Saint George’s Home for Boys 1915 – 1991

August 12, 2008

Recent SGH news:

Frank Barry Kruger says “Hi”
Eddie “Burty” Lancaster (‘51-’62) writes in
Heather McHolm checks in
“DC” Dudley Claude Pringle (50s) writes on the Sword of St. George
David “Tubby” Laughton passes May 2009 at 72
João “Joey” Simoes writes of life in Simpson House in the late 70’s
Peter De Reuck remembers the old Victorian Tuck Shop at SGH
Lance Japhet, Chairman of SGH in the late 70’s up to closure in the 90’s, dies
Ed Colyn writes on Umtentweni, aeroplane “props” and catty fights.
Leslie DuPlessis (60’s) remembers life in Beaton and Spackman Houses
Thomas Bainbridge (53-59) tells of his recent tea with Canon Eric Richardson
Percy Maree (57-60 Beaton / Spackman House) writes in from Australia remembering Umtentwini
Jeffrey Rendulic / Hackett (65-69 Simpson House) checks in
Steve Towse, Project Volunteer 76-77, invites emails for Fr. Norman Clayton
SGH Website finds a home on Facebook
Old Boys wax poetic — to great effect
Jaycee Milner (84-88 Beaton House) joins the conversation
Marc Wastie shares photos from the seventies
Mike Dollman contributes “Study Camp” photos from the sixties
“DC” Dudley Claude Pringle remembers “Goggies” in the late 50’s
Canon Eric Richardson turns 95
Brian Gannon meets with Eric Richardson in Cape Town
Fr. Norman “Bee Bop” Clayton found alive and well at 84 by John O’Neill . . .
Vanessa Hurlimann (nee Finlay) remembers the “Big Walk” of 1972

SGH “Parade Ground”: 2007

Click on the “More” button below to see photos and read and leave comments . . .

Click here for a “bird’s eye” view of Saint George’s Home for Boys

Bishop Bavin St. George’s School in Bedfordview, South Africa, may be less than 15 years old, but the great jacaranda trees which shade the extensive, well-kept grounds have been there since shortly after the St George’s Home for Boys opened in 1915.

When the lovely but dilapidated Herbert Baker buildings were restored under the watchful eye of the current rector, Reverend Morgan Ellis, the gardens, too, slowly began to take shape and are now a valued part of the Bishop Baven St. George’s school.

I recall life at St. George’s home for boys in the early seventies when my father, George Harold van Pletzen, assumed a post as Housemaster of Crawford House for two short years. Although not employed by the Home, my mother, Helen Kay van Pletzen, devoted herself fully to providing for the boys under her care in this piously Anglican, militaristic place.

Christmas 1971 - Photographed by Norman Clayton

Christmas 1971: St. George’s Chapel, Fr. Norman Clayton

Efficiency squads: 1977 and 1978

Courtesy of Marc Wastie

Charles Wastie and Newton Besant

Marc Wastie receives the under 10 Athletics Trophy

Freddy de Jager and a Project Volunteer (Steve?) outside the Feeding Shelter

Memorial Service: 1978

Saint Georges in the News: 1967 (Courtesy of Mike Dollman)

Click on any image for a larger scan

Study Camp at Lidgeton, Natal, 1966. Mike Rossouw, Trevor Stringer, Robyn Putter, Greg (surname eludes me), Mike Dollman and the master was “Tubby” Laughton.

Robyn Putter, 1966

Michael Rossouw and George Budd, 1966

$10K \$

SGH under 14B Team: 1972/73 (Courtesy John O’Neill) Double-click any photo for more options

Notable Names

Notable names: Canon Eric Richardson, Father Norman Clayton, Audrey (RIP) and Ken McHolm (RIP), Heather McHolm, Kennedy McHolm, George and Helen van Pletzen (1970 – 1972), Raymond Last, Frederick Lourens, Brian Gannon, the Rossouw brothers, William Wilson, Stewart Clark, Keith Frandsen, Harald Gunkel, David Grissselle, Richard Levey, Karel de Waal, Neville Rennie, Jeffrey Girout, Peter Ford, Mervyn Ekron, Mike Dollman (1966 – 1967), Michael Rossouw, Albert de Jager, JJ de Jager, John Inns (RIP), Roger Inns, George Struagh, Peter Ford, Tony Girout, Gary Hand, Andre, Linda and Blane van Pletzen (1970 – 1972) and most recently “found” — Wendy Thompson, Steve Towse, John O’ Neill, Shane Botha, Peter Burrow, “DC” Dudley Claude Pringle, Stuart Wavel Pringle, Trevor Stringer, Robyn Putter,Tubby Laughton, Jaycee Milner (84-88), Craige Milner, and Nick Young.

Old Boys’ Gallery

Michael Rossouw (left) and David Rossouw

Dudley Pringle

Trevor Budd

Housemaster’s Gallery

Father Norman Clayton ca 1970

Eric Richardson

Beaton House at Umtentweni (Courtesy Steve Towse) Double-click any photo for more options

Spackman House at Umtentweni (Courtesy Steve Towse) Double-click any photo for more options

Heather McHolm and SGH boys (Courtesy Steve Towse) Double-click any photo for more options

JJ de Jager (Courtesy Steve Towse) Double-click any photo for more options

Crawford House Boarders in the latest incarnation of SGH: Bishop Bavin School

It was at Saint George’s Home for Boys that I received confirmation (March 21st 1972) and was first exposed to the liturgy of the Anglican Communion in this chapel.

1971 Confirmations: Kennedy McHolm, George van Pletzen, Raymond Last, Frederick Lourens, John Rossouw, William Wilson, Stewart Clark, Audrey McHolm, Helen van Pletzen and Susan Tomkine.

1972 Confirmations: Keith Frandsen, Harald Gunkel, David Grisselle, Richard Levey, Karel de Waal, Blane van Pletzen, Neville Rennie, Jeffrey Girout, Peter Ford and Mervyn Ekron.

A recent picture of Norman “Bee Bop” Clayton’s flat / recording studio

Looking towards the Chapel – 2007

Scott and Blane in the Sanctuary – 2007:

The Refectory – 2007:

Blane and Linda van Pletzen outside Crawford House in 2007:

The swimming pool in 2007:

Debbie Wright and Shane Botha: October 1976.

Do you have photographs and memories to share?

Have an interest in, or a history with, St. George’s Home for Boys? Please feel free to use this posting as a means of making contact.

Where are you”old boys”? Where are the “survivors”? What are your stories?

Please send your scanned photographs and stories to bvpr@mac.com for inclusion in this site.

Brian Gannon — 2007 — at his home in Cape Town

This week — January 2008 — I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Canon Eric Richardson who was brought on a short holiday to Cape Town by his daughter Debbie who was visiting South Africa from New Zealand. Eric recently turned 95 years old, so it was a pleasant surprise to find him looking and sounding the same as ever. We communicate by e-mail, but I haven’t been to Johannesburg for more then thirty years so I hadn’t seen him for all that time.

All who knew him will be pleased to hear that he is living very much in the present tense! We talked about our families, books we were reading, politics … the usual conversation topics. Then we discussed some issues around the church in the modern context and he was both animated and up-to-date in his views.

It was a great visit. We “go back a long way” and next year it will be fifty years since he invited me to work with him at St George’s Home.

Warm greetings to all St George’s people who visit this this blog.

1 Mike Dollmann | March 2, 2007 at 5:43 am

Hi Blane.

I am an St Georges Home “old boy” and spent two years there from 1966 to 1967 and prior to that I spent two years 1964 to 1965 at the old Stanger High school Hostel. From your site it would appear that you also had some connection to that school.

Should you wish to contact me, please feel free to do so on 082 455 8790 or by e-mail miked@barloworld.com.

Regards

Mike
2. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | October 24, 2007 at 7:44 pm

Hi Blane
Don’t know if you remember me but at the tiime you were in Crawford I was in Simpson where my father was housemaster. I remember your family well. Seeing the names you have listed has really called back the past as I remember most of those boys and may even have some pics of some of them.
Have just returned from a holiday in the UK where I saw one of the Project Trust volunteers, Steve Towse, and he has been in touch with Father Clayton as he lives quite near Steve. Steve is also in touch with Nick Young who was known as ‘Mr Plod’ as he was a policeman in the UK before, and after, coming to St Georges.
Feel free to email me.
Regards
Wendy
3. Blane | October 24, 2007 at 8:48 pm

Wendy! My god how lovely to hear from you. Yes, I remember you well despite the very short time we were together at St. George’s as “Housemaster’s kids.” Can you share contact information for Fr. Clayton and others?
4. Anon | October 29, 2007 at 9:48 am

My apologies for prefering to remain anonymous. My thanks to Blane for making this forum possible. I met both Blane and Wendy, as well as their parents, albeit briefly, in St Georges. Both were Housemaster’s kids and I doubt either would remember me had I divulged my identity.

Nevertheless, is it not curious that it took a ‘Housemaster’s kid’ finally to reveal the existence of an institution, near the heart of Johannesburg, that ‘cared’ for boys for more than 70 years? I can anwer that question: having spent the whole of the 1960’s there I believe I am well qualified. Even before I arrived from JCH (those who have ears, let them hear) St Georges posessed a fearful reputation for discipline. And it was well deserved. Gone was the gentle ambience and true caring of JCH and in its place we found a harsh, violent reality that till shocks me to this day, more than 40 years later. It was a violence inflicted on boys by ‘well-meaning’ housemasters (two of whom are listed in your notable names above). They split the skin on our buttocks using thin bamboo canes to the extent that we often bled. On one occasion, in an attempt to protect myself from a lashing, my wrist was split open.

And I learnt my lesson well. Soon I too would inflict violence, using my fists, on the smaller boys around me and in turn was beaten up by those older than I. And this violence came from the very top, filtering its way down like a fine mist that permeated everything.

I wish to make it clear that Father Richardson was the most gentle of all the masters. On one occasion I had to report to him for a caning (I was caned too by the headmasters of both schools I also attended: Wychwood Primary and Malvern High) and the one I received from Father Richardson was laughable. He was so nervous that he was almost in tears. When he delivered his ‘tap’ I laughed in his face. I was 12 at the time. I was not being rude: I simply understood that this man was gentle and kind; unlike Thwackem, Whackem, Brainem and Cainem, the regular masters who made their canes sing as they weilded them, whistling through the air and landing with a loud THWACK!! on vulnerable buttocks. I was 9 years old when this brutality began. Try this some time: stand in a Q outside a housemaster’s flat waiting your turn for a caning; hear the boy currently being punished beg for mercy; hear the cane whistle and land; hear the door open and the master beckons you forward; see the previous boy exit with tear-streaked face clutching his bum. Such sport. I was 9 years old when this brutality began. I would be 16 when it ended. By then they thought, perhaps, that such big boys might strike back and so withheld their punishment. And in fact some big boys did but thats another story.

The violence was one reason why nobody who has been in St Georges wants to reveal that he has. There is another that is much more profound: shame. It is a deep unfounded shame that we feel as a result of being discarded. When I left the home, I revealed to very few that I was an Old Boy. My children, when they had grown up, were asked if their father ever spoke of his school years. Never, they replied. Because I was so ashamed. Now I am much older and understand that it was no fault of mine that I came from parents who had a disastrous relationship and were incapable of caring for any child, let alone me. But the shame still persists and I blush to write these words.

And yet….and yet there was so much to admire in St Georges. Not just admire. To love. I unashamedly admit I loved the place, despite what I already have said. I never went hungry and was clothed for all occasions. I made very close friends and everything was provided. And as for sports, well, we had our choice of any and all. Name it and we played it.

But I am still so deeply ashamed. But those are my feelings on the matter of St Georges and I am sure other Old Boys may beg to differ. I don’t mind. Say whatever you want.
5. Blane | October 29, 2007 at 10:49 pm

Thank you for this response. Fear and shame are powerful motivators, and you have stirred my memories. It would be unfair to hundreds of “Old Boys” if I were to try and paint a rosy picture of life at St. George’s as I knew it — or, for that matter, any picture at all. Yours is an authentic voice. I was only there for two short years. I realize, too, that I am writing from a position of privilege; as a “Housemaster’s kid” I was given preferential treatment at every turn. But I do want to share a little of my witness to corporal punishment while I was there.

Like you, I grew up in colonial Africa where corporal punishment was a common practice in schools. The threat of “six of the best” may have kept me in line, but I have since learned that fear is a short-term motivator. I often witnessed lines of boys waiting for their canings outside my father’s study and elsewhere in other houses. I, too, remember hearing the distraught cries of boys begging for mercy behind a closed door and the sound of a thin cane used in anger.

St. George’s was a strange blend of pious Anglicanism and strict, militaristic discipline. (I recently visited a former House Master at his home in Cape Town who referred to his disdain at the “frog marching” that took place on that black slate parade ground between the chapel and the refectory.)

I think it’s important to acknowledge that St. George’s permitted an environment in which such abuse could take place. Such an acknowledgment should be just that – a recognition that this happened. Hundreds of boys were shaped in this particular culture; many look back on those days with some fondness. (And here is the curious tension you share about when you survey your seven-year experience: the shame of being a “discarded” child, the violence of abusive corporal punishment and the love for this place where you were fed and clothed – a violent sanctuary.)

So thanks for your brave contribution all these years later. Perhaps there will be other voices out there who might benefit from your frank and poignant recollection as a St. George’s “Old Boy.” There is a tremendous amount of dignity in your story and I’m grateful you took time to tell it.
6. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | October 30, 2007 at 12:12 pm

Hello Anon
Thank you for your brave and insightful comments – brave because I think it’s really hard to confront such painful memories. The experiences you describe are certainly familiar to me and although I never witnessed them I certainly spent many hours listening to them.

One of the reasons that prompted me to do a net search was because in the last two years I have become reacquainted with a former assistant housemaster – one of the guys who came over from the UK to spend some time in St Georges – and it is in our many discussions that we have both come to realise that St George’s was a traumatising place for so many of us. It’s the first time for both of us to have someone else to talk to about common traumatic experiences and in some way, for me, has started some of my own coming to terms with that period in my life. My experiences can never be equated with yours by any means and I think it is a testimony to the human spirit that you and so many other people did indeed survive St George’s. That survival has indeed left its scars both literally and figuratively on many of us, housemasters’ children included, although our perspective can never be the same as those of the ‘boys’.

I am glad that with maturity has come some perspective for you although I am indeed truly sad that you had such a traumatic time in a place that should have been a refuge for you and a time of trying to rebuild your family. Thank you for sharing your story with us
7. Anon | October 31, 2007 at 5:45 am

Ah Wendy! When we met you were a very young girl with an awful metal contraption in (and on) your foot. You poor thing, I so silently sympathised with you! But you were so rightly proud and would have none of it. My apologies if I have revived any painful memories but mine of you were only delightful.

I had just completed my National Service in the Air Force and with nowhere to stay. Father Richardson kindly allowed me to live in Simpson, assisting your father with the boys. Unfortunately, I was not much help and would eventually leave to start another career in the wider world.

But thank you, Wendy, for your kind words and I am certain you are as beautiful now as when I first met you – may the sun never set on your happiness and may unhappiness be a mere speck you carelessly wipe from your eye.

Blane, I shall respond to you in a separate email. You have been most kind to have written to me and I am currently constructing a reply.

Allow me to say that I am delighted that neither of you has had the misfortune to see and do what I saw and did between the ages of 0 and 18. Very few days have passed, since I emerged from the gates of St Georges, wherein I did not entertain suicidal thoughts. But both of you are important witnesses that the brutality we boys encountered (and I must also admit, inflicted on those around us) was not imaginary.

In conclusion though, we had everything too. Food, warmth, clothing, education and a roof to cover our heads. But it was impossible for me not to be a witness to a much greater misery. Had I but been black, mine would have many times worse. I thank God, from the bottom of my heart, that I was born white in apartheid South Africa.
8. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | November 1, 2007 at 6:26 pm

Dear Anon
Thank you for your kind words. I had and have had many contraptions on my feet as it was discovered that I actually have a muscular dystrophy. The pride/stubborness (depending on who you talk to) however remains as I want to live as full and normal a life as possible.
It is only as an adult that I really got to grips with the extent of how much St George’s affected me and, with that, the insight of how much more it must have affected the boys who lived there.
In my ideal world all of us who survived our different experiences of the home are able to find some peace and put the past to rest whilst never forgetting or denying what happened. If we can help each other to do that then that would be first prize for me.
I am glad we have connected in this way and I wish you well.
Regards
Wendy
9. Michael Anthony Rossouw (1961-1967) | November 6, 2007 at 5:53 pm

I happened to stumble on this site whilst doing some research for pictures of the Chapel windows of what is now the Bishop Bavin School.I am in much pain whilst reading the “blogg’ from the annonymous old boy who wrote about the canings, the bullying and the goings on that went on in a place that was supposed to be a caring environment.
Yes ,I too had my share of canings, probably less than most because I kept my head down and played the game by the rules.
I probably received more canings at Malvern High school than I did as a boy in the home! Nevertheless that does not justify the hurt and abuse experienced by the annonymous “old boy” and I’m suremany other old boys of the home, who received such treatment.I thank him for being as brutally honest in that which he wrote.
I last attended an old boys day in 2000, just before I left to work in SE Asia. Whilst we all enjoyed seeing each other and chatting about the days when the home was “THE” Home, I was appalled as the afternoon went on and the tongues were loosened up after a good few cold castle lagers , to hear the horror stories about the behaviour of individual masters both of my era and beyond who seemed to take great dlight, if not relish ,in this kind of abusive behaviour. Small wonder the Home was closed to make way for te Bishop Bavin school.
The number of “old Boys” (some of them in their 50’s and early 60’s now)who told horror stories, some of which were quite unbelievable given the names of the indivdual masters mentioned who committed these acts of abuse, was alarming to say the least. “How” , I asked myself “did I come out relatively unscathed?”
“How was this allowed to happen? ” I asked myself.
Did i miss something here?
In retrospect I guess I was immune to what was going on. No master ever tried to have his way with me as i’m sure they would have known I’d have spilled the beans.Many of masters who were in charge of my house were good to me as mentors and as caring friends.
Eric Richardson is a man for whom I have the highest regard. His efforts to bring the home into line with child care models of those similar to childrens homes in the UK in the 1960’s were way ahead of his time.There was much resitance to his claim in 1963 after his UK sabbatical , that St George’s ,as it was then run , was “a slum” and was no better than the workhouses of 19th Century Dickensian England.
Many of us (and I was one of them) who do have some good memories of the Home were stunned at the manner in which the Home was “closed” , a better word would be “stolen” from us and replaced by the current Bishop Bavin School. But again, in hindsight,many boys left the home vowing never to darken its doors again and quite rightly so for obvious reasons.
Again in hindsight, none of the old boys were aware of the changes that had taken place in the child care field and ,looking back, the closure of the Home as we knew it was probably long overdue. Did anyone really care? The closure of the home under Barry Lodge and his committee in the form that we knew it was probably long overdue , given that at the end of his tenure as “director” there were probably 30 or 40 boys left in the home which was built to accommodate near 200 odd boys. Alternative models were never discussed with the old boys and many probably didn’t care because we were left in the dark in the whole process of the home’s closure and the reasons for it..
Anyhow, that’s history. Many institutions Like St Gerges did not survive the post apartheid era . I sometimes wonder though whether the St george’s in which I grew up would have made a viable alternative for the many street children and gangsters et al, roaming the streets of Johannesburg and other cities of our beautiful, but crime ridden country.We will never know.personally I’d rather have seen the work of StGeorge’s continue with our countries disadvantagd youth tatn it bing turned into a toffee-nosed snobbish playground for the neuvaue riche! Anyhow, that’s cruel to say such a thing , given the success the schoolhas made as a private school in the New South Africa.
No institution can claim to be perfect. I guess the home as I knew just did the best they could with what they had.
What then did the Home do for me?
I received a good education, albeit that I only learned to read with understanding once I’d left school , as a boy in the home. People like Mrs Davis and Ma Van deemter at Wychwood guided me through my primary years with much care and affection.I had the privilege of learning the Queen’s English and an appreciation of English Literature from Vera Kirkland, Ep Cheyne and Peggy Morgan; a sense of how historians should be read and interpreted under Muriel Noaks and Miss Beveridge (Ma Be as we clled her); the rudiments of mathematics (not my bet subject) under Mrs Smith (Ma Frik as we used to call her) Mr Burgess , JJ de Jager and John Durie, and an appereciation of the World and my responsibility to do my part in looking after it (long before the concept of climate change and global warming were even mentioned )from Eugene Wright (Ma Braun) to name but a few of the many caring teachers I had the priviledge of knowing.
Headmasters like Bob Morrison and John Edmund (Johnny)Johnsen,were ,for me ,en of outstanding educational ability and educators for whom I have the highest regard.
(I have visited Wychwood Primary and Malvern High on my last vist to South Africa and I must say they reflect in many ways what the “New” South Africa , now in its adolescent years, is about.)
I received the loving care of women like Betty Richardson, Audrey Mc Holm, the many “Sisters” who ran the surgery and looked after me in my many asthma attacks,and the many “Ma’s” who ran the kitchen and linen rooms.
I learnt much from men like Kennedy James McHolm, Brian Gannon, George Adams that I could achieve in life what I wanted in terms of a career if i worked hard towards it.These were truly unique individuals who were “father figures ” to me and without whom I’d never ahve become te person I am today, even with my imperfections.
I was inspired by old boys who had done good things with their lives that I too , like them could also be a “somebody” ; guys like Frederick (Nutsy ) Moore, Dr Tommy Geddes wo were great teachers, Fr Dale White, a priest in Canada, the late Bill Stewart ( not an old boy but a great teacher and product Malvern High school ) to name but a few, who, despite their backgrounds led meaningful lives in serving others.
Above all , St George’s Home gave me a firm Faith in a loving God; not a ‘pie in the sky kind of God sporting a long white beard,but a Saviour who died for me and my miserable sin and the sin of the whole world. I thank God for His love for me every day.
I have not been the success story many prdicted that I would be when I left the home.None of us are perfect and we make mistakes along the way. St George’s did little if anything to prepare me for the things like marrige and parenthood. I don’t blame the Home for that; I had a caring Mother but a father , who, whilst he cared, was not always the caring soul he could be when he was drunk and abusive to us and to my dear Mother..
I am not making any apologies or trying to ‘white-wash ‘ what the annonymous old boy has written, but for me , St Georges home, with all its imperfections ,was the only home I knew.
I am a school chaplain today teaching in the Philippines.
Places like Burma , Mandalay, Rangoon, Malaysia , Singapore , Thailand and Indonesia were just names on a map in my history and geography class until I ventured out into these parts..
I thank God every for God’s gift of life to me and for St George’s home and the chances that the home , with all its imperfections , gave to me, for without the Home and it influence on my life , I too would probably have been a crime statistic , imprisoned for life or dead.
Eric Richardson ( now in his mid nineties and still as sharp as a razor) quoted the writer to the Hebrews in his address at the “closure” of the Home , saying, “We have no abiding city for us here on Earth, we are looking towards the city which is to come…’” Hebrews 13:14
So I take the best of what the home gave to me as a boy and I try to forget the pain inflicted on me by certain individuals, masters and boys , who will remain nameless..
Perhaps it’s the coward’s way out but its the only way I can deal with it.
I gave up visiting the home (the Bishp Bavin Campus) in 2005 when my brothers and i asked if the home’s chapel could be made available to us to bury my brother., Des who ad died whilst I was visiting that year. We were politely told “We don’t do that if you are not members of the community.’
I guess we are no longer part of what was the only home many of us knew.It is sad for me that when and if I am ordained a priest, i shall not be allowed to celebrate myfirst Eucharist at the altar at which I received my Christian faith. That is very sad but who knows, maybe there are some forgiving people in the capus which bears the name of one of the finest bishops I have ever know, +Timothy John Bavin
( now a monk in Alton Abbey in the UK) after whom the newBishop Bavin/ St George’s is named.
God Bless you all.
Yours sincerely
Deacon Michael Rossouw
Thanks for letting me saythese things. I hope I have not offended anyone in doing so. If I have , I ask your pardon and forgiveness.
My work here involves visits to a locla orphanage run by an eveangelical church called the Phillipine outreach. I must say that when I look at the dorms, a little smaller than ours at SGH, I do get more than a tear in my eyes when I leave after visiting the kids, boys and girls who range from babies abandoned by their parents because of poverty and another mouth to feed and older kids who have been abused by parents and relatives. Looking back, I was one of the lucky ones and I have God, SGH and caring men like Eric Richardson and the late Ken mcHolm and many others to thank.
10. David Rossouw | November 7, 2007 at 4:41 pm

Well,well,well…..Wendy Thompson. How the heck are you. Good to hear about you, albeit in response to anon’s letter of trauma experienced. I guess we all have war stories to tell.

We went to varsity together, I recall taking you to some do on campus during your O-week. Incidentally, I thought you were very beautiful, but, being the village nerd, did not pluck up the courage to take ask you out.

Blane van Pletzen, Crawford House, ja I remember your family and iIf I recall correctly, you were a blondie and had a cute sister and a very beautiful mom. Are they still alive???

I’ll get back on another occasion w.r.t a full comment on the website. Ja, it was tough at “The Orphs” , but, the life lessons learnt wer invaluable.

I’m Principal of a school in Randburg and was formerly a lecturer at Wits where I specialised in Teacher Training. My key mentors at St Georges were Mackie and The Beek (Richardson) who, despite many negatives at the home, were steadfast charachters.

I’m at principal@ssb.za.net if anyone wants to catch up. Will give a better response to anon and share properly at a later date.

Wendy, would love to make contact again. I had dealings with Geoff Bills (also passed on and his wife Jean) daughetr when she was secretary at my son’s Nursery school (He’s now 20). I think you guys were at school together.

Mackie always used to preek on about us being future fathers and husbands – good ones – I took that message to heart.
11. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | November 7, 2007 at 9:34 pm

Hello David
It’s good to hear from you. Will email you at your address. Thanks for posting
Regards
Wendy
12. Linda Mac Millan (van Pletzen) | November 8, 2007 at 12:44 pm

Good to hear the comments of all. I was very young when at St. Georges (8 -10)
Blane and I visited there in June 2007 – it is now Bishop Bavins and many meories cam flooding back. There I learned to ride horses, smoke cigarettes, swear and to stand up for myself. I remeber many faces – names – Quintan Taljaard, Marcel, the Thompson twins – Ralph and Ronald. Carry On movies in the hall. The early morning bugle. That was many many years ago ……
13. david | November 23, 2007 at 3:03 am

well now, a double edged sword, a home that had such good to it, yet had darkened halls and shadows, boys and masters alike. i was in simpson house and later at crawford, there i played hide and seek at the back of simpson, jumping off the store room roof onto old mattresses. built a fort and found a box of light photo sensitive paper and made shapes on it for hours on end, played soccer, rode horses, made candles, sang in the choir, participated in the swimming gala, diving competions and so forth, Ouch Mr Carr had the meanest cane around and we all agreed that he could at best give the worst canning ever, yet he was gentle, yet he was careing, did the most beautifull wood carvings and what i remember best about him was lights out, taking time to say good night to all the boys, saterdays we would sign out 50cents and if you were rich one rand from the book and running to the corner cafe for nickerballs, chips and coke. The school was strict i admit, heads inspection the worst, brushing window sills and panes with a tooth brush, ha ha coming from school and getting hot slap chips and a small carton of milk for lunch. but there was a darker side, older boys forcing there way onto younger boys for sex when the lights went out, let me leave it there………………….we all have stories good and bad, what i can say about it all is that i suppose i am better man from all of the experiences even tho scared by the bad ones,

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14. Anon | November 24, 2007 at 9:22 am

There once was a mine dump alongside the playing fields, just beyond the wild area that still exists today. The dump was quite substantial, about 30 metres high, comprising the soft yellow sand so typical of a gold mine dump. Of course it was out-of-bounds to the boys but that did not prevent us regularly playing there. We often jumped from its summit and the fine sand cushioned our falls. Rolling down the steep inclines was always a pleasure and countless hours of fun were dissipated aboard this relic of bygone days.

Over the years and around its base, smaller piles of sand had accumulated as a result of wind action. Most of these were small but some were large enough to hind behind for whatever nefarious reasons that might spring into the minds of boys. It might be a wank, quickly and surreptitiously undertaken, the little dump acting as a curtain against prying eyes. Or it could be a leisurely crap, slowly and thoughtfully enjoyed. A dump behind a dump, so to speak.

Joss and I were walking around the base of the major dump and passing through the maze of smaller ones when we heard a noise just beyond a pile of sand, too tall for us to see over. It was at the time of Guy Fawkes. Joss carried a whopper of a fire-cracker and we were looking for the best way to maximize the destructive power of the explosion we knew would ensue once the fuse was lit. The year was the mid early 60’s, about 1963 I would say, when Health and Safety still had decades before it would see the light of day. The firework we possessed was akin to a stick of dynamite with the potential to shift the entire mine dump across Joburg, several kilometers away. These were commonly sold to us across shop counters provided we had the dosh to pay for them.

Joss and I looked at each other when we heard the noise. We detected the distinct sound of somebody straining whilst in the throes of a crap and we quickly climbed the small hill, the sound of our bare feet utterly silenced in the soft sand. Two pairs of eyes peered over the summit. There we beheld Walter, his shorts a small distance away, his back to us and beneath his naked rump, an accruing pile of soft brown dung. Joss and I looked at each other instantly reading the other’s thoughts. I quickly lit the cracker and Joss rolled it down the incline towards the unsuspecting Wally. Unbelievably, it nestled against the growing pile of brown stuff and still Wally was unaware. I could barely contain my mirth and I could see Joss turning purple as he also gulped down his laughter. We knew the ferocity of the beast we had released and knew too that when it exploded not much of Wally’s poo would be left. As likely as not we might be covered in it so we ducked our heads and waited for what seemed an eternity.

BOOM!! We looked at each other thinking we had killed Walter because not a sound could be heard from the other side. Slowly we looked over the summit and this time Walter was standing fully erect, his face purple with rage. “You f___ b___s!!” was all he could say. Not one scrap of his efforts remained. It was if a shovel had collected it and flung it to the winds as a fine spray. Other than a dent in his dignity and a really red bum (which was clearly evident to both Joss and me), Walter suffered no other injuries.

Joss and I lay on our backs in the soft sand and laughed so much we could hardly breathe, tears running down our cheeks. My very best mate, Joss, laughing with me in the sand.
A few years later, around 1966, two non-St Georges boys were playing on the dump. They were running along the top and jumping off the steepest edge, landing safely in the fine sand below. Just as we did. Suddenly the pinnacle collapsed and covered their bodies. They were both suffocated. Later, rumours circulated that the distraught mother had desperately tried to replace her missing sons by asking Father Richardson if she could adopt two boys from the Home.

Before then, the dump was out-of-bounds. Now it was strictly out-of-bounds. We needed no further warning and only foolhardy boys risked playing on the dump. Later it was covered with a top-cover soil, grass planted and a reservoir of sorts built into it. I see today that it has been completely removed. Methinks the gold content, locked within the fine yellow sand, was the reason why.
15. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | December 4, 2007 at 4:46 pm

Hi anon
You have a lovely turn of phrase. I can just picture the scene. I remember the dump and the rather overgrown area in that region – below the Old Boys’ field as it was known.
16. john rossouw | December 7, 2007 at 6:44 pm

I am in the process of photographing all the archives of St Georges home and editing the book on it’s history written by George Adams If anyone is interested they can contact me on johnros@iafrica.com
I echo the sentiments of my brothers above that the home was a good place despite everything and I certainly reflect through the archives what a unique and special meaning it has in my life
17. Blane | December 7, 2007 at 11:17 pm

Hello John:

This is good news. When I was last at St. Georges this last Summer, I had asked after memorabilia and history. No one at Bishop Bavins seemed to know of any such thing. One lady remembered that there had been a room devoted to St. George’s history but thought that it had been packed up and moved.

Where are the archives? Can you share a little more of what you are finding there?

I am so interested in what you are finding.

Thanks for doing this.
18. david | December 11, 2007 at 1:04 am

i was in st georges from 1980 to 1989. started off in beaton house and ended up in smuts house,
many fond memories
19. john rossouw | December 11, 2007 at 5:01 pm

Greetings Blane
You may recall you, your sister and I were close friends during your stay at the home
The closure of St Georges in 91 to make way for Bishop Bavin school was at the time a highly contentious issue which is well documented in George Adam’s book
All memorabila was moved into a museum (the old boat shed between Taylor House and the workshop)
Barry Lodge headmaster at the time was so enraged with the old boys that he threw all memorabia onto the rubbish dump
Fortunately someone retrieved most of it and I have been able to potpgraph all the trophies and photographs that remain but a great deal has unfortunately been lost
The relationship between the home and the school remains delicate but we have managed to find place in the chapel for a great number of items and are progressing well in getting other items placed in appropriate places throughout the school
The task is ardeous and time consuming but I am targeting to complete same early in the new year with completion of the book by St Georges day in April
The old boys field below the soccor field made way for a retirement village in 88 which today helps to fund what remains of the home from proceeds of residential unit sales and I serve on the board of directors of the village as my contribution to the ongoing work of St Georges
If you let me have an email address I will forward you some photos for your website

Regards

John
20. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | December 12, 2007 at 1:28 am

Hi John
Thanks for sharing that info. There is so much history vested in those records – and so much of people’s lives – that it’s good to know that you have been able to work on preserving what is left. I look forward to the completion of the book in the new year.
Regards
Wendy
21. john rossouw | December 14, 2007 at 1:17 pm

Greetings Wendy

Please give my best regards to both Steve and Nick assuming they remember me (Nick if I recall was in the choir wth us)
I am also keen to receive any contact details for Norman Clayton in the UK as I wrote to him last year but did not get any reply
Dave tells me you married our old school friend Kevin Jones so it is a small world after all
R your folks still alive and if so what are they doing
Also how is your sister
I seem to recall she was a teacher when we knew her at the home
I visited with Eric Richardson last night to avoid sitting in traffic on the way home and we shared a drink and a chat for an hour or so (who would have thought as a boy of 8 that I would one day do that)
Afterwards I washed the glasses and jokingly asked him if I had passed inspection
He is in excellent spirits despite his age of 95 but his eyesight and hearing are deteriorating
His state of mind and memory are however excellent and I printed a special copy of the book in large font for him to proof read which I refer to as “his homework” and use my visists as a means of checking to see if he is doing his “prep”
Whilst it is taking time he is relishing in the task and has aded some vital insight and annecdotes to the project
His daughter Deborah is comming out from NZ in December and their whole family will be together for Christmas
He also gave me the contact details for David Laughton who was a one time housemaster of the home in the 60’s and 70’s
on a relief basis flitting between Simpson, Beaton. Taylor, Smuts and Crawford houses
We used to always refer to him as Tubby as he was rather plump
Nevertheless he was an excellent football coach and despite his portlyness could move around a football field with the best of players the home could muster at the time
I phoned Dave last night but he does not seem to remember much but I have promissed to meet with him when my brother Mike visits in December from the Phillipines
He did however remember my late brother Des as well as our mom and was very sad in hearing of their passing
I have had an email from Linda and will make an effort to meet with her in the new year
In the meantime my best wishes to all of you for a peacefull Christmas and new year

Regards

John

Regards

j
22. Wendy Thompson | December 14, 2007 at 5:44 pm

Hi John
It is indeed a small world. I will pass your regards on to Steve. He is in touch with Nick.

For ‘my sins’ my folks work for Kevin and I. We run a trading company and my dad takes his job very seriously as he supervises the loading of the trucks for us. My mom just sits in the office, types the odd letter and answers the phone. To use Kevin’s words – she sounds like Red Riding Hood’s granny – but it keeps her busy. Thanks for sharing about Eric Richardson. It’s good to know that he is still going strong. his son, Michael, is a doctor in Hillcrest which is very close to where we live and it is just like looking at a younger version of his father! amazing.

