Matric 1957

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Matric 1957

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Interview with George Lagoudis 1957

  • ZA ZAR STDS 202000787
  • Item
  • 2013

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

Egenrieder, Julie

Interview with Ivor Bailey 1957

  • ZA ZAR STDS 202000804
  • Item
  • 2011

Interview with Ivor Bailey – 1957
Ivor began his school career at Marist Brothers, Koch Street in 1948 with Br. Aquinias as
principal. His parents were not very well off but his mother was catholic. He then went onto
Observatory but didn’t do very well, and then in standard 8 he was getting straight E’s. The
family came into some money and was sent to Inanda in 1956, as a boarder. Br Edwin (nephew
of Neil McGurk) nicknamed “Jack” was principal and he believes that his entire life was changed
because of him. He was an incredible teacher who suffered from rheumatism but had a very
strong right arm with which he wielded a cane. Discipline was a way of life. Br Edwin taught
Maths and History and was especially good at Maths. Ivor achieved a distinction in Maths after
6 months of his teaching and managed to get a “B” for his matric. Br Edwin made him realise he
could do it and he was then able to go to university to study engineering and truly believes it is
all due to Br Edwin.
Another brother who influenced him was Br Ephraim and was the English teacher. He was a
gentle man, very well read and instilled in him a love for reading and languages.
There were no more than 30 in his matric class. He knew Peter Owen already and shared a
dining table with Peter Johnson and Douglas Karan. He didn’t do too well in sport but played
rugby and was scorer for the cricket team as he was pretty useless otherwise. There were such
a small number of boys at the school so they didn’t do too well in rugby. He remembers that
they were transported to and from games in an open Bedford truck. He remembers that some of
them used to smoke in the back of the truck, although not too many of them smoked.
Edith Owen did a lot for the tennis and was a legend. Her sons Peter and Patrick were good
tennis players.
There were 4 dormitories, he was in A dorm with 44 boys in all and Br Gerard was the boarding
master. The food in the boarding house was quite good and there was a waiter called Charlie
who used to give his table extras. Sunday lunch was chicken and chips followed by ice cream.
The highlight of boarding school was the Sunday walk, especially past Dairy Den, where the
Gautrain station is now. From there they would walk to the Klein Jukskei through what is now
Morningside to have a mud fight in the river. They also walked to the old boy’s club just off Louis
Botha not far from Barlow offices. Grayston Drive was Grayston stables. They were taught
ballroom dancing in the dining room and the boarders had to go to Rosebank Convent,
Immaculate Hall for socials. The nuns wore wimples and big habits and used to keep a beady
eye on them. They had to walk there and back.
He remembers the flu epidemic and how wonderful matron Buckley-Jones was.
When he first arrived at the school he was taken aback by the rigidity and was not used to
conforming to such strict discipline. However, one night he and Johnson broke out of the school,
Br Benedict was principal and Br Anthony was around, they went to a Rosebank hotel, were
collected and taken to Mayfair to a 18th birthday party. They returned in the early hours of the
morning undetected and they didn’t tell anyone until the end of matric.
His son Gordon went to De La Salle due to them living in the area. His son was the last head
boy before the school amalgamated.
He formed more lasting relationships at varsity as he was probably at St David’s for too short a
time. When the school bought the additional land, Ivor surveyed the fields for Br Anthony.
Coming for the interview was the first time he had been back to the school in years; however he
would be interested in the book and a possible commitment to purchase and in the Jubilee
celebrations.
JE July 2011

Egenrieder, Julie