Chaplin High School is situated in

Gweru Gweru is a city in central Zimbabwe. Near the geographical centre of the country. It is on the centre of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Northern Ndebele people, Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, and was started in October 1902. It was started in a building of the Trinity Church,

Gwelo Gweru is a city in central Zimbabwe. Near the geographical centre of the country. It is on the centre of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Northern Ndebele people, Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high ...

and first named as the Trinity Church School (1). The school caters for boys and girls from form 1–6 and has boarders and day scholars. There are two boarding houses for boys named Duthie House and Coghlan House while girls are housed in either Lenfesty House or Maitland House. Maitland House is the sister hostel for Duthie while Lenfesty is the sister house for Coghlan House.

History

Seven children reported for school in October 1902 when the school was first started. At that time, it was called the Trinity Church School as the building was in the Trinity Church of

. The first headmaster was Mr Watkinson while Miss Coates-Palgrave was the Assistant to the headmaster. The following January, 16 children moved to the current school grounds. In 1909, Mr A McDonald was appointed as the headmaster of the school which had been renamed the Gwelo Public School. He continued as the headmaster of the school until 1927 when he retired. In 1911, the government built a schoolhouse which was the first school hostel in the country. This schoolhouse was later renamed Duthie House after being opened by Mr

George Duthie George Duthie FRSE (4 March 1865 – 14 June 1921) was a Scottish mathematician, educator and colonial administrator. He served as Inspector General of Education for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the early 20th century. Life Duthie was born in Woods ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

. Also 1911 saw Chaplin playing rugby against other schools for the first time. They lost to both

Plumtree High School Plumtree School is a boarding school for boys and girls in the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe on the border with Botswana. Founded in 1902 by a railway mission, Plumtree School boards 500+ pupils. Recently the school announced it will start enroll ...

and Milton High School but were later to improve greatly providing players for both

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

and

. In 1914, the first school magazine was printed. In 1923, the first girls hostel Maitland House was opened by Sir Drummond Chaplin and the school was renamed Chaplin. In 1928, Coghlan House was opened with Lenfesty being opened in 1950. In 1937, the seniors and the juniors were separated, which was the start of Cecil John Rhodes Primary School. On 7 July 1953, The Queens Gate was opened by

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

Notable alumni

Alec Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (known as Alec Smith; 25 May 1949 – 19 January 2006) was a Zimbabwe National Army chaplain and son of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith. His father Ian Smith had married Janet Watt in late-1948, after returning ...

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

, Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979, was a student at Chaplin from 1933 to 1937 (Duthie) and head boy in 1937. He was the captain for rugby, cricket, athletics, tennis and boxing. * Chris Duckworth, cricketer * Steve Elworthy, cricketer * Richard Kaschula, cricketer * Robert Ullyett, cricketer * Michael Holman, journalist and author

References

Bibliography

# https://web.archive.org/web/20130610105620/http://chaplin1930-1980.magix.net/website#HISTORY CONT 3 # http://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/royal-tour-of-southern-rhodesia-1953.html

{{Authority control High schools in Zimbabwe Buildings and structures in Midlands Province Education in Midlands Province Gweru Educational institutions established in 1902 1902 establishments in the British Empire