I still find it incredible that all the people you guys mention are so familiar. I have also made contact with Linda and hope to see her when she comes to visit family in Durban. Kevin and I, although it is more often Kevin than me, do come to Joburg and so, if that happens before David comes down to Comrades I would like to try and make a plan to see him. It ilil be good to catch up.

Thank you for your good wishes. May you have a peaceful Christmas and new year as well.

Regards
Wendy
23. Len Deacon | December 28, 2007 at 10:04 pm

I have just been looking through some of the comments in some of postings in this web log. Boy does it bring back memories.I was at the home during the 1970’s when many of the people you talk about run the show. like Father Richardson and Clayton and Mr Ken McHolm, men who were very focussed on what was right. I have learnt many a hard lesson from them. It has been a long time since then.

Well take care.
God bless you
Len.
24. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | January 3, 2008 at 11:41 pm

Hi Everyone
Hope that you all had a good festive season and that 2008 will be a good year for all of us.
Regards
Wendy
25. GAVIN SCHAFER | January 13, 2008 at 12:49 am

It would be great to hear from all the old home boys , we remember all the good times and the bad ( i suppose) BUT IT TAUGHT US THE VALUES OF LIFE. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN EX HOME BOY,THIS INCLUDES ALL MY BROTHERS; GARRY, DONALD, NOEL, WAYNE (who has passed away) we spent a long time in the home from 1970 to 1978, the housework and prep, well what can i say? CALL ME. hey LENARD DEACON AND WENDY THOMPSON!!!!! THESE NAMES BRING BACK MEMORIES . I wonder how ” HERBIE” is doing? my mom YVONNE SCHAFER remembers him well, and so do we.I did my last years years as headboy of smuts house and drum major of the band, taking over and tought by JOHN ROUSSOUW. my patrol leader in dorm 3 in smuts house was DAVID ROUSSOW and my geography teacher at Malvern high was of course MICHEAL ROUSSOUW.I have told you who i am now all you HOME BOYS give me a call !!
26. Wendy Thompson | January 13, 2008 at 8:13 pm

Hello Gavin
Great to hear from you – although I am not one of the ‘boys’.
Regards
Wendy
27. john rossouw | January 17, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Hi Gavin / Len

Good to hear from you both

Please pass my regards to you brothers and mom
I last saw Gary in the late 90’s when he called on my old company as a rep
Len I assume it’s you who is involved with Bankmed as I often see documnentation with your name and phot when I consult at Absa

Regards

John
28. Blane | January 18, 2008 at 1:14 am

Just had word from Wendy that Fthr. Norman Clayton has passed away. Any information about his life — and death — would be most welcome.
29. john rossouw | January 18, 2008 at 5:55 pm

Hi Blane this is indeed sad news as the only surviving core member of the home is now Fr Richardson
Michael was out for Christmas and he Dave and I attended the baptism of Fr Richardson’s geat grandaughter which he officiated
It was a special service for us as his entire family was present from all over the world including his daughter Deborah from New Zealand and her husband, son and daughter
His son Michael was ever the proud grandfather and we recalled many fond memories of our lives togetehr at the home in our short time toggether
As regards Fr Clayton he arrived at the home shortly after Fr Richardson in the early sixties bringng with him a staunch entrenchment of Anglican faith and tradition
My memories of him are that he was an outright perfectionst
Choir practice always used to run late and the Saturday evening film had to be held up until he was satisfied that we were up to scratch for the next day’s service
He even used to force us to have hymn paractice on Friday evenings to ensure the standard of hymn singing was worthy of the worship he sought to instill in us
Despite his traditional ways he was very modern in his enjoyment of popular music of the day and he soon acquired the nick name of Bee Bop which stuck with him throughut his years at the home
He drove a mercedes benz motor car which was always immaculately maintained and he lived in the flat above the bell tower
Fr Clayton was also a keen caravanist and he toured many parts of the country with a number of boys
His tenure at the home brought a multitude of experiences and opportunities previously not available to the boys and in the late sixties we were able to listen to Radio St George, a closed network he set up which tranmitted radio and music programmes throughout all the houses. He was very involved with hi fi technical developments having had a background as a radio controller in the war and he was constantly asked to test the latest audio equipment on the market for which he wrote reviews for prominent global publications
His landmarks at the home were many and those which come to mind are
The choir
The renovation of the chapel
Radio St George where many of the boys were taught recording and broadcasting skills by him
The Communicants – a religious pop group comprising my brothers Michael and Desmond and Tom Stevens (a volunteer from the UK much the same as Steve Towse and Nick Young) – later joined by Dennis Randall
They wrote their own passion play for easter and a nativity play for Christmas which they performed at numerous churches around the country
Bee Bop also managed to use his then influence with the SABC to have them play on the English service radio but the fuddie duddies at the time felt that pop music had no place in the traditional church and their recordings were bannned (Thank goodness the world has progressed since then)
Photogrophy – the work of the boys at the home received both local and international acclaim and whilst sorting through the archives of the home I came across the David van der Berg photo etitled “Our Father ” which won a top international salon award
Other prominent photogrophers were his brother Raymond and Craig Cooper amongst others
Other interests which he initiated were radio drama and music appreciation where we all lay around in his flat on Sunday evenings listening to classical music
Another landmark was an award winning short film entitled “The Cuckoo’s Nest which was a story about St Georges Home and the work it was doing in the community which was released in 1969
Under his influence the home choir was the first to appear on SABC television and I achieved instant celebrity status amongst my friends at school when they saw me on the tube in 1975 and 76
His sister Laura was also a strong supporter of the home and it’s boys and I remeber being spoilt on many occasion by her
together with my co choristers in the choir
On leaving the home in 1977 to take up a PR position the Anglacan church in the UK he was awarded the Honours Tie and I received his address in 2005 from a letter of condolence he wrote to Ken Mc Holm and the family following the death of Ken’s wife Audrey

I wrote to him sortly thereafter as I was anxious to share with him news of my family and to ask him if he still had coppies of the recordings of the Communicatns as I was looking for one as a momento following the death of our brother Desmond
I never heard from him so I am not sure if he received the letter

Those of us who knew him will have our own memories
He was never considered to be an easy person but his work at the home was very special and unique and in his own way he certainly made a life long lasting impression on the character of myself and my brothers as well as many other boys

His passing closes yet another chapter of the unique story which is St Georges and on behalf of my brothers I extend our sincere and deepest condolences to his family and friends
May he rest in peace
30. Blane | January 18, 2008 at 11:15 pm

Thank you, John, for this rich memory of Fr. Clayton. What a remarkable man, and what an impact on your life.
31. Brian Gannon | January 19, 2008 at 10:54 am

This week I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Canon Eric Richardson who was brought on a short holiday to Cape Town by his daughter Debbie who was visiting South Africa from New Zealand. Eric recently turned 95 years old, so it was a pleasant surprise to find him looking and sounding the same as ever. We communicate by e-mail, but I haven’t been to Johannesburg for more then thirty years so I hadn’t seen him for all that time.

All who knew him will be pleased to hear that he is living very much in the present tense! We talked about our families, books we were reading, politics … the usual conversation topics. Then we discussed some issues around the church in the modern context and he was both animated and up-to-date in his views.

It was a great visit. We “go back a long way” and next year it will be fifty years since he invited me to work with him at St George’s Home.

Warm greetings to all St George’s people who visit this this blog.
BG
32. john rossouw | January 21, 2008 at 7:35 pm

Greetings Brian

You may have heard from Fr Eric that I am involved in editing George Adam’s book on the history of the home
Also together with my brother David I am photographing all the remaining archives of the home (You would be interested to know there exists a copy of the staff photo from the 60’s which has you in it)
Fr Eric suggested I contact you once the exercise is complete
to talk about it’s publcation but alas their will be a limited readership who would be interested but at least their will be some archive evidence of the home’s existence and the outstanding work done by so many incredible people over the years
You may recall our RSCM choir school in 1976 held at the home under your direction and I have only just realised that I am in the 1970 photograph of the choir taken by Fr Clayton (3 rd in back row)
My brother Michael visited over Christmas from the Phillipines and you will be pleased to hear he is relatively well
I understand that he is in touch with you from time to time via email
I am also involved with St Georges Village on the board which is built below the football fields and one of my fellow directors is David Butcher with whom you were invloved in setting up St Nicholas Home together with Derick James
Plz can you let me have your contact details so that I can keep in touch
You can send same to me at johnros@iafrica.com

Regards

John
33. Michael Anthony Rossouw (1961-1967) | January 22, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Dear Friends
Can anyone from the UK find the obituary for Fr Norman James Clayton AKC.
I am anxious to contact his sister/s (Laura?) assuming she is still alive.

Norman always said she was an example of a living “saint” (indeed she was, having to put up with the many demnds he and others made on her time and expertise.)

Laura was the secretary to the late Dean of Jhb, the very rev’d Gonville Aubey fFench- Beytach, CR who was deported from South Africa after a sham of a treason trial in the 1970’s!

As my brother John has said in his “blogg” on Bee Bop’s work and ministry in the Home , Norman was not sombody everyone could get along with.

He, NJC, also ministered in the UK and in Rhodesia , now Zimbabwe , prior to working as the first chaplain to St George’s…( I wonder what NJC would have felt about Mugabe’s mismanagement of Zimbabwe ! Talk about Zimbabwe ruins, Mugabe has managed to absolutely and totally wreck what was once beautiful and thriving country, the jewel of Africa as it was called prior to its independence!)
Yes the Bush War and t sanctions had taken its tool on everyone, citizen and “freedom fighter alike, but boy he has really mnaged to mess up the country completely. where else in the world does one find a 25 000 00 0 dollar bill?

I was able to agree to disagree with Norman on many subjects on many an occassion; Art, film , music and even Theology and doctrine . At one particular time we disagreed on something in one of our discussions, which resulted in my being “gated” one going out Sunday (in my Matric year nogal!)
I was made to read C.S Lewis’s “Screwtape Letters”. This was one punishment which I actually enjoyed as I learnt a lot about this Oxford Don’s incredible spirituality.

Norman (and Eric Richardson) prepared me for Confirmation in Dec 1962. EHR completed the very thorough course Norman designed , as Bee Bop was in hospital for a major stomach op.at the time in th old Jhb Gen Hospital… I remember visiting him there then; many thought he would not recover from such an ordeal but BeeBop DID recover remarkably and went on to serve the home as its chaplain for another 12 years or so after that ordeal.

Please , if anyone cn help m e to write to hi s surviving family , I’d appreciate it.

I was shocked to hear of his death . My brothers and I have been trying to get hold of him, particularly t o get copies of the taped music Tom Stephens and I wrote as members of the group “The Communicants” in 1966 and ‘67.

Knowing the circumstances and cause of his death will give me ( and I’m sure many others who knew him) a sense of “closure’ on his life and what he meant to many of us who knew him.

His life was one of boundless energy and he was a real perfectionist.

Not many who knew him understod him ,but his influnce on my life has been substantial to say the least, especially in my growth in the Faith.

I pray that he will Rest in Peace.

Blessings to you all from the Philippines.

Dn Michael Rossouw
(Brent International School, Subic Bay Campus, Philippines)

PS Speaking of hospitals…anyone remember the Army medicals at the old Drill hall?…

“Hoes?” (Cough) said the Army Doctor
‘Mine’ I replied
” You trying to be funny , hey!” he retorted
“No Doc” i said sheepishly in my nakedness amongst the other 10 000 or so recruits in that dreaded place.
“Does it hurt?”said the Doc
“No ! Only when I laugh! ” I replied.

Needless to say the Army Medico, like Queen Victoria , was not amused.

Pronounced “fit for duty” I spent the next 10 years doing weekend camps and call up duties in the old Commandos. No wonder I stayed in the Band! At least there I didn’t have to kill anyone! But that’s another story for another day.
34. Michael Anthony Rossouw (1961-1967) | January 22, 2008 at 1:07 pm

Sorry Blane,
I know the picture taken in 1971.
I’d left the home by then but I think my brother John is the guy third from the left in the back row on the “cantoris’”side of the chancel.
Perhaps John knows the guys. Some may not have been choirboys at the time as many were chosen for their “cherubic” faces when pics were taken.
All in the name of PR and much fund-raising at the time !
I recognise some faces but am unable to put names to them. The one taken in the 1960’s would be one i could help you with. I’l try to trace it in my memorabilia.
Will try to upload a picture for yu soon
Michael
35. john rossouw | January 22, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Looking at the photo the names escape me almost entirely although I suspect the 1 st person in the back row is William Wilson and the last person is Richard Rheeder but I may be mistaken

Regards

John
36. GAVIN SCHAFER | January 26, 2008 at 7:57 pm

NO WONDER I HAVE NOT RECEIVED MAIL? I THINK I GAVE THE WRONG EMAIL ADDRESS. THE ABOVE ONE IS CORRECT. THANKX ONE AND ALL. gavinsc@cmh.coza
37. Michael Rossouw | February 2, 2008 at 7:42 pm

ANYONE HAVE ANY NEWS ON FR NORMAN CLAYTON?
I THOUGHT THAT IT’S ONLY IN TV SERIES LIKE “DALLAS” (now I’m really dating myself!) WHERE THE DEAD COME TO LIFE.
PLEASE LETS HEAR WHAT THE SITUATION IS. I HAVE BEEN GRIEVING HIS PASSING FOR THREE WEEKS NOW ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT NJC IS ALIVE AND WELL!!
SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED BUT THE NEWS I GOT ON MY LAST VISIT TO THE OLD COUNTRY WAS THAT HE HAD INDEED PASSED ON.
Keep in touch

Michael Rossouw
38. John O’Neill | February 2, 2008 at 10:03 pm

Sorry for not posting this information a bit earlier, but I have had a pretty busy weekend. On Thursday evening I had an hour long phone conversation with Norman Clayton. He is still alive and living in a seaside town on the Yorkshire coast. For a man of his age, he is now 84, he is lucid and although his memory isn’t quite as sharp as he would like it, he did recognise many names who have posted on Blanes’ blog. He asked me about other people, who I can barely remember myself, as I was last in St.G’s in 1974. I wasn’t into photography, choir or classical music, so I was quite amazed that he actually knew who I was!

Hopefully, if I can re-arrange some of my plans for February, I will go and see him. He stays about 200 miles from me. John Rossouw, he still has the music you are looking for. He did get the letter you wrote to him, but he said he finds writing a chore now. He also has a lot of photos which I think you would be interested in. When I go to see him, I will try to get copies of the photos and see if I can get the music you want copied from reel to reel tapes onto CD.

It did take me a bit of time to track Norman down, but I think it has been worth the effort. Not only was it worth the effort, but he was delighted that so many people were thinking of him. I stumbled across Blanes’ blog totally by accident and have enjoyed reading the posts. I doubt very much if I would have posted on the blog, if it hadn’t been for Michael looking for a copy of Fr Claytons obituary!

I have sent Blane a copy of a photo from the early ’70’s. It is the St.Georges u/14b team. I’ll ask him to post it and we’ll see how many names we can come up with. I know about 7, but can’t remember the rest.

On the Christmas Greetings photo of the choir, I think the person second from left in the back row is Craig Cooper, but it’s just a guess.

If anyone would like to email me, or ask any questions I can be contacted at sgh198@ntlworld.com

I was in Crawford House and my two housemasters were, George van Pletzen and Dave ‘Tubby’ Laughton.

John
39. Blane | February 2, 2008 at 11:04 pm

Thank you, John for taking such extraordinary effort to find and “resurrect” Fr. Norman Clayton. Many have been praying for the repose of his soul these last three weeks! Look forward to hearing more of your story and memories of that grand and sometimes fearful place we call “Saint George’s Home for Boys.”
40. Wayne De Jager | February 2, 2008 at 11:54 pm

My father and his siblings attended St. Georges in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Two of them, Albert and Fred did stints as house masters (I think Gerald also was a house master for a year). I’m not sure how long Albert was house master at Tailor House, but I remember him being there for many years. Fred was house master of Simpson House for about two years. I lived with him at the time, and so I spent two years at St. Georges myself. I sang in the choir (occasionally appearing on TV, and also recording the Rhodesian National Anthem at EMI records as the lead soprano). I also played soccer for the under 14’s and under 16’s. This was in the late 70’s. I attended Jeppe Boys High at the time.

The five De Jager (Dave, Lesley, Gerald, Albert, Fred, and Desmond (who was killed in motorcycle accident when he was 21)) brothers all passed through the home, and are now in their late 50’s and early 60’s. They all built wonderful families, (I have 16 cousins), and have had successful lives. I believe they all have positive memories of the Home, and I wonder if they would have turned out that well if it weren’t for the home. Although my grandmother hated leaving her boys there, the Home helped our family significantly. It still amazes me how these brothers all turned out so well. Albert got married to Patricia at the St. Georges chapel, and our family photographs are scattered with many photographs taken over the years at St. Georges.

Another family who passed through the Home are the Crawford brothers (Howard, Ian, Andrew (now deceased), whom Uncle Fred and I still remain friends with. A bunch of tall blokes, those guys are!

I fondly remember trips to Port Shepstone for the holidays, all my friends at Simpson house (Peter, Trevor), the romping and mischief we used to get up to.
41. Michael Rossouw | February 3, 2008 at 6:53 am

Dear Wayne
Great to here your news.
The DeJager family, like the Rossouws, Joneses, Grisselles, Wentworths , Bloomfields, Schaeffers, and many many more also come to mind as you write.They all left their mark on the Home in one way or another.
I’d like to hook up with Albert and Patrica…Pat and I wrote matric the same year 1967. She was at the old Belgravia Convent which became the Belgravia commercial high school and I was at Malvern. Albert was then trying to “court” Pat as she was quite beautiful. Needless to say, Bert Gibson, my housemaster at Taylor house and a man who in his simple caring way was a good fatherly figure to us, kept his daughters sheltered from the the boys of the home.(As any watchful father would do!)
I remember too Mrs Gibson . She and I worked together at the Cahmber of Mines many years ago. She may well have passed on… a lovely woman who shared her husband’s work and had a very soft spot for many of us little urchins.
Bert’s ashes are laid to rest in the Garden of remembrance at the chapel crypt near the Haggert Building, next to be the Choir vestry and the bandroom, a place where I spent much time in my time at StGeorges.
Albert was senior student officer and home prefect. He gave many good years of service back to the home as a master in Taylor house, although he was an old boy of Spackman House
He made a career in retailing I believe after leaving SGH as a master and we lost touch. He was also an NCO in the Grahamstown Rifles.
Uncle Freddy and I were in the band as tenor and bass drummers… he may have been a buglar but I cant remember. Uncle Gerald was a bugler who often played all the bugle calls which ruled our lives in the home calling us to meals, waking us uo in the morning, last post and retreat at camp….etc
It would be good to catch uo with Pat and Albert. Please give them my fondest regards.
I am a school chaplain now very far from home in the Philippines..
Thanks for checking in…isn’t the net a wonderful tool to use…
I wonder how we managed when we used to write letters and wait for months to hear anything from anyone…
Blessings to you all
Deacon Michael Rossouw(SGH 1961-1967)
42. john rossouw | February 3, 2008 at 3:57 pm

Greetings Tich and Wayne and all other Home Boys and girls and online travellers
It is indeed great news to hear Bee Bop is still allive and well and that he recalls much of his life at the home
John when you visit with him please pass on my regards and best wishes
Please convey to him also our appreciation for all he did for us as boys in the home
Fr Clayton took many photographs of the boys whilst at the home and he was meticulous in detailing names on the back etc so John if you are able to get some from him it would be great as I am trying to put together a pictorial history of the home from all the archive photo’s I have managed to wade through
Also if you are able to get a copy of the Communicants music it would be a wonderful gift to share amongst those interested in listening to it
In particular the passion play and nativity play were incredible pieces of work
some words of one of my personal favourites goes
“I love crazy music
and I love rock n dance
I love going out with dolls
and I love holding hands
I also love my God with me
It may seem odd to you
Yes God can join in all our fun
Yes girls and dancing too

Every time you look at us
You’l probably thing were odd
But nevertheless I tell you
That we are the sons of God etc”

Yes Wayne I remeber both Freddie and Albert very well
Albert and Patricia were my houseparents in Taylor House and I remember baby sitting your couzins Rickie and Tracie as toddlers
I seem to recall your mom’s name was Ethnie or Enid and her her family had a connection with Johannesburg childrens home in Observatory
I also remeber the death of your uncle in 72 and Albert had a photo of him walking his dog (a black labrador) on the beach in Cape Town hanging in his office
Freddie’s cell number was on my brothers phone and I tried to call him when Dessy died but the number was unfortunately no longer valid so please let him know of Dessy’s passing in 2005
One of the photo’s which they will all be interested is the swimming team of Spackman House in the mid sixties which has most the brothers in it
They were all incredible swimmers and Albert trained me to win all my breastroke races at the home in 75 and 76
Freddie also won the Victor Ludorum a number of times and I have photographed all the names on the trophy over the years
He was also an incredible backstroke swimmer and I stand to be corrected but a number of his records were still standing when the home closed
Anyway it’s great to have this online community and I would encourage as many boys and girls as possible who have the technology and know how to use it to share their stories and memories

Regards and blessings to you all

John
43. Len Deacon | February 3, 2008 at 10:10 pm

Hi Gavin, John, Wendy and other friends.
It is so interesting to read all the blogs. John by the way yes I am the same Leonard that is employed at Bankmed. Small world when you really think about it.
Does any one have Father Richardson,s address in Cape Town. i Would love to visit him. I too live in the Cape. He meant a lot to me when I was really confussed about life and why I was at St Georges. If this information is confidential here is my e-mail len.deacon@worldonline.co.za.
well God bless you all.
Len.
44. john rossouw | February 4, 2008 at 3:39 pm

Gretings Len

Father Richardson lives in Joburg in Braynston village Homestead Ave diagonally opposite Sandton Medi Clinic (unit 48)
His number is listed in the directory but you need to keep calling as even at 95 he is still very active in his ministry in the village and the wider Bryanston Anglican community
My approach is to pop in late afternoon / earrly evening to avoid the traffic and we sometimes have a drink together whilst we chat (he still enjoys a good glass of brandy)
I am sure he would be very glad to hear from any old boys as he always relishes my all too infrequent visits
His daughter emigrated to New Zealand a few years back (previously ex Cape Town) and the Cape reference is to her taking him on holiday there on the family’s recent visit to SA
If you ever happen to be at a meeting at the hospitl in your line of work then perhaps you could look him up
Incidientally Len, my brother in law is Dr Stefaan Bouwer from the ENT society and in addition to his medical practice he has extensive deallings with the medical aid industry in terms of tarrif negotiations etc so you may well have come across him

Blane please let me know what I need to do to upload photo’s to the blog

Whilst I have hundreds and am still to complete the archive exercise at the end of Feb I will be selective in terms of only posting ones relative to correspondents on the site

Regards

John
45. Steve Towse | February 5, 2008 at 1:48 am

Hello!
I was PT volunteer- already mentioned above.1976-1978, initially with Bob Richardson in Beaton then with Herbie Thompson in Simpson.
Fr clayton is alive and well and living in a retirement home here in Uk. I am writing to him today, having only got his address myself yesterday.
Please feel free to contact me

steve.to@hotmail.co.uk
46. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | February 5, 2008 at 2:06 am

Hi Steve
You need to leave your address . Thanks for writing in. Do you think you could remember what year the pics were taken? It would be interesting to see if anyone recognises any of the faces.
Thanks
Wendy
47. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | February 5, 2008 at 2:09 am

Hi everyone
Thanks for posting all your news. It’s really good to hear what everyone has been up to.
Regards
Wendy
48. john rossouw | February 5, 2008 at 5:44 pm

Hi Wendy / Steve

I suspect the photo’s were taken in 1975/6 which was my last year at the home as I recognise some of the faces (unfortunately not any names)
Strange to see a youthfull looking Peter Nicholls and Joan Harpur in the Spackman house photo and Bob (dekkie) Richardson(we used to call him that as he was like a detective always spying on us to see what we were up to)
I last saw Peter at Ken Mc Holm’s memorial service in 2006 but he used to play the organ at Christ Church Mayfair where my mother worshiped so she did see him on a regualr basis
Joan came out when her sister Audrey Mc Holm passed away in 2005 and she was fortunate enough to spend time with Audrey whilst she was still lucid which was a very special time for her
When we chatted at the “Old Boy’s” 75th anniversary luncheon she still joked about the meagre pension she still receives from the home for all her years work there
By way of trivia Ken met Audrey at Joan’s wedding as at the time Joan’s late husband was a housemaster at the home as were Ken’s parents
They fell in love and she joined him in his work dedicating her liife towards the caring work of loking after the boys
Ken in fact was studying medicine at Wits at the time and he gave up being a doctor in preference to a true calling inchild care
Joan’s son Robert was also the first baby to be born at St Georges so it should be no surprise why the family have such an affinity to towards the home and why she returned in the seventies to take up a role as housemother in Spackman house
Great to have your email address Steve
I will try and drop you a line soon as it would be great to catch up for a chat much the same as we used to do all those years ago

Regards

John
49. john rossouw | February 5, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Having had another look at the U 14 football photo I seem to think the goalkeeper in the middle of the back row is Sydney Burrow
By way of update Gary Hand emigrated to Australia in 1974 to reunite with his mother and Tony Girout is a plumber by profession but currently is a pastor running a chuch in the Southen Suburbds last I heard
50. Steve Towse | February 6, 2008 at 2:12 am

Just checking the photographs,Umtentwini photo’s were in mid 1977, Heather and the Simpson House boys(who had nowhere to go on a Sunday!)was taken in early 1978.

Dear Wayne,
I was in Simpson when Freddie became housemaster. He was a very kind man and I have positive memories of him.
About twenty years ago,here in Chesterfield UK, I met a SA man called Luke Olivier who was an ex home boy, we met via our children both attending the same pre-school centre. Anyway when we were looking at some of my photographs of St George’s he suddenly exclaimed that he recognised Albert for some reason,had a think and then said,O Yes he married my sister Pat!!.
I don’t have contact for Luke now but could try and locate him. Pllease pass on my regards to Albert and Freddie, it would be good to hear from them,
steve.
51. Michael Rossouw | February 17, 2008 at 8:29 am

Dear Friends
‘Just to let you all know that I chatted to Fr Norman last week. He is indeed very much alive and we spoke for about an hour.
He kind of implied that he is a bit of a loner and that he no longer has any surviving relatives. I assured him that he had many…in the form of the many boys who knew him as their spiritual father and caring friend.
I’ve not spoken to or seen Fr Norman since he left South Africa so it was good to hear him.
I shall be attending the Episcopal Church in the Philippines Convention (Synod) in Manila next week . it wiil be interesting to see what the mind of the church is at this time, particularly with all the devisive issiues facing the Worldwide Anglican Communion right now.
I guess we all have to be faithful to God wherever we are and listen to that “still small voice…”
One of NJC’s favorite hymns is:
“God is working His purpose out as year succeeds to year. God is working His purpose out ane the time is drawing near. Nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be
When the Earth shall be filled with the Glory of God as the waters cover the sea…”(Hymns A&M 271)
In all of life’s trails we need to remember that God is in control.
It was really great to hear Beebop speak, as eloquently and as sharp as ever.
I asked him if he still says a daily mass..he says he does but not every day. ” in a home for retired clergy, the eldest of which is an archdeacon of 101, he says there are many of us and I leave it to the younger ones.
I for one am very thankful for his witness and influence on my life and spiritual growth.

Blessings to you all

Deacon Michael Rossouw, Subic bay,Philippines.
52. michelle | February 19, 2008 at 9:45 am

I wonder does anyone recall someone called Alec Reckas
53. Wayne De Jager | February 22, 2008 at 8:52 am

Dear John and Steve,

I am moved by your recollection of my family’s history, including the reference to Ethne and her Mom, who was a senior member of the JHB Children’s Home. Her surname was Stafford, and we still call her Staffie. She is now retired and doing well. She lives with Ethne in Edenvale/Bedfordview area, and I last saw her in 2006 at Lee’s wedding (Fred de Jager’s daughter).

Albert and Pat were divorced many years ago. Albert lives in Cape Town, and is a real estate professional. He and Pat got divorced many years (15, 20?) years ago. Their children now have kids of their own.

I remember Gerald (being tall) as a good swimmer. Fred, Gerald and Leslie are all semi-retired on a wonderful, huge property in Plettenberg Bay these days, and they all seem to be having fun.

Steve, you were at Simpson house when I was there. I wonder if we knew each other?

I can certainly put folks in touch with my family members. Send me an email directly at wayne@biomassive.com and we’ll make connections.
54. Wayne De Jager | February 22, 2008 at 8:53 am

corrected email address
55. john rossouw | February 25, 2008 at 6:28 pm

Dear all

I returned from a business trip to India and Bangladesh over the weekend to find a letter from Bee Bop Clayton
In it he enclosed a number of photographs he had taken over the years at the home including photo’s of the Communicants and my late brother Desmond
Included in the Package too was a cd of the first Evensong broadcast from the home chapel on SABC radio in 1975 and a copy of the first live broadcast of Radio St George from the tower studios on SABC radio in 1968
He ends by adding his personal greetings to all I was pleased to read in the letter that he still possesses his wry sense of humour
Wayne he did ask about Albert de Jager in the letter so if you do have an address please let me have it so I can touch base and forward his details on to Fr Clayton

I am sure Albert would be very interested in a copy of the evensong broadcast as both his and my voices are very distinct on the recording as we sang bass in the choir together at the time

I spent Sunday pawing through the SGH archives at COACH and came across copies of the photos Bee Bop had sent me which helps a great deal as many of them have names of the people on the back ans well as dates when they were taken (Wendy there is one of a staff meeting with a youthfull looking Herb and Marion at the head of the table)

I will spend the weekend of 17/18 March finalising the project but the plan is to complete the book as soon as possible thereafter

Thanks to Shirley Moulder the outgoing head of COACH we have managed to have all the old trophies displayed at Bishop Bavin School and once I have finished my exercise a number of key artifacts will be strategically placed at various places on the property

The plan is also to have a dedication service later in the year to offically recognise th SGH archives into Bishop Bavin school which we hope to have officated by the new Archbishop of Cape Town

Wayne I have the Spackman house swimming photo’s which I would like to send to you to pass on to your dad and uncles rso please let me have an address I can send them to

Kind regards as always

John
56. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | February 25, 2008 at 10:10 pm

thanks John for the news – It might be interesting to do a then and now because Herbie and Marion are obviously not youthful looking anymore:)
Regards
Wendy
57. Mike Dollmann | March 1, 2008 at 1:22 am

Hi there Mike,
I was at St Georges from 1966 to 1968 and was a resident of dorm 1, Taylor House for that time. I was in the cadet band with you and Des, and was wondering if by any chance you had any photos of the band over this period. I can clearly remember Father Clayton taking a few group photos, but for some reason these were never distributed to us. I was in Father Claytons photography group and did ask for copies but this also did not materialise.

If you or anyone else has such photos please let me know, as I would really like to get copies if possible. You can contact me mikedollmann@gmail.com
58. john rossouw | March 3, 2008 at 1:03 pm

Hi Mike there are defintely photos of the band during this period as well as from the potogtophy club
I am co ordinating these and hope to have them available in the next few weeks but will let you know when

Regards

John

Edit Comment
59. Mike Dollmann | March 3, 2008 at 7:13 pm

Thanks a lot John – that would be great.

Edit Comment
60. Gary | March 7, 2008 at 4:01 pm

Hi all,
It is so refreshing to find this site and speak to people who know what i had went through as a wee boy.I spent 2 years in nazarith house priror to going to St Georges, which still send shivers down my spine.I remember i spent most of them years being very frightened and lonely, it was definetly not a happy enviroment the disapline shown to very young boys was not love or effection “which was needed” it was pure brutality.Anon basicaly said it all in his touching comment,thanks anon.The one memory that does stand out, would be after the dinner if you were not dismissed you knew that a home boy or boys were going caned “jacked” but the frightening thing was nobody knew who it would be,i guess it was a good way to keep order in the house but it was extremly distubing.I had my fair share of beatings from both St geroges and Nazarith and to be honest it has made me into a much more loving and careing person with a very strong mind.
Thanks and
Take Care.
Gary
61. john rossouw | March 19, 2008 at 4:45 pm

Hi Michelle
Do yu know when Alec was at the home, which house he as in etc as I may be able to pick up something from the archives

Regards

John
62. john rossouw | March 19, 2008 at 4:54 pm

Hi Blane
I received an email from John Barret recently which I suspect he may have received my address from you He left the home in 1969
Unfortunately when I repied the mail bounced back address unknown
If you do have any contact details please can you forward them on to me
By way of update I met with George Adams a few weeks ago
He is well and is anxious to get the book on the home finalised
Bishop Bavin school have also met with him as they too now are seeking to get a greater understanding and deeper appreciatin of the heritage and legacy of our home which they have inherrited
This is a major step towards the reconcillation between the two institutions which is greatly needed
This weekend is easter so I close by wishing you all much inner peace during the celebration of the reserection of our lord and with fond yet distant memories of the easter services at the home

The last supper and washing of the feet on Maunday Thursday
The all night watch
The stations of the cross on Good Friday and
Midnight mass on Easter Sunday

Warm regards

John
63. Vanessa Hurlimann | March 20, 2008 at 2:56 pm

Looking for guys that were at the home from approx 1971-78:

Charles Wastie
Terrence Wilson
James Saunders

Well done for the most interesting blog!! Very informative; though heart wrenching too! Attended soccer games and a rare disco in the hall wayyyyyyy back then
64. Wendy Jones (Thompson) | March 21, 2008 at 12:57 am

Hi John and everyone else
Thank you for your Easter greetings. Those services certainly bring back many memories, particularly the all night watch. May I take this opportunity to wish all those of you who celebrate Easter a very blessed Easter.
65. John Rossouw | March 21, 2008 at 3:54 pm

Hi Vanessa
I remeber your three friends very well
They were initially in Simpson House and then I think Crawford
They all went to Marvern High
Unfortunately I have not heard news of them since the 80’s
I suspect I may have some photos of them from that time and if so will let you know
A general message to all who visit this blog
Please tell everyone connected with the home to visit it and post their news
Regards

John
66. Vanessa Hurlimann | March 21, 2008 at 10:47 pm

Many thanks – will mention the blog to interested parties
Regards
Vanessa
67. Danielle | March 24, 2008 at 2:51 pm

I attended Malvern High from 81 – 85 and knew a few SGH boys. I spent much of my time at the Home, having dated one of the ‘boys’, and have fond memories. I also remember Mr Giles, who was a Housemaster for a short time (he was my swimming coach in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in the 70’s). The names of the boys I can remember are:

Sean Lionel Swart
David and Stephen Kelly
Ronald Jenkins
Carlos da Silva
Tony Botha
John Ashburn “Scotty”

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the Old Boys’ stories. Thank you!
68. john rossouw | March 25, 2008 at 12:33 pm

Hi Danielle

I bumped into Carlos da Silva a few days ago
He owns and runs an Adega restaurant in Edenvale

Regards

John
69. Sean Swart | March 25, 2008 at 2:42 pm

Hi, I’m sean Swart I joined St Gearges in ‘78 to 1988 long stay and loved it. I joined the home after my gran psaaed away she used to run the kitchen “Molly Swart’ I joined Beaton house (number 30) and then Crawford house (number 173) became Senoir Studen Officer – only because Mr Macholm saw something that no one else saw including myself, I captain of every soccer side at the home, I did every thing there was to do from horse riding swiming running except the choir and I did all this , not because we had to “tabloids” and Macky down the back of you neck (It all started this way) I loved competing although I always came last at first, but then I ended up still to this day holding the 1500m record and won the Victor ledorum. Went to the army – as we all had to do did my basics at 1 Reconnaissance Reg. on the Bluff in Durban and served the rest of my time with the Pararbats in Angola, during all my lifes highs and lows I have NEVER forgotten St Georges, If it was’nt for Ken Mcholm, I dont know. Would not mind getting in contact with some Home boys, Although I do regulary speak to Ronald Jenkins, Shaun and Mark Shultz.
70. gary tobin | March 26, 2008 at 10:57 pm

hi sean,
dont know if youl remember me but i was in beaton house between 1980 1982,i have a younger brother called mark.i can remember all the boys you have mentioned in your comment.if you dont remember me you might remember when we found the wallet with money in it,we split the cash only to find out it was another home boys lol.
mark and kind of dissapeared in july 1982, my father took us to scotland where we have been ever since.
its good to know that you and the other lads are doing alright.
enyway if you or any of the other lads fancy a chat please contact.
take care
gary
71. Sean Swart | March 27, 2008 at 3:36 pm

Hi Gary, I remember you well, the wallet belonged to a senior in Graford house, I run into him every now and then. We found it on the way to the shops. How, the hell are you doing “Homeboy’ I remember you, you use to run the 100m f_#&*@! fast. What are you up to these days? This is my e-mail address, seanswart@gmail.com
I have just spoken to Ronald Jenkens 5 min ago he lives and works close to me, I chat to Shaun Schultz at least once a week, I am in contact with Anthony Johnston and Peter Johnston as well as Miles Osborn. Please keep in touch. PS The Lewis brothers, who were in Beaton house with us, Tommy, (red hair) i forget the other names right now, also moved to Scotland soon after their mother died. I would love to talk to Tommy again, him and I became close friends – I still have the pencil case he gave me, his father who had no money arranged for the family to go back to Scotland, Tommy was trying to tel me me this, they went to school one day and never came back, every one was looking for then, I found this out while I was in the army and talking to someone who new them and the family.
72. Ronald Jenkins | March 27, 2008 at 5:01 pm

Hi all, Ronald Jenkins here. I was at bthe orphanage from 1980 – 1987. the best time of my life. I regulary chat to Sean Swart, Shaun & Mark Schultz as well a blood nut Mike Kruger.
I look forward to any responses.
73. john rossouw | March 27, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Welcome to all new visitors to the site and here’s hoping this will become an online community of boys and girls associated with St Georges home
I spent some time yesterday and today photographing the archives at the home and what was interesting for me was that the photography group of Fr Clayton in the 60’s and 70’s was the most preserved of all the items.

