Jeppe High School for Boys is the oldest known school in Johannesburg. The school was founded originally as Saint Michael’s School in 1890 in Johannesburg, four years after the gold rush that founded that city. Start searching now for your Jeppe Old Boy ancestors or family members.

In 1896 it was bought by the Witwatersrand Council for Education, which was concerned with the education of English speakers in the Dutch-speaking South African Republic. In 1897 the school was renamed Jeppestown Grammar School after the German-born philanthropist Sir Julius Jeppe. The school was closed during the Second Boer War but was reopened soon after by the educationist Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, and renamed Jeppe High School for Boys and Girls. In 1911 the school moved to its present site in the suburb of Kensington. In 1919 a separate girls’ school, Jeppe High School for Girls was formed. Originally playing soccer, it switched to rugby union in the 1930s, and has since produced four Springbok internationals and one international coach. It also has a preparatory school.

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The magnificent stone buildings were built in 1909 on land donated by Sir Julius Jeppe. They were designed by Ralston, a student of Sir Herbert Baker. The Prep School, also initially a private school, occupied the buildings in Troyeville that the High School vacated when it moved to new premises. Building of the new Prep School commenced in 1916 on land also donated by the Jeppe family. In 1919, after the First World War, the Girls’ School was established in their new buildings further down Roberts Avenue and the Boys’ School became Jeppe High School for Boys.

Notable old boys

• Harry Schwarz (1924–2010) lawyer, politician, Ambassador to United States and anti-apartheid leader
• Herbert Cecil Pugh (1898–1941) George Cross recipient^[1]
• Samuel Kinkead (1897-1928) air ace and Schneider Trophy pilot
• Herman Charles Bosman (1905–1951) writer and journalist
• Bob Catterall (1900–1961), South African Test cricketer^[2]
• Jim Christy (1904–1971) South African international opening batsman^[3]
• Jock Cameron (1905–1935), South African international wicket-keeper^[4]
• Des Sinclair (1924–1996) Springbok inside centre^[5]
• Wilf Rosenberg (born 1934) Springbok outside centre^[6]
• Jake White (born 1963) World Cup (2007) winning Springbok coach, who also taught at the school
• James Dalton (born 1972) Springbok hooker^[7]
• Brent Moyle (born 1973) Springbok prop forward.
• Henry John May (1903–1995) Author,^[8] noted South African constitutional lawyer,^[9] and Queen’s Counsel