Kearsney College is a private boarding, English medium high school for boys in Botha's Hill, a small town between the provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg and Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

History

Kearsney College was founded by Sir Liege Hulett in 1921. Hulett founded what would become Tongaat Hulett Sugar. Sir Liege Hulett cherished the idea of establishing a boys' school for Methodist ministers and their sons and those of the families of the free churches. Kearsney took its name from Kearsney, Kent where Sir Liege Hulett had moved to where his father established St Martin's Academy.

He considered Kearsney House, the house he originally built for his family, ideally suited for this purpose. On 29 November 1920, a contract was signed with the Wesleyan Church to use Kearsney House as a school. This was the birth of Kearsney College and remains a living memorial to Sir Liege. The school opened with 11 boys. Kearsney College remained at the Kearsney Estate until June 1939, when it moved to its present site at Botha's Hill between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The decision to move the school was based on the reluctance of parents to send their sons to a school on the north coast that suffered many cases of malaria in the 1930s. However, none were reported at Kearsney.

Headmasters

  • D. Pyne Mercier (1921–1922)
  • R.H. Matterson (1923–1946)
  • S.G. Osler (1947–1964)
  • J.H. Hopkins (1965–1974)
  • E.W. Silcock (1975–1990)
  • O.J. Roberts (1991–2000)
  • E.D. van den Aardweg (2001 -2022)
  • P Lees (2023 - date)

Boarding Houses

There are five boarding houses - four senior houses and one junior house. They are Finningley (blue), Gillingham (red), Pembroke (green), Sheffield (yellow) and Haley (house for students' first year of boarding). Finningley is named after the town of Finningley in South Yorkshire, England. Gillingham is named after Gillingham, Kent, England, where Sir Liege Hulett lived as a young man

In 2020, Kearsney had a 100% pass rate and a 100% Bachelor Degree pass rate.

Clubs and Cultural Activities

Clubs offered range from academic extension (12 Club; History Club) to personal enrichment (SCA; Dale Carnegie Course; Chess) to creative (Photographic Club; Video Editing Club; Enviro Club) to the physical (Surfing; Survival Club; Mountain Bike Club) and the just plain fun (Board Games Club). Finally, boys are coached in public speaking skills through their membership of the Speakers’ Circle and Inner Circle Speakers’ Club.

Sports

Sports facilities include several rugby fields, several cricket ovals, an artificial turf for field hockey and two swimming pools. Included is SportZone, an indoor training facility with several cricket nets, two indoor and two outdoor basketball courts, and a gymnasium.

Sports on offer at the College include:

  • Basketball
  • Canoeing
  • Cricket
  • Cross country
  • Golf
  • Hockey
  • Indoor hockey
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Squash
  • Swimming
  • Tennis
  • Water polo

Kearsney has hosted the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival since 2008. This school's rugby tournament regularly attracts top South African school teams. Previous festival players that have achieved higher honours include : Handré Pollard, Warrick Gelant, Jan Serfontein, RG Snyman, Dan du Preez, Jean-Luc du Preez, JJ van der Mescht, [James Hall]

International Exchange Programme

Kearsney has an international exchange programme with several schools. Schools that Kearsney pupils spend time at include: Catholic University School in Dublin, Ireland, Mount St Mary’s College, Derbyshire, England and Canberra Grammar School in Red Hill, Australia.

Notable alumni

Authors

  • Douglas Livingstone (poet) (1949)
  • Bill Schermbrucker

Politicians

  • Tony Leon (1974) - founder of South Africa's Democratic Alliance
  • Gordon Schachat

Other

  • Peter Ralph Randall - anti-apartheid publisher
  • Alan Dell - BBC radio broadcaster
  • David Polkinghorne – first-class cricketer
  • Chad Bowes - New Zealand national team cricket player

Hockey

  • Lloyd Madsen 2007 - South African Hockey
  • Nqobile Ntuli 2017 - South African Hockey
  • Calvin Davis 2024 - South African Hockey

Rugby

  • Harry Walker (rugby union, born 1928) - Springbok rugby player - Cap 311
  • Etienne Fynn (1990) - Springbok rugby player - Cap 710.
  • Francois Viljoen
  • Greg Goosen
  • James Hall (rugby union, born 1996)
  • Steve Meyer
  • Sibusiso Sangweni
  • Warren Seals

Other

  • Myles Brown - Rio Olympic Games – Swimming
  • Troyden Prinsloo - Swimming
  • Mpumelelo Mhlongo - Paralympic Athlete
  • Damien Roberts - Tennis Player
  • Connor Wilson - Alpine Skier

References