Durban - Hilton College’s oldest living old boy Michael Hathorn received the book marking the school’s 150th anniversary when he turned 100 earlier this month.
The elite boys’ boarding school in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is celebrating its landmark this weekend with a festival of class reunions, a gala dinner, its rugby and hockey derby against arch-rival Michaelhouse and a theatre production.
Hathorn, who had a career teaching at the Royal London Hospital and researched breathing problems in newborn infants, is also a qualified mining engineer, served in the SA Air Force during World War 2 and was detained in Durban by the apartheid police during the Sharpeville Massacre era.
He then left the country for Britain, via Ghana, and has lived in London ever since.
Simon Ellis, chairman of the United Kingdom branch of the Old Hiltonians, presented Hathorn with the book on his 100th birthday on April 8, in London.
A write-up about him is included in the book.
Hilton College was founded in 1872. Its campus is known for its rolling lawns and Cape Dutch architecture. Its estate includes a stretch of the uMngeni River between Howick Falls and Albert Falls Dam as well as a tributary fondly known to generations of Hiltonians as “Gwens”, which has four scenic waterfalls.
Prominent alumni over the years include cricketer Mike Procter; rugby players Bobby Skinstad and Gary Teichmann; Rivonia Trial defence lawyer Arthur Chaskalson; World War 1 Victoria Cross recipient Lieutenant-Colonel Reginald Haywood, Sir Duncan MacKenzie, leader of the Natal forces during the Bambatha Rebellion; writer Imraam Coovadia and recently deceased rap singer Rikhado Muziwendlovu Chifaro Makhado, known as Riky Rick.
“Hilton College 150th Book: An Anthology of Stories” can be ordered through https://www.howler.co.za.
The Independent on Saturday