Zonnebloem College: new facility expands horizons at historic Cape institution
In 1858, the first Anglican Bishop of Cape Town, Robert Gray, and the governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony, Sir George Grey, collaborated to establish what Grey described in a letter to the bishop as an "industrial school of a superior order" for the children of chiefs of "the interior of Africa". Gray and Grey’s objective, writes historian and author Janet Hodgson, was to give the children "a liberal and Christian education and then send them back to their homes to be an example and help to their people, arguing that they would be of far greater influence among their tribesmen than any European missionaries, teachers or government agents". Hodgson’s University of Cape Town master’s thesis — the History of Zonnebloem College 1858 to 1870: A Study of Church and Society — is being peer reviewed by HSRC Press. The school was initially located at the bishop’s residence, Protea Farm, which became Bishopscourt and is still home to Cape Town’s Anglican archbishop. About a year...
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