Bill Guest STELLA AURORAE: the HISTORY of a SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY
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STELLA AURORAE THE HISTORY OF A SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY Volume 1 Natal University College (1909–1949) Bill Guest STELLA AURORAE: THE HISTORY OF A SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY Volume 1 Natal University College (1909–1949) Bill Guest S F Occasional Publications of the Natal Society Foundation PIETERMARITZBURG 2015 Stella Aurorae: The history of a South African university Volume 1: Natal University College (1909–1949) © Bill Guest 2015 Published in 2015 in Pietermaritzburg by the Trustees of The Natal Society Foundation under its imprint ‘Occasional Publications of The Natal Society Foundation’. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without reference to the publishers, the Trustees of The Natal Society Foundation, PO Box 11093, Dorpspruit 3206, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Natal Society Foundation website: http://www.natalia.org.za/ ISBN 978-0-9921766-2-4 Editor: Christopher Merrett Assistant editors: Peter Croeser and Phila Msimang Proofreader: Sally Hines Indexers: Cynthia and Bill Guest Design & layout: Jo Marwick Body text: Times New Roman 11pt Front & footnotes: Times New Roman 9pt Photograph acknowledgements: All other photographs: Courtesy of UKZN Archives and Killie Campbell Museum Library Printed in South Africa by Interpak Books Dedicated to the memory of my parents William James Guest 1897 – 1941 B.Econ (SA) for his sacrifice and Marguerite Ellalaine Guest (née Dawe) 1908 – 1980 BA LL B (UCT) for her encouragement and example CONTENTS Abbreviations List of figures Foreword Acknowledgements Chapter 1 The establishment of Natal University College (1853–1909) ............................................................................ 1 Chapter 2 A fragile infancy (1910–1918) ................................................ 25 Chapter 3 Post-war expansion (1919–1928) ........................................... 73 Chapter 4 The college comes of age (1929–1939) .................................. 127 Chapter 5 A break with tradition – ‘the Natal experiment’ (1936–1949) ............................................................................ 175 Chapter 6 NUC and World War II (1939–1945) ...................................... 202 Chapter 7 From college to university (1945–1949) ................................. 224 Chapter 8 The Natal University College/University of Natal in 1949 .... 286 Bibliography .............................................................................................. 324 Appendix ................................................................................................... 335 General index ............................................................................................. 374 ABBREVIATIONS ACIS Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries APC Alan Paton Centre (UKZN, PMB Campus) ARCA Associate of the Royal College of Art BA Bachelor of Arts BA (Hons) Bachelor of Arts (Honours) B.Sc. Bachelor of Science B.Sc. (Agric) Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) B.Sc. (Hons) Bachelor of Science (Honours) CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research CUP Cambridge University Press DAR Durban Archive Repository DBN Durban DHS Durban High School D.Phil. Doctor of Philosophy Dr Doctor D.Sc. Doctor of Science ed.(s) editor(s) Fr Father HSRC Human Sciences Research Council KCML Killie Campbell Museum Library KZN KwaZulu-Natal LL A Lady Literate in Arts (St Andrews) LL B Bachelor of Laws MA Master of Arts MBA Master of Business Administration MBE Member of the Order of the British Empire M.Comm. Master of Commerce MP Malherbe Papers (in KCML and UKZNA) M.Sc. Master of Science n.d. no date no. number NU Natal University NUC Natal University College NUDF Natal University Development Foundation NUSAS National Union of South African Students PAR Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy PMB Pietermaritzburg Rev. Reverend SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation SALA South African Library Association SCA Students Christian Association SRC Students Representative Council UCT University of Cape Town UG Union Government UKZN University of KwaZulu-Natal UKZNA University of KwaZulu-Natal Archives (PMB campus) UN University of Natal UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNISA University of South Africa UNP University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg vol. volume Wits University of the Witwatersrand YMCA Young Mens Christian Association YWCA Young Womens Christian Association LIST OF FIGURES 1. C.J. (Charles) Mudie 10 2. S.G. (Samuel) Campbell 14 3. J. (John) Dove-Wilson 26 4. W.J. (William) O’Brien 26 5. D. (David) Robb 28 6. A. (Alexander) Petrie 30 