Gill College


Gill College is a dual-medium, co-educational South African high school in KwaNojoli, formerly Somerset East, Sarah Baartman District Municipality. It provides quality education through grades 8–12, serving students from all cultural backgrounds.

History

Gill College owes its existence to Dr. William Gill, a Scottish-born surgeon who arrived in the Cape Colony in 1818 and who was appointed as the District Surgeon of Somerset in 1829. He amassed a fortune as a Merino sheep farmer. In his will dated 19 January 1863 he bequeathed £23 000 for the establishment of a college of higher education. It was stipulated in his will that the money not be used for buying or erecting buildings, and that assets in the estate including property not be sold.
The Gill College Corporation was formed with seven trustees, including James Leonard, Dr. Langham Dale and Robert Hart. The Governor of the Cape Good Hope Sir Henry Barkly granted the Gill College Corporation a piece of land situated in Somerset East on 16 April 1867, for the sole purpose of erecting buildings for the educational institution.
The community funded the building by public subscription. The architecture of the college was based on that of the University of Glasgow. Gill College was officially opened on 18 March 1869, under the Rectorship of Peter MacOwan.
The Gill College Act No. 32 of 1884 amended the restrictions of Gill's final will, in that it allowed for the sale of Erf 57, Paulett Street, including the building thereon, and that the proceeds be used to build student accommodation on the College property. The residence, College House, on the College Campus was completed in 1892.
Gill College functioned as a small university college for several decades, offering arts, science, and teacher-training courses, with degrees examined and awarded in affiliation with the University of the Cape of Good Hope.
Somerset East was a remote rural frontier town in the 19th-century Cape Colony. Travel was arduous, making it unappealing for prospective students, especially those from wealthier or urban families. The college's facilities, while architecturally grand, were under-resourced: limited laboratories, libraries, and housing compared to urban rivals. Boarding facilities helped, but overall capacity was small. By the early 1900s, a key criterion limited university college status to institutions with over 75 matriculated pupils. This regulatory hurdle was a direct barrier: without sufficient numbers, it lost eligibility for degree-granting affiliations and funding tied to university status. Gill College, with its remote location and modest scale, consistently fell short of this threshold—enrollments hovered in the dozens rather than hundreds. Strong opposition from Rhodes University College was particularly damaging. As a newly formed rival, Rhodes lobbied Cape authorities to enforce the enrollment regulations strictly, effectively sidelining Gill College to prevent competition in the Eastern Cape. This political maneuvering ensured Gill could not expand or affiliate independently. With national policy favoring fewer, larger universities, peripheral institutions like Gill College were deprioritized. Gill College could no longer sustain its university status and transitioned into a high school in 1903. The school was coeducational before 1928 and again after 1965 when it amalgamated with the Bellevue Girls School; between those dates it was a boys' school.
The Gill Corporation Private Act of 1912 allowed for the Trustees to grant 3-year bursaries to deserving students who passed the Matriculation Examination or the University Senior Certificate examination of the Cape of Good Hope, to further their studies at an acceptable institution within or outside the Union of South Africa.
Gill College's "failure" as a university was a victim of its time: an ambitious but under-scaled venture in a rapidly centralizing and urbanizing education system. It succeeded admirably as a secondary school. Today, it thrives as one of South Africa's oldest high schools, with the original buildings as heritage sites.
The 1950s to 1970s saw Gill College emerge as a dominant force in schoolboy rugby in the Eastern Cape, as a result of the role played by legendary teacher and coach C.A. Coppens. Coppens was a mathematics teacher at the school from 1935 to 1984. He is buried next to Dr. Gill in front of the Old College building.
In 1916, Dr. Gill's remains were reburied in front of the school which he endowed, and which was named for him, Gill College.  The magnificent campus is a fitting memorial for such a man.

Gill College coat of arms

The Shield is divided into 3 sections horizontally:
  • Three Footless Martlets : From the ancient Gill family crest. Martlets symbolize swiftness, migration, and the "winged" pursuit of knowledge without earthly ties.
  • Fish with Ring in Mouth: Directly from the arms of the City of Glasgow and University of Glasgow. It references the miracle of Saint Mungo, Glasgow's patron saint, who recovered a lost ring from a fish's mouth to vindicate Queen Languoreth. This evokes themes of providence, truth, redemption, and the "hidden treasures" of learning.
  • Sheet Anchor: The Cape Colony's colonial badge, representing hope, stability, and the "anchor" of British education in the frontier. It grounds the Scottish elements in the local context.
The motto is "Sursum Prorsusque", inscribed on a blue riband below the shield. Translation: "Upwards and Onwards," emphasizing aspiration, resilience, and forward progress.

Notable alumni