Each photograph is mounted on a white board with the name of the photo and the photographer on the back. The boys belonged to the Jhb Photographical Society and the Witwatersrand Photographic club. Many of the photo’s were of such a standard they were submitted to regional competitions. Those that were have their score on the back and some have their awards noted on them as well “bronze silver and gold.”

I remember the display board outside the dark room below the stairs where bee bop would change the photo’s every two weeks to showcase the latest work. It was in fact quite an honour to have your picture selected by him for the display. What I found most interesting was the way in which boys used photography to tell the story of life at the home as anything and everything that happened there is recorded in print. It was also remarkable to see through the photo’s how the boys grew in terms of skill adjusting for light and aperture etc as they perfected their craft. The range of subjects also widened to include wild life, still life, landscapes, portraits and rural life.

Mike Dollman, there is one of your photo’s there and if you would like it let me know and I will get it to you.

I do believe that some of the prints are of such a high quality that they need to go on a permanent display at Bishop Bavin school and I will try and arrange that.

On a more personal note I retrieved my file and those of my 3 brothers and made copies of them. These remain confidential records in the custody of the home but even today there are requests from old boys and family members to retrieve various documents.
Reading my old school reports from Wychwood and Dawnview was something else and I saw how my marks got worse over the years as I began to focus more on life and less on schoolwork. Included in the file is your medical record detailing every inoculation and stay in hospital or surgery.

Most fascinating was the assessment reports. These were completed annually by your housemaster and details your ability to adapt, relate to your peers, interest in sport, academic progress and leadership capabilities. Whilst these reports were highly subjective and without any scientific basis they are incredibly accurate (given that I know myself pretty well and can relate back to my various stages of development at the home ) This just goes to show how well these housemasters came to know us living with us 24/7.

I also came across a school project of Jenny Bill daughter of Geo and Jean where she chronicles the story of the home why it exists and what it aims to achieve. Also uncovered was the Christmas card catalogue detailing the various charity cards over the years sold to raise funds.

Regards and greetings to you all

John
74. Vanessa Hurlimann | April 5, 2008 at 1:31 am

A friend in Texas, USA – Beryl (Baxter) has just shared a photo from 1976 of Shane Botha, who was at St George’s Home at the time – and friend from Dawnview High – would you be interested in said photo – if so, what email add should I send it to? Would you be interested in any class photos from high schools that some of the guys attended ie pertinent photos …
75. Blane | April 5, 2008 at 1:48 am

Hello Vanessa:

Thanks for your visit and for offering your photographs. Yes, please do send them. Anyone who wants to contribute photographs, please email them to bvpr@mac.com

To help identify the photographs, please tell when and where it was taken, who you can identify in the photograph (use simple directions like “back row, third from the left” etc.) and a little bit about yourself and how you came to have the photograph.

Kind Regards,

Blane
76. MikeDollmann | April 22, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Hi John,

Your research into the SGH archives really sounds interesting and I would like to know more about it. I would really like to get that photograph that you saw. I have all the other photographs that I received certificates for. Only one is missing and if my memory is correct, it was titled “Refreshment”.
Is there any way in which I can contact you (telephone/e-mail?

Regards

Mike
77. charles wastie | April 22, 2008 at 6:57 pm

for anyone who would like to contact me.
[vannessa,would be great to hear from you]

charlesw@axiz.co.za
78. Vanessa Hurlimann | April 26, 2008 at 2:24 am

Thanks again for such an informative and ‘working’ site – Have reconnected with Charlie Wastie after some 28 years !! Wouldn’t have happened without it, so – here’s to many more !!
79. trevor and kevon budd | April 29, 2008 at 4:00 am

just found this internet site and i am keen to gather old pics and meet online with the survivors of simpson house and smuts house and anyone who remembers the trevor and kevon budd
80. john rossouw | April 29, 2008 at 2:15 pm

Greetings to Trevor and Kevon and Charles Wastie

Just to let everyone know I am hoping to complete the home archives exercise early in May
All the photos (some are not of a very high quality) are in folders with some descriptions where I was able to comment and add names so I will let you know whn they are available
It is unfortunately too much to print and at least on a CD you can elarge the image to recognise yourself and your colleagues
I would also welcome feedback on missing names etc to help complete the process once you have had chance to look at the pics
Vanessa (James) – I think -please can you let me have an email address for both yourself and Berryl Baxter so that I can chat about life post Dawnview
I went back to visit the school in 2004 and had a look on my name on the honors board whcih was wierd after so many years
The school hall also seemed much smaller and I had long chats with Mrs Murray (head of school now retired) Miss Cunningam (our English teacher) and Lee Roger (Mc Millan) who is the school secretary
I also made contact with Mrs Beukes my old English teacher who teaches at the convent in Edenvale
My email address for those interested is johnros@iafrica.com
Regards

John Rossouw
81. Dave Dry (formerly Brandon W. R. Phipps | April 30, 2008 at 10:36 pm

I must admit – stumbling across this website was a jolt to say the least. I remember many of the names listed on your site, all of what they say rings true. I, just like so many others before me, came from a broken home with so much abuse and pain, to ‘THE home’ in 1975 and was politely delivered to Simpson House and enrolled at Wychwood Primary. Unfortunately the abuse by older boys and house-masters alike, was a sorry situation – I was victim too and soon learned to use this as a weapon of survival (as strange as this may sound). Be-that-as-it-may, thank – you Lord for providing me with a stable environment. Mr. Carr did indeed have a heavy hand when it came to the cane. I finished Matric at Malvern High and left SGH in 1987, having served on the Bedfordview Town Council as Mini-Mayor in 1983. Tragically I lost my dear friend and ex-housemaster of Smuts House – Colin Ross – a few years later. This was a mentor and gentle individual who gave his life for the boys and horses at SGH. Years later at my mothers funeral, Ken McHolm – having known her well said – “She was a remarkable Lady.” I honestly believe that all those ‘Heads Inspections’ and the experiences fundamentally moulded me to become an individual strong in character and a formidable survivor in life with a sensitive spirit. Well done on a remarkable website! Just what I needed in our tumultuous times.
trevid@iburst.co.za
82. Trevor and Kevon budd | May 2, 2008 at 2:39 am

Brandon Phipps – that name rings a loud bell in my head. I was also in St. Georges / Simpson House. Got a vague mind picture of you / dark haired boy. Well it was many years ago a lot has changed in all our lives and I hope you are well and in good care. I am keen to meet up with past memories and hopefully people in the home.

Go well and pass on a message to me: palominoct@yahoo.com

Trevor
83. trevor and kevon budd | May 11, 2008 at 5:46 pm

Hi Wendy & Herbie Thompson

Trusting you are well ?

I am trying to find the names and address for my hosts while i was at simpson house under your care in the 1970’s.

Please could you contact me – my e-mail address is palominoct@yahoo.com

Many thanks
Trevor Budd
84. john rossouw | May 11, 2008 at 9:37 pm

Hi Trevor

It may be worthwhile to check your file at the home as their should be a record on the file as I doubt Herbie will remember
You can call the home on 011 616 4015
I recently collected copies of my file and those of my brothers Michael Desmond and David

Mike Dollman you can contact me on johnros@iafrica.com or my cell 0833277923

Regards

J
85. Wendy Thompson/Jones | May 12, 2008 at 12:54 am

Hi John Thanks for the suggestion. I will nevertheless ask my dad as he may remember something. Regards
Wendy
86. Beccy Stones (Clarke) | May 12, 2008 at 1:10 am

I just happened across this site and found it fascinating. I met some St George’s boys at the RSCM Choir School in Grahamstown in 1998/9 and was sad to hear shortly afterwards that the home had closed as it seemed to turn out some very musical boys. At the time I didn’t live in Jo’burg, and never made the connection with the sprouting of a Bishop Bavin School. I remember Stephen Kruger (age 18 in 1988/9) and Ronald Peterson, a brilliant musician and composer (matric 1989). I am in contact with both Geoffrey Tracey and Colleen Edgecombe, whom Ronald was friends with that Summer School. They played a wonderful piece for 2 pianos and violin that Ronald composed. At the same concert, Ronald performed something on cello that was composed by a friend of his the same age, not sure if he was from St George’s too. If you want pictures, I have a couple.

Also I recognise some names from the Rhodes University Chamber Choir alumni database – Mike Rossouw for one. If there are more of you who sang in the RUCC, contact me on beccy@bigfoot.com so I can update your details.
87. Vanessa Hurlimann | May 12, 2008 at 5:30 pm

Blane, thank you for posting the Big Walk certificate and the photo – thought I should mention that the photo was taken after one of the many soccer games attended at SGH in 1978

Amazing to read Beccy Stone’s post – re musical talent – Charlie Wastie too is very talented in this area , singing and playing various musical instruments – told me too that he’d even appeared on TV!! just goes to show what God gives and can do with us – in the midst of it all!!
88. Marc WASTIE | May 13, 2008 at 5:38 pm

HEY
ALL YOU EX HOME BOYS
HOWZIT
89. Brian wastie | May 13, 2008 at 9:15 pm

anyone out there
I would like to know where to get photos
I was in Photography with Father Norman Clayton
And won quite a few awards, would like to see them
Anyone heard from marlon Joel
lwastie@telkomsa.net
90. charles w | May 14, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Hi Wayne,
would like to link up with freddy,ethne.were very close at one stage, Howard Crawford,the holidays at Umtentweni[we were in matric together,at Malvern High.

And for any body else who might want to chat.
91. trevor and kevon budd | May 14, 2008 at 2:58 pm

att. john rassouw

trevor here i would like to order a copy of that disc you are making of all the pics and things of old st georges. please call or email me 021 4488990 /083 444 1403
trevor and kevon budd
palominoct@yahoo.com
92. john rossouw | May 19, 2008 at 9:02 pm

Hi Trevor and Kevon

I will let you know once it is ready as I still need to do the last bit of copying as well as transpose a bunch of 35 mm slides from George Adams on to disk

Hopefully by end June

Brian Wastie

I have not come across any of your photo’s specifically but I will keep my eye open as a lot of them have no names on them
Do you perhaps remeber some of the titles as that may help as I will definitely get them to you if I can find them

To all of you Vanessa suggested setting up a SGH page on facebook which seems to work very well as I have reconnected with a number of school fiends ex Dawnview High so I am looking in to this

If any of you are on face book already then link me to your existing profile so I can keep you all in the loop as it is a highly effective and very speedy networking mechanism

Regards to you all as always

John
93. Wendy Thompson/Jones | May 20, 2008 at 12:53 am

Hi John andf# others Am on Facebook as Wendy Jones on the South African network
Cheers
94. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | May 26, 2008 at 7:49 am

Stuart & Dudley Pringle - 1955 - 1959

Hello fellow St. Goggians … though most of you won’t remember that name … it was Sint Goggies … to most of us of the period above.

This is my first time connected to this blog page, which arose in a wave of nostalgia and curiosity. I did not even know that
SGHB was no more and had become Bavin House … so reading back on all the entries … I found little to connect to, names, boys, house masters … house master’s kids ..,. GIRLS at St. Georges?

Seems much changed after I left in mid-1959. Today I gather, that John Rossouw is trying to put together a difinitive history of the place in stories and pictures and I must commend him for this.

It is an impossible task, of course … there are so many stories… so many details lost to memory and time … even the names of ‘closest’ friends fade. So with this proviso, I would like to add a little of ‘my history’ and time at St. Goggies … almost 50 years ago

My older brother Stuart & I were deposited there in January 1955. *(My younger sister, Sandra was later entered into St. Mary’s Orphanage in the Southern Suburbs a few years later).

We were both lodged in Taylor House - H.R. Robson was the housemaster then and lived in the beautiful little house ajoining it with his wife and daughter Jennifer. He was known as the ‘Boss’ and despite his stern demeanour, he was a fair man and became the father figure we did not know and to whom I shall always be grateful for his encouragement and concern for us.

Brian Wiley and Pat Keyser were the two seniors of Taylor House at the time and both served as band leader from 1955 through 1957.

Rev. Strong took over as head that same year when Rev. Short retired. Strong was a stuffy little man without much personality and the year after I left (1959), I believe Father Richardson took over.

Albert De Jager (Spackman House) was one of the seniors and later became headboy … although I cannot remember if that was before or after Paul Kruger (Beaton House) was band leader and headboy (Paul also beat Stuart to the post for the coverted Victor Laudorum trophy in athletics in 1957 or ‘58).

Nutsy Moore (Beaton House) was my contempory and class mate and like another Beaton boy, Errol Fouche, they both played the meanest bugle ever. Stuart later became headboy of Taylor and bandleader (1958) with both these two musicians in the band at the time.

Errol was a musical genius and had a hand-writing style of a god … which I tried to copy. I heard that he committed suicide. Nutsy was also a helluva swimmer … particularly breast stroke, but Charlie Meyer of Spackman House was unbeatable and moved like a torpedo in the water.

Mervin Perkins (Spackman) also a bright but moody spark of intelligence, was one of friends … who later committed suicide.

John Ford … a new comer during my time … bunked-out one night , stole a moped and killed himself in a high speed accident.

Brothers Burgie (Burghart) and Freddie Oosthuiizen were twins. Burgie was a drummer and Freddie a bugler in the band … and Burgie also was so good looking he actually looked like the Ameican Actress, Jane Russel.

Horse Wilshire (Spackman House) was my last closest friend and with Freddie Oosthuizen, we were an inseperable trio. Years later I ran into Horse in London at the OVC in Earl’s Court. He’d become an aircraft mechanic and was doing well. He told me that Freddie had died … but I cannot remember how.

My first year at St. Goggies and attending Malvern High School, I came first in class (got a watch from the Home as a present), captained the under 11 soccer team and made good at cricket, boxing, athletics and swimming … so the next year I was promoted to Dorm Corporal … much to my older sibling’s chagrin. I never rose ‘higher’ than that though, as puberty hit me and other ‘things’ became more releavant. Stuart later became head of house, so that alleviated his earlier embarrasment.

We attended MHS when it was still located on Kensington St. (before the move to new location on Mars Street in 1960). My class teacher for three years was Vera Kirkland and she was my English teacher as well … it is to her that I am especially grateful for a simple lesson: No matter what you learn in life, if you cannot speak your own language fluently … you can express nothing of consequence. It is the greatest tool of life!

She introduced me to Shakespeare, poetry and theater, along with Muriel Noakes (my last year class teacher) and drama coach. Miss Kirkland … you’re the most.

Bob Morrison was ‘The Boss’ at school … Durie was my Geography teacher and inspired a lifelong passion to travel the world. (I have lived and worked in 12 countries and have learnt a lot of languages) A Mr. Jurie taught handcraft and carpentry which was the foundation of the handskills I still enjoy today.

Noakes taught history and drama and she too inspired a similar passion for history and cultural studies that I have pursued all my adult life.

Mr. O’Niel taught math and although I have an abiding need for math in everything I do … I could not learn a thing from that man … he was just too intelligent and unable to teach affectively … at least not to me.

But the most enduring character at MHS must surely be WOP Cunninham of Mechanics & Science … who can forget the WOP laugh?

Billy Malan of Beaton House was a bully … (until one day my brother offered to beat the crap out of him) … but he could sing like a nightingale. Unchained Melody was his favorite and despite my fear of him … I could listen to that voice forever.

I read about the ‘mine’ dump alongside the (Old Boys) sports fields … but no mention of Treasure Island? The Bluegum spotted quarry ajoining the main football field, was the battleground for klei-lat fights between teams from the senior houses. Quince sticks and clay at 40 paces was a painful sport … but we loved it.

Then there was Summer Camp - UMTENTWENI. My last year I was leader of the advance party to get the camp ready for the rest of the kids - who followed a week later. Those were the best times. Rock ‘n Roll and girls to meet … in Port Shepstone and Margate.

Two years before, my brother and I built a canoe from wood and canvas. We were allowed to take it down on the train and eventaually to leave it in the camp storage when we returned to JHB at the end of the vacation. When we weren’t using it ourselves to explore the rivers and lagoons around our camp area, we’d rent it out to someone else for 2 shilling and six pence for the day. That was a lot of money then … it could buy you a pack of cigarettes (1 1/2 Shillings), a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie.

Years later (1996), I was engaged by a lighting company in Durban to design and produce a massive party for 10,000 kids in a sugar terminal on Maiden Wharf. I was there for 3 weeks and whilst there, rented a car and drove down the coast (75 odd miles) to Umtentweni to visit the old camp site.
It took forwever to find it as the area had been built up with residential streets and blocks since. When I did discover it, it was an overgrown field surrounded by encroaching growth and much smaller than I remembered … it used to camp 180 boys and masters in bell tents and marquees. Nothing remained of memory.

Today, my elder brother Stuart lives in the high desert of Nevada on a ranch in a valley surrounded by mountains (not too far from Las Vegas) with his 8 kids. His wife and companion of the past 30 odd years died two weeks ago from a long battle with cancer. A documentary film-maker most of his adult life, he turned to philosophy and spiritualism. Becoming a shaman (witchdoctor - studying with Peter Tshabala in JHB) and a buddhbist monk after a couple of years in a Zendo in Japan.

He has written a remarkable book called; Psyche - Genetics
The Metaphysical Implications of Human Evolution - or … the Origin of Conciousness if you wish.

I, in the meantime, have become a lighting designer and inventor of big-beam ultra-violet light. I met my wife (from Holland) in Israel in 1967 (during the Six Day war) and married her 8 years later in Holland. We have two kids, a 39 year old son and 29 year old daughter - both of whom are film and TV producers in Amsterdam. My dauhter has two children … also a boy and a girl … so I guess I am complete.

I moved to the States in 1989 and reside in Los Angeles (but not in Hollywood), bringing with me my company Wildfire, Inc. and lighting inventions. Many of my special effects lighting tricks have appeared in many movies, TV shows, staged shows, roll ‘n roll shows including with most of the great performers of the 80’s and nineties. Many Theme Parks (Disneyland etc.) casinos (Caesar’s Palace - Forum Ceilings) and others, feature my work.

What I have not said here, is that I have bad memories of ST. G’s. I suppose I do … but really can only remember one sad ocassion. Sitting on the sports field one evening at twilight in my football togs … I should have been getting cleaned up for supper … but lingered feeling alone and abandoned … when old Joseph our grounds keeper, came up to me out of the gloom and asked me why I was crying. After listing all my grieviances, my lack of freedom and parents … he looked at me and said: ‘My people have no shoes … you have shoes and boots for everything.’ I was 12 and the profound implication of what he had said, so embarassed me that I never had that feeling of loss again.

We cannot change one moment of the past and the cards we were dealt … all we can do, is learn to play poker and win.

When I lived at Taylor House, there were photos of bygone years of other homeboys in the 30’s and 40’s and stories abounded on how tough it was in the ‘old days’. It was tough when I was there, but I also could see that it got less so during my time and I am sure it continued to do so. Anon had a bad expertience, but as he admitted, he also loved the place … why? Because there were more good memories than bad!

The past is past and is unchangeable. Why dwell on the negative when it cannot make you happy in the present. The lessons of the past are the tools to a better future .. it is up to each one of us to make the best of it, if not for ourselves, then at least for our dependents.

I sold my company to my partners in LA. It is still the number one Blacklight lighting company in the world today - (but not doing any better 15 years later than when I ran it). I still take on special lighting projects for clients today … but only if they are challenging. Mostly I am either writing another novel, poem or short story … or designing some new invention I have come up with.

Reading back on these notes, I realize that all the other entries that precede me, date from the late sixties onwards, so I hope that some of these names mentioned here, will still resonate with some of your blog readers … as I would like to hear from anyone from that period in the 50’s.

Photos? I have none not one from that period except a school class photo from 1958 Std. 9.

Hlalagahle shamwari’s,

D.C. Leslie-Pringle.
Los Angeles, USA
May 24, 2008.

Edit Comment
95. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | May 26, 2008 at 2:30 pm

Last Note:

Any homeboy from the period 1955 to 1960 who might remember the Pringle brothers and who wishes to make contact, can reach me at my e-mail address:

D.C. Leslie-Pringle
leslielite@verizon.com

Edit Comment
96. john rossouw | May 28, 2008 at 10:34 pm

Greetings DC

What incredible merories and thank you for taking the time to record them
Even thoough your time at the home relates to the year I was born all the names mentioned are very familiar to me as my elder brothers were at the home in the early to late 60’s
There are many photographs from the early years which I have managed to salvage but few in the years leading up to the time of Eric Richardson but hopefully when I put the package togehther finally it will at least bring back some memories of your time there
Strong as you point out was not a good head and only lasted less than a year
During his tennure most the boys ran away to Pretoria to pettition the prime minister against the way he was running the place (Strange how democracy worked in those days)
In the book Robson described him as a massachist
He replaced Short (nephew of OWL Skey- 2 nd head after Aldridge all of whom were very popular with the boys as was Kerswell a non priest and former magistrate and one of two heads who were non clergy - the other being Ken Mc Holm who you should also remember)
You seem to also have done remarkably well for your self and it is great to hear these stories as the history of the home is littered with people who were unable to brige the divide some of whom you have noted above
Yes the home was not idel - it never could be - but it provide a much better alternative to anything else available and did a remarkable job with so many of us with very little
I too am a writer and a dabbler in poetry but I did not have the benefit of learning from mesdames Kirkland and Noakes as I went to Dawnview High
Fortunately I too had an English teacher who pushed my boundries and I was able to reconnect with her after 30 years to share my work
You may be familar with a poet in the states by the name of David Whyte whom I have met and interacted with He also had a profound mpact on my work David was a marine zooligist and gave it up to become a poet He now consults to major Corporates on “real conversations” and a lot of what is published on this SGH site is exactly that
Some of my poems are on the forum on his website and you can find them on http://www.davidwhyte.com
I was also fortunate to meet his good friend Richard Olivier son of the late Sir Lawrence
Richard is a remarkably down to earth noble peer and he runs leadership workshops around the world on the characters of Shakespeare
Henry V - Inspirational leadership
Malcom and Macbeth - Steward leadership and
Julius Ceaser - Power and Influence
Umtemtwini was aslo remarkble and their is a photo I found with a view of the sea which extends beyond the home flag which is flying
For me it encapsulates everything that was camp
Every day we would break the flag before breakfast and those days still remain some of my happiest memories

I will forward your news to my brother Mike as I am sure he will want to connect wth you and I will keep you informed on my slow but nevetheless steady progress on the preservation of the homes legacy

Warm regards and thank you for sharing these experiences

John Rossouw
97. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | May 29, 2008 at 6:56 am

Hi John,

It was very thoughtful of you to respond to my nostalgic outreach … it is much appreciated.

A week or less ago, I found myself standing beside the postbox at the front gate of my expectations … realizing for the first time in many years, how much I missed so many parts of my past. To make contact with such a vital and pivotal part of my formative youth, for no apparent reason … became compulsive and I could not but turn to Google to find it.

I am delighted that I did and your efforts to bring this all together for so many others who, like me, are doubtless as starved for final closure of those oftimes traumatic years -
is as a beacon in the dark shadows of memory.

And as we all know, the best way to cure the blues, is to relive them through interaction or communication with others of our common home and experience. A shared understanding is as strong as the bonds of a family. And although not always as cohesive then, we we’re nevertheless a family with a shared experience … albeit, each in his own way … depending from which path his life brought him there.

I always thought of our ‘family’ and our ‘home’ as;
St.George’s Sanctury for Lost Souls. But because I felt safe and secure at St. Goggies, that description was more wry humor than tragic.

Thank you for telling me about David Whyte. No I did know of him … but checked out his site and looked for you. I did not find you and must presume you are in the Forum Section. I did not go there due to immediate time restraints … but will check it out in the course of the week. I did however read some of David’s stuff and found it insightful and lucid.

I write a different metier I must confess … and hope that Shakespeare had ego enough to be flattered by emmulation.
Shadows of my life appear in everything I write … in one form or another … but in poetry, it leans to observations of the duality in life and nature.

Would you mind e-mailing me your e-mail address, I should like to read yours and send you a piece of mine if you are interested.

I look forward to hearing from Michael. I am sure he in turn would like to connect to my brother Stuart. He too is a priest. A bhuddist … but nevertheless … a servant of God who also spent time in monestries across South East Asia.

Warmest thanks for bringing me Home.

Dudley.
98. john rossouw | May 30, 2008 at 7:26 pm

Greetings Dudley

Thanks for the reply and yes my poems are in the forum section which are chronicled in date order from mid 04 to late 05
I too have spent much time reflecting on my youth a large part of which relates to St G’s and the process has ben strengthened by the work I am doing on the archives and trying to preserve the history albeit that I am finding less time these days to complete the exercise

In light of ourrespective spiritual journeys I enclose my poem on childhood which I hope you and others enjoy

Regards and enjoy the weekend

John

The Child within

Who have I become?

This person of cold emotion
who finds it difficult to laugh, and love

Was I always like this?

Or have circumstances
forced me to become my stranger

One who finds no skill in labor
and walks quietly among colleagues
busy with self acknowledged sense of worth

Meeting behind closed doors
they champion and rise to a cause
that speaks only in words

Without evidence of deed

They structure performance
to reward shortcomings

On which they heap monetary value

Offering tenfold
the value of the workers and families
they have just retrenched

I look within
and question

Is this really me?

I look within
and envy the child I once was

I search for that existence where I was once free

Felt pain
cried at will
Laughed
Loved
and was loved

I recall how I lived

In the face of illness
Which could make each moment my last

I cherish those memories
And my childhood of emotional freedom

That I have given up to ransom

I yearn for a sense of who I once was

I look for ways to break down
the fortress I have built around me

That shuts out my emotion
and makes me
my own lonely stranger

In my heart

I ache for a time
when I will again travel
my journey of before

Embracing my mortality

Savoring the child within

That child
who I once was

And will be

Again
99. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | May 30, 2008 at 11:21 pm

Greetings John,

Thank you for your poem, The Child Within. It is both poignant and familiar and speaks to that personal pain so many of us experienced in our initial dazed state … wondering how we landed up where we were … when we entered St. Goggies and lived it’s ritual and structural dynamic.

I was 11 and my brother 12 in 1955. We had however, previous experience in orphanages … starting with a year in St. Hyacinth’s Convent in Nigel for a year … then later for a year in The Haven in Greenside and then later again in ‘Welgelegen’ in Alberton … so the separation shock for us was possibly less so than for those boys who experienced it for the first time.

I won’t say we were old hands at it but we were ceratinly a lot more fatalistic about it than most. Nevertheless, discovering self is a long and hard process when your life has been upturned and dictated by circumstance of misfortune.

I know none of the names of the bloggers above, yet still feel that each an everyone of them is a brother who shared my personal experience. I greet you all and Hail, you are worthy, more than you know.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Blane for creating this site and the blog page … it is a tenuous connection to many things past …. but is as a lifeline to the precious link of our collective memory. I find myself waiting daily to see who has entered the discussion, hoping for a familiar name to pop up with whom I can share just one very personal moment of recollection.

What I also observe, is that there is a gathering of sensitive, intelligent souls out there and there is definitely a desire to express our pain, desires, hopes and dreams of release from
the anguish of past misery through the catharsis of collective memory.

The french recently released a film called; ‘The Orphanage’ and I think that it kicked my longing into gear to come to grips with the past … to put it to rest. Something tells me that a South African version … set amid all the conflicts of English/Afrikaans - white and black in apartheid Souith Africa, could be an interesting concept.

Hereunder I have attached a copy of ‘Atomic Atman’ - the conflict of duality … self and metaphysical self. I don’t know whether it will open in this blog as I have never done this before … but I hope so and hope you too can identify with one or more of it’s stanzas. It speaks to the many aspects of the evolving (or devolving) man.

Sincere regards to all.

http://episcopal.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/atomic-atman-l-homme-savage/
100. Anonymous | May 31, 2008 at 5:12 pm

Hi Dudley

Plz forward the doc to johnros@iafrica.com

Regards

John
101. Stuart Pringle | June 1, 2008 at 12:49 am

I have no official source for the following history of St. Georges. It is basically my personal assessemnt of the situation as I understdood it during the five years I spent there. 1955-1958.

The iplan and money for building St.Georges Home was proposed by the Anglican Church in England, as a home for South African boys who’s fathers had died overseas, fighting for the British Empire during WWI and WWII.

In honor of the fallen soldiers it was decided that only the best England had to offer for their sons, would do. St. Georges was designed and built to operate on the same principles as the boarding schools and playing fields of Eton and Harrow, where English royalty sent their sons. The Home was originally staffed by English dons and headed by an Anglican minister appointed by the Arch Bishop of Canterbury.

The South African Army also contributed to the building and running fund of the Home, with the proviso that the home be run as a cadet school.
102. Keith Frandsen | June 3, 2008 at 4:10 am

I was a homie in the late 60’s early 70’s. Taylor house. A member of the choir, photo club and band. I started out as a buglar and ended up as the drum major. John and Michael I remember. Nice to hear that you are all well. My number is 0720222499. Regards Keith Frandsen
103. Anita Kennedy | June 3, 2008 at 9:45 pm

Can someone help? We are trying to find out if our father was an inmate of this childrens home 1922-1926. All we Know is that after his fathers death in June 1922 he was put in a Roman Catholic Childrens home. His name was William George Kennedy born 19th May 1911
104. Vanessa Hurlimann | June 4, 2008 at 12:33 am

John - The Child Within……………raw,emotive and touching
to write in this manner denotes an ability to reach within the shadows and express light - wonderful !!
105. John | June 8, 2008 at 5:45 pm

Welcome Stuart and Keith and thank you Vanessa and Dudley for feedback on my poem
I received your posting on email Dudley and I must say it is a truly remarkable piece of work, one not easily absorbed in one reading
I will give it more attention when I have time and will offer you feedback
Keith I found a photo with you in the choir with the rest of us in 1970 when Mark de Wit was choir master and when I showed Dave my brother the photo he recognised you and some of the others instantly
You were drum major the year before Dave in 73, him in 74 and me in 75/6
I also recall you comming back in the 80’s to help out with the band which is something the 3 of us did from time to time
Anita sadly none of us are from the early generation of the home but I would suggest you contact them on 011 616 4015 and see if they are able to track any record of your relatives time there
I hope this helps

Regards to all in our small but growing network of old boys and girls and my thanks again to Blane for making this opportunity possible

John
106. Wendy Thompson/Jones | June 8, 2008 at 10:07 pm

Hi
Thanks for posting the newspaper clippings. Lots of familiar names. One in particular with whom I have had recent contact - in the Under 12 is one F Stopforth. I did bookkeeping work for Fred for a number of years. It was onlly after I started working for him that we made the connection - St Georges/Goggies boys are all over the place!
Regards
Wendy
107. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | June 9, 2008 at 1:20 am

Hi John,

Glad you received my e-mail. Blane volunteered and posted Atomic Atman on his worldpress site and as you said, not easy to absorb in one sitting … in fact, for some people it is not easy to read at all. I’ve been told it cuts to the bone.

For Anita to note, St George’s was an Anglican home, not Catholic and the term ‘inmate’ applies to prisons and mental institutions not homeboys … although we sometimes thought we were one or the other. But I do hope you have some success in tracking your father’s past.

Religion in one way or another wraps itself around our past in many ways and we witness that it touched some of our members more so than others … e.g: your brother Michael and mine both became priests … although Stuart as a buddhist, is refered to as a monk … and of course Blane too is a minister.

In this vein I would like to contribute how it affected me personally.

Fourteen months after leaving St. Goggies, I followed my brother up to Tanganyka (Tanzania as it is now called), working as field officers, prospecting for diamonds for two different Anglo-American Corp. subsidiaries callled Williamson Diamnds and Western Rift Exploration Co.

While traversing (on safari) in the bush, Ione night asleep in my tent, I had a ‘Kunbdalini’ experience (Serpent of Wisdom). It was both freightening and later uplifting … for shortly afterwards, I had the overwhelming desire to become a priest myself … this euphoria lasted about a fortnight and then passed, but the memory of that horrific night experience has never left me.

Then, a number of years later, in Rhodesia, by pure co-incidence (there is no such thing as coincidence), I met an elderly lady who turned out to be my grand aunt, wife of my maternal grandfather’s brother. Through her, I came to learn much about my mother’s family, of whom I knew very little save that I had a horde of uncles, aunts and cousins.

She told me that my grandfather and his brother were the sons of the rabbi of Vilnius (Vilna), capital city of Lithuania one of the Baltic States. Both he and his brother escaped the Russian Bolshevic pogroms of 1907 and fled as refugees to South Africa.

So, my grandfather was a jew! At 53 years of age he married for the first time with a catalogue bride from Ireland who was just 16 and not jewish. They had 14 children, my mother being the 3rd. youngest.

In jewish law, if your mother is jewish, you are too … but mine was not, as her mother was not either. However, it appears that for the decendents of a rabbi there is an exception, as they are considered a ‘holy’ family.

So what Faith am I?
Hereunder, is how I ‘evolved’ under this dichotomy.

It’s about Faith!

FAITH

Iam a man of no Faith,
Yet have Faith in All.
I have faith that the sun will rise,
That rain will fall and crops will grow.

