John Clark Collection
Robert Douglas Clark (1846-1917). In his 23 years of office as the third headmaster of Maritzburg College and undoubtedly the man who gave the school its tone and atmosphere. He arrived in the Colony in 1879, having selected Natal for its reputation as a suitable climate for people in delicate health, as he was. As an assistant professor at Edinburgh and Oxford and the best classicist in the Colony, he knew what standards were and was able to persuade the colonial government to provide funds for a handsome new school on a small hill adjacent to the Umsunduzi River. It was designed by the distinguished architect P.M. Dudgeon in 1886-7 and extended in the Diamond Jubilee year of 1897 by the addition of the fine Victoria Hall. Courteous, genial, and witty, Clark has left a mark still discernible in the school's traditions.