Milton High School

Milton High School
Abbreviation	MHS
Motto	Quit ye like men
Formation	July 25, 1910; 114 years ago
Type	Government Organisation
Purpose	Education
Headquarters	53 Leopold Takawira Avenue, Suburbs
Location	Bulawayo, Zimbabwe;
Headmaster	Mr. Similo Ncube
Website	http://www.miltonhighschoolbyo.com/
Remarks	TELEPHONE: +263-29-223 1582
	EMAIL: miltonboyshigh@gmail.com

Milton High School is a government all-boys high school located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It was the first government all-boys school established in Bulawayo. It was founded in 1910 and is named after Sir William Milton, administrator of the British South Africa Company.

See High Schools Of Zimbabwe.
See List of Secondary and High Schools in Zimbabwe and Contact Numbers.
See Association of Trust Schools.
See Zimbabwe Top 100 O' Level Schools. (November 2018)

Location

(September 2021)
Address: 53 Leopold Takawira, PO Box AC 20, Ascot, Bulawayo.
Telephone: +263-29-223 1582
Cell:
Email: miltonboyshigh@gmail.com
Web: http://www.miltonhighschoolbyo.com/,

To have information added or updated contact hello@pindula.com

History

Milton School opened 25 July 1910. It was named after Sir William Milton (the administrator of the BSAC) and initially located on Borrow Street, Bulawayo (now Parirenyatwa Street). Milton High School and Eveline High School were the first state maintained high schools in Rhodesia. Again, it was the first government all boys’ school ever established in Bulawayo.

In September 1927, 300 boys and members of staff moved to Milton’s present home, which is situated between Suburbs and the race course. However, it was not until 1 June 1928 that the school was officially opened by Sir John Chancellor as “Milton School”.

The school colours are plumbago (dark grey) and oxford blue with the school crest based on an early version of the city of Bulawayo’s crest. The motto is Greek and translates as “Quit ye like men”. The school was initially divided into four houses – Charter, Pioneer, North Town and South Town. However, due to the dominance of the boarders, four new houses were introduced in 1938. They were Birchenough, Borrow, Fairbridge and Heaney.

At the start of 1950, Milton had 420 boys, but by the end of 1951 this figure rose to 581 creating a “housing crisis’. Two more classrooms were built in 12 days along with marquees which were erected on the open space between the main block and the dining hall. After ten years of planning and fundraising 5000 pounds from state lotteries and 1000 pounds from the Baron family, Milton’s swimming pool was opened at a cost of 17 500 pounds.

In 1954, there were 644 pupils, by 1957 this figure had risen to over 700, a year later there were in excess of 900. With over 200 boys per house, four new houses were created – Brady, Chancellor, Malvern and Rhodes.

In 1961, Milton had 1 150 boys which made it the largest school in the Federation. Malvern and Brady houses were dropped and the boarding houses of Charter and Pioneer were re-established once again. In the same year (1961), saw the completion of the new Economics Block, Commerce Department, a new Staffroom, a double storey Administration Block and the official opening of the Sixth Form Department by the then Minister of Education, D. B. Goldberg.

In 1962 rooms were built to house the Technical Department, as well as the construction of locking cycle sheds, a rifle range and stands were erected on the playing fields.^[1]

Badge History

The original (unofficial) Bulawayo Crest was adopted by Milton High School. The arms of Bulawayo were granted on 19 October 1943. The arms replaced an unofficial design. The current Bulawayo coat of arms three rock rabbits were the totem of the Royal Family of the Matabele, the Kumalo. The cross below symbolises the bringing of Christianity by the first missionaries and settlers. The elephant crest is based on the royal seal of Lobengula, last king of the Matabele. The motto "Si Ye Pambili", in Sindebele, means "Let us go Forward". The rock rabbit is an indigenous species, not related to the European rabbit. Its official name is a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis).

Former Headmasters

In 1967, Milton’s games houses were renamed in honour of the school’s first five headmasters and each house was to meet in the quadrangle that bore the appropriate name. Even today the quads are named after those five headmasters and these are:

B. de Beer (1910 – 1924)
Lt Col, J. B. Brady (1925 – 1930)
G. Livingston (1931 – 1941)
R. Morgan (1941 – 1942)
Gebbie (1943 – 1946)

After 1946, Milton had several changes of headmasters and each contributed immensely to the school:

Ball (1946 – 1950)
H. Downing (1950 – 1955)
R. Messiter-Tooze (1956 – 1963)
M. Brett (1964 – 1969)
K. Gracie (1970 – 1980)
Andersen (1981 – 1984)
Fincham (1984 – 1987)
Mandikate (1988 – 1995)
B. S. Senda (1996 – 2001)
D. Swene (2002 – 2006)
Ngwenya (2006 – 2013)
Ncube (2014 – 2016)
Ncube ( 2016 – to date)

The Milton Address

The Milton Address, an annual address delivered to the school, began in 1972 to celebrate the anniversary of the school's founding. The first Milton Address was delivered by Sir Henry MacDonald. Following speakers included the Anglican Bishop of Matabeleland Robert Mercer, economist Tony Hawkins, Mayor of Bulawayo Mike Constandinos, Senator David Coltart. The 75th anniversary address was given by former Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia Sir Garfield Todd. Subsequent addresses were delivered by notable figures including former President of Zimbabwe Canaan Banana, Anglican Dean of Bulawayo Robin Ewbank, British High Commissioner Sir Ramsay Mellhuish, writer Yvonne Vera, Vice Chancellor of Solusi University Norman Maphosa, and AIDs researcher Riita Dlodlo.^[2]