I have Faith that we will learn to preserve
and discontinue to destroy.
That world peace is possible,
despite evidence to the contrary.

I have Faith that one day
I will escape fear and find courage.
For I am the center of my universe,
created in my Father’s image.

In all human endeavor their is choice,
as we all are a composite of the Duality.
Right and Wrong, Positive and Negatgive.
Light and Dark, Yin and Yang.

Forever endowed to maintain the balance,
Too much Light - and we are blinded.
Too much Dark - and we are reduced
To sleep and procreation.

My life’s purpose defined to seek this balance …
In harmony with the countless atoms of God’s love
that rains down on me every moment of my existance,
and in rythym with the environment that surrounds me.

What I disturb - shall disturb me,
What love I bring - will return to me.
Give and ye shall receive.
For the Universe provides - what goes around comes around

Cause and effect -Yin and Yang.
Have faith, for the Duality is One.
It is all in balance and we are perfect.
God knows, we have but to leaern it.

In me all things are united
and I am One with the Universe.
The Beginning and the End.
Alpha and Omega.

Have Faith,
for the Duality is two parts of the Whole.
Have Faith,
for Two halves make One.

My father told me so!

So be it.

Sincere regards to all.
108. Blane | June 9, 2008 at 6:47 am

Amen.
109. charles | June 9, 2008 at 12:06 pm

Being an old home boy and having many memories of SGH,it is great to hear of so many of the boys who have made a mark in society and have managed to get past the life we had in the old place.Yet we always go back to where it all started,being pushed and taught the values of life in the harshest ways,echoes of house masters pushing you to your limits,the rivalry we had at sports,at everything we did.Fighting to be number one in the home was also a thing,boys will be boys and the toughest survived,leaving their mark and a legacy of who is or who was who.The pranks, the bunking out,our trips to Umtentweni and so many other things that we used to get up to.
But the biggest mark of all was the the boys we had the pleasure of knowing,those that touched our lives in special ways,the housemasters and evenour shcool teachers.
There are so many i remember and those i choose to forget.Nevertheless,i think in a lot of ways we are who we are today because of SGH,ever wondered what would have become of us if there was no SGH and we never had the guidence,good or bad.
Well,thank heavens we had a place to go,we had a place to belong and im glad that i am who i am today…..it could have been so different.We all choose to erase certain things in our lives and yet we experianced the emotions and feelings that would last you a life time.
JUst a little thank you to those who crossed my path at SGH and made me a better person.

Live life,love life…you only have one,and you and the Good Lord above are in partnership in this all….So,Homies,never look back and have too many regrets…It could have been worse.

Take care
Charles
110. Dave Dry | June 9, 2008 at 5:21 pm

Attention: John Rassouw Dave dry here. I would be interested in a copy of the CD also. Please advise when ready to trevid@iburst.co.za Many thanks. Dave
111. S.W. Pringle | June 11, 2008 at 9:05 am

Reviewing The Movie
« Thread Started Today at 6:56pm »

——————————————————————————–
From birth
and beyond
vortex
of change
whirled
spun
turning swirls
wheels of fate

Spewn out
spirals
pools of stillness
bruised
spent
sucked again and again
the eddying pull
in -out - in
the relentless stream
of life

Hope -hopeless - hope
float now
see
thought is quiet
suspended
timeless
watch the current

Old images
half forgot
rush by
jet some in the torrent
some
knife-sharp in the instant
many-sided
cutting
shame!
others fogged
gliding away
entangled webs
of memory

All those noisy moments
strung together
like counting knots
on the twisted string of circumstance
a private rosary
of take
fate
mistake

Could one spermatozoa
in a cloud of wriggling life
have altered one inch
in the great scheme of things?

What change in the shape
of the river bed
can be cause by a tiny grain
temporally caught
in an eddy off the main?

Endless questing
through the Ages
never satisfy
a restless mind

Which real is real
when all views are relative
when all moments
are one

The finger of fate
stirs the eddy again
driving me to know
if I can plot my course across
the flow of force
for I weary
of being battered
and bent and spent
by the vagaries of chance
and mischance

Smallness of mind
knows
it knows naught
yet knows
all powers are mystic
all goals are deceiving
that power
for power’s sake
turns grace
into disgrace

Wisdom my Lord
jut for an instant
so that I can know
if I can know
112. Wendy Thompson/Jones | June 11, 2008 at 12:27 pm

Hi Charles Thanks for the photos. They bring back lots of memories-:)
113. Jaycee Milner | June 14, 2008 at 3:11 pm

Hi, My name is Jaycee. I attended SGH from 84 to 88. My late brother too was at the home same time. Craige Milner and he was in Taylor house. I was in Beaton house and I am gratefu to all the people who gave me the best memories of my life. My email is attached and would love to get into contact with anyone who can remember me.
Personally i was sad to see the history of SGH go. I was never a fan of the new idea. But perhaps it was just meant to be…
Thanks to you all for keeping the memory alive.
Jaycee

jaycee.milner@eu.sony.com
114. Trevor Budd | June 14, 2008 at 11:49 pm

well to all the homeboys, at least i made contact with someone from the past .I hope to make contact with many more. I was in st Georges home for boys from the early 70s. I was in Simpson house and then moved on to Smuts house. I do recall i was very rebellious to all things around me . I was a good athlete but even then i never pushed myself i just went with the flow. I guess i just was not correctly motivated. I do recall everything i did was by force and fearful instruction by my peers who put the fear of god in me. Well i turned out …i suppose as best most could be , but hey i survived.

Trevor Budd
palominoct@yahoo.com
115. D.C.Leslie-Pringle | June 18, 2008 at 12:02 pm

Remembering Rock ‘n Roll.

Here’s a memory that might seem quaint … if not outright archaic.

In 1955 when Stuart and I first entered St. Goggies, rock ‘n roll was just getting started. In 1952/3 Bill Haley recorded; Rock Around the Clock and Elvis was close behind, as was Gene Vincent, Ricky Nelson, Eddie Cochran and Tommy Steele in UK.

12 inch stovepipe jeans and ducktail haircuts were the rage, although that was a little tough for us ‘homies’, as shortback and sides were still the left-over rage of the British military
influence in our lives .i.e. ‘Major’ Moss of Spackman House.

Taylor House had a rec. room upstairs which had a single ‘ornament’ … an old tube-fired radio that the seniors were allowed to listen to after showers and before lights out. Friday night was the BIG NIGHT - LM Radio’s Hit Parade.

Doesn’t seem like much now does it? With everybody walking around with ipods and shuffles and cellphones with more computing power in them than the Apollo 13 program had to get to the moon and back. But those Friday nights were treasures to us … hearing the next big hit was our idea of a good time. And of course, it gave guys like me a chance to try out my dance moves.

So don’t laugh. That was serious stuff to us back in the day.

John, I finally found two of your poems in David Whyte’s Forum (there must be over a hundred entries from many writers), ‘Oh to be me’ was really cool, but ‘Little Boy Lost’ was too close to home to be comfortable … but it reveals that no matter which generation we are, we all feel much of the same joys and agonies along life’s winding road. Thank you for steering me there.

Blane, in case my last posting did not get through (after a week or more of internet disconnect), thank you for the ‘amen’ adendum to my poem; ‘Faith’.

As I said then, I feel it is worthwhile repeating now, for there is a message of cofidence in the words of Stewart Brand
in the opening pages of his original ‘Whole Earth Catalogue’ from the early sixties; ‘We are as gods, we might as well get good at it!’
116. Trevor Budd | June 21, 2008 at 1:47 pm

DearGavin i read with distress about your brothers passing away. I knew Noel very well as he was my brothers good friend (kevon budd) we spent time with each other after st georges I really had a liking for him. With respect to you and your family please may i pass on to you even at this late stage my sincerest and truthful emotions of concern and joy the precious memories in my mind be of console to you all, and to myself.
Please may we have communication as i do indeed remember the day when your mother put Herbie Thompson in hes place with regards to beating all the homeboys with violence and hatred.

God speed to you all and may the joy of life and the spirit of overcoming be your strength as it was mine./

Trevor and Kevon Budd
117. S.W Pringle | June 22, 2008 at 9:20 am

I read the piece written by Anon regarding caning and must say I disagree with his generalization of what the St.Georges Home experience was like. Though it sounds like he had a particularly sadistic housemaster, that was certainly not the general rule, at not least in my time there. 1955/1958

“Robbie” Robinson was my housemaster at Taylor. He had an explosive temper at times, especially after a few whiskeys, but, in general he was a fair man and a good judge of character. He always appointed good dorm prefects who helped him keep a reasonable level of discipline. His tongue lashing when things got out of hand, humbled all of us. All the boys from all the houses called him “The Boss” .IIn my final year he appopinted me headboy. I remember telling him that I was a secret smoker and could not, in good consciousness, discipline other smokers. I suggested he let me have a smoking room where I could inviite other senoirs who had the habit, instead of having them sneak out for a cigarette. He found my argument reasonable and for the first trime since the Home’s founding, the seniors had a smoking room. (In the 50’s lung cancer was not public knowledge)

Moss was in charge of Spackman. He had been a majpr in the British army, ran the cadet corps and was also a very fair man.

“”Bugs” Capener ran Beaton. He was an avid amateur entomologist. During camp at Umtemtweni, he showed those of us who were intereted how to attract and collect insects. A small group of us would crowd into his tent and listen to him read a chapter from Edegar Rice Burrouighs’ Martian saga by Tilley lamp each night. He was a kindly man and was much liked by all of us.

Rev. Strong was headmaster of St. Georges during my four years there and was much disliked by all of us as a stuck-up prick. He took a particuklar dislike to me as headboy. He certainly turned me off religion, a fact that took me years to recover from.

I got my share of canning during the years there and have never felt traumatized for it. Nor did it turn me into a bully.

As stated in an earlier post, the Boys of St.Gearge’s Home got close to the same treatment as the sons of British elite at Eton and Harrow. That upbringing has served me well thorugh the years since, in my relationships with people from all walks of life. As an international telebvision producer, II interviewed dozens of powerful people all around the world and have always felt a ease with my manners among them.

I am sorry to hear that St.Georges Home has changed into something else..
118. Barney Naude | June 22, 2008 at 7:28 pm

I was a home boy from 1982 to 1987. For me St Georges gave me stability and discipline, for which I am extremely grateful.
When i first arrived I battled with rules and structured life, but once I settled in, it was great. I had my share of jacks from Mr Macky, and Mr nichols, the never ending speaches of Mrs Harper, (hopsing), which we never called her to her face. But the most iffluential person for me was Mr Callum Rae.
I’d be greatful for the contact details of all the Spackman house boys from the eighties as Callum is coming to vissit, from Glasgow, and if we could get as many of the boys together while he is here, for a reunion of sorts, it would be great.
I have read some of the personal stories here, and would like to put in my views. The discipline was extremely militaristic, (rule by fear), which on its own didn’t really work. once Mr Rae became our house father, we behaved better, not for fear of jacks, but not to dissapoint Mr Rae. this is not to say that we were model children, we still got up to mischief.
best to all and hope to hear from some of the boys soon.
119. MARC WASTIE | June 24, 2008 at 3:07 am

I was in the home from 1971 to1979 and i have great and sad memories of the home like i guess weve all experienced, to me the home was my home as i come from a broken home and i now look back at what oppourtunities were made available to us as a home boy we had great sports made available to us like football like athletics like swimming horse riding which helped me tremendously
we got a taste of ice skating free tickets were arranged for us on wednesdays until 5 oclock we sold programs at big soccer games and some big boxing matches there was also the hobbies and craft center that exposed some of us to arts and crafts.
the things that father clayton controbuted like photography and radio st george .these things were not available to anybody but us homeboys .even though i didnt like all the marching ,by the time i was in the army i was well prepared.i concider it to have been apriviledge to be a st georges home boy.
120. Trevor Budd | June 24, 2008 at 9:12 pm

different opinions are the ingredient of good discussion(Trevor Budd)..my own idiom
121. Vanessa Hurlimann | June 24, 2008 at 11:24 pm

As long as you have a voice, be heard
a pen - write
- insightful memories!!
122. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | June 25, 2008 at 1:39 pm

Catch-Up!

Barney Naude - duriing the 50’s there were two Naude brothers at the home. For the life of me however, I cannot remember either of their first names but recall that they were both in Beaton House. The elder of the two was a first class drummer in the cadet band … and I think he also became drum-major for a period of time. Any relationship to you?.

(Dr.) Tommy Geddes has been mentioned here in earlier postings but he had an elder brother, Nicholas, who was both my contemporary and class mate for three years. Has anyone any idea of what became of him?

Vanessa Hurlimann - You must have dated a homeboy back in the day to have attended soccor matches and the ocassional disco party there. Obviously you have much affection for ’society’s castoffs’ as you’re a regular contributor to Blane’s site. Thank you for taking the time with your thoughtful and supportive comments. It is a rare generosity.

History in Black & White.

Personal: On July 27th. 2008 - it will be exactly 50 years since I walked out of St. Goggies with Boss Robson’s blessing that mid-year. He knew that I was done … that I had started there with such promise, but had slowly slipped away, year by year from fulfilling that destiny. Truth be known, I regret it now.

South Africa: In 1948 (just 10 years earlier), the Nationalist Government came to power and forever changed the course
of a promising destiny for our country. With them came that pariah, Apartheid … the brainchild of Hendrik Verwoerd and the Broederbond (aka The Ossebrandtwagt).

I mention this, as wherever I travelled after I left SA., I was constantly confronted by people telling me that I was a racialist. I honestly never thought that I was, (I always thought of myself as a liberal - in fact, a bit of a ‘kafirboetie), but freely admitted that I thought it normal for an 8 year old white child to call an adult African male, ‘boy’. Why was that?

Many of you have doubtless travelled abroad and have probably experienced much the same kind of allegation.

In 1984, I ran into an old friend of mine in Amsterdam, Holland. His name was James Georgiadus - Jimmy the Greek. In 1976 at the time of the Soweto riots, James was the President of Nusas at Wits. He took it on the chin from both the left and the right and as a law student, he was really confronted with the Black & White social disparity. Ultimately, he had to make a run for it and landed up in The Netherlands as a refugee, where he had to take his entire law degree all over again at the University of Amsterdam.

At the time we met there, he was just opening his first office to commence his practice and engaged me to design and construct it. During the course of that endeavour, he gave me a little book to read entitled: Black & White in South Africa by a guy called Peter LeMay who had dedicated it to Helen Suzman, the one voice in SA in opposition to Apartheid.

In it, he spells out the Nationalist agenda and the program of indoctrination of every South African … both blacks and whites … that followed. Suffice to say, I sincerely recommend that each one of you try to get hold of a copy of that book and read it. We are not born racialists … we learn it!

It has taken me my entire adult life to unlearn that horrid propaganda and to become, nevertheless, proud of being a South African. If that has been possible, so should it be possible for all St. Goggians to be proud of being ‘Homeboys’.

I am.

l
123. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | June 25, 2008 at 1:59 pm

Ghosts of the Past.

(As an adendum to the above).

My father was a self-taught civil engineer who died in a horrific accident while building a steel bridge over the Orange River. I had barely known him as I was 3 years old when he came back from the WWII b ut I had nevertheless, bonded closelky with him by the time I was eight when it happened, and could not accept it that he was dead.

For nearly 16 years therafter, I suffered insomnia as a result of that radical separation … I just would not accept that he was really gone and secretly believed that one day … I would find him somewhere in a crowd of people.

Peter LeMay’s book is full of historical photographs of early turn-of-the -20th.-Century SA. Somewhere in the middle of it, there is a photograph of South African troops, gathered for a battalian photograph in the desert outside Tobruk (North Africa). My father was a Sergeant Major and he and his best friend are to be seen, standing arms around each others shoulders in front of an arena array of his troops.

There he was, in the middle of a crowd … and that put that ghost to rest. I never suffered insomnia again.

Amen. (Thank you Blane).
124. Vanessa Hurlimann | June 25, 2008 at 8:39 pm

If poetry be the food of my soul
write on write on

the written word is held dear to me -
the eye unseen, the word a window to your soul

but - yes - I did indeed date a homeboy - a special soul then and now
and had lots of other friends there too
depth in friendship………………
’societies castoffs’ - never thought that way…………
rejection is a bitter seed
sweetened only by the love of the Father
125. John | June 26, 2008 at 12:57 am

WOW I have been absent from the blog for some time and I have returned to find a thriving online community deep in discussion not just about the home but about the richness and challenges of life indispersed withn some great poetry and deep insight
I was also saddened to read of the passing of Noel Schaffer and my condolences to the family as we were very close whilst at the home
Welcome to all the newcommers most of whom are known to me as well as to those of later years who are not
I share with you all the news of Georgie Adam’s 80th birthday which I attended with him and a few of his closest friends on Sunday the 22nd
George as you can see above is the author of the book on the home I am in the process of editing
In additon to being a housemaster of Smuts house 1968/9 and Simpson house 1963 - 67 he was also an old boy from the 1940’s during Mr Kerswill’s tenure as head of the home
Others in attendance ON sUNDAY included George Woods son of the late John Woods (SGH 1968) who is godson to Georgie, Paul Courtney (SGH 1972) and Des and Doreen Steel (1940’s)
I will endevour to send a photo via email for the site
At the 75th anniversary of the SGH Old Boys Assn in 2005 George reminded me that it was not the buildings but rather the community of each other which is St Georges Home and I certainly feel that in being a participant with you all on this blog
My regards to you all and my hope for the growth in this very special and vibrant online community

John
126. S.W Pringle | June 26, 2008 at 4:49 am

Orphans and children from broken homes, raised from a young age in institutions by strangers, all share a special relationship with God. He/She served as our invisible parent - intimate witness to our young lives - confident of our secret hopes and dreams.

Our lack of phsyical parents give us a specialized view of family values and the larger social structures that are built on them. We are objective social observers, forever watching and evaluating human interactions from the side-lines, seeing millions of tiny details that parented kids take for granted.

It is from this objective view-point that I devised the Psyche-Genetic theory. Knowing how and why the very first human became conscious and how all societies evolved from that first family, has allowed me to see where this huge striving throng of humanity is at present and where it is destined to end. That holistic view of our reason for being has served to intregrate me with all other children of God and has allowed me to find my own special place inside the human family.
127. Vanessa Hurlimann | June 26, 2008 at 1:03 pm

Psalm 139 v 13-16

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together
in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made;
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made
in the secret place
When I was woven together
in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to me.
128. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | June 27, 2008 at 1:11 pm

Welcome Home John.

Now you see what you and Blane have started?
You’ve got the whole neighborhood joining in.
129. Anon | June 27, 2008 at 7:53 pm

St Georges,St.Georges
You hold me close
You have my secrets
You have my fears
Marks on the walls,
on doors and in halls.

Echoes in the Dorms,
footprints on the floors,
my shadow still wanders
aimlesly,seeking….

What was my role,
where was my place
was it all a race…..

Is all who i was,
be who i am.
for then a boy
became a man.

for ST Georges
you hold…….
my book of life
my book of strife
That was my life.
130. anon | June 28, 2008 at 4:15 am

to anon - my heart
though in part given
for reasons yet to unfold
my soul -
complete in friendship you hold

Oh the life and lives within the walls
what sacred memories
what hallowed dreams
all to all - visionary may seem

nonetheless tis real……………..
131. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | June 28, 2008 at 12:23 pm

Thought of the day.

Be the change you want to see in the world. (Mahatma Ghandi).
132. Trevor Budd | June 29, 2008 at 2:29 pm

who can tell me when is the next old boys gathering association
taking place and where. I am keen to attend the next one as i have never attended any before.
trevor budd
133. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | June 30, 2008 at 10:01 am

Thought o the Day.

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.

*Joseph Campbell
134. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 1, 2008 at 1:14 pm

Thought of the Day.

Happiness is a how, not a what, a talent nor an object.

*Herman Hesse.
135. Albert de jager | July 1, 2008 at 7:51 pm

What a delightful surprise to stumble upon this site yesterday, and to be so overwhelmed at the rush of memories of St George’s and all the unforgettable boys and adults who made up this unique community. As Charles Dickens once said..”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. However, for whatever reasons each of us have, they were the most unforgettable times.
I would love to take the time to recount all the times from the miserable Rev. “Tommy” Strong, grumpy “Boss” Robson and the gentle “Bug” Capener in 1958, to the new era of the Giles-like Vicar, Eric Richardson (who often almost succeeded in setting himself alight with his pipe), the delightful and demanding Norman Clayton (of photographic, music and TV fame) and the passionate sport-as-a-therapy standard bearer, Ken McHolm.
Between these two eras lies a world of stories and reminiscences which beg for the telling and re-telling by those who have been there.
The names on this site are a wonder in themselves; Stuart and Dudley Pringle from the wild days of Rock and Roll, Brian Gannon who brought passion and fun to Choir and stage (who can ever forget Nicholas?) the slightly more studious and definitely musical Michael, John and Des Rossouw. Charles and Marc Wastie, George, Trevor and Kevon Budd, Nutsy Moore, Tommy Geddes, Keith Frandsen, Lennie Deacon, Gavin Schafer, Craig Milner, and so many more (even my beloved Nephew Wayne from America….Hi Wayne. When are you going to visit here again?)
What a rollcall of memories.
Thank you Blane for setting up this site and giving all of us this chance to step back into the past for a short while, in order for us to reafirm our place in the present.
Fondest greetings to you all till next time.
136. john rossouw | July 1, 2008 at 9:17 pm

Greetings Albert and welcome to our growing online community

Your quote from Dickens sums up the very essance of St Georges as we knew it and I am reminded from your posting that you were one of a fortunate few who witnessed the changing of the guard from the first generation of Robson,Rice, Symes ,Moss and Kuipner to the era of Richardson and Mc Holm

This was not only as a boy at the home but also as a long serving housemaster of Taylor House where I shared the experience of my senior years under your stewardship

I also remember well our time together in the back row pews of the choir and the long hours of practice which Bee Bop subjected us to

In is letter to me recently (a rare treat as he never writes) he enquired after you so I will let him know you are well when I get round to a reply

I am happy to pass on his address but don’t expect a reply from him

I am not sure if you picked up from the blog that I have been busy photographing what is left of the archives and if you have some free time I would welcome some help on the editing of George Adam’s book on the home

It is an accurate and well reserched record of events over the years but lacks the nuances of the real stories we all have of what was once a very special place in all our lives

Perhaps over time we can collate our own version of life at St Georges from an accumulation of these personal contributions

I found the photograph of the Spackman house swiming team with you Freddie and Gerald and if you wish to have it I will retrieve it and make a plan to get it to you

Bee Bop also sent me a copy of the first evensong broadcast from the chapel and our respective voices can be destinctly heard in the background

You are probaby aware that Makkie passed on in 2005 as did Audrey and their ashes are buried in the garden of rememberance outside Smuts House

Their is also a plaque in their memeory in the sanctuary of the chapel

Anyway its great to hear from you after so many years and here’s hoping we can keep in touch via the blog

Warm regards

John
137. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 2, 2008 at 12:21 pm

Bingo!

Finally a voice from the past. Hi Albert, welcome aboard. I remember you of course. You were Headboy when Stuart and I entered St. Goggies … a distant and remote senior to new pipsqueaks like us … but nevertheless, an unforgettable image in your drum major uniform.

I had heard that you came back as a housemaster after I left some 4 and half years later. What a nice surprise this has been to return to the memories of so many years gone by.
Whatever it was that inspired Blane to set this site up, we must presume it was heaven sent.

I’ve got to warn you though … it’s a little thin on the ground for us senior citizens. Basically, up to now it’s just you, Stuart and I. I suspect that most of our peers haven’t heard about the internet … perhaps even computers … so it may be some time before we hear from more of those old geezers.

As John said, here’s hoping we can continue to keep in touch via this blog.

Adios muchachos fom the City of Angels.
138. Albert de Jager | July 2, 2008 at 1:28 pm

Hi Derek
How good to hear from you. There were however, two groups of de Jagers in Goggies, and the ones you are talking about was the JJ and Gert de Jager group. I was of the de Jager group that had Les and Derby in Taylor House with you in ‘58. At that time I was in Simpson House with “Bomber” Brown. If I recall correctly, Paul Kruger was Head Boy of Beaton House at the time. However I do remember you and Stuart quite clearly as I spent a bit of time in Taylor House until space was arranged at Simpson for me. I also seem to remember that Taylor House also housed, amongst others. the O’Donahue brothers, “Cowboy” Johnson, and that wonderful bugler Errol Fouche.
Be that as it may, you are quite correct when you say that we “old geezers” are thin on the ground, and I hope that others of our era will respond to this site.
Yes, I did indeed return to SGH as Housemaster of Taylor House in the 70s and while I look back with regret over the many mistakes I made while learning the art of Housemastering, I will forever hold dear the many good times with boys in St Georges.
I look forward to many more “chats” on this site in the future.
Keep well in The City of Angels,
139. Albert de Jager | July 2, 2008 at 2:38 pm

Hi Michael and John.
Thanks for the reply John, and I certainly remember our time singing from the back pews of the choir stalls. Unfortunately I now find it difficult even to sing Happy Birthday to my grandkids, but I remember that we made a rather formidable Basso Profundo in our day.
Yes Michael, I did marry Patricia (Gibson as she was then) but, as these things are wont to happen, we seperated 22 years later, but still, I am happy to say, retain a good friendship and talk often. She is still in Jhb while I am in Cape Town. Her Mom is still well and kicking, and I will pass your best wishes on to her. Talking about our marriage, we married in the St Georges Chapel, and had our reception in the Smuts downstairs rec compliments of Geargie Adams, wonderful man that he is.(Can’t seem to get away from the place can we?) Rick and Tray are also living in Jhb and have “produced” 2 children each much to my delight.Michael, I see that you are a school chaplain in the Phillipines these days, well, I certainly expected that your calling to serve others through the Church is no surprise at all, but The Phillipines is certainly surprising, and I’m sure therein lies many a tale.
By the way John, I would really love to hear that recording of Evensong some day, and I would also be more than delighted to assist you in your endeavours regarding the history of St George’s. You can contact me at albertdejager@telkomsa.net at any time.
By the way DC, I have just realised after reading an earlier blog from you, that Errol Fouche was not in Taylor house but rather in Beaton.Also, we shared many of the same teachers at school, namely Vera Kirkland, Muriel Noakes, Bob Morrison (and later, his daughter June) , and WOP Cunningham the mad scientist. A more dedicated and efficient group of teachers you could not wish for.
Anyway, enough for now.
Greetings from beautiful Cape Town.
140. Albert de Jager | July 2, 2008 at 3:29 pm

Dudley….my sincere apologies!! Where on Earth did I get the name Derek from? Senility I believe.
141. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 3, 2008 at 2:12 pm

Hi Albert,

You got it right first time (in your original blog) … now the question is … just how bad is your senility? And it’s catching, ’cause I can’t remember where Derek came from either.

But yes, I must have it too … confusing you with JJ. 50 years have certainly played mush with my grey matter. In any event, thanks for reminding me vis a vis the de Jager saga. Now I do remember you - sans the fancy drum major costume.

… and will someone please answer Trevor Budd regarding the next Old Boys Association gathering … the question has been hanging out there like old fruit.

Incidentally, the term ‘homeboy’ or abbreviated to ‘homie’, is used here in Los Angeles by the local Mexican gangbangers or ‘chollos’, when referring to a gang member. In fact, ex-homies have set up a local facillity called; Homeboy Industries that seeks to give ex-gang members job opportunities.

Finally, how are you progressing John with your archival labors? I notice that the ‘due date’ continues to recede … but know that we are all rooting for you to complete it … as I am sure everyybody will want a copy of George’s book with your intense contribution included.

Edit Comment
142. John Kelly | July 3, 2008 at 10:12 pm

I was in St Georges from 1980 - 1983. I was in Taylor House. My brothers David and Stephen Kelly were in Spackman House. David went on to Crawford House and Stephen to Taylor House. I attended Dawnview High School. I am still in touch with a number of Home Boys. My memories are plenty some good and some not so good but over all the good far outweighs the bad. Considering my upbringing the home was my home.
I have been to a few old boy reunions at the Bishop Bavin over the years.
David Rossouw we met at Mr McHolm’s memorial service - it was a very moving service especially when you played Last Post.
Albert de Jager its good to hear that you are doing well last time I saw you was 1983 you bring back many good memories of my time at the Home. I will always have a great deal of respect for you! You are one of the few Housemasters that had a true passion for what he did and it came through in your character. I’m sorry to hear that you and Pat have parted ways and am glad to hear that Tracey and Ricky are doing well. Do you remember what I used to call you? (Fluffchops) I remember the one December holiday that I remained at the home and you took the boys out on a few occassions - some really good laughs and times were had by all.

I would like to thank Blane for taking this initiative and creating this site, its appreciated and long overdue.

Kind regards to all ex homeboys,
John Kelly
143. S.W Pringle | July 4, 2008 at 6:46 am

I remember Og Paterson trying to circumsize himself with a razor. He had no idea how to go about it, thinking it just meant cutting the thin strip of tissue just under the cherry. Then, of all things, one day he stuck his penis in a bottle, got a hard-on and could not remove it. He was too scared to smash the bottle, so old Robbie had to be called to the rescue. Best of all Og stories was down in Umtentweni. He dropped a half a crown down the Harlies and went in after it!!!
Wonder where Og is these days?
Don;t make ‘em like that any more.
144. charles | July 4, 2008 at 11:35 am

Hi Albert,
What a surprise,phew, its been some years and then some ,since i last heard anything from or about the de jagers.
I left a previous note for wayne to know the where abouts of Freddy. We had some fantastic times during my last year at SGH and then after leaving and going to the army.
I last heard that Fred was in CT and that he and Ethne divorced.
THe days he was living in Jhb,Cyrildene,the crawford boys,the trips to Umtentweni,i remember them well.

Yes,so many memories,the choir,the tv programs we did,the coca cola advert[just as jaws 1 came out ...if i remember correctly]the football,the swimming,the fierce competition,the rivalry,it was great,and rubbed off on all of us .

Please give my regards to Fred and i will leave my mail address
should he like to chat.charlesw@axis.co.za.

greetings
charlie wastie
145. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 4, 2008 at 1:38 pm

And another one touches base!

What a great Connexxion this site has become. What a collection of personal and shared memories are contained herein.

Hail fellow St. Goggians, I greet you.

Vanessa, I have just read your shortest ever poem again for the second time … a duet of lines twixt unseen eye and windows to the soul. Great stuff!

Poetry, short and succinct. A whole story in spare words that’s the stuff of serious writing … are you published?

Well don’t stop … blog some more.

If short and sweet is a choice, here’s one;

Shadows passing in the night,
as swift as light, out of sight.

Dudley.
146. john rossouw | July 4, 2008 at 1:53 pm

Greetings John and welcome to the blog
Yes DC the due date of the archives does keep receding but it is taking time to sort all the many photogrpahs and other items
I am hoping to get to Bishop Bavin some time next week for the final session whereafter I will give you an update via the blog
As regards the next old boys do it seems to have gone into remission since its 75th anniversary in 2005 and needs a group of volunteers to revive it
A suggestion was made at the time to change the name as the home in its latter years was opened to girls as well as boys (much to the irritation of Eric Richardson)
Also whlst we are many in number we are a diminishing breed and the only way to sustan existance of the association is to find a way to open it up to members of the Bishop Bavin alumni and this would have to be explored by both groups
Their has been much divide between the school and the home over the years but the archives process has seen this gap being bridged and the school now seems to have a willingness to link its present to its rich and colourfull heritage
This is evident in the fact that certain buildings and hallways are named after former heads of the home and what remains of our trophies are now proudly dsplayed in their origial cabinets in the hall (now known s the refratory)
Their is also a series of photos of the offical opening of the Herbert Baker designed buildings by HRH Arthur Duke of Connaught in 1920 hanging there
My wish remains that I together wth the St Georges home alumni will one day take tea with our Bishop Bavin peers on the lawns adjacet to the Des Steel pavilion which the SGH old boys built with the funds they raised
Shirley Moulder former head of COACH which incorporates St Georges Home has proposed a service to commemeorte the restoraation of the archives and perhaps the time has now finally arrived to bury the hatchet and make this vision a reality

With warm regards to you all

John
147. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 4, 2008 at 2:29 pm

Thanks muchly for the up date John.

It would seem that for all those surviving, a final closure is ordained. But you’re right, sustaining the Old Boys Association as a sportsclub at best and/or a once a year, raise the flag event requires, money manpower and support.

Perhaps in this wonderful digital age a virtual club is already forming via this blog … perhaps a once a year getting together event at a shared expense … whatever the venue, is not a bad alternative to a bricks and mortor reality.

Nevertheless, the work you are doing now with the purpose of incoprporating pictures to your edited text in George Adams book is a work of love (so time does does not matter) and it will be appreciated by many families of homeboys for many years to come. Once again. Thank you.

Dudley.
148. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 4, 2008 at 3:31 pm

The Og Blog.

Stuarty’s wonderful ribald story of Slogger Og opened a flood gate of memories relating to that infamous gardener. He certainly was one of a kind.

Og … Ronald Paterson … was not blessed either by nature nor by health. Not that he was unhealthy, on the contrary, he was as strong as an ox. But he was cursed with the worst outbreak of acne or pimples I have ever seen on a human face (and we all know where that comes from).

He had thin, curly, strawberry blond hair with a white/white skin that was mostly red, because he was always sunburned. He loved to work in the garden and thanks to him, Taylor House often enjoyed fresh tomatoes from the vine … that is, those that survived and ripened on the vine. Thieves were rampant around Taylor House at harvest time.

Og was in dorm 1 downstairs (8 x cubles for two), but unfortunately his cubiclethat he shared with Brian Kennedy, was on the side opposite that from the one looking out onto his garden. As he did not have a window to look out at it, he would sneak out at night and disappear into his garden … to count the tomatoes … sometimes twice a night … I heard. Perhaps Stuart can confirm it, as he too lived in dorm 1.

I lived upstairs in 3rd. dorm so never saw this ritual myself. But I can testify to the next story.

Umtentweni 1956 (that blissful place) … Gary Riley was dorm 3 Patrol Leader and also head honcho of the tent I shared with 5 other ‘homies’ and the fearsome Riley G and Og, who was tent corporal.

One day we were on kitchen duty, confined to the camp site and beach all day in between preparing meals (peeling potatoes) and cleaning up dishes and dining area. Riley never worked … he had us, the miserable six and Og to boss over us. Gary would just disappear until everything was done. So would Og after a while.

But this night Gary came back early to our worksite. sitting on upturned zink basins while washing 180 odd sets of dishes and utensils. ‘Where the hell is Og?’ shouted the bandy legged schot. Nobody knew of course.

Gary sent us off in every direction to find him. 10 minutes later when we re-gathered at the kitchen site, there was a sudden snap of twigs behind us. Riley G produced a flashlight instructed us to spread out and we went looking into the forest of young bluegums and coastal brush bounding the kitchen.

Gary up front calling; ‘Og show yourself! Where the …. are you?’

Another twig snapped and the flashlight snapped upright.

Right above us sat Og, 12 to 15 ft up straddling a branch at the fork of a heavily leafed tree. His shirt flapping free as he had no pants on … in fact, he had no pants. They were on the ground at our feet.

And there sat Og! The Slogger was humping a Paw Paw!

Gary swore, sharp and loud (I can’t repeat what he said), but it sure shook up the sheepishly grinning fruitalator, so much so that he lost his balance and, still hanging onto his beloved papaya, hit the ground with a thud and a whoosh … and his darling fruit was no more.

Og was winded, but not out and when he stood up, he still had his erection!

