Abstract:
Rev. Dr Andrew Murray Jr became a well-known theologian in the history of South
Africa. He wrote many books and played a founding role in establishing the Huguenot
College in Wellington in the Cape Colony. A lesser-known fact is the important role
that he played in the founding of one of South Africa’s top schools – Grey College in
Bloemfontein. Hy did not only play a founding role but was also the first rector of the
school. When looking back at the role that Andrew Murray played as an educationalist,
Grey College serves as an important part of his living legacy, which did not only
contribute to the history of the country but will also do so in the future. The focus of
this article is to describe how Andrew Murray contributed to the founding of Grey
College and how he became the first rector. To do justice to his legacy, the article will
also explore how the roots of education in South Africa go back to the Reformation and
how that influenced Murray while he was educated in Scotland and the Netherlands.
Cooperation between church and state to serve the purpose of education was therefore
nothing new to Murray. It was his collaboration as Dutch Reformed minister with Sir
George Grey, governor of the Cape Colony, that made the founding of Grey College
possible.
