St. Mary's Diocesan School for Girls is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for girls situated in Hillcrest,

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

in the

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, St Mary's DSG was founded in 1879 by the Rt Revd

Henry Bousfield Henry Brougham Bousfield (27 March 1832 – 10 February 1902) was a colonial Anglican priest and the inaugural Bishop of Pretoria 1878-1902. Life Bousfield was born on 27 March 1832, the son of William Cheek Bousfield, a barrister. He was ...

, the first

Bishop of Pretoria The Diocese of Pretoria is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It is divided into seven archdeaconries and has 61 parishes. History The diocese originally covered the whole of the South African Republic, which later became the T ...

. For 75 years of its existence the school was run by the nuns of the

Community of St Mary the Virgin The Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) is an Anglican religious order based at Wantage in Oxfordshire, England. It was founded in 1848 by the vicar of Wantage, the Reverend William John Butler and is one of the oldest surviving religious commun ...

, The brother school is

St. Alban's College St. Alban's College is a private, boarding, English medium and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Lynnwood Glen in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It was founded in 1963 by Anton Murray. Its history, influence, ...

. The school was established in 1871 by

known as St Etheldreda's but it became St Mary's DSG later on, it's known as the oldest schools in Pretoria, It is one of the most prestigious schools in

History

St Etheldreda's 18791909

The school was known as St Etheldreda by Bishop

, it became St Mary's DSG later. initially it was situated at No.279 Skinner Street. Before moved to Hillcrest. The school started to have 20 pupils in 1886 and 75 pupils in 1889, The school costed £1,500 of which only £300 was immediately available. The rest was raised by the Bishop and friends by 1895, 138 pupils and nine academic member of staff.

St Mary's DSG establishment

Henry Bousfield died and all seemed lost, The Headmistress resigned and return to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and 25 pupils remained at St Etheldreda's, The Education Department suggested that the school buildings might be used as a hostel for the newly established girls high school in Arcadia called

Pretoria High School for Girls Pretoria High School for Girls (Simply often known as PHSG), is a full-government, fee-charging, English-medium high school for girls located in Hatfield, Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the sister school to Pretoria Boy ...

. When the Bishop William Carter was appointed as second Bishop of Pretoria (19031909), he fervently opposed the absorbing of church schools by the government, It was his inspiration that saved our school: he invited the

from Wantage in England to take it over and the Community accepted. However, they were not able to send sisters to

until September 1903. So far for nine months, Miss Grenfell kept the school going, Finally the great day came when the tour Sisters arrived at the Pretoria station in September 1903, A new era dawned during which the school developed into an efficient highly regarded and institution under the capable and loving guidance of Sisters. The name St Etheldreda's was not heard from the war and by the time of the school became St Mary's Diocesan School for Girls also known as the DSG. The year 2004 gave the school further opportunity to celebrate: 125 years of the best that a holistic education has to offer.

Sports

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

* Cross country * *

Equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

* Hockey *

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

* *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

* Squash * Swimming * *

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Diocesan School for Girls, Pretoria Anglican schools in South Africa Boarding schools in South Africa Private schools in Gauteng Schools in Pretoria Educational institutions established in 1879 Girls' schools in South Africa 1879 establishments in the South African Republic Christianity in Pretoria