You’re right bro’ … they don’t make ‘em like that no more.
149. Wendy Thompson/Jones | July 4, 2008 at 10:21 pm

Hi have been out of action for a while – yet another spell in hospital courtesy of unexpectedly dislocating my knee twice in two days. It’s great to hear from you, Albert. Also I managed to catch up with David recently on a visit to Joburg and whilst we were having chocolate cake, courtesy of his staff end of term function, we phoned JJ (de Jager). Thank you David for the wonderful visit – and chocolate cake – The world is indeed a small place.
150. S.W Pringle | July 5, 2008 at 4:24 am

Duggie Holden was one of those short guys (ala Napoleon) who are absolutely determined to prove he was equal to the best And he was too – in almost everything he did. He played a snappy wicket keeper. He was easily the best soccor player we had during my time – and even got a pat iof the back from Sir Stanely Mathews his own self when the great footballer visited St Goggies. Dug was patrol leader of his dorm and ran it like a martinette. Same strict discipline in his tent down at camp.

For all his ecellence, Dug had an Achillles heel. Ego. He was convinced he was lord and master over all of his peers. I believe that I had a hand in making him think twice about that. During one Saterday morning work detailI, I unerringly stepped on his neatly raked gravel path just before Robbie came out for inspection. Incensed by my trespass, Dug ran up and kicked me in the backside. Caught by surprise, I automatically swung round and gave back in kind – and the fight was on. Robbie came out right then and instead of stopping it, he stood by and let the two of us have it out. I think he too felt that Duggie needed taking down a peg or two. I won the fight and Dug never spoke to me ever again. Years later I saw him standing in a queue outside a cinema. He cut me dead when I greeted him. Pity. I admired him for everything else. But that part of him remained small.
151. anon | July 7, 2008 at 2:21 pm

DC – a thank you for the compliment and a smile at the thought of being published -
just love the play on words – would love to write more
mostly adlib, inspired by what I read – it’s usually an instantaneous thing -
this blog has been incredibly inspiring!!
regards
Vanessa
152. Albert | July 8, 2008 at 6:40 pm

Hi Wendy, great to hear from you too. Hope your knee problems are now behind you.You know Wendy, the one truly untold story of St George’s is that of Housemasters’ children. While they were not subjected to the discipline of the Home, it could not have been easy being neither “fish nor fowl”. I know that Ricky and Tracey often found it difficult playing second fiddle to the boys at times and when playing with the boys, found it hard sometimes hearing their parents being “slagged off” by some of them. It could not have been easy for all of you.
However, I must say that the boys were generally very kind to them and some even adopted a sort of big brother role, which was heartening and appreciated by us.
John Kelly. What a pleasant surprise. Thank you for your kind words and yes, I do remember you calling me “fluffchops’, if for no other reason than that it was practically the only nickname I was given which was actually printable. I’d love to hear what has happened in your life since St George’s. Keep sharing on this site.
Charlie Wastie…another well-remembered person. I remember so well the fun times you and Fred had together (not all of it totally legal I might add) Fred has semi-retired to the de Jager compound in The Craggs near Plett where he and my brothers Les and Gerald have all built houses on the land they bought in this most beautiful part of SA. Fred’s e-mail is colfred@absamail.co.za and I know he would love to hear from you again, He is away at present but should be back next week. To you too, keep talking on this site and let all of us know how things are going in your life.
That’s it for now.
Regards from the beautiful (and wet) Cape.
153. Wendy Thompson/Jones | July 8, 2008 at 9:23 pm

Hi Albert
It’s good to hear from you after all these years. I think you have captured so clearly how it felt to be the child of a housemaster. It’s true that one doesn’t really belong in either world – that of the boy and that of someone outside in the community. But, hopefully with maturity as adults we do learn to get a bit of perspective. Unfortunately as an adult also comes the understanding of how, if we had been in our parents’ shoes we might have done things a little (or a lot) differently. I say unfortunate because we cannot go back and undo the past. I also think there is sometimes a tendency for us, as housemasters’ children, to ‘own’ our parents’ actions and, again, we have to realise that we cannot take responsibility for what they may or may not have done. Phew -heavy stuff and I have to say it took me some time to work through that and make peace with some of the past.
Having said that however I am delighted to be able to see names and faces from the past and to hear how people have got on in life. In my own personal journey of ‘putting things to bed’ in relation to St Georges I have also found a great deal of personal ‘healing’ in being able to reconnect with people I knew and lived alongside at St Georges and I look forward to continuing with that for the rest of my life. Regards
Wendy
154. Mervyn Wiesendanger | July 10, 2008 at 8:23 am

I attended SGH in 1983 to 1988. I remember some of you and others not. I had mixed feelings about the place but never regrets. Taking into account I do have some memories that I am very fond of. John Kelly for one, I will never forget you and what you did for me in Std 6 after I got my ass kicked by a bully who hated homeboys and you become like my big brother that I never had, John Thank you my friend.

Steven Kelly introduced me to this site and he is the only person I keep in contact with. Steve and I were in the army together and once again a big brother who made days and life easier for me. Steven and John I will never forget the 2 of you. Thank you both.

I attended Dawnview High and since moved to The USA in 1995 I have lost 6 friends and sad to say one of them from SGH, RIP Craige Milner.

Other than that Albert it is good to see you on the site. How are you and the family? Please send my regards. Currently I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and enjoy life, my wife and her family. Have 3 kids, 2 girls in College in California and a son learning how to be a restless teenager. Life is good. Have a castle or lion larger or if you prefer a black lable on me for the “HOMEBOYS” – never forgotten.

Regards to all

Merv
155. S.W Pringle | July 11, 2008 at 1:03 am

Hi Merve.

I live on a ranch in Dyer, Nevada, midway between Las vegas and Reno.
Though some thirty years your senior, two old homeboys are more or less neighbors in a farway land.
If you ever pass by, you are welcome to stop and have a cold Coors.

Stuart.
156. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 11, 2008 at 1:15 am

Is this heaven … or what?

Merv, you’re about to meet yet another big brother.

He certainly is mine.

Humbha haghle n’faan.

Dudley
157. Mervyn Wiesendanger | July 11, 2008 at 10:51 am

Thank you Stuart for the welcome invitation although I never knew Dyer existed. I am in San Diego today on business and heading back to Vegas on Saturday. Let us stay in contact and maybe soon we will meet up in Dyer or Vegas for that Coors you promised me. Make sure that the Coors is not light or hot.

Take care and we will talk soon
158. S.W Pringle | July 12, 2008 at 5:52 am

THE NEED FOR CHANGE

Conditions change and when they do, they force us to adapt. Presently The United States of America and advanced democratic countries in general, are still largely operating on educational, political and economic ideologies designed more than two centuries ago at the start of the industrial revolution, during the era of national formation. Communication was slow then, the world was not so crowded, the population was largely rural, the need for machinery was great, and natural resources were plentiful. Government via representation; crowding children into classrooms for the training of a literate work force, building a national infrastructure; international competition for trade; unregulated exploitation of natural resources; individuals capitalizing on the collective effort and amassing huge private fortunes; was considered by all developed people to be the right and proper way to build a rich and powerful nation. As the world leaders the West continues to operate under those ancestrally-designed national philosophies today.

In the meantime, as the world population expands exponentially, and the demands on the planet’s resources increase proportionately, human evolution is entering a new era that requires more universally orientated educational, political and economic demands, which are not being properly or adequately addressed. To characterize the growing emergency at its most basic level, when there are more mouths than food, conditions in the rat cage become distinctly uncomfortable, even dangerous.

Literally everything is moving at an exponential rate. With the West, led by America, sticking to the old ways of doing business the net effect is not only causing massive environmental damage, it is engendering global-wide resentment among the poorer nations, leading to acts of international terrorism. Again, analyzed at its most basic level, the West is not facing some alien attack here.. The argument over the fair distribution of wealth and resources is taking place within the larger human family. What is happening in reality is a growing insurgency initiated by our own disaffected kin, so we cannot simply nuke them into oblivion. In this New Age milieu, old Age laws and old armies can no longer enact and enforce conformity to redundant western values. This insurgency within our ranks will never end until a level of global equality of opportunity is in place.

For many, our global policies are not only harmful, our refusal to change borders on the obscene. Children are so morally outraged by our behavior thousands of them prefer an honorable death by suicide bombing rather than bow down to it. As a result we are wasting trillions of dollars trying to protect ourselves from our own greed..

In order to adapt to the new paradigm we have to initiate entirely new and more sustainable methods of operation in the basic fields of education, agriculture, housing and energy. We have to accomplish this mass shift of consciousness before the pressures of changing conditions over-whelm us all. Fortunately, we have the advanced technology to do it. Actual change is mainly a matter of altering the collective will. The question is: How do we evoke it? Reason alone is not enough.

There is always a natural resistance to change. We tend to cling to the devil we know rather than take steps into the unknown. Custom is sacred. Waiting for conditions to worsen before hastily adapting, leaves us in danger of complete collapse. We need energy to create new energy. All dead civilizations went down the dead-end road of unsustainable energy exploitation and reacted too late, forcing them back into the jungle.

The educational hurdle facing change is the basic reality that our political leaders are lawyers, trained to enforce and perpetuate old constitutional laws, endlessly party bickering in a Congress that is largely servile to the dictates of the military/industrial complex. Those economic titans in turn are mainly MBA graduates from business and military schools, trained to expand and enforce capitalist doctrines around the globe for private gain. In bald terms, our leaders think locally while acting globally instead of the reverse. They do not have the training or freedom of imagination required for sustainable change on a global scale.

The economic hurdle that is gradually sinking all of us in rising sea levels is in anchoring the medium of exchange on money. There is simply not enough cash in circulation to engage in the huge planet management projects that are required to clean up the environment, build the new cities and bring on-line the sustainable food and energy infrastructures able to support present and future population growth, and in the process give full employment to six billion people. Printing more money will devalue it. Those rich few holding the notes will never allow that, so millions starve for want of food and work, simply because money is scarce and therefore keeps its value. On top of that, short term plans for quick profits that put hundreds of millions in bonuses in corporate CEO’s pockets, keep more sustainable long-term projects off the drawing boards.

Recessions and inflation are artificial fiscal barriers that mean nothing in real survival terms and unnecessarily frustrate the full human potential for creative expression. The work-ethic is deeply imprinted in all of mankind. This planet has enough sunlight energy shining down on it to support a hundred billion people in great comfort. Under present policies we are struggling with just six. If we educate a new generation of children in a different way, money will not necessary be needed to motivate them. The challenge of effectively managing an entire planet as a single estate will be motivation enough,

As it is, tens of thousands of young geniuses, reared on the World Wide Web, cannot find the capital to get their ideas off the ground. This new breed of progressive thinkers must come to the fore and demonstrate what kind of large-scale global changes are possible.

The solutions for change articulated in this web site are designed for sustainable operations. The reasons put forward for why we must change from the old ways in this valley or eventually founder, are bluntly stated. This is not a time for being politically correct. The solutions for change presented do not pretend to be the only ones possible. They’re not meant to demean or harm anybody. As stated: We are all the inheritors and executors of ancestral decisions made when conditions were different. The intention here, at the dawn of a new era, is to give all of us a lead as to what changes are possible and how we might go about achieving a more sustainable existence. We urge all those who are sitting on the fence, to make up their minds about change and make the move.

S.W. Pringle
Director
Global Stewardship Foundation
White Wolf Canyon
Dyer, Nevada
10th July 2008.
159. S.W Pringle | July 12, 2008 at 5:58 am

Sorry. The last paragraph refers to solutions posted our foundation’s Global Stewardship web site. I should have removed it before posting on this one.

Entry Filed under: Old Boys, Reunions, SGH, Saint George's Home for Boys, St. George's Home for Boys. Tags: Goggies, Orphs, Saint George's Home for Boys, SGH, St. George's Home for Boys.

264 Comments Add your own

1. Blane | July 13, 2008 at 7:13 pm

Hello everyone:

For some time I’ve realized that what started out as a small page on my website has become something far bigger than I imagined. So I decided to give SGH its own home with its own web page.

As of today, July 13th 2008, this web page has been visited 3,334 times since it began in January of 2007 as a small memoir of my two years as a House Master’s son in Crawford House. Who knew that we would have so much to say.

So here we are — in a new location and a new web page address:

http://saintgeorges.wordpress.com/

I have duplicated everything from the original website — including past comments — on this new site. Here she will have much more space to grow as Old Boys and friends send in photographs and write about about their experiences at Goggies.

Kind Regards,

Blane
Reply
2. john rossouw | July 14, 2008 at 6:58 am

Thanks for this Blane and for the initiative which in retrospect was greatly needed and creates a platfom for much helathy dialogue between a vey tight knot community not necessarily known to each other
I took the plunge over the weekend with the extreme cold weather and started loading photos on a SGH site I created on face book
Unfortunately the uploads take time so it will grow by installments as their are hundreds of photos
I would urge boys to go and have a look on Saint Georges Home for Boys 1915 -1990 and to add their own comments of memories to the pictures displayed

Regards

John
Reply
3. vanessa hurlimann | July 16, 2008 at 7:09 pm

Well done John!! Have been on to the SGH FB site – hope many take the initiative to join!!
Reply
4. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 17, 2008 at 3:29 am

Thank you Blane, thank you John.

I came in late, but what a joy it has been to see it grow in such a short period of time. This truly has been a catharsis for me.

Not only sharing the memories of ‘those times’, but by reflection, able to raise much more of an almost forgotton past, each in his own time and place in his own memories, knowing that … we all have a large family out there.

Greetings brothers.

Dudley.
Reply
5. john rossouw | July 17, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Hi Blane

I cant seem to open any of the comments

Please advise how to access the tabs

Regards

John
Reply
6. Blane | July 17, 2008 at 5:54 pm

Hello John:

Comments previous to the “move” to this new site are now archived in this post and on this page. Please scroll up to see the 159 previous comments.

Kind Regards,

Blane
Reply
7. brian wastie | July 18, 2008 at 10:12 am

Howzit homeboys, trevor budd hows kevin, i remember you both
I was also in simpson house then went to taylor house and then smuts house i was there from 74 to 79, i had quite a life there but they prepared me for life outside, i enjoyed the art and photography wich i still use to this day. I rember the choir we used to sing on TV, camping at umtentweni was a gas. Are their any other homeboys from 74 t0 79 out there like to hear from you.
Howzit Albert de jager you were a cool housemaster hope everythings good for you and your family. Cheers hear from you soon.
Reply
8. Blane | July 19, 2008 at 6:28 pm

My mom, Helen van Pletzen, unofficial House Mother at Crawford House, has been trying to remember all her Crawford Old Boy’s names. (70-72) The ones she remembers are Charley Cooper, who wanted to join the air force as a pilot but his eyes were not good enough. Graham Whittle who went to Tech.

When my father was in hospital for a hernia op, she had an exhaust problem and Graham said to come to his class workshop. Most embarrassing, she says, to be told they were “not allowed to help”. She just bought some stuff and bandaged the exhaust herself.
Graham was one of then SGH “school leavers” and she presented each of them with a St Christopher and a poem she wrote for each one. She can remember her poem for Graham:

He’s going to the army and sure it isn’t fair;
They’ll fill him full of beans and bull
but first – they’ll cut his hair!

Graham, she recalls, had grown his hair long by SGH standards.

Other names: The Peyper brothers, the “twins”, Ralph and Ronald Brown. Douglas ? who was a good runner. She also remembers one of “her boys” who wet his bed and “had his own little tent when we went camping. I used to wash his sheets each day to save him the embarrassment of carting them to the laundry and suffering the teasing on the way.”

There was a Rheeder boy, she recalls, and the head boy was Bob Courtney. There was Marcel, “such a good looking young man.”

That’s all the names she can recall. Mom had a list of the Crawford House boys which she kept but have been unable to find it.

Every Wednesday, when they had a pie instead of sandwiches, she would tick off each name as he claimed his pie. “You kids loved it,” Mom writes, “if there was a pie left over for you.”
Reply
9. Wendy Thompson/Jones | July 20, 2008 at 3:23 pm

Hi
When I was at wits, I met up with Charley Cooper who was studying and living in digs across the road from campus. However we lost touch and I am not sure if he finished and what he went on to do.
Blane, I can identify with the reminisciences as my dad engages in them as well:)
Regards
Wendy
Reply
10. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 22, 2008 at 3:37 am

Here’s the story some of you guys are not going to want to hear … but trust me, sooner or later … you’re goiung to know about it.

For years I kidded my kids that I was permanently 26 years old … had lots of energy and looked it … so it was pretty safe to play that one out.

Then 4 years ago (August 1) I turned 62 and my then 26 year old daughter sent me an e-mail in which she politely wished me; Happy Birthday Papa … but did you know that you are dislexic?

So I had to quit that farce and now make jokes about old geezers and senior citizens … but inside, I still thought of myself as 26 … until last week.

I went out partying on the Saturday night before … and landed up on my back for the past week with severe dehydration, unable to pass water or a decent stool … shuttered fore and aft … you might say.

Today I visited a urologist and underwent some tests … including and not least of all, for my prostate gland enlargement (that I knew about and for which I was denied the right to become my son’s kidney donor, when both his collapased from a rare decease about 3 years ago).

Well, my PSA was high but I was not in any danger as it is benign, but here’s the sad part, I got fitted with an ‘ole’ geezer’s catheter and a leg-strapped bag for a few days.

As I left my doc’s office (he’s 78 and still spry) he grinned at me and said; You wont have to wear it for long – but get used to the idea that you’re no fancy dancer no more … sonny!

That last was ironical as I have not been feeling either ’sonny’ or sunny these pase few days.

For those who don’t get it … don’t worry, you will.
Reply
11. vanessa hurlimann | July 22, 2008 at 7:12 pm

Brian and Marc Wastie – what an exceptional experience to connect “in person!!.”…………..it was good for the soul……..the circle of life…………long may the fellowship continue!!
Reply
12. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | July 26, 2008 at 6:25 pm

Saturday morning.

It’s bright and sunny (temp. about 70 degrees F.) and a cool breeze warfs in from the Pacific.

I’m sitting on my small yacht (a Cal 27) in Marina Del Rey (the largest private yacht harbor in the world), started by that genius Howard Hughes in the ’50s – in what was once the Ballonna Wetlands near Venice – where Jim Morrson of The Doors used to hang out.

On a day like this, California is so much like a day down in Umtentweni where we all used to hang out this time of the year. Only here it is just beginning to become summer.

If my story above was a little off the wall, it was not meant to be funny …but cautionary. No matter what your pursuits, ambitions or dreams may long for, without your health, you’re going to be stopped somewhere along the line. So whatever else you do, take care of that above all else.

I have been blessed with good health all my life and besides a few operations for damage to my hands and legs from boxing and dancing respectively, I have no medical history … nor have I ever bothered to take out health insurance.

Fortunately for me, I’m married to a Yoga teacher of the first order, who is also an expert on health foods, alternative medicines and several other health disciplines. Knowing me and my disregard for health information, she has given me some simple advice that all of us can use and I want to share these simple concepts with you.

1. Wherever possible, separate your intake of proteins and carbs. by four hours. You can eat meats, vegetables (not potatoes, pastas or rice), salads and fruits at the same time and likewise, these same items with carbs. e.g. If you like hamburgers, make it a protein wrap by wrapping the patty and onions, etc. in a leaf of iceberg lettuce … dump the bun.

2. Take a walk. At least a half hour per day … two half hours, morning and evening at a rapid pace is better and good for everything … heart, lungs and muscle tone.

3. NO drugs are any good … smoking, drinkling etc. But that’s a choice … if you smoke … get away from chemically enhanced tobacco. Pure rolling tobacco is the best of a bad lot.

4. Before bed or early in the morning or both, hang over your knees with arms either folded or hanging free and stretch your spine for 2 minutes.

These are all simple things to do and cause you no stress or excertion in any form whatseover … so they have to be easy enough to do … right? They are … and I have been doing them for the past 30 odd years to good avail.

The minute you have to start spending time planning your life around an ailment or illness, you have robbed yourself of
quality time for other needs. Good health is the platform for everything else you do and as young men, we took that for granted … thinking we were indestructible.

Enjoy the weekend … here it promises to be good sailing.

Dudley
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13. Hugh Frank | July 27, 2008 at 3:37 pm

I was a home boy between 1971-1973 in Spackman House along with Frans Grobler,Branath Langford,Victor Waldick,Issy Cohen,Kevin Engelbrecht,

I won the Victor Ladorum at Wychwood Primary against super fast sprinter John Marshall.

I would like to take this space to correspond with old boys from Spackman House.
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14. A-Nun | July 31, 2008 at 1:53 pm

““Robbie” Robinson was my housemaster at Taylor. He had an explosive temper at times, especially after a few whiskeys…”
I quote from S W Pringle’s submission above. Mr Robinson was still the housemaster of Taylor House at the end of 1960 when I arrived at SGH (from JCH) and delivered into the bosom of Simpson House. He it was who showed us how to vault, climb ropes etc in the gym next to the swimming pool. “Do you want to have a big chest like mine?” he would roar at us whilst simultaneously puffing out his upper torso. As a 9-year old I admit I was impressed. Shortly after this, one Friday evening as I recall, somebody burst into Simpson House and excitedly informed anyone who would listen that Father Richardson had sacked Mr Robinson. He had discovered Mr Robinson totally inebriated (whilst on duty) and summarily dismissed him. “Most of the boys are here because of drink and a drunk housemaster is a dreadful example for them to follow,” Father Richardson is reported to have said. Mr Robinson, apparently in a fit of rage, punched a window and cut his hand. Using his blood he daubed messages on the walls of his rooms before leaving. I never saw him again.
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15. A-Nun | July 31, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Nutsy Moore was extremely popular as an old-boy who regularly visited the Home during his breaks from Grahamstown University. He loved singing, playing the guitar and all sports, especially swimming and soccer. He also played wonderful practical jokes on boys and housemasters alike. One of his best was perpetrated on Mr Nicholas (Nicky) Buchan, assistant housemaster of Simpson House.

Now Nicky was fanatically religious and frankly should have been a priest.

One night, down at Camp in Umtentweni, Nutsy set up a PA system with the speakers hidden in the bundu near the mouth of Nicky’s tent. The mic he placed further away and with it Nutsy waited until Nicky was asleep. A few boys were in on this one and kept Nutsy company.

About 2am it was established that Nicky was asleep and Nutsy breathed the following words into the mic: “Nicholas…..this is the Lord!” The effect was electrifying. Nutsy had added an echo and it sounded thus: “Nicholas, Nicholas, Nicholas…this, this, this, is, is, is, the, the, the, Lord!, Lord!, Lord!” Everyone bit on anything to prevent themselves from laughing.

From the tent nothing stirred. Nutsy cranked up the volume and repeated the broadcast.

From within a camp-bed was heard creaking. Nicky was evidently awake. Everyone thought (because of the sniggering) Nutsy had been sussed and expected to see an irate Nicky emerge from his tent to discover the culprits. But nobody appeared and silence was all that could be heard. So Nutsy made one last attempt. “Nicholas!…this is the Lord!”

And yes, it worked a treat. A small voice was heard from inside the tent: “Speak Lord, Thy Sevant Heareth.” This was too much and everyone burst into laughter. Nicky never again spoke to Nutsy.
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16. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 2, 2008 at 8:02 am

Welcome A Nun (Are you sure?)

H.R.Robson (The Boss) is not the same as Robbie Robinson although he too liked a shot of whiskey.

The Boss had neither much of a torso and certainly not a thick neck as he was an elderly, frail man in his late 60’s when I was there. I believe that he left the home in the ’60’s … some time after Stuart and left in ‘58 and ‘59 respectively.

Memory plays some strange tricks on us … and Nutsy Moore was my class mate for three years and as I remember him, he hung around with younger guys and didn’t mix much with the boys of his own age group. He did have a marvelous singing voice and was indeed a great swimmer.

Nevertheless, I certainly enjoyed your story of him down at Umtentweni … a magical place that brought out the best and most inventiveness in all of us. Welcome aboard.

Dudley.
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17. A-Nun | August 2, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Had there been a litter of runts then surely Dirk would have been the runt of that litter. This overly-sensitive boy was as comfortable with the inmates of Simpson House (at the beginning of the ’60’s) as a glove worn on the wrong hand. Apart from wetting his bed (a common enough occurrence amongst some of the boys but Dirk turned it into an art-form), he was perpetually crying. He played no sport and excelled at nothing. To be associated with him was akin to being, like him, an outcast. So unaccustomed was he to any kindness that he even cried when anyone addressed him with anything less than a threat. “Will you be my friend?” he would obsequiously whine at anyone who had strung a few soft words to him. Nobody wanted to be. Inevitably he was the target of simple spite, practical jokes and regular beatings. Rarely did a day pass wherein he failed to emerge from Brian Gannon’s flat, his face crumpled in tears and clutching his bum, having just been severely caned. Miserable indeed must have been his existence.

Down at Camp, it was always Dirk who was carried to the Sick Tent as a result of his unique method of changing a light bulb. Not only did he use his fingers to feel where the new bulb was to be located but insisted on wetting his fingers beforehand.

One fine day, following school, we were ordered to report to our dormitories to practice evacuating the building in the event of a fire. Our dormitory was on the top floor and overlooked the laundry. A metal pole, about 4 inches in diameter, extending from the eaves to the ground, ran down the ouside corner of the House. We were expected to climb through the window, grab hold of the pole, then slide down. It was dangerous but anyone with the barest modicum of athleticism was able to accomplish the task. Unfortunately, Dirk possessed none. He plummeted to the ground. we crowded the window and looked down to see his face change from light grey to one of a more ghastly shade. He wasn’t breathing and someone was heard to whisper, “He’s gotta be dead!” Nobody moved. We all just stood there and stared at the prostrate Dirk. After what seemed an infinite amount of time, the deathly grey turned pink, then purple. Finally, we all breathed a sigh of relief when the trademark Dirk howl shattered the silence. Other than a few bruises, Dirk was fine. I have often wondered what eventually became of him.
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18. A-Nun | August 2, 2008 at 4:33 pm

Dudley, many thanks for your info above.
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19. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 3, 2008 at 8:55 pm

You’ve got some great stories A-Nun … keep telling them.
They’re the stuff of legend and once recorded … remind us all of what was once the only home and family we really knew. And it feels good to remember some of the stuff that was uniquely, the St. Goggian way of life.

Thank you.
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20. Albert de Jager | August 4, 2008 at 10:35 am

Hi A Nun
I can’t help feeling that your name is Andrew. Could be wrong.
My age is affecting my memory somewhat, but I have a feeling that the Housemaster you are referring to was Lucien Lombard who, I remember quite clearly, called a house meeting in the lower Rec room in Spackman House after his dismissal, where he promptly broke a pane of glass and started smearing his blood all over the
place. Rather dramatic but ineffectual as he still had to go. A great whiskey drinker was our Lucien, and he and Piet Pretorius, a one time Housemaster in Beaton House, used to while away many an evening diving into a bottle or two of “whatnot”.

To John Rossouw, many thanks for all the very interesting photos you have been downloading to this site. I have had a super time trying to put names to faces, and also recalling incidents from the past when coming across guys I knew. Michael has been rather quiet on this site? When can we expect to hear from him again?
Greetings from the Fairest Cape.
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- 21. Johan Mostert | October 9, 2009 at 7:56 pm
  
  Hi sir
  I want to know if Freddy is stil arround he was my host when you looked after me in Taylor house to put the messige to this faca i was in Elandspark i am very happy to see that there is a x boys web site
  Thankyou vor wat you and Freddy did for me
  
  Johan Mostert
  
  NB: Dankie John Rossouw vir wat julle doen vir almal
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22. Remy | August 5, 2008 at 5:24 pm

Albert, You are quite right, it was Lucien Lombard and my thanks for the correction. Thanks again to Dudley for the encouragement. Methinks we all have very many tales to tell and while I remember it, here’s another.
Not everybody joined father Clayton’s photographic club but I did. The darkroom, as I recall, was initially in his flat (which we called Norman House) before moving to a speially converted darkroom below.
I, along with a few others, was in this new darkroom and we were doing things we do in a darkroom. Father Clayton was called away and returned after a few minutes.
“Now isn’t that a pleasant surprise!” he announced rather dramatically..
“What is, Father?” we chorused.
“You know the builder who is doing the Chapel?” he said and we all nodded. For the past x number of months in early 1961, the Chapel was being renovated to look as it does now. “Well he presented me with a bill for £750,” continued Padre Norm, ” and then promptly said we owed him nothing! He did the work for free!”

And that is how the Chapel got its new look.

(Albert, my name is Remy (not Andrew) and I prefer to remain anonymous. I remember you well but when I arrived at SGH you were well on your way to leaving. Consequently, I would not have registered on your radar. I spent 9 years in SGH, 1st in Simpson, then Spackman and moved into Crawford, when it was completed. I recall Piet Pretorious very well – he was housemaster of Beaton while Brian Gannon was ours in Simpson.)
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23. Remy | August 6, 2008 at 5:29 pm

Simpson House, circa 1963, and a new boy, Fonebone, is admitted as an inmate. We are informed that he suffers from epilepsy that will manifest itself through regular fits. We boys were fascinated.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sister McArdle reassuringly tells us, “follow him and see he doesn’t harm himself. Eventually he will lie down somewhere and sleep for a few hours. Let him do so but loosen his tie if he is wearing one.” We balk when she ominously adds, “He may also froth from his mouth and nose. That is quite normal. Just wipe away any excess when the fit is over and before he wakes up.”
That evening, at supper, all eyes are fixed on poor Fonebone, just waiting for him to have a fit. Unsurprisingly, and right on cue, he does. Even before the fit is full-blown, everyone crowds him ready to be a Florence Nightingale. Fonebone, however, continues to remain seated. A low moan is heard from deep inside him as a preliminary to the finale. He stands up and we scatter. He walks over to a wall and has what seems to be a profound discussion with it. He then knocks it several times with his forehead before hopping in circles on one foot. Large balloons of froth appear from his nose. Almost as one, the rest of us follow him and carefully observe everything. Eventually, as foretold by Sister, he lies down and sleeps in the middle of the common room. There is a mad scramble to be the first to administer the loosening of his tie but few are willing to wipe away the froth.
“Gosh!” (or words to that effect) we exclaim and then discuss what we have seen.

One week later.
Fonebone averages about 4 fits a day. Nobody follows him anymore and certainly nobody is prepared to wipe away the ‘excess froth’.
We are experts at detecting the signs. They vary but on the whole he seems to enjoy chatting with a wall (any wall) before hopping away on one foot. Thereafter, he lies down (anywhere) and we leave him to it. Most of us, however, are disgusted when he froths, especially at meal times.

Three months later (at Camp).
We are standing in House queues awaiting supper in the feeding shelter. Willy (bless his soul) has cooked stew and potatoes and the steaming contents have been placed in billy-cans at the head of each Q. Padre Norm says grace and we in the Simpson House Q start giggling when we espy Fonebone hopping out of line. Our mirth turns to horror when he suddenly turns at right angles and hops directly towards the Simpson House billy-can. And, yes, his unused leg crashes down into our stew. We went hungry that night and Fonebone is none too popular.

A few years later (back in SGH).
Andy approaches me and seems excited about something. “Hey Remy, you won’t believe what happened to Fonebone!” I ask him what has happened to Fonebone. “Well!” he breathlessly begins, “ we were at the table in the Dining Hall having supper when Fonebone started having a fit!” I tell Andrew that is nothing new and to get to the point. “Well!” (still breathless) “ You know how he blows bubbles from his nose?” (I nod) “Well!” (even more breathless) “We couldn’t stand it anymore! We just pushed him under the table and started kicking!” Only now he did have my full attention. I ask if Fonebone is ok and where have they left him. “Who cares? Probably still under the table!”
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24. john rossouw | August 8, 2008 at 11:02 am

Greetings Remy and welcome to the site
Please also keep up with the stories as they help to recall what a unique and special place the home was and how the many characters which came and went contributed to this uniqueness
I am not sure if most of you have read the SPUD books by John vd Reit but they are recollections of a Michaelhouse boy from his years at the school. Notwithstanding the fact that it remains one of the elitist private schools in the country the humour and anecdotes are much reminiscent of life at the home and save for the names we could well be talking about the same institution
Perhaps a continuation of these stories on this site would lead to our own collection of SPUD stories
I returned today from a stay in the Midlands at a guest house two doors up from the cottage in Lidgeton
Woodcroft is now owned by the nephew of John Davidson who previously owned the cottage
It was John and his brother who permitted us use of the cottage for various excursions one of which is recorded in photographs on this site
Chris and Elaine Dodson the current owners and have built their home next to the thatch cottage which is now rented out as a guest house
Father Richarson knows the family well and refers to them as the alphabetical Dodsons as their names all follow in sequential order
The cottage looks identical apart from tiles in the passage which have replaced the carpet in the passage
In my first visit in 70 on a choir camp Larry Jenkins my brother Dave and I slept in the attic
I raced up the stairs to see the old room which everyone wanted to sleep in but these days it is used for storage
John Davidson had a collection of matchbox cars on a shelf and I would play with them for hours
Chris does not recall what happened to the collection but today it would be worth a fortune
When I knocked on the door to introduce myself Elaine knew exactly who I was despite not having met me as she has researched all the visitor book entries since the cottage was built
She very kindly copied the entries made by the home boys dating back to the mid 60’s
Mike Dollman may recall the need for two boys to walk to the dairy once a day for a can of milk
The dairy is still in existence and the road is very long and dusty so no wonder no one was keen to go on the trip
Albert I will try and nudge Mike to come back online but he tends to blame his defective computer for his non correspondence
If you care to send him an email perhaps their is strength in numbers which will add to the peer pressure and he can be reached at brmichael@gmail.com
To all of you who visit this site please use the link to facebook where I am in the process of downloading photos of the home’s history
Please also feel free to add names and anecdotes to the pictures as well as this will help to bring the project alive
Blane if you do have email addresses for the once of visitors to the site please can you email them the face book link as well

Regards to you all

Joh
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25. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 8, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Hi John, and welcome back.

Could you kindly post the link to the Facebook connection you spoke of regarding the pictures.

Dudley.
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26. Simon | August 9, 2008 at 5:58 pm

hi i am too and old boy 1980 -81 i remember the kelly bothers i used to be in spackman house with david and stephen i too have a some good memories and some very bad john .david and stephen kelly would like to get in contact ,it was very strange was thinking of my young days now that i am nearing 40 could some one let me know how i can get a hold of john and davi d kelly pls let me know
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27. Blane | August 9, 2008 at 5:59 pm

Hello Dudley:

The SGH Facebook URL is: http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=19578212103&ref=ts
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28. anon | August 9, 2008 at 7:37 pm

hi all
am an old boy of st georges in the early 80s wow is sounds a real long time ago would liek to know what ever happened to mrs harpur and mr peter nicholls
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29. John Rossouw | August 10, 2008 at 7:51 am

Hi anon and welcome
I last saw Pete Nichols at Ken Mc Holm’s memeorial service and he was working for Sharp Electronics at the time
Joan Harpur returned to Scotland but came out when her sister Audrey Mc Holm died in April 2005
She was looking extremely well me and hardly seemed to have aged
Perhaps Dave Mc Holm has her conrtact details
He lives on the Easrt Rand with his wife and two teenage daughters
Regards

John
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30. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 10, 2008 at 10:01 pm

Nostalgia is a hungry beast!

I dived into the Facebook picture gallery (set up by John Rossouw), like a hungry dog scavenging through the trash in a back alley, looking for a single morsel of lost memory.

Alas, in all those hundred odd pictures only one familiar face emerged from the past and with whom it is unlikely, that I will ever have a peer to peer discussion. It was ‘Boss’ Robson and his wife, taken with Taylor House working boys from way back in 1948.

