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Queen's College Boys' High School, more commonly referred to as Queen's College (or simply QC), is a fee-paying government English medium high school for boys situated in the town of Komani in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Established in 1858 first as Prospect House Academy,[1] it is the oldest school in the Border region and among the 100 oldest schools in South Africa.[1] The college is associated with Queen's College Boys' Primary School, which was established on 15 November 1957, a year before the high school marked 100 years of existence.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2019) |
| Queen's College Boys' High School | |
|---|---|
 Queen's College school crest | |
| Address | |
 | |
16 Berry Street, Top Town , | |
| Coordinates | 31.8898°S 26.8765°E |
| Information | |
| Former name | Prospect House Academy, Public School for Boys, Queenstown Grammar School |
| School type | All-boys School |
| Motto | Esse Quam Videri (To be, rather than to seem to be) |
| Established | 21 April 1858 |
| Founder | Mr. C.E. Ham |
| Status | Government subsidised, fee paying public school |
| Sister school | Queenstown Girls' High School |
| School district | Chris Hani West District |
| Oversight | School Governing Body |
| Chairman | Allister Van Schoor |
| Headmaster | Janse van der Ryst (1 January 2018 - present) |
| Staff | 50 full-time |
| Grades | 8–12 |
| Gender | Male |
| Number of students | 596 boys |
| Language | English (main) Xhosa (Additional language) Afrikaans (Additional language) Sesotho(Addition language) |
| Schedule | Monday - Friday 07:30 - 13:30 |
| Campus | Urban Campus |
| Houses | Beswick [Boarders] Mallet [Day Boys] |
| Colour(s) | Black Old Gold White |
| Song | The College Song & Queen's Forever |
| Fight song | Ingonyama (War Cry) |
| Sports | Athletics Basketball Cricket Cross country Football Hockey Rugby Squash Tennis Golf Swimming |
| Mascot | Kudu |
| Nickname | QC, Queen's |
| Rivals | |
| Accreditation | Eastern Cape Department of Education |
| Newspaper | Queen's Quote |
| Yearbook | The Queen's Quire |
| Affiliations | International Boys' School Coalition, Queenstown Education Foundation, Four Schools One Family |
| Website | www |
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Queen's College started as Prospect House Academy when Mr C.E Ham first opened the doors to his school on 21 April 1858 at 6 Shepstone Street in Queenstown. The school was situated in an outbuilding on the property and consisted of a single room with a mud floor and holes in the wall for ventilation. The enrollment had reached 30 boys by 1859 and was also known as the Queenstown District School.[2] It was in receipt of a government grant of £50, backdated to the initial opening of the school.[2] From inception the school offered boarding facilities, in the home of Mr Ham, conveniently situated directly across the road from the schoolhouse.[citation needed]
In 1864, a dispute regarding financial support for the school by the district council, led to the abrupt closure of the school by Mr Ham and he ceased teaching in order to open a general store in the town. Boys returning from their holiday in July 1864 discovered that their school house had been let to another tenant and their schoolmaster had become a haberdasher.[3] Public concern was such that a committee was formed, which decides that St Michael's Grammar School should assume the mantle of Prospect House Academy by accepting the status of a government-aided school. The resulting amalgamated school becomes the Public School for Boys and classes are held in a billiard hall.[4]
It was only in 1910 that the school was renamed Queen's College.
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- Mr. CE Ham (1858–1864)
- Mr. G Elliot (1864–1865)
- Mr. R McCormick (1865–1867)
- Mr. FJ Beswick (1867–1899)
- Mr. B Noaks (1899–1900)
- Mr. GFH Clark (1901–1904)
- Mr. H Wilkinson (1904–1929)
- Mr. A Parry-Davies (1930–1939)
- Mr. HQ Davies (1940–1964)
- Mr. TW Higgs (1965–1973)
- Mr. DH Schroeder (1974–1992)
- Mr. CP Harker (1993–2010)
- Mr. DCP Lovatt (2011–2012)
- Mr. BJ Grant (2013–2017)
- Mr. J van der Ryst (2018–present)
- 4 science and biology labs
- Design and Technology facility
- Media centre
- Library
- Music centre
- 4 full sized cricket fields
- 8 turf wickets for practices
- 3 indoor cricket nets
- 2 squash courts
- 7 rugby fields
- 400m tartan Athletics Track
- 1 floodlit AstroTurf
- 2 basketball courts (tar)
- Gym
- School Hall
- Memorial Hall
The school currently has three hostels; Whitson House, Athlone House and Connaught House. Whitson caters for students in Grades 8–9, Connaught for students in Grades 10–12 and Athlone for Students in Grades 9–10. Athlone was reopened in 2021 after many years of closure. All hostel boys belong to Beswick House, a name taken from the school's fourth headmaster.
