Type Private school Principal Mark Potterton Colour(s) Black and red Founded 1905 | Established 1905 Campus Suburban Website hfc-jhb.co.za Motto Quid Retribuam (Latin) | |
Parktown Convent was built in 1905. In 1991 it became Holy Family College. It was formerly a girls' school.
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History
The convent was founded by Mother Ambrose Farren, who came from a noble and extremely wealthy family in England.
Notable alumni
Helen Suzman, a liberal South African, anti-apartheid activist and notable politician, attended the convent and matriculated from the school in 1933. Later becoming an eloquent public speaker with a sharp and witty manner, Suzman was noted for her strong public criticism of the governing National Party's policies of apartheid at a time when this was atypical of white South Africans.
Margaret Scott graduated from the convent school in 1939, went to London, and continued her training as a ballet dancer. She performed with Sadler's Wells Ballet and Ballet Rambert in England and Australia in the 1940s. She moved to Australia in 1953 and became the first director of the Australian Ballet School, a post she held for twenty-six years.
Fire
Part of the school was destroyed by fire in 2013.