SA family. This was his first post as
principal of a college and his passion was rugby. As a Science teacher many a lesson was
disrupted by his talks on rugby, showing the boys press cuttings from his scrapbook which
described him as an excellent rugby player and a magnificent centre. Whilst he was studying for
the brotherhood, he was being groomed for provincial honours but was seriously injured in a
match suffering severe back and neck injuries resulting in permanent paralysis of the neck. He
was unable to turn his neck to the left or right, nevertheless this did not deter him from
appointing himself as the 1st XV coach. He was nicknamed “Jack Bones” and proved his worth
by turning the 1st XV into a real mean machine. He perfected the scrummaging and backline
with the end result proved his point with the team playing 10 matches, winning 7, losing 2 and
drawing 1.
The staff were Br Bartholemew – cricket coach; Br Alban – rugby and cricket coach who was
transferred to St Henry’s in 1949; Br Thomas; Br John; Br Lewis; Mr B. Singleton; Mr R. Bishop;
Mrs A Basson – Music teacher. In 1948 Br Celestine (Caesar) joined the staff as Maths and
Latin teacher. He was the only teacher who wished to be called Caesar and made it a ritual
every time he started a lesson. The boys would all stand, right arms raised, fists clenched and
shout “Hail Caesar”.
In 1947, rugby was introduced as a sport, two tennis courts were erected and the grading and
making of a new sports field. The new sports field which was used mainly for rugby and cricket
events was called the bottom field of which the top portion is the swimming pool today. Top
fields had three soccer pitches with the main field adjoining Rivonia Road sloping to the second
field and the third field at the back on Boundary Road. In 1948, the grading and levelling of the
main and second soccer field commenced and a turf wicket laid. The main rugby field was
parallel to Rivonia Road, B field adjoined 1st Avenue and one soccer field remained at the back
on Boundary Road. Soccer was restricted to the junior school only and the cricket pitch was
named “The Urban Oval”.
Tennis was in its infancy and there was great competition amongst the boys to represent the
school. Eventually 3 teams were selected and the school had the good fortune to have Jaraslav
Drobny, ex Wimbledon champion as a coach for a week. In1949 the doubles team played 8
matches, winning 6 and the singles champion advanced to the last 8 participating in the U/18
Transvaal championships held at Ellis Park.
Boxing was another popular sport which was initially contested between the houses, Benedict,
Bishops, College and Osmond. In 1949 the only tournament arranged was against Observatory
at Obs. The popularity of boxing was however on the decline and was eventually discontinued.
Swimming was the weakest link in the sports curriculum with mediocre swimmers although the
school did compete in the high school gala at Ellis Park. What the Marist boys, together with
Jeppe High was the highlight was the destruction of the KES school mascot, a giant teddy bear.
This was brought on by sour grapes as KES won this gala year after year.
1948 was quite a year for athletics the highlight of which was the build up to the athletics
meeting against rival Marist Observatory held at Obs. Frank McGrath, against all odds pipped
the Observatory sprinter at the post receiving a replica of the Callixte shield. This shield was
named after Br Callixte and was contested by the junior schools from Marist Koch Street,
Observatory and Inanda. Early in 1949, the athletics track which circled the cricket oval was
completed, this coincided with a triangular meeting against CBC Boksburg and CBC Pretoria
held at the college. The school was fortunate enough to have members of the visiting US
olympic athletics team visit the college as a good will gesture. Their shot putt champion gave
the boys some valuable tips. A floating trophy for athletics was donated to the college by Mr
Julius Risi.
During 1941 – 46, cricket achieved first team status by competing against 1st X1 teams from
other schools ending the season having played 10 matches winning 4, losing3 and drawing 3. In
1948 the Australian cricket team, led by Lindsay Hasseti touring South Africa had a Marist touch
to it as three members of the team were Marist old boys. Amid much excitement they paid a visit
to Inanda and left a signed cricket bat as a memento to be presented to the batsman who
scored the most runs during the season. Sadly the bat went missing in 1949. During 1949 the
1st XI cricket team improved a great deal and 2 members were invited to attend Nuffield week
and, although they were not selected for the team they gained valuable experience..In 1950
there was a short but successful tour of Natal winning 1 and drawing 1 match.