Originally, Whitson House was the first hostel of the school and was built in 1904. It was later renamed Connaught House. In 1932, this hostel was closed leading to the later opening of hostels Athlone and De Vos Malan in 1939. In 1975, Connaught House was renamed Whitson House after old boy Mr H Whitson. The new Connaught House was built in 1979. After a decline in boarders in the early 2000s most of the hostels were closed and converted into classrooms. Hostels outside campus were sold.[6]
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Sports
Queen's College has a long-standing tradition of annual derby days for both summer and winter sports with traditional rivals such as Dale College, Grey High School, St. Andrew's College, and Selborne College, dating back to at least the 1900s. Grey College was also a significant rival, but the yearly derby between these two rugby giants lost momentum, with 1996 marking the last of the annual clashes.
Queen's College is one of only two schools in South Africa equipped with an 8-lane tartan track. Completed in early 2024, the track meets the criteria to host national athletics events, and Queen's is set to host the National Junior Athletics Championships in 2025.
The main sports fields include the Queen's College Victoria Recreation Grounds, used for rugby and athletics; the Chris Harker Astro, where first team hockey matches are played;[7] and the Parry-Davies Field, home to the first cricket team matches as well as rugby games. While the Chris Harker Astro is named after the school, it is a shared facility with Queenstown Girls' High School and Balmoral Girls' Primary School.
The following sports are offered at Queen's:
Cultural activities
The following cultural activities are offered at Queen's:
- A Capella
- Art Club
- Blood Peer Promoters
- Chess
- Choir
- Debating and Public Speaking
- Drama
- Eco-Watch
- First Aid
- Interact Society
- Library Society
- Marimba Band
- Photography
- Piscatorial Society
- QCTV
- Queen's Quote
- Queen's Think Tank
- Robotics and Coding Club
- Students' Christian Association (SCA)
- The Twelve Club
- Xhosa Society
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Sport
Rugby and Cricket
| Name & Surname | Year Matriculated | Teams | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allan Beswick | 1888 | 49th Springbok | [8] |
| Jimmy White | 1928 | 217th Springbok | [8] |
| Dick Muir | 1982 | 642nd Springbok | [8] |
| Robbi Kempson | 1992 | 669th Springbok | [8] |
| Kaya Malotana | 1994 | 687th Springbok | [8] |
| Owen Lentz | 1998 | American Rugby | |
| Carlo del Fava | 1998 | Italian Rugby | |
| Rocco Jansen | 2004 | Emerging Springboks Rugby | |
| Lionel Cronjé | 2007 | South Africa U20 (2009 Player of the Year), South Africa 'A' | |
| S'bura Sithole | 2008 | South Africa Sevens | |
| Allan Dell | 2010 | South Africa U20, Scottish Rugby, British and Irish Lion #834 | |
| Andisa Ntsila | 2011 | South Africa 'A' | |
| Johan Meyer | 2011 | Italian Rugby | |
| Juan-Philip Smith | 2012 | South Africa U20 |
| Name & Surname | Year Matriculated | Teams | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ken McEwan | 1970 | Eastern Province and Essex cricketer | |
| Daryll John Cullinan | 1984 | South African Test Cricketer | |
| Justin Kemp | 1996 | South African Test and limited overs Cricketer | |
| Tony Greig | 1965 | English Test Cricketer | |
| Ian Greig | 1974 | English Test Cricketer |
Other sports
- Glen Dell, Advanced World Aerobatic Champion in 2004 and Red Bull Air Race competitor (1974)
- Le-Neal Jackson, South African field hockey player[9]
Business and the arts
- Allister Sparks, journalist, author and former editor of The Rand Daily Mail (1950)
- Alan Scholefield, journalist and writer (1947)
- Don Pinnock, criminologist, naturalist and journalist (1965)
- Gideon Khobane, CEO of SuperSport[10] (1995)
- Gary Hartley, writer, director, producer, editor and 2021 Mail and Guardian Top 200 Eminent and Accomplished Young South Africans (2004)
- Loyiso Mkize, visual artist, creator of "Kwezi" - South Africa's first ever superhero and artist for DC comics[11] (2005)
- Ayabonga Cawe, economist, broadcaster and author (2008)
Politics
- Errol K. Moorcroft, Progressive Federal Party and Democratic Party (South Africa) politician, MP for Albany district 1981–1987, 1989–1994 (1956)
Military
- John ("Jack") Sherwood Kelly, VC CMG DSO, recipient of the Victoria Cross[12] (also attended Dale College, Selborne College and St. Andrews College)
- Norman Walsh, Rhodesian and Zimbabwean air marshal (1949)
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