7. R.B. (Robert) Denison 30 8. J.W. (John) Bews 36 9. A.F. (Alan) Hattersley 40 10. E. (Ernest) Warren 42 11. Staff, 1913 70 12. O. Waterhouse 70 13. Laying of the NUC Clock Tower foundation stone 71 14. Old Main Block (front entrance) 71 15. Early NUC lecture room 72 16. Early NUC Physics laboratory 72 17. F.B. (Frank) Burchell 74 18. G.W. (George) Sweeney 82 19. A.S. (Alan) Paton 86 20. R.O. (Reg) Pearse 92 21. N. (Neville) Nuttall 98 22. S.F. (Frank) Bush 100 23. J.H. (James) Neal 112 24. T.B.F. (Thomas Benjamin) Davis 114 25. G.M.J. (Maurice) Sweeney 116 26. W.E. (Eric) Phillips 134 27. L.C. (Lester) King 152 28. G.S. (Gawie) Nienaber 154 29. A.J.W. (Adolf) Bayer 156 30. F.L. (Frank) Warren 156 31. P.G. (Peter) Leeb-du Toit 164 32. Howard College nearing completion circa 1933 facing page 174 33. City Buildings, Durban facing page 174 34. M. (Mabel) Palmer (née Atkinson) 178 35. F.M. (Florence Mary) MacDonald 180 36. E. (Elizabeth) Sneddon 184 37. D.B. (David) Hodges 203 38. E.G. (Ernest) Malherbe 225 39. O. (Oswald) Black 243 40. G.H. (Geoffrey) Durrant 251 41. N.R. (Desmond) Clarence 251 42. J.D. (Jacob) Krige 253 43. O. (Oliver) Davies 255 44. W.H. (William) Gardner 257 45. E.J. (Eileen) Krige 257 46. J.R. Daymond 259 47. A.R. (Rabie) Saunders 275 48. Clem Abbott measuring 277 49. New armorial bearings of the University of Natal 287 50. E.H. (Edgar) Brookes 289 51. D.G. (Denis Gem) Shepstone 319 FOREWORD I am honoured, in my extreme old age, to be asked to write a brief foreword to this history of the Natal University College. My own association with the college began in 1945, when I assumed the post of Professor of English and head of that department. It was a time of urgent challenges, from the sudden increase of student numbers caused by returning war veterans, from the growing needs of African and Indian students in Durban, and from limited funding and staffing. Along with other members of the department I found myself working very long hours both during the week, and at weekends, in both Pietermaritzburg and Durban. There was a spirit of hope and enthusiasm; the very scale of the challenge engaged our energies, under the inspiring leadership of E.G. Malherbe, whose appointment as Vice-Chancellor coincided with my own as professor. Prejudices and racial divisions were still embedded in the academic struc- ture, a constant threat to the free play of intellect; but among those of us who worked in the college at that time there was a heartening spirit of goodwill and a strong hope for the future. I am proud to have been a part of that endeavour. Geoffrey Durrant Richmond, British Columbia, July 2013 [Professor Durrant celebrated his 100th birthday on 27 July 2013] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to the staff of the Alan Paton Centre and the University of KwaZulu-Natal Archives (Pietermaritzburg campus), the Killie Campbell Museum Library (Durban) and the Durban and Pietermaritzburg Archives Repositories for assisting me in locating relevant research material. I am grateful to all those persons listed in the bibliography who shared with me their reminiscences concerning some of the Natal University College staff members who are mentioned in this book. As on previous occasions, I am hugely indebted to my wife, Cynthia, for tolerating yet another extended research enthusiasm and for contributing her computer expertise towards its completion. My interest in the history of the Natal University College and its successor the University of Natal began one broiling summer morning in February 1959. I was in a ‘Freshers’ registration queue that snaked its way up the steps in front of Howard College Building and around the statue of King George V which stared impassively over our heads at Durban harbour. The Principal, E.G. Malherbe, delivered his welcoming address in the Hall, supported by an impressive cohort of staff in full academic garb. One senior member who caught my eye was dressed in a pin-striped suit with bulbous toes staring balefully over the edge of the stage from a pair of casual sandals. Marvellous! I had already heard about eccentric, absent-minded professors, little realising that I was embarking on a journey that would eventually lead me into their ranks (without the pin-striped suit and sandals!). My student years (1959–1962) on the Stella Bush Ridge included lectures in temporary structures that had been erected during World War II with Roman- Dutch Law classes and end-of-year examinations conducted in the noisy downtown City Buildings, which, as the name might imply, were beleaguered by street traffic. This was followed by a temporary lectureship (1963) that provided some acquaintance with the University’s more sedate ‘other campus’ inland and eventual tenure in Durban (1967–1976) and Pietermaritzburg (1977–2000). The extended experience nurtured a gradual familiarity with the complex dual-centred, racially