It somehow appears that very little record remains of the ’50’s and quite frankly, I personally recall that there were not many photos taken of any of us during my term there. Certainly on several occassions, usually the sports and athletics days, family members and others did take pictures … but I don’t recall ever seeing any, certainly not with me in them.

So nostalgia goes unfed … until one of my contempories pops up and shows his hand with a posting on this blog … and then perhaps, a right proper meal will be made of the past.

Nevertheless, thanks to Blane and John for providing the appetizer.
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31. john rossouw | August 11, 2008 at 10:55 am

Hi DC
You are right with regards to archives from your era in that very few photos could be found from the records I went through
I suspect it was Fr Bee Bop (Norman) Clayton who instilled the need for recording events for posterity hence the surge in the sixties and seventies
I have many more photos to download so we may yet find something

Regards

John
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32. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 12, 2008 at 6:15 am

Greetings John,

Thank you for the update. It’s sad but true … it seems we ’50’s blokes got no strokes. The forgotten generation that passed through those portals and left no trace … at least not visible … but thankfully, there must be plenty of memories still floating around.

Hopefully, the word will get out that this site exists and more of our brothers from that period will come on board and bring with them portraits and stories of the past that are missing.

I must presume however, that some written records of our individual development kept by the housemasters of that time, must have survived. If so, are they accessible?

Besides personal records, an archival inventory or list of all the members of each house of each year would go a long way to refresh our memories of those we have forgotten. If not, perhaps it would be a useful exercise for those few of us now connected here, submitted such a list of all those whom we can remember.

Dudley.
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33. john rossouw | August 12, 2008 at 8:17 am

Hi DC

I am not sure how far back the records date but I did retrieve my file from 1976 which I copied together with those of my 3 brothers from 67 68 and 74
I will check for you when next I visit and yes your suggestion of a list of names and dates of boys at the home would be a good idea to jolt the memory banks

Regards

John
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34. John Rossouw | August 13, 2008 at 7:39 pm

Have updated amother batch of photos on the facebook site
Sadly DC still none from early 60’s

Regards

John
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35. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 14, 2008 at 9:01 am

Or mid to late 50’s … I guess. But thanks for looking.

I’m going to be incapacitated for a few days while I undergo some medical attention to free myself from the leg bag and straw, but will prepare a list of all those fellow St. Goggians whom I can still remember and will post an extensive blog sometime next week.

Regards,

Dudley.
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36. Michael Rossouw | August 17, 2008 at 12:15 am

Dear Old Boys and friends of SGH
What a wonderful medium the Internet is. Who would have thought that for many of us after leaving the home that many years later we’d be reminiscing about our various experiences at the Home. Who said nostalgia ain’t what it used to be!
Many of you have made good and have achieved great things.
I am still in the at Brent International School as Head of Religious Studies and assistant chaplain.
My sojourn in Asia (almost 9 years now) has been interesting to say the least, although in many Asian countries, the Anglican church has different styles of worship and of course many different languages. (Seldom does one hear Beebop’s phrase “you’ll find Evensong begins on page 2 and continues on page 14″ in these services!) I managed to master the rudiments of Thai whilst in Thailand and became “streetwise” , but as for Burmese in Myanmar(Burma) and Tagalog in the Philippines, I’ve only managed to learn greetings and odd phrases, much to the joy of the locals who appreciate the fact that I’m willing to make an effort.
Most of the students here come from Korea, our school having a good reputation for teaching a USA curriculum and teaching our students to learn to speak English.Many of them go on to study at universities in the USA, Canada and Australia. We have an “English only” policy which is geared to encourage students to use English as a language in which to communicate.
It reminds me of “Piet” Pretorius’ attempts to get us to learn Afrikaans.He had one day a week in which we were all required to speak Afrikaans in Beaton house.Piet was an ardent republican and I remember well in 1961 when the home was in quarantine for about six weeks with an outbreak of scarlet fever, and we all had school at the home, Piet organised a football fiesta of note. Most of Taylor house were Tottenham Hotspur fans and Spackman house supported the rival English league team (cant remember the name now)
We were dubbed ‘The Beatonite Republicans ” and Gannon’s team was called “the Simpsonian monarchists” (Beaton house was thrashed). Being a person who respected the Queen I was called a traitor by my fellows for having monarchist sympathies.(I don’t have any now, although I have much admiration for the Thai monarch who is a much respected king and enjoys the love of his people because of his many efforts to enhance and improve the lives of his people.) Quite strange how the political issues of the day crept into our daily lives through the attitudes and varying views of the masters.South Africa had just become a Republic; we’d experienced the horrors of Sharpeville and of the assassination attempt on the then Prime minister H.F Verwoerd the Rand Easter Show by David Pratt. Verwoerd was the arch architect of Apartheid which tore our country apart. Betty Richardson wrote to him on many occasions asking him to “resign now”. The country came to a standstill for his funeral in 1966 when he was assassinated in the House of Assembly.
There used to be a smokers den at the paddock. The guys who were given a licence to smoke flew a Union Jack over the pigsty declaring themselves “the anti republican force.” I was still a cub and only saw the place once. The sty was destroyed when the paddock was renovated and the Old boys pavilion knocked down to make way for the St George’s Village.
My Junior years in the home were quite traumatic.It took me 3 years to accept that I’d be here for all of my schooldays.
On my arrival at St George’s in 1961 I was met by Robbie Robson, Second Master and housemaster of Taylor house.His tall thin hunch-backed form frightened me initially, but he had a kindly manner about him. I found him quietly spoken and quite gentle, although I’m told that if you were “flapped”by Robbie ,it was something to be feared.
His dear wife Daphne was a wonderful caring soul, much like Audrey Mc Holm and Betty Richardson. “Cubs” as we were called were never allowed near Taylor or Spackman houses, but whenever Mrs Robson was starching the ruffs and cottas
for the weekly Sunday Mass, she always invited me in for a cup of tea and a slice of her delicious chocolate or fruit cake.
“SHLOOP!”the Seniors would say. I guess they were jealous.
I kept away from the seniors as much as possible. It was only in high school some three years later that my fears were somewhat put aside.
The terrible thing about being a cub and having a reasonably good soprano singing voice was that whenever there was a need for a “female” part in a play, I was dragged in.
Thomas Geddes, Home prefect in 1961 , mistook me for a girl when I was being dressed for the part by Betty Richardson. Thankfully my voice broke about a year later and I never had to become a girl again. (Tommy , the last I’d heard was finishing his Doctorate in adult Literacy and was a director of a large Funeral business ; he was also made an honorary ‘bishop’ of an African Church because of his work amongst that community.)
Nutsy Moore is also a name which many of us remember well. The last I heard of Nutsy was that he’d retired as HOD of a famous school in the Eastern Cape, East London Technical High I think, and headed for Cape Town to retire. That was in 2000, so he may well have ventured onto other projects in retirement as he was busy developing board games for adult literacy training when I last heard from him.
Albert, what a pleasant surprise to hear your news. My it must be quite something being a Grandfather. I’ve been told that the best part of being in that role is that you can always send the grandchildren back to their parents when the going gets tough.
Anon in his first email to the “Blane” site mentioned the abuse of boys both by masters and bullying boys alike.
I had my fair share of that in the Band as as the cymbalist in the bass section. Jannie Gouws was the tenor drummer.Many a time I was hit on the head with a tenor drum stick for one reason or another. Eventually the late John Innes took me under his wing and Band became more enjoyable.
When I first joined the band, Theo Hickman was the lead side drummer. It was he who taught me how to dissemble and re assemble the old side drums, the one’s which had all the white ropes on and were tightened by things called “frogs” I think St George’s kept Selipas stores and other wholesalers in revenue for the amount of white wash we used for Band equipment and uniforms.
Lulu, Mr Selipas’s daughter, was in my class at Wychwood Primary. She was a chubby faced Greek girl with a charming smile. Her father of course kept her at a safe distance from us. The homeboys often stole sweets from his shop which did not help enhance friendships between the home and the community. Neither did the frequent milk and fruit raids on houses in the neighbourhood!
Lulu came to my first annual inspection parade…I think she liked me…”catch a chaff ,Rossouw”, was yelled by many of the boys. I was embarrassed. However as I got older and more serious , I never really had a “steady”. Walter Burnett, a junior in my band of 1967 asked his sister, who had left school nd was already working, accompanied me to my matric dance at Malvern. It was as I remember a formal affair.All the girls, Dawn Hewitt, Carol Cameron, Phyllis George, Cheryl Hayter, Lydia VanZyl, Irene williams and Laura Caramella and many others whose names escape me, were dressed in long evening gowns. Esme,my date wore a mini skirt! She was quite attractive to say the least and many of my fellow students teased me afterwards about that.
When i become Drum Major in 1967, we were fortunate to have “screw tension” drums; much easier to clean and
more “user friendly”.
I remember Graham Krog , as my first Drum major, followed by Arthur Bloomfield (I Think) and David DeLange who doubled as a lead side drummer, and then Rupert Scott. I followed Rupert, my brother Des followed me and a few years later, My Brothers Dave and John were also Drum Majors. ( they were also drum majors of the dawnview high band, John winning the Wit Command trophy in the early seventies.)
Of Course Mackey always raved about the 1947 Band and used to single out names like Dale White (1947) and Dawie Bell
(1950’s and early 1960’s) as fine leaders of a Band with a long history. My uncle was in the home in the 1930’s and early 1940’s when Percy Laing was bandmaster ( that was in Georgie Adams’s time i think as a boy in the home) I guess I joined the Band to continue a family tradition and because our uniforms were much smarter and we were able to meet girls when the band played at school Fete’s and other functions. My uncle was James (Jimmy) Job and after leaving the Home , he played in the Band of the SA Irish Regiment. I was Drum major of the Kimberley Regiment and my brother John was for a while a drummer in the ILH Band.
Dave my younger brother took the home band to many “compos” as a junior master at the Home during the seventies.
From where I am in the Philippines it all seems far away and a long time ago, although I can still remember my last day at Malvern high as if it were yesterday.
Looking back is good and sometimes therapeutic.
But I guess we have to look for ward and put the past behind us. In my own struggles in life I have had to learn to do this, tough as it may seem.Nowadays I try to live one day at a time.
I’m not sure where I’ll end up (retirement is approaching fast but there is nowhere to retire to and nothing to retire on) but for now I must keep putting “first things first”.
I know I have been rather quiet but I have been wrestling with a lot of things in my own vocation in ministry right now.
I shall try to be a little less silent. When i do write it’s usually too long and my scribblings may perhaps be seen as the ramblings of an old fool. So be it.
I am however extremely grateful for the chances I was given in being an old boy of the home.
Many people there touched my life and I hope in some way I touched theirs in a positive way.
There is not a day that goes by where i do not give thanks to God for St George’s with all its imperfections and heartaches and for the “home ” it gave to me. Without it I would not be where i am today even with all my imperfections.
God Bless you all

Michael Rossouw(Old Boy 1961-1967)
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37. john rossouw | August 18, 2008 at 7:08 am

Welcome back Br Michael and keep trawling your memory bank for more stories which add to the treasured memories we all have of the home

Regards

Br John
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38. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 19, 2008 at 12:19 am

Greetings Michael.

Ramble on ‘old fool’ … it was great reading and more is better than none.

Your brother John is quite correct in likening the tales of St. Goggies to that of Michaelhouse … albeit the quality of life between the two was like night and day. In fact ,English literature is filled with reams of ’school days’ stories. But the unique nature of an orphanege was captured only by Dickens. Perhaps in time, some of these tales told here will be bundled into another series of homie adventures.

What strikes me here however, is that there was an aweful lot of musical talent in SGHB. Many vocalists and many more band members of all stripes. Me, I couldn’t sing two notes in tune … but I could dance.

I recall my first year when boys our age were called up to try out for the choir. When it came to my turn, I was coupled with my brother and we were required to sing the first verse of the Philips’ version of Psalm 23 … a truly beautiful piece … which we promptly destroyed. I can remember as clear as a bell, Rev. Strong’s dismissal of us; ‘The Pringles will not be required for the choir’. was all he said. That remark was indellibly imprinted on me and to this day, I cannot even whistle in tune.

Strangely enough, it didn’t seem to make an impression on Stuart, as he went on to become a bugler and later Drum Major of the cadet band and to this day, he has a passable singing voice for a baritone.

Roger Innes was a junior in my dorm (Taylor House 3) when I was a corporal* and became my scivvy briefly until he revolted. But he made a very strong impression on me with his singing voice. I can still remember the opening words of an italian aria he would sing; ‘Streti streti … ‘ and I wish I could remember more as it was so beautiful.

*Corporal: I must hold the record for being a corporal – three years in a row. I never got further.

My first year, Gary Riley was PL and Raymond Styer was corporal. The second year I became corporal to Styer. Then
corporal to Dickie Allen for the next 2 years.

Riley was of Scots decent and looked it. Short, bowlegged and slightly reddish of hair. He was a mean SOB and tough on us. He was also captain of our boxing team and when I proved to be pretty good at that, he softened his relationship towards me … although that first year, I was his scivvy and that was no mean feat. He had a younger brother called John in dorm 1 under Pat Keyser as PL who also had his younest brother, Inchie (Norman) in that dorm with him along with my brother. A third Keyser brother was Herman in Spackman House … all three were in the band. Pat as Drum Major, Herman as a drummer and Inchie as a bugler.

Lots of brothers in SGBH – the twins Ronald (Taylor)and Edwin (Beaton) Ackerman. They were encapsulated in leg irons from childhood from Polio but one did not call them cripples. On the contrary, they were tough little buggers and although both had great singing voices in the choir, they also engaged in every other sport from soccer to cricket, even swimming and athletics. I really hope they both had a great life after they left St. Goggies. They certainly deserved it.

Then there was Brian Wiley and his younger brother, Beeky (The beek) in Taylor. Brian was a giant of a man … I remember him as tall, vast of muscular proportions, blond curly hair, blue eyed and good looking. He was PL of dorm 2 and later Drum Major. His thigh dimensions individually equalled my waist. It was he who caused me to loose my sense of smell and taste for many years. But that’s another story.

Dickie Allen and I go back to 1949/50. We were neighbours in Boksburg. As kids we played Superman and Batman wearing alter drapes as capes (from his father’s church – where he was a deacon). We would go ‘flying’ off his balcony roof onto old mattresses in his back yard … until Dickie broke an arm and our superhero adventures came to an end. Many years later I served in the BSAP in traffic dept. with Dickie. Pat Keyser and Inchie served there too at the same tiime. Pat was in C.I.D. and Inchie was with Dickie and I in Traffic. Lots of stories to tell from that 3 year period – 1961 thru’ 63.

Then there was Alan van Dyk in my dorm … who had the longest, biggest ding dong I have ever seen on a man. Too big to get an erection … (and he was only 13). Funny to remember that.

Raymond Styer was one of my heroes. He was hjighly intelligent, had a remarkable command of the english language and could cut you to the bone with a sharp, fast comeback. I remember him one night … in five brief single, one line exchanges, when he took Gary Riley apart and nearly got beaten up as a result for his ’smart mouth’. I was surely impressed. The word is stronger than the sword!

Raymond also had a younger brother, John and when Raymond matriculated he went onto become a corporate accountant. Alas, something went wrong somewhere along the financial line and he was arrested and prosecuted for fraud. Oh, how the mighty are fallen. Nevertheless, while at SGHB, we was one of the best cricketers we ever produced. Both a great opening bat and the fastest fast bowler there.

Does anyone remember Brian Hale … an affected little englishman who was assistant housemaster in Taylor? Given to wearing shorts with his socks rolled right down to the tops of his shoes (always highly polished Oxford brogues). The man was a fanatic sun worshipper and was tanned the whole year round. Although I didn’t care for him too much, I did take advantage of his friendship with Dickie Allen and as dorm leaders, we were often invited into his flat (opposite the landing outside our dorm) to listen to The Goon Show, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Erick Sykes, to Victor Borge, Anthony Newly and others on 33rpm records. He also introduced me to the James Bond saga with the first book; From Russia with Love. And of course, there were little titbits, chocolates and biscuits and hot chocolate to drink while the rest of the dorm slept.

More brothers; Gerhardus and Robert Pieters, both in Taylor. Although Gerhardus was my class mate, he was older than I and I identified more with his younger sibling Robert. I played cricket and soccer with Rob and hung out with him often for a smoke and a joll.

Shortly before I left Africa for good in 1966, I ran into Robert in the streets of Hillbrow. I didn’t recognise him at first as he was almost completely bald and had that deep sunburnt look of someone who lived on the streets. He did and when we ran into each other, he was holding his hand out and asked me for some change. As I was digging in my pockets I suddenly recognised him and as I said; Robert Pieters, is that you … he recognised me and we both fell into a deep embarrasment. I took him for lunch and gave him what money I had on me later, but that meeting shocked me and for many years I could not forget it. There but for the grace of God, go I and I cried that night.

Enough for now … hogging the page is also my problem Michael. But it’s nice to have another storyteller on line. I lived in Hong Kong from late ‘69 to mid’ 72 and also travelled extensively throughout the far east … but my brother Stuart, a Buddhist monk actually lived in Japan and Thailand for a while before travelling through the region to return to the west. I’m sure you two would have a colorful story to tell of your exploits there.

‘Shlala gahle.

Dudley.
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39. Information Web Net » Blog Archive » Saint George’s Home for Boys 1915 - 1991 | August 20, 2008 at 3:17 am

[...] Here’s an interesting post I found today.Have a look for your self, Here’s an excerpt, please read the full story at the blogHaving had another look at the U 14 football photo I seem to think the goalkeeper in the middle of the back row is Sydney Burrow By way of update Gary Hand emigrated to Australia in 1974 to reunite with his mother and Tony Girout is a … [...]
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40. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 22, 2008 at 7:29 am

Nostalgia – the hungry beast got a fed a little portion of the past tonight.

Funny how we find snippets of our past in the strangest places. I’ve been hoping for contact with any one of my contempories from the 50’s though this blog … but toniight my oldest friend here and I cycled from Marina del Rey to Santa Monica Pier, to picnic on the beach below with about 2 to 3 thousand other baby boomers and their kids, to listen to a free concert by Gerry and the Pacemakers and Peter & Gordon, who were part of the British invasion (with the Beatles & Stones) to America in the mid-sixties.

They were all old rockers and their voices cracked and quivered and they couldn’t always make the high notes, but they rocked! And once again nostalgia got desert.

‘Ferry across the Mersy’ never sounded better!

I should say desert plus! Who was on stage in short shorts to introduce them? None other that the original dizzy beach blonde from Baywatch … Pamela Anderson. I took pictures and some video … and I can tell you … she looks a lot cuter in real life than the booby babe you see on screen.

Incidentally … this is the beach and Pier where a lot of Baywatch was filmed and where the Beach Boys played many a concert in the 60’s.

After a month of numerous tests, this week my urologist delivered the report on my biopsy.

I am cancer free!
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41. john rossouw | August 22, 2008 at 12:57 pm

Great to hear your health is fine DC
I am a fan of Peter and Gordon so the concert must have been awesome
I remain in awe of these rockers who are still around more than 50 years on and I relate the fact that no one will even care or know who Brittainy Spears is 10 years from now (amongst so many others like her) I guess these rockers survived for a number of reasons
They paid their dues in bars and clubs long before attaining fame and noterietty unlike the instant commercial celebrity status of today and
They also composed and wrote material from the heart as opposed to the current commercial garbage that gets churned out
We have a radio station in SA “702″ which plays all the solid gold hits over the weekend and you can pick them up on audio stream via http://www.702.co.za
Along with the music they also give a lot of trivia about the artists and the times so you may want to tune in at some stage
My family rag me about it as I lock the dial on the radio whenever I get the chance and it reminds me of the days at the home when we listened to Loureco Marques radio from Mozambique via short wave radio where the songs of the day could be heard echoing across the lawns of the senior houses being Taylor, Smuts and Crawford
One of the prominent DJ’s of the day on LM Radio was Long John Berks of great noteriety and he is now on the air at a radio station in Israel
My late mother at one stage in the sixties met and dated one of their other LM Radio dj’s Barry o Donneghue or B O D as he called himself on air
Speaking of voices, I am constantly on the lookout for music DVD’s from concerts and tours from these old fogies and I have put together a reasonable collection over the last few years so I will watch out for a dvd of this concert
James Taylor is someone whose voice has particularly improved over time and his 2006 October Road concert is testemant to this so if you get an opportunity to watch it on DVD then do so
Anyway have a great weekend

Regards

John
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42. Keith Frandsen | August 22, 2008 at 9:35 pm

HI Mr Albert De Jager. It is really very nice to hear from you. I think back to Taylor house before you came and I thank the good lord that you did come. Our housemaster before you Mr Errol Richardson was cane mad. I was not even in the home for 6 hours and received my first 6 canings for dirtying a dish cloth. The house was ruled by fear. When you came along suddenly we had someone who actually cared about us boys. I can only say a big thank you for what you did for me. I will never forget your kindness. My email address is franconprojects@gmail.com.
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43. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 23, 2008 at 8:46 am

What goes around, comes around and this came to me via a good friend. So I would like to share it with all St. Goggians. It is called; The Great Invocation.

‘From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let Light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

‘From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let Love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

‘From the center where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men -
The Purpose which the masters know and serve.

‘From the center which we call the race of men
Let the Love and Light work out,
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

‘Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth’.

I do not know who wrote it, but it is certainly appropriate in this time in a troubled world … where nothing is as it seems. Where the ‘good’ guys are almost indistinquishable from the baddies.
Where the purpose of man appears to be nothing more than the gathering of individual materialistic comfort and nature’s bounty is stripped for financial return.
Where Darkness prevails and Light is nowhere to be found …
Love is a commodity of casual convenience.

We who had less, had more than those who served us and this should cause us to pause and to consider what we can do to give back to those who are even less fortunate.

Love, Light and Life go hand in hand … if we have good intent.

How to spread Love? Share it … with those around you … for what goes around, comes around.
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44. Michael Rossouw | August 24, 2008 at 4:40 pm

Dear Dudley and Friends
I too remember Daddy Hale. The story from Nutsy goes that he was stopped one day in London for speeding and when asked to give his name to the officer, the bobby immediately remembered the name. “Oh, ” said the officer, “you are the producer of…” and mentioned the play.( it may have been Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mouse trap”.
They chatted pleasantly for about 5 minutes and and the officer handed him the ticket for speeding, saying,” lovely meeting you Sir. You’ll receive a summons for your court appearance soon!”
So much for being well known.
My own experience with traffic fines inn RSA was after my ordination. I was stuck in traffic in Kimberley’s “rush minute” and needed to get to our Church in a hurry for the 5.30 Eucharist.
I jumped lanes and was nabbed by the local traffic cop, who ironically was our church warden! I ended up being luckier than Daddy Hale!
Lucien Lombard was the master of Spackman when I was a cub in Beaton house, which became a junior house in the early 1960’s.Many feared the infamous ‘Lombardian Slosh” as his flaps were called.He used to put on the Spackman House Follies and I well remember Leslie Egling dressed in drag and waltzing down the Hall shouting “Where’s daddy?” promptly plonking himself on Daddy Hale’s lap and giving him a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. Daddy took it all in good fun, waving jovially.He always wore his white hat. No sooner had the Sunday 2pm parade ended, and Daddy’s shirt would be off showing his well preserved bronzed body to all and sundry and heading straight for the pool.
Muriel Noakes at Malvern along with Vera Kirkland introduced me to my love of theatre, (something we lack in Subic, although the Brent School produces plays , musicals, band concerts and the like with really top performances from our talented students)
Two plays Muriel produced in which I played along with Robert Knowles, Robin Putter, my late brother Desmond, Brian Van Loggerenberg and the late Rupert Scott, were “Maiden ladies” , a play in which Robin and Robert played two crooks dressed up disguised as two old ladies. It was a great romp. Dawn Hewitt, Carol Cameron and Maureen Scott were the female leads.
The other was “Dry rot” a raucous farce set in England about race horse nobbling! Clifford Maritz played the French jockey, Albertbert Plignac.
Again Rob Knowles and Robin Putter were the crooks. I played Colonel Wagstaff and Dawn played a rather goofy maid, Beth.
The last I heard of Muriel was that she’d left to farm in Louis Trichardt of all places! her favourite insult (amongst many others) was ” You miserable son of a Voortrekker! You are the type who visits Louis Trichardt once a month and Pretoria once in a lifetime.” I believe she started a school for farm workers in her retirement.
She may well have passed onto higher service. I believe Vera died in the late 1980’s in her beloved Grahamstown, where i visited her regularly when I was a student at the tender age of 33. ( I was sadly a late developer!)
I went to study at Rhodes because Nutsy , and JJ de Jager went there, JJ having completed honours in Psychology and Nutsy having gained his BSc in Science, Phys Ed and Geography. Nutsy also got SA University colours for Soccer.
My brother Dave studied at Wits! He was an athlete who enjoyed running. He still does serving as one of the leading lights in Wits Kudus, the Athletics club of his Alma Mater.
His son Vaughan is at RAU
( now the University of Johannesburg) as universities have now been re organised under the new educational dispensation in South Africa.
I envy Dave in that he was able to study Latin. They struck it from the curriculum when I entered at Malvern High school in my Std 6 year replacing it with German. Fraulein Altenroxel was the teacher. I met her long after leaving school when my best mate at school Kieth (Percy) Anderson, married her cousin Brigitta.Where are they all now?
I guess Malvern is quite an institution with a long history.
Sometimes I feel I should go back and teach there just to give something back to the school which gave me so much.
I visited there about 4 years ago. The photos are still on the walls, the uniforms are still the same .
Peggy Morgan is still teaching English there and her former spouse, Bobby Geddes is the custodian/ Groundsman of the school. Apart from some minor cracks in the exterior walls which the Dept still takes it’s time tofix, it’s much the same. the students now are mostly Blacks but they are very much aware of the school’s rich history.
They wear there uniforms proudly and are seemingly aware of the fact that Malvern is a very special school. In the mid 70’s a technical section was formed to the btterment of the school in terms of teaching skills. When I lived in JHB some years ago, the mechanic at the local garage was an old boy from Malvern who’I'd taught.Not everyone can study the Social Sciences as I did and become a mind of what many may see as “useless” information.
I think the Book of Proverbs sums it up well: “your Education is life…guard it well{”
Ma Mc Arthur, God Bless her, always reminded us that there was no shame in honest work. So wherever many of us found ourselves, in Commerce, Industry, the world of Technolgy, Science and yes, even Academia, somehow Malvern and St Georges enabled us to find our niche…
Yes some of my generation did end up on the streets of JHB or in the dark and sinister world of crime and abuse of one or another drug of choice. Your story Dudley did touch me as I also hugged some of my fellows (very few though) whom I recognised but as we say, “:there but for theb Grace of God go I ( Although these days I say, Here with the Grace of God am I) here now, for without Him, I don’t know what I’d do.
The Home with all it’s imperfections gave me a living Faith. Many others also became ministers of one form or another. Trevor Pietersen became a preacher of Evangelical note, and John and Roger Innes were involved in ministry, albeit in churches other than the Anglican Communion, so divided now.
Alas I ramble on….
Blessings to you all

Brother Michael R
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45. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 24, 2008 at 5:57 pm

Ramble on … Michael, it only gets better.

As one by one we pour forth the fluid memories from the vessels of our minds … the liquid mozaic of the labrynthian theater of life, spreads out like a lake and and each of us, like drops of water fills up the bowl, interconnected, one with the whole sharing a past that flows on into the future.

Some evaporate, others condense and return again to refresh the pool and we drink again.

My cup runneth over.
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46. Remy | August 24, 2008 at 8:01 pm

I was born in 1951 and my first few years are lost to me. I was too young to remember anything from that time and consider that to be normal. Thereafter, from the ages of 2 through 5, I lived with my mother and recall travelling to the seaside, amongst other places, and inheriting a younger sister who was about 3 years my junior. The exact details of these early experiences were, and still are, a mystery to me. But powerful images still remain. One such is a building with an imposing façade and gloomy high-ceilinged rooms and corridors. I am standing in one of the rooms and surrounded by the adults’ legs whilst the dull din of adult voices echo around the vaulted ceiling. I tell somebody, a stranger, that I need to go to the toilet. He takes me out of the room and shows me where to go.
“Do you see that corridor?” he asks me and I nod.
“Do you see that door on the left?” I nod again.
”That’s the toilet.”

Without a word I make my way down the corridor and enter the toilet. Ahead I see a large urinal and to my left cubicals containing lavatories. Just inside and to the left of the entrance a man sits at a desk upon which sits a large black telephone. I ignore him and step up to the urinal. Having relieved myself I turn to go when the telephone rings. The man picks up the receiver. I walk past him but his large hand restrains me. I look at him and see the receiver still at his ear. Simultaneously, outside in the corridor, I hear my mother screaming. I push past the man’s hand and succeed in gaining the corridor before he pulls me back. Before he does, I see my mother having a tug of war with another woman. Between my mother and the woman is my sister. My mother has my sister’s hands and the woman her feet. My mother is hysterical. Neither will let go but other adults soon overwhelm my mother. My sister and I are bundled into a car and driven away. I was about 5 at the time and my sister, 2. My sister disappeared from my life when she was 3 (adopted) whilst I attended, 1st an Afrikaans Place that I would prefer to forget, then JCH, then St George’s from which I was discharged at the age of 18.

At the age of 22, and having completed my National Service, I was walking through Joburg when I gave greater consideration to a building that hitherto I had ignored. I knew it had something to do with the law but having never passed through its portals was unsure of its exact purpose. On this particular day I had nothing better to do and so walked through its imposing façade. In an instant I was back again to that earlier time. Once again I saw the corridor and the opening on the left. I slowly paced the distance and stood at the entrance. Ahead of me was the urinal and to my left I saw the cubicals. Now nobody manned a desk and the room was empty. I retraced my steps, crossed the entrance hall and stared at the door in front of me. Court Room Number 1 was emblazoned in gold across the door.

Very soon after this I left SA and didn’t return for 20 years. When I did it was only for 2 weeks but immediately I made my way to JCH. The year was 1994. The main building still existed but the children were now cared for in newly built bungalows situated on the playing fields. I approached the first bungalow wondering what I might discover. I noticed a pane missing from one of the windows and peered inside. Directly in front of me, and just beyond the missing pane, a small boy, aged about 5, with blonde hair and blue eyes, sat on a bed. He was dressed in pyjamas which surprised me because it was only 4pm.
“Did you break the window?” I gently asked him and received a very solemn nod.
“And that’s why you have been sent to bed early?” Again the solemn nod.
I do believe I was speaking to myself nearly 45 years earlier.
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47. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 25, 2008 at 10:03 am

Adendum to the Concert on the Pier.

Sad to say John, though I raved about Gerry and the Pacemakers appearance, I cannot say the same about Peter & Gordon. Peter told some cute stories about the history of some of their songs, but their performance lacked the dynamic exhibited by Gerry and also, a surprise appearence by the last surviving member of The Tremelos (whose name I have already forgotten).

What was interesting about P & G’s appearence there that night, was that it was the first re-union of them together for 38 years. Maybe that was the problem … not quite in the zone with each other yet. Nevertheless, collectively the Brits sang most of their combined 40 odd hits that night.

I remember both Long John Berks and Barry O’Donohue. I also remember Dickie Allen and I bunking out to meet with Barry in the foyer of the SABC on Commissioner Street one afternoon with a handfull of songs we had both written (just words, no music) and a wild proposition to give us a break to become popstars … despite the fact that I for one, couldn’t sing two notes in tune.

Well, you don’t have to guess where that went. Maybe, if either of us was as pretty as your mum, we might at least have gotten an appointment to come back for a try-out.

Years later, I returned to SA (1972 to 1976) to join my brother to produce some documentaries and a couple of low-budget feature films. During that same period I blew through 10 grand producing 3 artistes on records with Johnnny Boshoff as my arranger and musical director. They didn’t even get released despite the fact that at the time, David Finestein, head of Decca Records, was a personal friend of mine. I should have remembered my earlier experience with BOD.

If that wasn’t message enough, during that nearly 5 year sojourn back in JHB, I wrote the libretto for a rock opera called ‘Prophecy’. Johnny Boshoff wrote the music for one of the solos from it and we recorded it with some of the best musicians in the country, Hennie Becker on keyboards, base guitarist Johnny Viljoen (who played with the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the States) and Johnny B on guitar. Vocal was by Fox who also did drums and percussion.

David Finestein took a listen, liked it and organised the entire cream of the South African musical theater world to hear it and review the libretto. They promptly blew it off as too way out for SA. So, the message is, you get three shots, if you can’t pull it off … go find another career.

Years later … many years later … both my kids turned out to be mucians. My son (vocalist and guitarist) had a grunge band in Holland and my daughter played classical violin. So I finally got my musical rocks off … albeit by proxy.

Michael, we have more in common than either of us knew. It is obvious that you too have fond memories of both Murial Noakes and Vera Kirkland. They certainly were both deeply inspirtational to me. And I too used to act in their school plays.
Vera produced and Murial directed and they both drank gin inbetween and behind the scenes, during those once a year, one day performances … like there was no tomorrow.

One year we did Charlie’s Aunt. Errol Fouche played the aunt and I played the fool … officer O’Hara. We didn’t do it particularly well on the day, despite pretty good rehersal performances. I guess we were all a little too nervous, but half way through, it was obvious that it wasn’t going too well when suddenly a peal of laughter rang out from behind the set … both Vera & Murial had obviously ‘ginned’ it up a little too much, forgot where they were, forgot the play going on and just let it rip. Then; ‘Oops!’ and silence.

From that moment on Errol, the star of the show took off and really laid that part down. We ended to great applause.

The End.
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48. Remy | August 25, 2008 at 6:00 pm

I wish now to speak of 2 remarkable boys. The first is Les who, with me, was in JCH. Together, at the age of 9, we progressed to SGH. Unfortunately, he was allocated Beaton House and I, Simpson. I, however, took every opportunity to be with him. We attended the same class at Wychwood where we sat at the same desk and, at prep, I always sought his company.

Les was quiet boy who seldom spoke. When he did, it was with a quiet, succinct monotone. He never raised his voice and nothing, seemingly, excited him. A neutral observer may have described his demeanour as disinterested. I, who knew him, will argue that his soul was just too deep for the rest of us to comprehend.

He knew my affection for him but never quite reciprocated it. I did not mind. Those early years in JCH taught me that this gentle boy was different and that was all. His large and sombre blue eyes, set in a pale face and beneath a canopy of black hair, belied an original and perceptive mind.

One evening, during prep, I marched up to his table and plunked myself down. We were 10 at the time, in standard 2 at school, and consequently the homework we were set was anything but arduous. As usual, Les was reading a novel. He always assumed the same pose whilst doing so: his right arm, elbow on the table, supported his head which was tilted to one side and rested on his palm, fingers pointing backwards. Occasionally, he would switch arms and assume a mirror image of this pose.

I looked at the book in front of him, open about half way, in which he was intently engrossed.
“What you reading, Les?” I asked him.
Without a word he turned the book around and pushed it towards me. It possessed the thickness of an olde worlde hand-written Bible. I turned it over to see the cover – The Fountainhead by Ayan Rand.
“Do you like it?” I asked and returned the book to him.
“Its not bad,” was all he said.
“May I read it after you?”
“Sure.”
I was 18 when eventually I did read the book.

Les would leave SGH, long before I ever did, rescued by his loved ones.

The other boy is Jogs, who was not at JCH, but would join me in Simpson House a few years after I arrived there. His prodigious intellect was tainted by only one fault – he seldom, if ever, read a novel. But this did not prevent him achieving the greatest academic success in the history of the Home.

