The man behind the most expensive school in South Africa

·1 Jul 2025

William Orde Newnham founded a school in KwaZulu-Natal that is now the most expensive and one of the best-performing private schools in South Africa, Hilton College.

Newnham was born in Farnham, Surrey, in 1825 to a well-educated family. His father, William Newnham, was a respected surgeon, and his mother was Caroline Atkinson.

He was a botanist educated at St John’s College, Cambridge, during the same period as the renowned mathematician Rev. John William Colenso.

In May 1855, Newnham and Colenso arrived at Port Natal with a group of immigrants. Newnham established himself in the educational landscape of the Colony of Natal and embraced the role of colonial schoolmaster.

During this period, he met Gould Arthur Lucas, a British Army officer who had survived the infamous 1852 sinking of the HMS Birkenhead.

Lucas had arrived in South Africa in 1851 and later served as a district adjutant in Pietermaritzburg. He and Newnham became close friends, an alliance that would prove pivotal years later.

After a return to England, Newnham came back to Natal in 1867 and attempted to set up a school in Ladysmith.

The school was unsuccessful, partly due to the stifling summer heat, which Newnham found unbearable.

Lucas heard of his struggles and stepped in. In 1871, he helped Newnham secure part of a farm called Hilton, near Pietermaritzburg, to establish a new school.

The land was originally part of Ongegund, a Voortrekker-granted farm later purchased by Johanna Grobbelaar and subdivided after her husband’s death.

One adjoining portion had been named ‘Hilton’ by Joseph Henderson, chairman of Natal Bank. Lucas named his estate ‘Upper Hilton’, inspired by “Hill Town”, a place in England significant to the Hendersons.

In 1872, Newnham arrived at the newly acquired site, and, on 29 January 1872, Hilton College officially opened its doors.

The initial group of 50 pupils was housed in dormitories near the stables, while the original farmhouse was expanded to serve as the central school building.

Newnham remained headmaster until his return to England in 1877.

Era of developement

In 1878, Henry Vaughan Ellis, a Rugby School alumnus, took over the lease of Hilton College. Ellis sought to transform Hilton into a school modelled after the prestigious English public school system.

At the time, the institution consisted of only two thatched bungalows, but Ellis oversaw the construction of a double-storey building, with the upper floor known as “The Lords” and the lower, “The Commons”.

From these modest beginnings, Hilton began to grow. Fields were levelled, new buildings rose, and trees were planted.

Ellis imported many traditions from Rugby School, establishing an informal link between the two institutions, visible today in Hilton’s crest and motto.

In 1903, Ellis announced his retirement but wanted to ensure the school’s legacy would endure.

At the suggestion of Ernest Acutt, a founding pupil and then-Mayor of Durban, the school and its land were sold to a company formed by Hilton alumni, Hilton College Ltd.

This new ownership marked the beginning of Hilton as a school guided by its old boys. Following Ellis’ retirement, George Weeks briefly took over as headmaster but resigned within the same year.

In 1906, William Falcon was appointed headmaster, ushering in a period of significant expansion. Under his leadership, the school grew from 50 to over 200 pupils.

World-class South African private school

Several iconic buildings were constructed, including the William Campbell building and the school chapel.

The original red-brick structures gave way to the signature Cape Dutch architectural style that defines the school today.

Falcon also introduced the current school uniform and established the house system, naming the first three houses after Hilton’s leaders: Newnham, Ellis, and Weeks (later renamed Pearce).

These developments laid the foundation for the modern Hilton College. Over the last 153 years, Hilton College has evolved into a world-class institution known for its academic excellence, elite status, and rich traditions.

It now stands as the most expensive and one of the highest-performing private schools in South Africa. The school offers dual academic pathways: the IEB (Independent Examinations Board) and Cambridge A Levels.

In recent years, Hilton has achieved outstanding results. The 2022, 2023, and 2024 matric classes all maintained a 100% pass rate, and the class of 2023 earned a record number of distinctions per candidate.

The 2024 cohort continued this success, with its 116 matriculants earning an average of 2.6 distinctions each.

Of these, 99 wrote IEB exams and achieved 2.5 A symbols per candidate, while the 11 Cambridge A Level candidates earned an average of 2.9 A symbols. Six pupils sat AS Levels.

This academic excellence comes at a cost. In 2025, Hilton College’s annual boarding and tuition fees are R420,729, a 5.8% increase from 2024.

When BusinessTech began tracking school fees in 2014, Hilton was the only school charging more than R200,000. Now, it has more than doubled that figure.

Despite the high fees, Hilton continues to attract families seeking the very best in education, thanks to its exceptional facilities, top-tier educators, and a prestigious alumni network.

The school has produced a number of prominent South Africans, including Springbok rugby stars Bobby Skinstad and Gary Teichmann, Microsoft executive Paul Maritz, and former MP Tim Harris.