Diocesan College - History

History

The Collegiate of the Diocese of Cape Town (hence the name Diocesan College) was founded by Bishop Robert Gray, the first Anglican bishop of Cape Town, in 1849 at his house, Bishopscourt in Cape Town. He founded two schools there, one of which was described as for the "native children" and the other for "European children" (this being the current school). Living with schools was hard for the bishop and this led him to establish the schools elsewhere. The black children moved to accommodation near the city, where Zonnebloem College now is. This movement left the bishop short of money and so he bought an unproductive farm in Campground Road, Rondebosch, to which the school was moved and on which it remains.

The school did not prosper until Canon George Ogilvie arrived from prosperous St. George's Grammar School, attached to St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town in the city. The canon brought some boys with him and the bishop's school flourished. It then became the Diocesan College, but that too was a mouthful and it was generally referred to as the Bishop's school – hence its nickname. On arriving at Bishops, Cannon George Ogilvie brought an early adoption of the game of rugby to the school which is noted as the introduction of rugby to South Africa.

Originally the school catered mainly for boarders, but since the 1970s it has had more day scholars than boarders. For some years it ran university classes, but in 1910 those classes left for the South African College, which was later to become the University of Cape Town.

The school had only three principals between 1919 and 1982 – Harold Birt, Hubert Kidd, the first layman to be the principal, and Anthony Mallett. Since then it has had three more. Mr Grant Nupen is currently the Principal.

Since 1921, a post matric year has offered students the opportunity to write the University of Cambridge A-Level examinations. In recent times, girls have been admitted to this year. Boarding facilities are also available.