SANS SOUCI GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL - Newlands

The old Sans Souci estate originally stretched from the Liesbeeck River down to and over the railway line as far as the present Claremont Station. The approach to the house was through the gates from the Main Road. In 1823 Miss Martha Delpratt proposed opening a seminary for young ladies, but nothing seems to have come of the venture. During the early years of the 19th century the estate saw many owners including the Easts and the Blakes. In 1823 the estate was purchased by Captain, the Honourable Hamilton-Ross, from Chief Justice Menzies. He built a gracious country homestead near the present tennis courts and a swimming bath which was filled from a natural spring on the property. Captain Ross was well known for his open house and sumptuous banquets where the tables were supplied with  

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luscious fruit and vegetables from the estate. After his death in 1853 the estate was sub-divided for further development. Sans Souci Girls’ High School officially came into being in 1960 when the first Principal, Miss J Kenyon, four staff members and the first ninety-seven scholars assembled on the tarmac outside Greenfield House, as it was then called. On 30 August 1961 Mr Norman Henshilwood performed the stone-laying ceremony of the new building on the old Sans Souci estate. Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners moved in. Click here for a picture and here for the accompanying text. A wealth of more recent and early historic material (including photographs dating back to the early 1960's, a copy of the original school rules, and Miss Kenyan's telegram of nomination), is available on the Past Pupils page, from which the Sans Souci Archive may also be viewed.