King Edward VII High School, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg

In 1902, the end of the Anglo-Boer War was in sight. Plans were being made to reorganize the educational facilities in the Transvaal. These had virtually ceased to exist on the outbreak of war in October 1899. Now that hostilities had ceased, plans for the provision of education could be put into practice. Lord Milner introcuced a strongly centralised and state controlled system of education. He divided the Transvaal into provinces and districts. Each province was to have a provincial school and these schools were to be the basis of his system. The provincial schools were to be public and modelled on British Public Schools. They were to train top government officials for the Crown Colony of the Transvaal. In all there were six provincial schools.

This school, first called Johannesburg High School for Boys, was the second government high school for boys to be established in the Transvaal under the Milner scheme. On the 14 April 1902, the school opened in Johannesburg. It consisted of six boys and five members of staff including the Headmaster. The first Headmaster of the school was Captain Edward Lancelot Sanderson M.A (3rd Battalion Prince of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment), who was educated at Harrow and King's College, Cambridge. While Captain Sanderson was still in active service, the British High Commissioner and Governor of the Transvaal, Lord Milner, invited him to be the headmaster of the new boys' high school. The original members of Captain Sanderson's staff were Major S. H. Boyle B.A Keble College, Oxford, J.A. Wilkinson M.A, Caius College, Cambridge, S Caris Instructor and John Boyd, ex-trooper of the Life Guards was the Commissionaire. 

Arthur 'Squeaky' Howes was the first boy to enrol at the school. The other five original enrolments were Claude Mann, Gordon Leslie, Sid Pegler, Arthur Troye and Toby Louw.

 

King Edward VII School is one of the Top Public Schools in the country. Situated on a magnificent campus in the heart of Upper Houghton, Johannesburg, it consists of beautiful, old, traditional, National Monument buildings, complemented by state of the art sporting & cultural facilities. The School provides a holistic educational experience incorporating a highly relevant academic curriculum, a Cultural programme (including inter alia Dramatic Society, Public Speaking, Chess, Pipe Band & Debating) and a wide choice of sporting disciplines supported by professional coaching. King Edward VII School is proud of its record of producing quality leaders in all spheres of endeavour for well over a century. This tradition continues today, and is epitomised by the outgoing Proteas Test captain Graeme Smith, who is a product of the School's long history coupons of producing world-class captains and sportsmen.

 

Outside of the School's sporting achievements, add the names of the great 'captains' in their respective disciplines- Sir Donald Gordon, William Kentridge (2010 Kyoto Prize winner), Justice Johann Kriegler, Justice Richard Goldstone, Sir Sydney Kentridge QC, Sir Sydney Lipworth QC, Gary Player, leading United Kingdom financier Sir Mark Weinberg, and Tony Bloom amongst others.