The Sunday News
One man went to mow
Went to mow a meadow
One man went to mow
Went to mow a meadow.
I REMEMBERED the above refrain as Marieke and I travelled to Coventry for a follow-up interview of Kathleen Hawkins. My memory flashed back to the days at primary school at Sankonjana in Matobo District. We had no clue then what a meadow was. We uttered words whose meanings were as strange as heaven. Our teacher, Nelson Ncube (UBhulaki) was a fine and conscientious teacher.
On this particular trip a meadow was pointed out to me by some with an English background. Only now did I learn the meaning of a word memorised and regurgitated several decades earlier. Some days earlier, while taking a leisurely stroll along the rocky beach at Brighton Dr Edward Mguni pointed out a pier and a dyke, both of which were marine features we taught about in our Geography lessons. Both Edward and I were Geography teachers. He taught at Cyrene Mission outside Bulawayo.
Our follow-up interview was undertaken when we realised there were gaps in the earlier interview. Further, we could not extract as much as we wanted as we realised Kathleen’s age meant she had a limited span of attention. Indeed, we were right. There were stories that had been omitted in the previous interview.
After completion of tour of duty at Inyathi Mission, Reverend William George Brown was engaged as principal at Tsholotsho Industrial Government School. The idea of establishing such schools was the brainchild of Keigwin just before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, his idea was, however, shelved till after the cessation of hostilities in 1919.
The first school to be established in the early 1920s was Domboshawa outside Salisbury (now Harare). The next school was established in Matabeleland as Tsholotsho Industrial Government School, an institution for African boys. It offered industrial courses in Agriculture, Carpentry, Stone Masonry and Building. John Hammond was the institution’s first principal.
Reverend Brown went to the institution as its principal after leaving Inyathi Mission in 1932. A number of students who later became leading nationalists went through the institution: Joshua Nkomo, Edward Ndlovu, Stephen Jeqe Nkomo, Boysen Mguni, Jason Ziyapapa Moyo and Zephaniah Sihwa among several others. Due to the prevalence of malaria which resulted in several deaths at the school later, in the mid-1940s relocated to Umzingwane.
The one man that worked closely with the Reverend Brown, according to Kathleen, was Charlie Quinch. Quinch was a small boy from the gutter. He was given his first pair of trousers by the Reverend Brown. He received decent education and was later, in the 1940s, to become a teacher. The two worked together both at Tsholotsho and in their next posting.
All was set for the Reverend Brown to return to England. His personal belongings were all packed up in readiness for shipping abroad. At that moment he was approached by a Mr Greenfield of the Presbyterian Church. Apparently the Presbyterian Church and the London Missionary Society (LMS) worked closely. While the Presbyterian Church ministered to the white community, its counterpart the LMS concentrated its efforts on African missions. It came as no wonder when the two later merged to form the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA).
A member of the Presbyterian Church had apparently passed on and left a bequest. He had made available twenty thousand pounds which was used to buy a farm not very far from Inyathi Mission. The farm, appropriately named Half Ration Ranch was purchased. It later came to be known as Gloag Ranch after the benefactor.
In addition to the Half Ration Ranch there was also the Vimy Ridge, a small plot outside Bulawayo, just off the Bulawayo-Harare Road. Gloag’s will stated that on Half Ration Ranch there was to be established an industrial school for African boys along the lines of Tsholotsho Government Industrial School. Since Reverend Brown had been the principal of Tsholotsho he possessed the requisite skills and passion to run a similar institution with similar objectives.
It was a deal done. The Reverend Brown acceded to Greenfield’s request and went to establish Gloag Boys School. Like Tsholotsho Government Industrial School, it was to equip African boys with industrial skills so they could improve their wellbeing within the rural areas. He remembered his right-hand man, Quinch. The two proceeded together to Gloag Mission. Meanwhile, at Inyathi Mission the Reverend Brown had been succeeded by the Reverend Anderson.
The other story that Kathleen Hawkins remembered was that of Bessie Ndiweni whose parents lived at Inyathi Mission. It was common in those days for Ndebele parents to arrange marriages for their daughters. The Ndiwenis wanted to do the same to Bessie. “Bessie was not having it,” Kathleen says with strong emphasis. She left their parents to live with the Browns. She was later to marry Peter Khumalo, a court interpreter. Khumalo later worked for the Hawkins’ son as motor mechanic.
Bessie was apparently wife number three. She lived at a house in the western suburbs. Their son Ian suffered from cancer. After the death of Ian, Bessie went to live in a house in Heyman Road, Suburbs. Earlier she had lived in a house in the western suburbs. She died at the mature age of 95.
It was time for us, after partaking of a sumptuous meal, to bid Kathleen Hawkins bye-bye. I knew I would never see her again. I could only derive solace and comfort from the knowledge that she has left, a piece of narrative which will undoubtedly add to the historiography of Matabeleland.