In 1974, soccer had two divisions the U16 and U18. The standard of soccer was excellent with
both teams excelling during the season. The U16 finished second on the log to Mayfair Highland
and the open team, which proved to be one of the best school open teams, played in the U\20
league against such teams as Wanderers, Y.M.C.A., Rangers and Marist.
Rugby was introduced late in the season in 1947 and, due to the excellent coaching and
knowledge of Br Alban, and that many senior boys knew the fundamentals of the game, it took
little time for them to get into the swing of the game. Thirty boys were selected and the best
fifteen were given Ist team status. Setty was the first ever scrum half and played 1st team rugby
for 4 years. The school played 6 games winning 3, losing 2 and drawing 1. As the team was still
in the novice class, 3 of the matches played were against the 2nd XV from Marist Observatory,
Monument and Fakkel, winning the former and losing the latter. The members of the 1st XV of
1947 were reselected for the 1948 season as the college only obtained complete high school
status in 1948, the first senior matric class Marist Inanda was listed as a day scholar and
boarding school. What a season that was. Prior to its start, Br Alban informed the school that
the team would be given full 1st XV status, rugby scrolls would be awarded and the school
would only participate against 1st XV’s from other schools. As 90% other team were boarders
they started their training early in the season and in the evenings after study, talks were given
about rugby. Highlight of the season was the match against the unbeaten, star studded
Parktown Boys. Before the game Br Urban gave an inspirational talk to the team. A walkover by
Parktown was inevitable, however the team performed a David and Goliath act and beat them
11-8. After the match the team created the war cry which was accepted until 1950:-
Killamanaio! – Waa!- Killamanaio – Waa!
Zucka-Zucka-Zunka-Zinca-Zinca-Zaa! Zaa!
Chia-Chia-Chaa! Chaa!
Ina-Ina! Aah!
I-N-A-N-D-A
Marist Inanda
In 1949 the All Blacks toured South Africa and the 7 Marist members of the team were invited
as spectators to a home match with a combined 7 players from Marist Inanda together with 8
from Marist Observatory playing against a combined visiting Marist St Henry’s and St Charle’s
team. Some brilliant rugby was enjoyed by a large crowd with the home side winning 13-10 A
“combined Marist scroll was awarded to the 15 members of the local team by a member of the
All Blacks. The college team ended the rugby season having played 13 matches, winning 8,
losing 4 and drawing 1.The names of the players appear at the end of this document.
The rugby highlights of 1950 were versus Marist Observatory where, before a record crowd,
Inanda recorded their first draw against them, having lost the last 3 encounters. The next game
was against St Henry’s played at the Old Maristonian Club. Br Alban, their previous coach had
been transferred to St Henry’s the previous year, so it was a nostalgic match which Inanda won
5-3 and Br Alban said he was proud of them. The next highly competitive game was against St
Charles in Pietermarizburg. Br Edwin was determined that they should win although St Charles
were far superior with 5 members of their team representing Natal Schools. The team went into
vigorous training weeks before the event with Br Edwin teaching them coded moves which they
perfected. The team was accompanied by Br Matthew and on their arrival at Pietermaritzburg
station on the Saturday morning at 4.00am, after 12 hours travelling prior to the game that
afternoon, they were met by Br Ralph and the team captain. With jeers and laughter Br Matthew
was asked if this was Inanda’s U15 side. Then they were taken to St Charles and told to share
the 8 mattresses that had been prepared in the school hall. This and the negative comments by
their boys did not deter the Inanda team. There was a competition predicting the score which
had St Charles victorious by 60-0. At 2pm they were driven to the main rugby ground as the
game was a curtain raiser to a main fixture between a local side and the Old Marists from
Durban. In front of an enormous crowd of 5 – 6,000 supporters to Inanda’s total of 2, their
linesman and Br Matthew, it did seem as if it were Inanda’s U15 team compared to the weight,
strength and height of the St Charles boys. Five minutes into the game St Charles scored and
converted a try, 5-0. However Inanda’s defence was excellent and they held their own in the
scrum even though St Charles had a tremendous weight advantage. Inanda counteracted this
by packing very low which upset the opposition. After half –time, with the support of the large
crowd the team was fired with enthusiasm and their confidence increased as the game
progressed. A scrum on St Charles try line using a code move, wheeling left instead of right
allowed their flanker to barge over. The try was converted and the game ended in Inanda’s
favour 8-5. In appreciation, a portion of the crowd carried each team member off the field
shoulder high and at the station that evening to see them off, Br Matthew bade a sombre Br
Ralph farewell saying, “ Brother that was our U15 team luckily for you we did not bring our 1st
team”. Br Edwin was a happy man the mighty St Charles had been humiliated.