Towards the conclusion of standard 7, the 2nd year of high school, the headmaster (Johnny Johnson) invited him to attempt the curriculum for standard 8, despite only one term remaining. Until then, Jogs had maintained an average of over 80% in every examination he had undertaken. Jogs agreed and his final term was spent with pupils who had already completed 3 and were a year older than he. To cut a long story short, Jogs maintained his +80% pass rate and achieved the highest marks ever recorded for a 3rd year pupil. He would eventually graduate from Wits reading electrical and electronic engineering. Interestingly, whenever he visited (from Wits) us retards and found anyone reading a book, he wailed bitterly, wishing he had not so neglected that part of his education.

(My teachers at Malvern were not unlike those mentioned above. Wop Cunningham (Science); Ma McGregor (Biology); Ma Kirkland and Ma Noakes (History and English); Pop Browne (Art); Ma Frik and Pop Durie (Arithmetic); Flippy van der Walt (Afrikaans); Johnny Johnson (a severe caning although Pop Durie was useful too). I exclude the daft old bat for Music and the daft old fogies in Metal and Woodwork. One teacher amused us no end simply because of his name – Robert Sole – or RSole.)
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49. john rossouw | August 26, 2008 at 6:43 am

Great memories Remy
How traumatic to be seperated from your family at such a young age
This was in a time before Eric Richardson as his approach as head of the home was to keep the family intact whatever the cost so it was common in the 60’s to have siblings at St Mary’s or JCH who would visit on regular occasions
Your journey of retracing your steps in that coutroom so many years later whilst traumatic suggests a need to re connect with your family and I would urge you to try and trace your sister via the courts in SA who despite their in efficiencies would be able to help you in your quest
I remeber Jogs well although he was much older than myself and he matriculated with my brother Michael in 67
His younger brother Andrew was also very bright and he and my other brother David used to compete for the academic prize at Whychwood
Yes DC I agree in a coin flip jerry and the pacemakers would win against Peter and Gordon
Their music featured in one of the American Idols compettitions (in 2007 I think) and only one of them was present to coach the aspirant stars. As with most creative duo’s they too had their differences over the years but in their golden years are comming to terms with the triviallity of petty differneces and embracing reconcilliation (something we all have to learn to do)
Keith Frandsen great to see you back on line and please keep on popping in so we can keep abreast of your news
You are right about Errol Richardson who was very discipline driven It was he and some of his cronies from Taylor house who poured sugar in the pertrol tank of Blane’s father’s 1920 Riley motor car (a prank with expensive consequences)
Anway I am off to Saudi on business in the next few days but I will try and keep in touch

Regards

John
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50. Dave Dry formerly Brandon Phipps | August 26, 2008 at 1:47 pm

This Post is actually for Mervyn Wiesendanger – Merv, a friend of yours Gerry Bolmatis who was at SGH and Dawnview with you, mentioned to me in passing a very short while ago, that he would so very much like to make contact with you again and wondered where in the world you could be. I am so happy I read the new posts today as now I can give you his contact details. If you do indeed remember him, please mail me and I will give you his cellular number etc. He would be blown away to hear from you. I don’t know too much about him other than he is married with kids and lives a block from me near Northgate in Johannesburg. Warm regards to all the ‘home-boys’. Dave
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51. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 27, 2008 at 4:35 am

Remy, I too was deeply touched by your tale of your early childhood and of course, many of us shared a similar experience.

I too had a younger sister, Sandra – some 4 years my junior – and although my elder brother Stuart and I had traversed that social court system several times through 3 different institutions, she too at the age of 8, was eventually placed in St. Mary’s in Rosettenville where she remained for 2/3 years before a wonderful Afrikaaner (childless couple), friends of my late mothe,r adopted her.

I recall those prescious few occassions when Stuart and I could visit her on our one day in the month free weekend. Penniless, unable to bring her much more than a penny candy, we would sit with her in the grounds of the orphanage, unable to say much other than: ‘ Don’t worry sis,one day it will be alright.’ Whatever that was meant to convey we did not know and could not visualise. I could only cry when we left her.

When Sandy’s new family adopted her … both Stuart and I were resistant to the idea at first … until we met the family. Then it was pure joy, for we knew she was loved and would no longer be alone.

She grew up in Lichtenburg, got married, had two great kids and now has 3 grandchildren. She and her husband now run a great Bed & Breakfast Hotel/Motel in Midrand called; Big Tree and if you (and any other homies) pass that way from JHB to Pretoria, drop in for lunch or whatever and I promise you, you will meet an angel.

Your tales of Les and Jogs tell more about you than about them and I would like to include my e-mail address here with the hope that you will drop me a line with yours, as I would like to communicate something to you, that I believe will help you in your quest … for that you are surely on.

leslielite@verizon.net
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52. Dave Dry formerly Brandon Phipps | August 27, 2008 at 7:37 am

Hey there Homeboys – I have spent some time reading all the posts and must say, it floods the mind with memories. It is so good to see that so many ex homeboys and housemasters alike are well. Hi to the Kelly’s S and J, Mervyn – not sure if you remember ME, and greetings to all.
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53. Albert de jager | August 27, 2008 at 7:39 am

Greetings to you all.
Where to start? Firstly a huge hullo to Keith Frandsen. How super to see that you have joined our little group. I believe you are in Australia these days, please keep in touch and let us know what has happened in your life. I remember you so well and, as I write this, I have a very clear picture of you in my mind. Thank you for your kind words which fit so well with the friendly, kind and humerous boy I remember.
To Remy, your story has totally touched my heart. I too remember so well sitting in a cheerless, cold Court Room in Jhb when my brothers and I were “committed” by the State to a long life in a Children’s Home. I also remember them taking my 2 young brothers Des and Fred to a different home (JCH) while the rest of us went to St Georges. Above all, I remember my beloved Mother being absolutely devastated and broken by having her 6 sons removed from her care (never her love, but just her care) Incidentally, it was at JCH that Fred first met his future mother-in-law, Staffy who worked at JCH. I am sure you must remember her as she spent years there being “mother” to so many children over the years.I hope and pray that sometime, somewhere, you are able to trace your sister, but if you do not manage this, that you find peace within yourself in knowing that, as you grew up to be the good man you are, so she was given the opportunities to grow and blossom in her new life.
DC my old friend, you have certainly throw a few names into the pot who trigger so many memories. Peter and Gordon, The Tremelos, Gerry and The Pacemakers. What a blast from the past! You are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to go and hear them one more time. On a personal note, it is great to hear that you are well and that the Big C is not one of the terrible obstacles youi have to deal with in the future. Your story about Sandy is very touching, and I hope that through this,Remy might find some peace regarding his sister.
By the way Remy, I remember Jogs very well indeed, and a brighter boy one could not find. If I am not mistaken, Lucien Lombard, who someone mentioned earlier in a note, actually married his mother,and, after leaving the Home, they set up a Butchery in Vereeniging.
Unfortunately daily life calls and I must end at this point, but will join all of you dear friends shortly.
Greetings from the beautiful Cape. Albert.
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54. Wendy Thompson/Jones | August 27, 2008 at 6:04 pm

Hi
Have been catching up with the blog as I have not been around much lately. Remy I, along with everyone else, am moved by your story and I also know of many others like yours. Whilst I no longer live in Joburg, I do happen to be a social worker – Interestingly enough it took me many years before I felt ready to be able to work with children. I am sure that if Freud were alive he would have a field day with me:). If there is some way I can assist in negotiating some of the many official channels please let me know as I take it from your posts that you continue to live outside South Africa. My email address is palmoil@telkomsa.net. Regards Wendy
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55. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 27, 2008 at 8:08 pm

There are those specious moments in time, when fundamental events occur that create a paradigm shift in human evolution. Momumental discoveries, inventions, revelations going back through the millennia to the very days that humans emerged from their stone-age origins as scavengers, to become hunter gatherers. The discovery of fire was the first of such moments.

I need not enumerate the millions of such events that have occurred since … but you get the idea.

In 1450 Gutenberg invented movable type and from that moment on, not just the clergy, royalty and the elite were prive’ to ‘knowledge’ and information … suddenly, everybody could become informed. It did not happen instantly of course, but that special event was the fore-runner to what we today know as the digital information age.

The Internet is the single most important tool man has invented that has opened the doors of all knowledge to the entire world … free!

That said, I want to encourage all of our brothers in this precious endeavour to connect with our past and with each other, not just for the sake of nostalgia or the need to work out our individual emotional blocks and hangups but to apply the practice of ‘writing’ to evolve our knowledge and understanding through the medium of our language.

Vera Kirkland, to whom so many of us pay tribute, said to us:
‘Write what you mean, not what you feel. What you feel, will come through if you mean what you say’. God bless her, she gave us so much despite her own tragic start in South Africa as a young teacher coming from England.

Language, she said, is the greatest gift education can give to us, without which, we can communicate nothing of value, no matter how brilliant we are in other fields.

So I encourage all of you to consider this oportunity to ‘communicate’, to also take advantage of the means to practice the craft, that only gets better the more you do it.

Writing is an exercise, no less as fundamental as muscle building. Pick up the barbells and you’ll get the muscles …but no amount of philosophising about the exercise will put even a pimple on your body. But with just five minutes of lifting, you’ll feel the burn.

Likewise with writing, the more you do it … the better your ‘muscle’ gets and the more you expand your mind.

This moment now, this time in human evolution is the most critical paradigm we have ever experienced. This is a world in turmoil, on the verge of a worldwide monetary collapse, on the brink of a political crises far greater than that which preceded both past world wars. It is in a state of ecological disarray and near disaster … everywhere. In a remarkable technological age where we have more than 25% of the world’s population starving … with all our wonderous developments … we are unable to feed them.

We are witness to yet another great empire about to collapse for the same reasons all the others did. Greed and self interest, internal rot from over indulgence, vast divisions between an elite few and a massive poor and despite all the rhetoric, more of the same is to be expected until it is too late.

We all came from dysfunctional or broken homes, for one reason or another. Death of a parent, drugs, physical or sexual abuse or whatever. We feel guilt and pain for our parents’ failing us or we ‘failing’ them. Forget it. We were all victims of a system that failed us and I can assure, it is much the samne all over tyhe world. I have lived and worked in many countries and I have seen the same sorrow repeated again and again.

Now I live in a America, a country I once greatly admired and it is no different here. In fact, Los Angeles, (especially Hollywood, where everybody comes to realise their ‘dream’), is the dysfunctional capital of the world. So don’t think your suffering is only personal … it is universal.

We are approaching the end of the Piscean age and the beginning of the age of Aquarius … as the 26,000 year galactiic clock winds down in just four years (2012). When our solar system aligns with the ecliptic center of the Milkyway and this cycle of universal evolution comes to and end and the next begins .

Time is not linear, it is cyclical and like the merry-go-round, here we go again as a new cycle, the ‘Golden Age’ begins hopefully, with man experiencing a new and higher conciousness than the one we have expressed up and ’til now. No question about it, the next four years will be catalysmic. We ARE in a world in upheaval.

So, seen in the broader scheme of things … or as my wife used to say to me when my ego became too intense …’seen from a star, who do you think you are?’

Our personal stories certainly have tradegy written into them, some more, some less. Nevertheless, our black brothers and sisters in our home country knew and suffered much more than we can ever imagine. So let us use this forum, this moment in time, to share not only our tragedy, but also our joy.

Several of us have revealed much of ourselves, then and now and it would be wonderful to hear more of the ‘now’ than we have from more of you. Your successes and failures are equally as important to your development and continuance and as such, are equally as interesting to us all, to re-inforce our own experiences of joy and sadness and the bond of our common origin in SGBH.

Stay in Peace. God Bless us all.
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56. Remy | August 29, 2008 at 4:47 am

Wendy, Albert and DC – thank you for your comments.
Wendy – I did find my sister, as I shall explain below.
Albert – Yes, Nurse Stafford was very well known to me. She recently retired. Her son Kevin and I were in JCH together and later in Simpson and Spackman Houses too. In bed, Kevin would rock himself to sleep every night. I had become so accustomed to this habit of his (even in JCH he had it) that I didn’t give it a second thought. He had a very fine brain that later would be irreparably damaged in a road traffic accident.
DC – thank you for your email address and am intrigued to hear your communication.

I did meet my sister again. She was adopted by a wealthy but childless couple who doted on her. After I arrived at JCH, Sister Flotta (Big Boss at JCH) called for me. I knew she was the big cheese and wondered what she wanted. It was evening. To my surprise she had my sister with her. I was about 6 at the time and my sister 3.

“Put your arm over your sister’s shoulders!” she bawled at me, “Like this!” and she arranged us together. “There! Now don’t move!” I didn’t dare. She was a formidable woman. She walked a few paces away, turned, lifted a camera and snapped us.
That was the last time I saw my sister in JCH.

Thirteen years later, in SGH, I got a telephone call.
“Is that Remy?”
“Yes.”
“I am your sister. Elizabeth.”
We never again lost touch. She also showed me a small photograph of a small boy standing alongside a tiny girl with his arm around her shoulders.
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57. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | August 29, 2008 at 5:33 am

Remi, your closure is our closure too.

Thank you. I just received an email from my sister Sandra who told me that a lump came to her throat reading your story and then another reading mine about us.

I cry with joy for all of us. She will doubtless do so too.

I look forward to an email from you.

Tonight I watched Barak Obama make his acceptance speech in an open-air stadium in Denver with 75,000 Democratic delegates in attendence. It is exactly 45 years to the day that Martin Luther King made his: ‘I have a dream’ speech in Washington to 80,000 people outside the Capital.

Tonight Barak stood in King’s shoes. Although he didn’t say it, he too has a dream … as we all do … that one day King’s dream will come true.

It was a classic piece of oratory, written primarily by Barak himself and delivered with conviction and emotion. Nevertheless, what he said was what he meant and as a result, what he felt came through. Kirkland’s lesson.

It will be remembered as one of the great speeches of this time. And he is making history. This election is the defining moment of this country’s future, and possibly for the rest of the world as a result of it. I hope you all get to hear and see it on TV in South Africa, for it very much echoes what many ancient peoples have been waiting for, for millennia.

That it is time for all peoples, not just in America, to come together to solve the problems of the world. One family,one language … the language of brother and sisterhood, the language of love and compassion.

We have four years more to 2012. The length of a President’s term.
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58. Michael Rossouw | August 30, 2008 at 3:22 am

Dear Friends

The trouble with being on one’s own is that one has too much time to think. (I’m laid up with at the moment with a flu virus and the old body ain’t what it used to be!)
I remember Sister Erasmus (sister Elastoplast as EHR used to call her) had a remedy for all ills, the gargle and the dose of enos ; rather like some medicos who’d say “take two aspirin and call me in the morning”
Remy ,I’m glad that you and your sister did find each other. We all rejoice with you.
I’m sure you must have been “a child of the 60’s, for many of the teachers you mention were mine.
My own memory of the children’s court in JHB were very similar, but not with the same result.
Our first appearance there was as a result of my parents divorce. Wife abuse and child abuse was a factor on the part of my Dad and the courts needed convincing that our parents were suitable and capable parents.My memories are dim, partly because I have erased them from my sub conscious, but these often recalled to me by my late brother Desmond.
My Mom fought tooth and nail to keep us when the parents divorced. She was the abused not the abuser.
She did , with some legal help from her brother, a prominent Jhb divorce lawyer and my Grandfather keep us for a while.
Des at the age of 5 or 6 was asked about what happened in our home when Dad came home drunk. he remembered even being threateningly glared at by my father in the courtroom. The magistrate was the Hon. Justice Hougaard , I think, prominent legal eagle of the day.
I don’t remember much but it wasn’t good for me, for I would often suffer the wrath of my father’s drunken temper and be punished ( often by being kicked and beaten with a leather belt or worse still, his bare hands) for something I hadn’t even done.
after my dad’s death by suicide (I found him hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom …I still have nightmares although they are less frequent now) My Mom , with all the love in the world would not have managed to take care of us on her own, so Des and I went to St George’s , Dave to st Mary’s and John to Cotlands, he being barely a year old and too young to send to a conventional children’s home.
Dave was “tricked “at the steps of St Mary’s sadly by my mom and aunt and whisked into st Mary’s by the nuns waiting at the door….my take on this is that it was the only way they could take Dave to St Mary’s knowing how Dave would be feeling if he were told the truth. I never saw Davey for six months and John for nearly two years. John was eventually taken to St Mary’s and my Ouma took him out of St Mary’s because he had a heart condition which could not be adequately cared for under the sisters , with whatever good intentions they had.
My Oupa used to bring them sweets on there visiting Sunday.
Tuck had to be shared and it was always handed over to the sisters for distribution. Oupa used to say ” Don’t give it to the Nuns!” Needless to say we do share a lot more readily and easily today.So Remy, although i cannot fully identify with the hurt you must have experienced, I can, I believe in some small way empathise with you.
My experience of the courts was different and one I’d like to forget.
My late father was ‘a man’s man” he like d a drink with his workmates after a hard days toil in the JHB trolley bus tram sheds. He played darts and was the JHB municipal darts champion.
I knew what alcoholism did in my home but was not aware that this disease was , certainly in my case , hereditary.
I shan’t go into all the gory details about my journey to becoming sober, save to say that it took me a 40 year stint two family breakups and several broken friendships and a number of geographical moves to accept that I was afflicted with this disease.
By God’s Grace, I am now a sober person and hopefully less of an embarrassment to those who care about me.
My relationship with two of my three daughters is strained (One has not spoken to me in 5 years, understandably so) but as a father, I do keep in touch regularly, although my efforts are often rebuffed and my cards and letters remain unanswered.
Sometimes things are best left alone, especially if the cause pain to those we love.My youngest keeps in contact and has just celebrated her16th birthday.
Thank you all for your glimpses of life in the Home, the home which for many of us was the only home we knew.
I am enjoying my chaplaincy work and in some ways i feel that people of the calibre of Norman Clayton, Eric Richardson, Ken Mc Holm,George Adams, were role models for me. Teaching students from a well to do background also has its heartaches for the students. Many of the students here are miles away from family, living in “Dorms” ( although a lot smaller in numbers) or with host parents , they also face similar situations endured by ourselves as young people at st Georges. The discipline here is good, no canings (Thank God) but often students are required to do “service” tasks which are school or community based.The school too has a very caring cousellor.
I feel that for young folks today, bombarded as they are with information via the net and other pressures do have it a little harder. Here in Asia, kids have to excel at everything. Competition is healthy but only the best survive.
Working with young minds and helping to shape their values and attitudes to life is a tremendous privilege and a great challenge. I often wonder whether men like Ken McHolm and Eric Richardson were way ahead of their time.
How much would the field of child care in RSA be different had they published their models for care and were taken seriously by those in this field.
Thank God however that the emphasis these days is not to separate families but to work together with them.
I sometimes wonder how it is that in many of the top private schools children from divorced parents are allowed to stay in dormitories much similar to ours when we were at St George’s
but for Children needing more than just a roof over their heads
the dormitory system it is felt isn’t good.
I do not for one moment say that St George’s was perfect, but children in schools like mine today are not much different from their contemporaries of the 20thCentury, the one in which many of us grew up.

Alas , I ramble on…
Blessings to you all and thank you for allowing me to say these things…

Deacon Michael R
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59. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | September 2, 2008 at 9:24 am

Bon Voyage John … safe journey.

Michael, that was the most courageous ‘outing’ for you to reveal and I must say, took me by surprise. Thank you for being so frankly honest. Though, when I earlier encouraged homies to write and reveal more about themselves ‘now’ rather than just the past … I certainly did not expect anyone to expose ‘warts and all’. You’re a brave bugger and an honest man and I sincerely hope you reconcile with all your kids one day.

We all have skeletons in the closet of course, but life offers redemption no matter how bad our past sins may be. In your case, you certainly have chosen a path that will surely lead to yours. I salute you.
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60. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | September 3, 2008 at 8:59 pm

Knowledge is Power! (Francis Bacon).

So here is some ‘real’ knowledge. Google: David Icke.com and take some time out to listen to the one and a half hour talk he recently gave in the UK.

He will be talking in San Francisco on Sept 12 and in LA on October1 and I will definitely try to make it to one of those events and will post a report on it on this blog. In the meantime, he really is worth while to give a hearing to … no matter who or what you are in this life.

Getting smart is an obligation … that’s what you went to school for … but real life is where you really get it. And once you get it, pass it on.
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61. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | September 4, 2008 at 8:08 am

The dissemination of real information or valuable knowledge.
is an ‘obligation’ of any member of a fraternity to share with his peers for the benefit of the individual members or the group as a whole, to understand and use for their own or collective betterment.

Knowing more about the world in which we live and how it functions and who controls that ‘function’, is the ‘holy grail’ of self improvement and development. And I do care about my ‘fraternity’ and it’s isolation downstream in the body waters of the mighty river of world events.

If I can share more of this ‘information’ with any of you who may be interested, please feel free to e-mail me direct at:
leslielite@verizon.net, as this blog may not be the most appropriate forum to position these ideas.

It is not my intent to advance my personal views on anyone, only to share what I believe will help us all evolve successfully in a troubled world.

Dudley.
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62. Howard Whitehead | September 4, 2008 at 12:02 pm

Good day all. I had the privilege of being in the home from 72 to 75, and attended Dawnview High. I have very fond memories and my success in life can also be attributed to the influence of Eric Richardson, Ken McHolm, Peter Nicholls, David Laughton, Albert de Jager and Norman Clayton. Frth Clayton got me to serve in the church, become a disc jockey and a vain attempt to get me to take pictures – Craig Cooper won the International Salon in my time. I was in Crawford House, won the Victor Ludorum in Athletics in 1975. Remember David and John Rossouw (both held in high esteem for their achievements in their school careers), John O’Neill (also had a brother in Crawford).

Unfortunately, today I rely on multiple choice to extract any detail out of my sub-conscious, but St Georges certainly contributed to my foundation for the future – I handled my army training with absolute ease given the disciplined environment from which I came. This discipline took me into a successful 31 year career in the banking industry from which I have just left at an executive management level, have a great family, three children aged 18, 20 and 25 and a wife that spoils me rotten. My in-laws stay with us and we can now give something back. I live in the Strand, and looking to build in Sedgefield where we are lucky enough to have a beautiful stand.

As tough as it was growing up, the contributions made by many will always be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this blog and help my “multiple choice” problem of the past.

All the best!!
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63. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | September 8, 2008 at 2:04 am

Fancy Dancing

During 1955 and 1956, the famous, Empire (ex-) welterweight boxing champion (British Commenwealth), was our coach at St. Goggies. He was a short, well-built and patient teacher of the pugilistic arts and had a particularly soft spot for us homeboys. He’d been one himself in ’30’s London.

I know he saw in me another him. He gave me very personal attention on some training nights in the gym up at the pool side. Not that he spent more time with me than with others.

I noticed that when he was dealing one on one with with any of my fellow team mates of alll weights, he gave them direct advice, pointers or suggestions that would help. He would even hold them in the various poses he was suggesting and spoke only on those directions.

When he worked with me, he would do much of the same, but in between he would drop little pearls of his experience. He’d say; ‘Training is the only thing that will hold your knees together and your hands raised through three rounds of onslaught from another fighter. When you can’t defend yourself, you go down!’

Stevens was Empire champ in the late forties, after the war.
He exited the stage with the arrival of another fancy dancer from downunder, Jimmy Curruthers … who also beat our Vic Toweel. He’d say; ‘Whatever you do, if you get knocked down, get up off your knees and stand up … ’cause, when you can’t get up, the game’s over!’

He trained me for my first tournament fight ever. I was just 12. It was the Transvaal Junior Championships. The winners would go on to fight in the provincial arena for the national titles.

When my fight came up, so did a giant in the other corner. He was an afrikaaner and had no boots on. But he looked like Goliath and I felt like David and I knew I needed a sling or better to stop his number.

I’m an ambidexterous southpaw with a right hand punch and not much in my left. Without the left as my best hand, that left me with a right jab,speed and fancy dancing. Not much to stop a tank.

He came out swinnging and didn’t stop for the whole first round. Now I say I’m a fancy dancer, but no end of dancing could stop me dangling from the end of one of his fists which seemed to come pounding out of the bright lights above and decend down on me … he wa so big. I silently questioned; had they had made a mistake and put the heavyweight in with me?

Suffice to say, I survived the round but Lord knows how. The one minute revival at the end of the round was not enough to revive me … at least I didn’t think so. I did not remember Laurie in front of me, pouring water over me, rubbing me and talking all the time. I remember only that I was tired, so tired, that when the bell rang, I could not raise my fists to defend myself, and my knees felt like they would buckle at any moment.

The monster got loose in the other corner and all I could do, was buckle over and cover my head and my ribs as best I could … and the fight over. TKO!

Afterwards, in the mini-bus driving home, Laurie asked me how I felt.

‘Pretty beat up.’ I said.

“You did good.’ he said and I could not for the life of me, wonder what the heck he meant.

‘I lost!’ I said.

‘You did good,’ he insisted. ‘You could have got knocked out!’

The moral I guess, is; Even a loss is a plus. Training, I remembered, is everything. I never lost another ring fight and won a couple of titles in the process.

Laurie Stevens, a great champ and a really nice fellow, the kind of person you wanted to know.
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64. vanessa hurlimann | September 8, 2008 at 8:23 pm

How truth be told
As lives unfold

In the shadows, light falls
Softly, healing calls
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65. Terence Willson | September 10, 2008 at 10:54 am

Hey to all you old boys of the long ago it is great to see that we finally have a means to trace friends from the past. John, Mark, Chatrlie, Vanessa to name but a few. Wendy how are u an old Herbie and your mom.
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66. Wendy Thompson/Jones | September 10, 2008 at 5:03 pm

Hi Terence We are all well thank you and we all live in Pinetown. My husband and I run our own business and Herbie works for us – it makes for some fireworks sometimes and life is never boring. Marion comes to work every day as well although she is quite shaky on her feet but she loves to answer the phone so we all just work around her. I also work for Unisa part time in the Social ‘work department, lecturing social work students (from that you can gather that I trained as a social worker)
It is indeed wonderful to see all the names from the past and I really enjoy seeing everyone’s posts.
Regards to all
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67. Terence Willson | September 11, 2008 at 6:20 am

Hi to all of you, I must say that I remember many of the names that have popped up on the blog. John, You have quite a memory. My time at St Georges was really a memorable one and a time that I would not easily change. Started at Simpson house as a junior and my first house master was Dutch Murray…….. Who of you remember him? He was followed by that man Herbie… I am sure we all have memories of those famous short back and side’s haircuts. As a senior a couple of us ( john Marshall, Charles Wastie and I to name but a few were sent to Crawford house) this very much against the old tradition of from Simpson to Smuts. We all excelled at Athletics, Swimming and Football.
I recently had a chat to Graham and Neil Crawford who I see every so often at either the local restaurant or sport fields.
It really has been some time since last I spoke to an Old Boy from Crawford House, if I remember correctly it was either Ricky De Melo or Andre Harker whose son was playing at the same football tournament as my son.
As you read through the Blog its amazing how names come back to you. Geoff Bill and his daughter Jenny, they were main reason Charlie Wastie and I were introduced to the Rhodes Park swimming fraternity. Tubby Laughton who introduced Craig Cooper, Robert Langford and I to the printing press. Ken McColm and Albert de Jager who were mentors in our football lives. Raymond Hill (Boxer), I am sure Gerald Durell will remember him as will Andre Harker.
To be continued………………………

Regards to all and Wendy it is great to hera you are all well and please send regards to your Mom and Dad
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68. trevid | September 12, 2008 at 6:38 am

Hi has anyone heard from Mervyn Wiesendanger, If anyone has any contact with him, please ask him to contact me as soon as he possibly can. Regards to all. Dave
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69. Steven Boyd | September 14, 2008 at 6:02 pm

hi there to all old boys, I was in st gesorges home from 1979 – 1987 was first in spackman house and then went over to taylor house.My nickname for some reason was egghead. I have loads of fond memories of st georges and my time there.To those who cann’t recall me I was in the choir and won a choir competion in 1985, my thanks to david dry(brandon phipps) for telling of this website.After leaving the home and fininshing my military service I joined bedfordview fire dept, fitting as twice we were called to st georges for incidents.I remained in the fire service in deifferent departments until 2004, then immagrated with my family to sheffield (england,) where I currently reside, working as a paramedic.My brother john ashburn is also living here.I must compliment the launch of this website, and have had fun reading threw the comments left by guys that I remember.
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70. Steve | September 17, 2008 at 6:26 am

To The person looking for contact details for Mervyn Wiesendanger here is an email Address:
Christianmervyn@hotmail.com
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71. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | September 21, 2008 at 8:16 am

The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Last Tuesday, 2 big American Financial groups, Meryl Linch and Lehman Bros. went down on the heels of Bears Stern and Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac (holding 50% of USA mortgages). The next day, AIG the largest insurance company in America took a dive. On Friday, Fed. Chairman, Bernanke blew off minor players Meryl Lynch & Lehman and saved AIG. TBTF! (Too Big to Fail) … on the heels of having just saved BS, FM & FM weeks before.

In the process, the dominoes began to fall, England, Spain, Russia and China. And Germany is shaky.

Benanke had two choices, say enough is enough and let AIG also go … or not. He choice to take his chances and turned the ship into the oncoming 200 ft. wave. Turned out to be the right thing to do. He had to save AIG.

The cost to future Tax payers nevertheless, adds one trilliion dollars to the staggering national deficit of 50 trillion. Had Benanke not acted, the devastation would have seen a worldwide financial meltdown within months, as stock markets crashed in the global financial centers.

I live within a 45 minute drive from Hollywood and just 15 minutes from LAX (LA) Airport. I was driving back from the airport area listening to this news on Friday afternoon, just heading down the hill on Lincoln Blvd. alongside the water fountain in front of Loyala Mount University. From this point one could look right over Marina del Rey to Venice and Culver City, from Santa Monica to Centrury City, BeverlyHills, to Hollywood and finally, Hollywood Hills behind it.

On a clear day (as was Friday) you can see and read the 60 foot high letters of the Hollywood sign on the hiilside about 15 to 16 miles away. I had just passed a billboard advertising Hollywood’s next big alien invasion movie called; The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Made me think. Hmm … it nearly happend this morning! And that made me suddenly realize how seriously we take ourselves on our little islands of self creation … our ‘worlds’ … in which we stress and worry over such minor problems in comparison.

And that made me remember, Be Here Now.

Enjoy this moment.
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72. vanessa hurlimann | September 25, 2008 at 8:04 pm

Just a little something worth sharing

The Glory of Love

This is the mystery, the glory of love:
That in bringing our hearts to each other,
We gain more than we thought to give…..
And in giving ourselves to each other,
We become more than we hoped to be.

—–Morgan Fitzgerald 1849—————–
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73. John Rossouw | September 27, 2008 at 9:05 am

Greetings all and in aprticular a welcome to Terrence and Steve
I have just returned from a business trip to Riyhad in Saudi Arabia which was an interesting experience as I was there over the holy month of Ramadhan
The Muslims fast from dawn till dusk as a visitor I was forced to compkly with no food or drink between 5.30 am till 6 00 pm
They also pray 6 times during the day which from a work perspective was difficult as everytime you wanted to meet with someone or review something they were off to Mosque
It was also interesting to watch the goings on at Mecca on the tv where the mosque is around 365 000 sq meters and houses over 1 million worshipers
By comparison chapel, hymn practice and choir practice at the home was a picknick but what struck me was the deep sharred connection they all feel through their worship during this holy time

I have a host of chores at home having been a away but I will generate some updates on the blog and the SGH facebook page shortly

Regards

John
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74. john rossouw | October 2, 2008 at 3:01 pm

I have made contact with Fr Ed den Blauwen chaplain of the home in the 80’s and at the time of it’s closure
I have invited him to join our online community so hopefully we will hear from him soon

Regards to you all

John
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75. Frank Kruger / Mahlfeld | October 8, 2008 at 8:06 am

Hi John Frank Kruger at the home was mahlfeld Taylor house was in Band left 1975 -1980 went to Dawnveiw

ashleyvill@mweb.co.za

031 7017864 h w 031 7017444
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76. Michael Rossouw | October 11, 2008 at 6:30 am

Hello Everyone
I made email contact with Fr Ed Den Blaauwen and his wife Julia.Ed was chaplain at the Home (the last actually) when it was closed to make way for the Bishop bavin school.
They are presently at a conference in Thailand and they will visit Karen refugee camps at Mae Sot during their stay.
Sadly I’m not able to join them as school commitments and the astronomical cost of air travel will prevent me making the three hour plane journey to Bangkok from Manila and such a visit would mean unpaid leave, so…
I plan to visit my fam ily at Christmastide (my daughter Hannah in particular)and my brothers Dave and John and their families at New Year. No doubt the country will be in a state of change under a new president.
It is indeed good to have contact with my extended family of St Georges via this website.
Right now the News seems to be dominated by the World Financial crisis in World Banking.
I feel very fortunate to at least have a job and be working in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Subic bay is in the middle of the Philippine rainforest. We are nearing the end of the rainy season now so perhaps we’ll have good weather by Christmas.
Speaking of ‘Yultide’ , here in the Philippines all the “hype’ starts early; September actually. Shops and malls are festooned already with every type of Christmas decoration imaginable!
I remember well Frs Eric and Norman always commenting about celebrating Christmas early. Unfortunately school and perhaps business calendars do not account for the fact that in order to have some “communal” celebration, schools do start their celebrations early. Already at Brent we are rehearsing for our Lower school Production, usually a feast of songs, carols and the like all spun into a Play around the theme and story of the birth of Jesus.
With all the “scmultz” around in the coming months, the Christmas story still seems to bring out the child in each of us.
I’ll write again on this, but right now I’m off with a group of students to Manila now for a performance of West Side Story.
Next month it will be a performance of Dickens’s “Christmas carol” See what I mean??
Blessings to you all

Michael Rossouw.
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77. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | October 12, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Old and New.

As the this Gregorian year 2008 slides to a close with a roar of closing doors (as Banks go bust), there is the sound of hope in the opening ‘click, as the window-shutters open into the Jewish new year of 5769.

Can common sense once again prevail and a world come to order? Have we not just seen the writing on the wall?

Strange, human nature. We no sooner have a roof over our heads … when we want comfort too. No sooner do we have that and we want want more … luxury … until the drug has no other reason to exist than to accumulate stuff as a force of habit. Greed has a pathetic face. And greed has brought us to our knees.

What is happening now, is not going to go away and looks likely to deepen into a global crisis, whose proportions we cannot quite imagine. We are treading in unfamiliar waters. Certaintity of anything is speculation … and once familiar security, now has a shifting value.

We gave up Trust and without which, we have no glue to keep the pieces together. I jokingly say to friends; ‘Find high ground and grow vegetables’. But that’s not going to cut it! There’s not enough high ground for everyone.

Bush and the G7 have just met … there will be many more such meetings of constantly changing combinations of world leaders and influence blocs … European Union, Eastern Europeans and Asians, United Nations, Arabs, Africans and the America’s … etc. But at the end of the day, it is we the people … of all nations … who are going to have to act.

Enough with the madness of power and crassly excessive, personal wealth … there are real world problems that must be addressed.

Food and shelter first, health and education next and finally, a fair distribution of the rewards of our labors, whatever form they may be. World wide! And in the course of returning ourselves to sanity, we have to take care of the damage we have done to nature and our environment.

Repair and Maintenance! It all sound so simple … but we cannot even get along with our immediate neighbors … let alone work together as a global family.

And all the while that the world turns (and heaves and stumbles), ‘The Juice’ finally ran out and O.J. Simpson got locked up … for kidnapping and robbery … no less. Unlucky 13 doesn’t play well in Vegas.

He was convicted exactly to the day of the 13th. aniversary of his aquittal in the murder of his wife trial.

