Durban High School (D.H.S.) | |
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Location | |
125 St. Thomas Road Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa |
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Coordinates | 29°50′40″S 30°59′52″E / 29.84444°S 30.99778°E |
Information | |
Type | All-Boys Public School (state) |
Motto |
Deo Fretus (In God We Trust) |
Established | 1866 |
Locale | Urban |
Head Master | Mr Tony Pinheiro |
Grades | 8–12 |
Number of students | 1100 |
Houses | Swales, Grice, Langley, Campbell and Payne and Blackmore |
School colour(s) | Navy blue and Oxford gold |
Newspaper | The Herald |
Boarding houses | Blackmore |
Website | www |
Durban High School is an all-boys public school in Durban, South Africa.
DHS opened its doors in 1866 in two rooms and with seven pupils in Smith Street. From there it moved to a disused granary in Cato Square in 1880, just after the Zulu War, and then to the Old Hospital on the foreshore. In 1895, it moved up onto the healthier Berea to its present site, where it flourished. The ten acres plot was granted to the School by the Durban Town Council. The first enrolled student was a boy called Eben Coates and he was also the first Head-boy. There is also a related primary school: Durban Preparatory High School. The school has approximately 1000 enrolled students, all boys, and includes a small boarding establishment and over 75 teachers. The headmaster is Mr. Tony Pinheiro. It is the oldest standing school in Durban and one of the oldest in South Africa.
There are six houses:
Blackmore House is a home for over 140 boys. The boys' needs are catered for by food provision and dormitories with a maximum of 6 boys per dorm. The boys can go home most weekends and return on Monday mornings.
A wide range of sports and activities are offered including climbing, golf, fishing, surfing, chess, football, basketball, and hardball as well as the more traditional athletics, cricket, hockey, and rugby which have been played at the school for over 100 years. The school has produced over 125 international sportsmen in sports ranging from rugby and cricket to golf, badminton, baseball, surfing and powerlifting. Countries represented include France, New Zealand, England, Scotland and the USA. More than 30 old boys have played international cricket, six of whom were Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Five old boys played in the 1960 Lords test against England and four in the first two tests against Australia in 1969/70.
250 old boys died, and more than 2000 were injured in both World Wars. One Victoria Cross (VC), 27 Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC), 21 Military Crosses (MC), 10 Military Medals (MM) and 8 Distinguished Service Orders (DSO) were awarded to old boys in these and subsequent conflicts. In the Battle of Delville Wood in 1916, 12 old boys were killed, 9 wounded and 3 were taken prisoner.
RHODES SCHOLARS: John Nicolson 1920, Leif Egeland 1924, Geoffrey Smithers 1930, Tony Norton 1959, Rory Donnellan 1962, Peter De Villiers 1967, Alan Gelb 1969, Peter Sacks 1973, Bronek Masojeda 1985, Ross Garland 1997.