Epworth School is a Christian School with a Methodist ethos, located on a campus in Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Epworth is an independent school (and a member of the Independent Schools Association of South Africa) catering for boys and girls in Grades RRR to 7 and girls from Grades 8 to 12.The boarding establishment caters for girls-only boarding from Grades 7 to 12, on a termly, weekly or overnight boarding basis.OriginIn 1898 the Natal Witness carried an advertisement heralding the opening of a new school in "healthy and commodious premises". This had been requested by the Revd G W Rogers and Mr Justice Mason in a letter to Miss Emily Lowe and the Misses Emma and Charlotte Mason, who were staying together in London. The request was that Miss Lowe and Miss Emma Mason open a school in Maritzburg, as it was then called. This request was seconded by a number of Methodist laymen and ministers, the intention being that once the school was established the Wesleyan Church would take it over.HistoryThus in 1898 Epworth School was founded by Miss Emily Lowe and Miss Emma Mason. It was named after the birthplace in Lincolnshire of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the alternative suggestion of the name, "Victoria", after the reigning Queen Victoria having been rejected. The doors opened on 3 August 1898, with an enrolment of children of the early Natal settlers, in all, 45 pupils, 26 seniors and 19 kindergarten pupils.Notable Alumnae Ethel Doidge, biologist Jane Porter (romance author)