He was now convicted on 13 counts.

There were 11 white women on the jury and the judge was a white female (the 12th.) The missing 13th. lady was his wife Nichole Brown-Simpson’s spirit … very much present in that court that day … and yes, also a white woman.

A baker’s dozen … the poor man got ‘fried’!

Justice served. What goes around, comes around, Yin and Yang. The laws of cause and effect.

Whatever you all do, find balance … it is the way to stay alive and maintain sanity … (and grow vegatables).

Omni universum Om!
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78. john rossouw | October 14, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Good day All

DC – Working in the financial markets as I do I relate very well to the issues raised in your latest posting
I agree this will not pass soon and given that the world is driven by greed and excess the same scenario is likely to happen again even once it does
I relate too with your comments on growing vegetables on the high ground and I enclose an article I have written for our Living KPMG publication which will be out in Nov relating to my trip earlir this year to India and Bangladesh which puts the biblical story of “5 loaves and 2 fishes” into real perspective l

Regards to you all

John

“John Rossouw Senior Manger in FRA visited India and Bangladesh earlier in the year as part of a local municipal delegation reviewing micro finance institutions and their role and contribution towards socio economic enterprise and sustainable socio economic upliftment.

The highlight of the trip was a visit to world renowned Bank of Grameen, whose founder Muhammad Yusef received the Nobel Peace prize in 2006 in recognition of the bank’s contribution towards poverty alleviation.

John was amazed by the warmth of reception the group received and notes that their willingness to share their experience and learning both positive and negative was something not usually experienced in a commercial enterprise environment.

Grameen lends small micro loans to the poorest of the poor, repayable in weekly instalments over six or twelve months at rates of interest around 10% above the local bank prime rate. Borrower groups are formed within the community of 10 people known to one another, and funds are advanced only after completion of extensive training on how the loan process works. Grameen also advances money primarily to woman, as the belief is they are the vessels through which the livelihood of families is achieved and sustained.

The bank is also owned by borrowers and socio economic upliftment is at the core of Grameen’s philosophy, with funds also being advanced for hosing, education and disaster relief.

Borrowers converge weekly at centre meetings to conduct bank business and to make weekly repayments. These gatherings are presided over by the branch and in some instance the centre manager, with the elected group leader acting on behalf of borrowers. Loan amounts ranging from as little as R 200 to R 5 000 are approved without security or credit process, with sole reliance for repayment being the “social contract” between bank and borrower. Loans are not granted for consumption purposes but are applied towards a range of micro industries with short trading cycles, thus making the weekly repayment cycle possible.

After a day of extensive meetings with the entire Grameen executive most of whom have been with the bank since inception, the group visited a remote rural Grameen village to view first hand the banks operations. Our arrival was greeted by an exited throng of onlookers, and we spent the morning appreciating the impact of micro finance loans on this small remote community in one of the poorest countries in the world, interacting with villagers and learning about their respective businesses.

These in addition to an extensive agricultural produce industry, included a dairy, general dealer store, cobbler, photographic studio, cell phone service provider, transport operator, barber, bakery, an au pair service, tailor, computer repair operator and, a fully fledged pharmacy.

Our group also met and interacted with one of two Masters graduate’s from the village funded through Grameen loans, and visited the local school attended by all children. Other noticeable features were the houses and latrine facilities and the distinct absence of hunger or disease, resulting in everyone in our delegation coming away with a deep sense of appreciation of the tangible role micro finance can and does play, in the sphere of sustainable socio economic upliftment.

Proof of this is evident in extract highlights from Grameen’s 2006 annual report, which notes a cumulative total of UDS 6.9 billion in advances since inception to a total borrowing population which now numbers 7.4 million across 81 000 villages. Another remarkable achievement is the fact that Grameen is now fully funded by deposits of USD 756 mill, with 57% of these monies being received from borrowers themselves.

Other significant achievements include the building of 650 839 houses and the funding of educational loans which have helped produced 19 959 honours, 1 111 masters and 41 MBA graduates. Grameen has also enabled 64% of borrowers to cross the poverty index and has assisted a further 110 countries throughout the world. in adopting their model.

With the millennium goals as a key driver Grameen is on target by 2010 to grow their number of borrows to 15 million, and increase scholarships to 50 000 per year to help produce a further much needed 100 000 medical, engineering and masters graduates.

In line with similar models adopted around the world Grameen proudly enjoys a default rate of less than 2 percent on loans, and in the context of a current global financial turbulent market brought on by the sub prime mortgage crisis, this is nothing short of remarkable. This is particularly significant considering the bank was founded in 1976 through the vision of one man with USD 27 of his own money which he lent to 42 borrowers.”
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79. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | October 17, 2008 at 7:49 am

What Goes Around …

I left Downtown L.A. late last night … tired after a day building a stage and lighting rig for a client. I just wanted to get home (a 40 minute drive to Marina del Rey on the coast).

I realized however that I had just a gallon of gas … in a Lincoln Continental that does 9 miles to the gallon … that wasn’t going to get me home. So I pulled into the first gas station I came across. As I got out of my car, I noticed a black man from whose looks and clothing, I could see was not an American … an immigrant.

He had that look of ‘hungry’ but was too proud to ask for a dollar as I walked towards him and into the food kiosk and attendent. I had just 10 bucks in cash in my pocket and needed every drop of gas I could get to get me home. But I asked the attendent for ; $9.- on 6 please (the pump number)
as I handed him the bill.

He gave me a funny look but handed over my dollar change and as I exited, I saw the man outside glance my way and then quickly turn away. I gave him the dollar, said nothing and walked to my car and pumped gas. I never looked at him again, not wanting to stop him from going inside to buy something to eat or drink… but noticed that he did do just that.

Now gas in California at present is averaging $3.60 a gallon so I got somewhat less than three gallons for my money. I had less than a gallon when I started and when I drove off, I noticed that my meter read 5 gallons … that was more than a gallon plus than I should have received. I thought it was odd … but maybe I had more than I thought to begin with and so shrugged it off.

It’s a 17 mile drive home and I should have used nearly 2 gals. to get there … but when I arrived in my car park … my meter still read 5 gals. and in the morning the next day, when I started my car up, the meter read 6 gals.

S who’s looking after who?
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80. Michael Rossouw | October 17, 2008 at 11:34 pm

Dear Friends
Thanks to Dudley & my brother John for their interesting comments and stories . Dudley your story is one of compassion and of caring and of course God’s provision for us even when we feel we wont get to where we are heading. Yours and John’s comments about the current World banking crisis, possible solutions and the like. was indeed good reading.Not being a banker or a person of any knowledge on the subjest I can’t really comment.I am however still amazed , nay astounded ,at the greed that some of these traders have shown in the past. Politicians seem no better and the folks on the “grass roots” still remain poor. I was quite intrigued by the last debate between the two US presidential candidates, who made “Joe the Plumber” quite famous. Pehaps growing vegies may well be an answer if ground could be found, global warming soved and poverty made history.Whichever candidate wins this election will have a tough job sorting all of these issues out.
When I look back on my youth as a lad in the Home, we were , to some extent extremely fortunate. Despite the limited “Bill of fare” I was never inadequately fed. The matresses on which we slept were lumpy, but warmish but at times not warm enough to stave off the Jhb winter.The army green and grey blankets and sheets ,some marked with the blue “SGH”logo were clean.
The Khaki clothes changed every Thursday at the linen room were well laudered (and well patched!)as were the white shirts we changed on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My first school blaser was very new and the badge looked very smart and indeed quite dapper as we sported the “new boy” image and made to feel proud of the place we called “home”.The “ma’s” in the linen room and the Kitchen were also a sympathetic ear to many a “cub” and indeed to me as a senior when I stopped in for a chat to collect my “bundle” each week or to get a “sarmie” when I’d been delayed at school.
I remeber well in the mid sixties when Allan Burgess (Budgie as we called him) instituted an internal banking system in Taylor house using “cheques”. It was his way of preparing us for the real world. (I don’t have a cheque book nor a credit card…my credit rating went down when my NGO school went bust and I left to work in Asia, so i can relate to many who in this crisis have lost everything…) For a time it worked but cash was still “king” as it were. Many of us used to walk to Malvern high and sell our bus tickets around the tuck shop at a discounted rate. I guess in a sense we were learning the rudiments of the free market system! Many students who were fortunate enough to study Business economics(Commerce as it was called then) and Accounting under people like Ma Bell and Judge Durie to name but two went on to do well in the world of business and finance.I think of the Campbell Brothers and others who went into small businesses and did well, many becoming the leading stores and supppliers in their line of business in Jhb and indeed the whole country.
I for one was never really attracted to those subjects, opting instead to enjoy English Literature with Vera Kirkland,History with Ma Noakes and Geography with Eugene Wright (Ma Braun, daughter of the legendary Frank Braun of SA Olympic Committee fame). My Science ( a subject I only began to master once I started teaching when I was thrown into the subject because of a lack of teachers at the time in RSA schools) wasn’t good either. Poor old Mr Cunningham! Those wop laughs must have been really cruel.
I seemed to do OK with Ma Frik (Mrs Smith) our Maths teacher .(She was very strict but in her own way very caring).
Even today I marvel at what youngsters are faced with educationally.
The one thing I remember was that at Teachers training college one of my lecturers said “Your education will only start once you’ve left school” . How right she was.
Changing the subject, the performance of West Side story in Manila last week was energetic and really welI performed.I remember when I last saw “West side story” . It was at the old “His Majesty’s” theatre (now a huge office block near the Carlton centre in Joey’s…) and Ross Davies was one of the gang members in the prformance. He was a dancer who I believe went on to work in theatre and Dance in the USA. He was a Patrol leader in Spackman house when I was a junior in Taylor house.
Quite a talented man with a bit of a cruel streak at times. He was one of the few who passed matric with a distinction in Geography I remember.

Here in the Philippines the shops in Manila and elsewhere have a “fiesta ‘ type atmosphere and are decorated for halloween and of course the Christmas season. (As I said , they start here in September and , being a former colony of the US,they celebrate most of the festivals and holidays in common with America, Thanksgiving , halloween and of course , the mad mad December rush.Coupled with these are the feast days of the Catholic Church. Many villages here are named after saints, San Fernando, San Marcelino… even the beer here is named after my patron saint “San Miguel”!(St Michael) Despite the ecomonic gloom , it seems that the shopping will continue and shops and stores will have to offer discounted products to cater for this busy time.
So as we approach All Saints tide and the “Christmas rush” let’s take some time to thank the Good Lord for the blessings we do have , even in these somewhat uncertain and trying times.
Blessings , good wishes and love to you all

Michael Rossouw (SGH 1961-1967)
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81. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | October 18, 2008 at 6:46 am

Thank you for that story Michael. It’s always of value, especially at this time of year and in these financially challenging times in general, that we remember to take stock of where we’re at and where we have come from.

Your detailed memory is my memory too … in fact it is the memory all of us in this unique community. And yes, it weren’t so bad now, wazzit?

There was a comfortable routine to life, orderliness and organization. We wanted for nothing … other than personal love and TLC. The sanity of that order, gave us all a basis to be able to take care of ourselves when we finally ventured out on our own. Some better than othes of course, but for all, BTN (better than nothing).

There is a war on poverty overcoming us all, a malaise has set in and the belief that the worst is yet to come is endemic.
America is ground zero – having start this ball rolling. You can see the roll back of prosperity everywhere. Forclosure and For Sale signs on property and on cars on roadsides … everywhere.

Sidewalk Yard Sales are to be found everyday in every suburb … including Beverly Hills … where I passed through last week … albeit the quality of personal and household products were of a ‘luxurious’ nature.

Homeowners are underwater (owing more on their homes than they are currently worth) … some 12 and half million in USA at present … expecting to rise to 15 million by years end.
Sub-prime mortgages that were signed up at this time last year, are due to kick into a higher interest rate between now and early next year and that is going to bring down a few more castles and fortresses of finance … thus a 1929’s depression is not an impossibility … extrapolated across the globe … it could be horrific. So finding a piece of high ground and growing vegetables might not be such a bad idea.

The important things though, are not related to money and commodities. Family above all else are our most prized ‘possessions’ and as Yuletide advances, this is a good time to draw them near and tell them you love them … and give thanks to the Creator for their blessings.

I am planning to return to Holland, to become a grandfather in real time to my daughter’s two and my son’s first expected early next year. It means quitting America … which has been my St. Goggies for the past 8 years, although I have lived here for nearly 20 years.

Winter in Nederland is miserable and I’ve been living in the most temporate climate in the world for too long – to risk returning before March next year. Early spring is time enough to climatize … and time enough to start another life … as an oupa.

‘Hlalagahle shamwaris’,

DCLP.
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82. vanessa hurlimann | October 28, 2008 at 9:40 am

DC, perhaps you’ll find some ground to grow veggies in Holland….think that’s the only way we’ll all survive…and help others too
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83. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | October 29, 2008 at 5:59 am

Don’t forget the highground Vanessa. The Netherlands, or Pas Bas (pay bah) as it is called in French, means lowlands – as most of Holland lies a meter below sea level.

Now veggies grow very well there but you need the high ground to protect your crops. With reference the French, when they were starving and had no bread, Marie Antoinette lost head for a cup cake remark. Nothing is more dangerous than a hungry mob.

We have a home there on the shores of Naarder Meer (what was once the Zuiderzee until the dykes broke in 1953). Once rebuilt, the Dutch pumped out the salt water and pumped in pure water and thus Naarder Meer (or the Waddenzee) was born.

My family’s home there is just outside an 11th. century town called Naarden (a Vesting Stad – a walled city) in the shape of a 5 pointed star and remains today, the most well-preserved vesting stad in the world with a modern yuppy population of about 3500 souls. The surrounding walled battlements, which also housed the amory and the army, is a museum today surrounded a by a beautiful moat (ice in winter).

What is interesting for South Africans, is thast Simonstel down in the Cape, is an almost exact duplication of it excepting for the moat (and ice).

Our home is housed on the Theosophical Societies old property … Madame Blavatsky et al. Under the leadership eventully of Annie Bezant and her cohort, the pedophile Charlie Ledbetter (an American), they discovered Khrisnamuti in Puna and tried to present him in the west as the new Messiah under the Order of The Star. At age 24, wise man that he was, he turned his back on them and started his own ministry in Ommen (Holland) and eventually established a home and learning center in Brockwood Park in England and a library and haven in the Ojai Valley … up the road from me here in California.

We have 18 hectares of forest and gardens surrounding our home and cannot see a neighbor’s house for the woods. Plenty of space to grow vegetables of course. But let’s hope that growing veggies will be the least of our needs. Besides … South Africans are the original vleisvreters as I remember it and despite a British passport, I’m still one of you.

So will someone start up the braai.
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84. vanessa hurlimann | October 30, 2008 at 6:34 pm

A little info….. When she was initially confronted by the poverty of the French people, the queen responded, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” (“Let them eat cake”). There are a variety of versions concerning the circumstances under which Marie Antoinette supposedly first said these words (ranging from peasants coming to the gates of Versailles begging for food to her driving through Paris and seeing the condition of the peasants on her own). However, the quote actually comes from the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who commented over twenty years before Marie Antoinette’s birth that a “certain princess” said it, the supposed princess being Louis XIV’s queen, Maria Theresa of Spain. Maria Theresa’s quote was, “S’il ait aucun pain, donnez-leur la croûte au loin du pâté”, which roughly translates to, “If there be no bread, give them the crust off of the pâté”. Though this claim concerning the Spanish princess is also backed up by the comte de Provence, it is unknown if she, or any other French queen, actually ever said it……………..now would there have been as much ado had she used any other word other than ‘cake’??
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85. PERCY MAREE | November 1, 2008 at 10:56 pm

My name is Percy Maree,I was in St george’s from 1957-1960.I was in Beaton House for a year housemaster was the Bug Capner.
Then to Spackman house housemaster was Burnie Moss,then Brian Doswell.I was in the cadet squade that won best cadets for our region 1959.
I have many good memories of the home.I remember the followin boys some good some bad.,
Nutsy Moore ,Tommy Geddes ,Bobby Geddes. Auther Geddes,
Michael Mills, Ritchard Channer,Sam Viljoen,Errol Fouche,Brian Ford,Fatty Bloemfeild,Percy Yates,Melcolm Jones,Aulbrey Card,
Horse Wiltshire,Inchy Keyser,Geordie Geordan,Paul Kruger,
Keith Watson.All these fellows I remember with fondness.The
worst bully in the home at that time was Johnie Kruger It would be interesting to meet him now.
All the masters at that time were pretty good ,Bomba Brown,
Daddy Hale,Snake Robson .I have many stories to tell but I will
save them for later.
My email address is terrymaree@aapt.net.au should anyone care to contact me
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86. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | November 2, 2008 at 10:50 pm

Welome Percy Maree.

What a surprise!. I have been lamenting the lack of contact with any of my contemporaries for the past few months on this blog … and there you are! An exact peer of the same period and I cannot for the life of me … put a face on your name. I have truly drawn a blank. I was there from 1955 to mid-year 1959.

Many of the names you mention above are familiar to me, some are not … but Johnny Kruger (Paul’s younger brother), was a small-fry bully compared with Spackman House’s Billy Malan.

Bomba Brown was the Housemaster who accompanied the July, 1958 Advance Party to Umtentweni that year, to set up camp for the rest of the guys arriving a week later. I was the senior man on the team.

Forgive me that I cannot recall you. Perhaps you might remember me … I was probably a couple of years older than you and in Taylor House.

Nontheless, I hope in the coming days you’ll spill some of those stories you promised to tell later … perhaps therein I’ll detect a memory recollection with which to identify you.
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87. PERCY MAREE | November 4, 2008 at 12:12 am

Thank you Leslie Pringle .Yes I do remember your name but like you its hard to put a face .I was in one of the advance prtys to camp Umtemtwini I am not sure if it was 58or 59, I do remember the train trip down with great pleasure,we managed to meet a couple of girls and go to dinner with them ,and spend a very nice evening.
I remember Paul Kruger Hit a fellow called Michael Omahar,he was in Beaton house,he walked around for months with a very swollen face.
Inchy Keaser was drum major of the band.He had a brother who was killed with one of the Eggling brothers on the Beit brige crossing Mr Doswell used to organize these outings,through the outward bound movement.
I was involved as well when I hiked to Durban,then worked a
passage on a coastal steamer to Port Elizabeth then hiked back to St Georges.
Errol Fouche could play a mouth organ the likes I have never heard again,he also used to play the bugle which was a pleasure to hear. When Daddy Hale would releave our house master he would play My Fair lady over the loud speakers.
I remember Willie the Zulu cheif who was the camp cook ,he
would make a stew in a 45 gallon barrel which we used to call skilly,enough for today.
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88. Michael Rossouw | November 4, 2008 at 3:30 am

Dear Friends
Welcome to Percy, especially. Many of the names you mentioned were legends in their day at the Home, most of them having left by the time I’d arrived in 1961, but their fame (and in some cases infamy!) lived on in the stories told by those older than I who knew them. It was Snake and Mrs Robson and their daughter Daphne who met me when I arrived as a new boy at nine years old at Taylor house and who walked me down to Beaton House which was my new home for the next 4years until I went to Taylor House in 1964.
Nutsy was a frequent assistant master at Camp in Umtentweni during his university days from Rhodes and the Geddes brothers were still in the Home when i started in 1961. Tom was Home Prefect and Head of Spackman House, Bobby was Drum Major of the band and Arthur was a side drummer or bugler. Fatty Bloomfield was an NCO in what was probably the finest Cadet detachment in the country, namely #504. During my Officers training at Kimberley, many of the PF officers were in awe of what St Georges managed to do in preparing the boys for their stint of Military training and indeed for that university called “life”
In Hindsight, most of us turned out OK, but I often wonder whether there was an alternative to cadet training as part of our upbringing. Perhaps the difference in the Home’s approach was that the Home was founded as a memorial to those who gave their lives in World War 1 and the boys who first entered the home were orphaned as a result if that tragedy.
Mr. Capener had retired when I came to the home. I believe the boys called him “Bug” because he was a world famous authority on entomology. Bernie Moss went on to become a priest in the Anglican Church, having married Elizabeth his lovely wife, a woman much younger than he and he having been a confirmed bachelor up until then.
There were legends about the famous “rebellion” led by boys at that time against Brian Doswell’s and Tommy Strong’s treatment of the boys. Can anyone enlighten me?
I believe the whole senior section went on strike and sat on the main field for a day or so until the boys were eventually persuaded that confrontation was not the answer.

My first cadet parade was a disaster. The frequent electricity cuts that day, courtesy of the summer rains and the Bedfordview village council, were not restored and I well remember facing 2nd Lt Lucien Lombard, Capt JJ De Jager and the OC Capt Ken McHolm along with Student officers of the likes of Albert De Jager, Neill Aitken, Ronnie Lancaster (the only SO I think who as physically disabled young man went on to win the Wit Command S/O’s shield) and Drum Major Graeme Krog’s laughter, humiliation and ridicule when they looked on at this “cub” and saw my unironed, much creased uniform. Needless to say I spent a lot of time ironing, something I now leave to my domestic worker.
The square-bashing in the squad was not for me, so I joined the band, not for an easier time ,but because I thought I possessed the rudiments of a good ear for music and I enjoyed the frequent outings we had playing at school fetes and memorial services for the ILH and RLI parades.( these days I sing in the bath and sometimes in the Cathedral Choir as well as play the occasional note on my trombone and sing songs with my 3 chords and a guitar to my students!)

I’m a little out of touch but I do know that cadets as we knew it is no longer part of the curriculum. Some schools do have bands but they no longer wear Khaki and they have a range of Brass instruments. Boys and Girls are now part of these marching/brass bands.

I always remember November being a busy time. There was the Annual Inspection, the Memorial service ( a service at St Georges which was not like any other in the country I believe, as we had to have permission to use the Home’s flag on the cataphault and have cadets carrying .303 rifles in the Guard and the Colour party) the Carol Service, awards parades, head’s inspection etc. and of course Examinations , all of which kept us very busy.

Once Advent season had arrived at the beginning of December (something Beebop Clayton always reminded us was that Advent marked the beginning of the Liturgical year) we knew we were near “the end” and a long Christmas Holiday would be our just reward. Christmas and New Year were different even though they marked the coming to end of one year and the beginning of another. Who can ever forget the Annual “Splash” at Christmas in the Home, for many of us the best and perhaps only real Christmas treat?

On a more sombre note, I shall attend the Remembrance Day service at Holy Trinity Makati here in the Philippines on Nov 9th to remember all those who died in War. I shall also quietly remember the names of those Old Boys who gave their lives in War and shall, as I do daily, pray for peace. I shall also represent my school and the Episcopal Church in the Annual Thanksgiving service here in Subic and Olangopo. I’m a little nervous as the President of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo will be present. (I remember well meeting Nelson Mandela in 1999 when he visited Kimberley. That in itself was a moment in my life when I was speechless. That for me IS something. I’m not sure meeting President Arroyo will have the same effect!)

It seems though that we now live in an age of a different conflict; one of managing to survive in a world badgered by economic downturns, climate change, conflicts in one region or another, earthquakes , tsunamis and the like.
Looking at the History books and sources of information (of which there is seemingly no end these days) I often wonder if our time is really any different from any other. I guess the disasters are similar; it’s just our technology and method of handling these which is different.
So I leave you with these ramblings and muses…

You are probably asking yourselves whether this old fool has anything better to do…Well, I do, but writing to this site is a way of also avoiding the things I put off doing because they aren’t as pleasant.

Till next time, stay well and may God Bless you all.
Blessings

Deacon Michael Rossouw
(Subic Bay, Philippines)
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89. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | November 4, 2008 at 6:27 am

You’re an almost personal diary Michael. It’s so pleasant to listen to (read) what you call your ramblings. Quiet, simple snippets of memory that instantly draw me back to familiar surroundings and old companions. Yes, it was like that. I still remember.

Well Percy, I’m no closer to putting a dial to a moniker than I was a day or two ago, but our time there overlapped and several of those you mention, were either my personal buddies or my class mates.

Errol and Nutsy, Tommy’s older brother Nicholas Geddes, Inchy Keyser … who also served with me in the BSAP in Rhodesia and Paul Kruger my senior and his younger sibling, Johnny who was my junior. Horse Wilshire, along with Freddy Oosthuizen were my last two closest buddies before I left in July ‘59.

I earlier wrote of Ronnie and Eddie Ackerman … that was an error of memory … they were Ronald and Edwin Lancaster. The amazing twins who treated their polio handicap not as crippling, but as an inconvenience. I’m not surprised to read of Ronald’s miltiary achievement. They both considered themselves as normal and as competitrive as anyone else.
Thanks for bringing their names into focus, Michael.

Inchy Keyser had two older brothers, Herman in the middle and Patrick the eldest. Patrick was a detective with CID in the BSAP in Bulawayo … so I must presume that it might have been he that died in the Beit bridge accident.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 4th. America goes to the election booth. All the polls show Barak Obama leading John McCain by 11 percentage points.

McCain is a war monger – Barak is a peacemaker … the World needs him – not just America.

There are a lot of racialist groups in this country; White Supremists, Aryan Nation, Ku Klux Klan etc. who don’t want a black man running this country. He contradicts all of their supremist rhetoric.

Barak knows it … so did Martin Luther King … but they both know/knew that they have/had no choice but to ‘go for it’ … because there was no one else to do the job.

I’m rooting for Obama of course, and I know that his chances of steering this country and thus the world, away from the brink of disaster … economic, political and climatic dissarray notwithstanding are slim … but if a man with a reasonable amount of moral authrotity cannot do it … who can?

I pray for him … and fo all of us. May God bless us all.
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90. Thomas Bainbridge | November 4, 2008 at 7:29 pm

I was at St George’s from 1953 to 1959. A lot of the names are familiary to me . Anyone know where Owen Jones and Richard Allum are?
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91. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | November 5, 2008 at 2:32 am

Thomas Bainbridge — Carrot Top Bainbridge I presume?

You had a brother, as best I can remember and were yourself in Taylor House. Dickie Allum was in the BSAP in Rhodesia when last I saw him in 1964. He was married and was about to have his first child.

That’s about as much as I can tell you. Owen Jones I last saw in St. Goggies shortly before I left. From there the trail grows cold ….

Nice to touch base … I remember you, a freckle face junior who came up from Simpson House. If I am not mistaken, you were in my dorm when Dickie was PL and I corporal.

So, slowly my contemporaries are surfacing … maybe soon someone from my own generation with whom I used to run around with.

Welcome on board Tom. Take the helm and tell us a tale since leaving SGBH.
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92. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | November 5, 2008 at 6:41 am

President Barak Hussein Obama.

Sounds like a new dictator in Africa doesn’t it?

This country is jubilant! The ‘race’ is over … in more ways than one. Now little black kids in Haarlem and South East
L. A. can really believe in the American Dream … just like the little white boys and girls. Yes, you can achieve whatever you want to in America!

It was a resounding victory, both for Obama and for the Democrats. The America people have spoken. Stop the War, fix the problems in Washington and Wall Street, improve education, health care and the environment. Produce jobs and solve the energy problems of the future.

This President faces bigger obstacles than any other American president in modern history. Not since FDR in 1934, has a president had to deal with so many catastrophic situations at the same time. He’s going to need all the help he can get … from both sides of the political isle … and therein lies the rub.

Most hate groups vote Republican and this victory doesn’t sit well with them. It is going to be a delicate balance for the man to succeed.

However, I hope that by his example … that some African heads of State will finally grow up and rise to the occassion, stop playing petty bullies and finally lead Africa into the 21st . century as vital producers and participants in the economics of the world.

Whether you are aware of it in Africa or not, it IS a New Day and it will be a New World with a black President of America.

Saihedi.
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93. Thomas Bainbridge | November 5, 2008 at 6:08 pm

Hello Dudley
Well your memory is definately much better than mine – maybe I should have eaten more carrots ! Not much of the carrot top left mind you.
I can’t remember whether you were the Good, the Bad or the Ugly !!
I seem to recall that Stuart was my paid protector at one stage. Yes, I have a younger brother, Frank and in fact my three sisters were at Johannesubrg Children’s Home at the same time as we were at St Georges. After leaving St Georges I was friendly with Owen Jones, younger brother of Taffy Jones but lost contact with him when I got married in 1972. Richard and his wife Barbara visited me in Cape Town in the early sixties whilst they were on honeymoon. I got a telegram from then when I got married and that’s the last contact.
I was a farmer until 8 years ago when we moved back to Joburg – it is impossible to farm in South Africa because of the crime and safety issues – we ourselves were victims of a farm attack and I survived a bullet wound in the chest !! My brother Frank is a Metallurgist and lives with his second wife in Benoni He has 4 sons and a daughter. He makes up for me as I don’t have any children – I myself have been married to the same old bat for nearly 37 years!
We are hoping to retire within the next few years, down to Wilderness in the Cape (between George & Knysa) where we have a small holding overlooking the sea and lakes.
The American elections have been receiving lots of air time over here and you’d swear that South Africans had something to do with his being elected. It certainly is a time of change!
Since leaving St Georges I have not had contact with anyone else. If ever you are in SA we would love to meet up with you.
All the best
Thomas and Zita Bainbridge aka carrot top and his old bat!
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94. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | November 5, 2008 at 10:48 pm

The Bat & The Carrot Top.

Mmm … sounds like a bedtime story. And to answer your unasked question; I was definitely ‘The Bad’ in the mix. However, I did not know that my elder sibling had been engaged in mercenary activities. Your body guard … from whom … one wonders … I’ll have to tap him on that one.

Congratulations on 37 years of ‘batting’. I’ve been hooked for 32 … although our son is 40 this month. Seems we ‘homies’ really needed that TLC experience.

I remember Taffy Jones from Spackman very well … also a greart bugler and thanks for the inviatation … who knows which way the wind will blow tomorrow …

Is it just me, or has anyone noticed that very little personal history since our respective St. Goggies days, has been revealed in this blog? Besides, John & Michael Roussow, Albert De Jager, Remy & Anon, few of you have told much about the intervening years of your lives. This is a Forum … it is an unique opportunity to share our lives with each other once again … through this remarkable medium call the Net … and which I call The Matrix. (That what connects us together)

We all passed briefly through each other’s lives … either in real time … or in overlapping slices of it. Moments in time they might be, but for those brief few years, we were as brothers sharing a common umbrella in the storms of life. We had very little else but each other to depend on and a cacoon to shelter us from the deluge of poverty around us.

We had an unique experience … for most it is with good & fond memories, for a few it was less so. For those I am truly sad … they got a double whammy … being there and having a lousy experience at the same time.

… and, has anyone noticed the delightful slices of poems and quotes that Vannessa Hurlimann slips in every now and then like an hor’s deourves.

I must presume that Percy Maree and Carrot Top Bainbridge knew each other back in the day … I’m guessing you’re about the same age and were there at the same time.

Luv this hookup.
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95. Thomas Bainbridge | November 6, 2008 at 6:00 pm

This is the old bat speaking. Here comes the ball for the six – its actually the old bat that ’s doing the typing whilst HIMSELF dictates, because HIMSELF is not interested in Computer stuff. I am his personal secretary for the purpose of these communications as he dictates to me what he wants to say.
Back to HIS WORDS –
I don’t regret going to the Home (even though I was unhappy at the time) – but due to my karmic situation, I realise and accept that it was meant to be and hope that I made the best of it. It certainly taught me discipline which played a very big part in my role as a dairy farmer. We are both great animal lovers and strict vegetarians and follow Santmat (a form of spiritual yoga). Most folks find us quite wierd because we are happy and content to be by ourselves , we don’t do the eating out, dinner parties, movies and shows that seemsto be a big part of life in Joburg.
I don’t remember Percy although, as I stated earlier, my memory at the moment is still blank. I was at St Georges from 1953 to 1959.
The news we really want to share with you today, is that after finally reading through all the messages, we discovered that Fr Richardson lives around the corner from us – literally 5 minutes away. We phoned him and he actually remembered me !! We will probably go and see him this weekend!
Watch this space
T&Z
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96. john rossouw | November 6, 2008 at 6:27 pm

Welcome Thomas and Mrs (BAT) – i AM SURE HER REFRES TO YOU AS THAT WITH MUCH AFFECTION
We all need to use this forum to share our experiences of the home both good and bad as theirin lies the rich heritage which was once “our home”
Please make a point of visiting Fr Eric as he loves the company
You will find him remarkably sharp for his age of 96 (he even uses email and the internet) and reads with the aid of a huge magnifying glass
When our brother Des died in 2005 he officated the service together with our brother Michael
When I called him about the service and to ask him to officiate he said he battled to read so was a little reluctant until I jokingly reminded him he had done it so many times before he probably knew the service off by heart and the the odd misplaced phrase here and there would probably be condoned by “the big guy”

Regards to you all

John
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97. PERCY MAREE | November 6, 2008 at 10:55 pm

Hi Thomas Bainbridge,
I do remember you,You were Standard nine and I was in Standard seven,
This may be the reason you dont remember me. I also think the fact you chaps were in Talor house and i was in Spackmen,and you mixed with older boys, I was in Spackmen house dorm two,which was the same dorm as John Kruger Patrol Leader Tommy Geddes
Bobby Geddes and Auther Geddes It would be good to hear From some Spackman house boys.
Reading the other emails I noted That when John Ford Nicked a
Motor cycle and got killed, the real story is that his name was
Brian Ford he went to a party and one of the day boys let him
ride the bike ,on the back of the bike was Michael Mills they came past the home on the bike Brian was killed and Michael was injured.
I remember a big strike took place in the home about the lunches we were given to take to school, which consisted of two slices of brown bread with a mixture of peanut butter and syrup and an orange,we then received better lunches after that.
I left the home in 1960 had some time on the railway as a steward,
then joinrd the SA Navy.After that i joined IBM .
I imigrated to Australia where I currently live ,I am now retired from my Position as Queensland Manager for TNT Austalia
I turned 64 yesterday.
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98. D.C. Leslie-Pringle | November 7, 2008 at 7:35 am

Many happy returns for the day … yesterday Percy. Well at least I got that part of my memory correct. I figured you had to be 2 or 3 years younger than me. Slowly an old picture comes together.

So you’re downunder … I have a brother-in-law living in Avalon near Sydney. He’s been there over 40 years (originally Dutch like my wife). He races catamarans when he’s not making money and says that Aussie is the country of the future. I don’t know about that … one way or the other … but I do recall reading a remarkably horrific history of Australia called; ‘TheFatal Shore’ by Robert Grey. What a frightful beginning to start a nation it turned out to be.

And thanks for setting the record straight on Brian Ford.

Welcome to the mix too Zita … are you really an old bat? Himself has got you saying it now … must be tiime to trade himself in methinks. Nevertheless, it really is nice to hear two people are still getting it on after 37 years of marriage. Two thumbs up to you both.

Father Richardson entered St. Goggies shortly after I left, so I did not get to know him … but once when I visited there, I met him and he knew my name … which surprised me. So when you go to visit him, please pass on my very best wishes to him. I was known then as just Dudley Pringle.

Glad to see you’re back in traction John. I gather that you’re somehow involved in the banking or financial world and for which reason I would like to point your nose in the direction of a website; http://www.serioustaxreform.com written by a friend of mine. On the site he has also posted an article called; The Sub-Prime Mortgage Solution. You’ll find both of them interesting and suitable as models for other countries too … including SA.

The last dozen pages of the Tax Code discusses Funding of Education and that is particularly elegant and noteworthy reading.

At the end of the day …it is more important what you know than who you know … if you want to be your own man.

Stay happy Michael … out there in the jungles of Subic Bay. Did they ever get rid of all that soot?

And whart happened to Albert?
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99. Michael Rossouw | November 8, 2008 at 8:26 am

Saint George’s