In 1948 the first matric dance was held in the boarders study.
There was some drama in 1949 with the murder of Bubbles Shroeder at Hlati-Kulu the
magnificent house with its entrance directly opposite the school gates. The police presence with
sirens wailing went on for months which was an exciting time for the boarders who were able to
witness the comings and goings in the evenings and Piet the chef kept the boys well informed
as he was friendly with the chef at Hlati-Kulu.
In 1950 there was an incident when some senior boarders hatched a scheme whereby they
planned to enter Br Florian’s room in the brothers’ cottage to peruse the exam papers, take
notes on the questions asked and give this to their colleagues. This was done without the
knowledge of the prefects or other senior boys. Saturday morning at 7am was selected as the
time when the boarders had their coffee break and all the brothers attended Vespers from 7 –
8am. All went well and the boys accomplished their mission but one of the boys involved
realised that his right glove was missing and he presumed he had left it in Br Florian’s room.
The boys concocted a story whereby they said they were playing with Spotty, Br Florian’s fox
terrier and the dog ran off towards Br Florian’s room with a glove. The boys said they were
wearing gloves because it was so cold. Br Florian said he would investigate and nothing more
was said until a few days later when the whole school was told to assemble in the quad. In
school hours this was most unusual. The culprit was told to repeat his story in front of the whole
school. Br Edwin was furious and accepted that the glove was found in Br Florian’s room,
however it was found not on the floor but under a pile of exam papers. The other boys owned up
and told the truth and fortunately for them Br Edwin believed that no-one else was involved. He
intended to expel them immediately but had a change of heart as they were senior matric pupils
and the final exams were only months away, nevertheless he cancelled all the exam papers.
During this period all the class and sports photos had been taken, colours blazers and scrolls
awarded and Br Edwin was adamant that he would have cancelled all these awards if this had
happened earlier. He decided that no photos, scholastic or sports activities would be included in
the school records for 1950 and would be deleted.
On matriculating, Setty left to join his father’s business in township development of areas such
as Risidale, Lynmeyer etc. The business was sold in 1979 and Setty who loved gardening
joined Kirchhoffs Seeds where he remained until his retirement in 2000.
The names of the players representing the 1st XV
1949 1950
H. Gearing Full Back C. Leon
F.McGrath Wing M. Rogers
M. Gonsalves Wing T.Kilgour
E. Hulse Centre D. Rethman (Capt)
L. Da Cruz Centre R. Gibson
R. Buffa Flyhalf J.Pacheco
S. Risi Scrumhalf S. Risi
K. Kannaugh 8th Man M. Forretti
C. Clarke Flank R. Perino
T. Smyhte Flank A. Zylstra
D. Smith Lock M. Madeyski
P. Spencer Lock B. Babaya
E. Barale (Capt) Front Row P. Cazales
J. Airoldi Front Row R. Kippen
L. Steyn Hooker I. Kealey
JLE April 2013

1 A6 black and white photo