Brian wrote this article upon the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Class of 1958 in 2008. We thought that we would publish it as it recalls a time at Grey which many of our older Old Greys would fondly recall. Brian became a legend in his time and the subject of History which he espoused with passion and great knowledge. But his teachings were not entirely of those recorded in the History textbooks supplied by the Education Department but more of the full history of South Africa and all its people. He brought to the young minds of those seated before him another perspective. Not the ideology of the governing party but one of openness, of asking questions and being driven by a clear, clean and balanced conscience. Enjoy the read. It holds some life lessons which will resonate among all Old Greys.
Ian Pringle
My first year at the Grey was your last year. It proved to be a year of change. The much loved, respected and dare I say feared Bruce Gordon retired at the end of 1957. MC Marais was the acting Rector for six months until the new Rector, OB Taylor took over. MC left to take over Graeme College and there was an exodus of teachers. Within two years many of the most experienced teachers left for promotion posts in other schools. Alan Hahn and Ernie Hobbs followed MC to Graeme as did Tjaart Barnard the following year. Mr Clement left to become the headmaster of the King Edward High School in Matatiele. Mr N.M. Paterson left to take over the Housemastership of Paterson House at Dale College. He was later promoted to the headmastership of SACs in Cape Town. Tom Engela left to study at Stellenbosch University. In 1959 Friedel Siebörger left to become Principal of the George Randell High School and CF de Lange who you boys irreverently called Snakey became the Principal of the Clifton Secondary School in East London in March 1959. In December Mr Singleton left the profession.
When I applied for the job of History teacher in 1957 Bruce Gordon interviewed me. This for a wet behind-the-ears graduate from Rhodes was a frightening experience. At the end of the interview, he uttered the following words: “Thiel, I am going to appoint you, consider it a privilege”. I had no idea what a privilege it would turn out to be.
With the exodus of so many much-loved and outstanding teachers, I and other young graduates found ourselves being asked to take over responsibilities which proved a challenge, but it gave us opportunities that previous generations of teachers never had at such a young age.
Taking over from the legendary history teacher W.T. Ferguson in my first year was a massive challenge. I inherited his 10A History class. The boys were only 7 years younger than me and true to Grey tradition I was fair game. For the first few weeks, my classes turned into a shambles and the noise emanating from my classroom was horrendous. One morning the class was disrupted when the acting Rector, MC Marais, put his head through the passage window and bellowed “Snowball get to my office.” He then added, “Mr Thiel come along too.” Entering his office was a fierce-looking acting Rector whacking a cane into the palm of his free hand. He then said, “Snowball bend and Mr Thiel give him six.” Bear in mind that I went to a school, Pretoria Boys’ High where the headmaster never used a cane. Snowball bent and I raised my arm and wacked him. “No, no, Mr Thiel, that will not do, the boy could hardly feel it bellowed MC.” And so Snowball became the first victim of a caning by me at the Grey. To this day I do not know whether it was Warren Snowball or his twin brother who got bent.
With little more than a week to go before the boys wrote their Matric exams, Mr A.M. Pollock got in touch with me and asked me if I could help his son Peter with some necessary history coaching. Peter was not in my class but he had Mr Teubes teaching him. I couldn’t say no. Desperate times required desperate measures and all I could do for Peter was to “spot” five or six possible essay questions and work on those. Peter got his university pass and unless I am mistaken, he also got a distinction in history!
My other story also concerns Peter Pollock. The annual First XI game against a Masters XI came up. With the gallery of old masters in the Common Room and only a few talented cricketers such as Dudley Clear, Ron Dugmore and Danie Pienaar, I was drafted into the team where I was backstop in the field and I was to bat last. My term at the crease came up and I was just about wetting my pants when I realised that I was to face Peter Pollock. Peter was standing at the College Drive end and he came thundering down upon me. I was tempted to run but pride kept me there. When Peter reached the opposite crease he stopped and bowled underhand! I was clean-bowled! Not surprisingly, with an influx of enthusiastic young men in the Common Room I was never asked to front up in any future cricket match.
It would be unfair of me to pick out the names of any of the 156 boys in your year who made an impression on me. I can’t go past Head Prefect, Eddie Hurr, nor Peter Pollock and Cliff Drysdale who have had remarkable careers. There are many others. All I want to say is that after 40 years of teaching thousands of the boys who have passed through my hands, there were many who were only average scholars but who achieved great things in their careers. I am sure the boys of the Class of 1958 are no exception and I would have loved to join you to share your life stories and be assured that the education you received at your great school gave you the foundation to build upon in life.
I thought at 83 I would be the only survivor of the 1958 Common Room but no. I understand that Ernie Hobbs is alive and well at the age of 93 in Sea Point and Ron Dugmore is at Great Brak River aged around 86 or 87. Tjaart Barnard died earlier this year.
In case anyone is interested after a short time serving as a vice principal at the Grey I left to be headmaster of St Andrew’s School in Bloemfontein. I was there for seven years. After a four-year stint at Junior School head mastering in Johannesburg at Pridwin in Melrose I emigrated to Australia in 1979 where I held the position of Deputy Headmaster at Barker College in Sydney for 17 years before retiring in 1996. I had the privilege of being the acting headmaster for two years. Barker is a leading Australian Independent School with an outstanding academic and sporting record. It has a number of Rhodes Scholars to its credit as well as Baggy Green caps and Wallaby jerseys among its ex-scholars.
It was my privilege to have four sons of Old Greys at Barker during my years there. I was also able to appoint an ex-Grey teacher, Greg Cunningham to the staff. He is an outstanding teacher and organist and holds a senior administrative position.
Names of Masters at the Grey circa 1958 in no particular order.
Peter Ponsonby, AGH Teubes, Percy Higgo, MC Marais, Friedel Sieborger, CF de Lange, Dudley Clear, “Von” de Villiers, CJ van der Merwe, SW van der Merwe “Winkie FG Nell”, JWD Muff Ford, Ron Dugmore, Bob Selley, Tjaart Barnard, Wikinson, Tom Engela, Brian Thiel, Willem Lubbe, Alan Hahn, Ernie Hobbs, NM Paterson, Danie Pienaar, GJ Bob Salveson, M Wilkinson, GW van der Merwe (Temporary).
Don’t forget: Estate Manager and Coach: Tom Dean, Caretaker: AJ Allen and Tuckshop Mrs. “Harve”, and Bath Superintendant and life-saving coach, Francis Horn.