Boarding School

Miss Edith Hemmingway, the Headmistress of the School in 1905,

introduced a further aspect of school life into M.G.S. with the formation of.
the boarding school. It was an unpretentious attempt to house the girls on
the school premises and they were put in a room below the regular day
school. They remained there until Holt Hall was ready to house them in
March 1911.
The hall was named after the secretary of the New England Branch of
the Women's Foreign Mission Society, Miss Mary Holt. This was done in
appreciation of the fact that she had been instrumental in getting part of the
money donated by Mr. Fairchild of Massachusetts, America He had donated $
15, 000 in gold to Mission work in Malaya. Due to the efforts of Miss Mary
Holt, $ 5,000 was allocated for a Boarding School in Kuala Lumpur. The hostel
was housed in Holt Hall until 1935 when they moved to a large house on
Petaling Hill loaned by Mrs Loke Yew.
In March 1936, the hostel was moved yet again to a country side
estate which was achieved through the generosity of Mrs. Loke Yew. The
hostel was called Country - Side Estate and it was large enough to
accommodate 90 girls.
It was a building of scenic interest and it had an- apartment on one floor for
the Superintendent and her assistant.
Miss Rank continued to be the superintendent until her furlough in
1912, when Miss Anderson took charge.
The school hours were from 9.00 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 3
p.m. . In 1914, Miss Ada Wagey was sent out to take charge of the Boarding
School. Miss Wagey faced a number of problems as a result of her
neighbours' chickens. These birds repeatedly were found on the Boarding
School premises and one Friday night, Miss Wagey saw two of them on the
dining table gobbling the rice meant for the girls ! For Miss Wagey, this was
the last straw that literally broke the camel's back ! She could not control her
temper and reacted by grabbing the fowls, wringing their necks and throwing
them over the fence !
Coincidentally, or otherwise, that night, November 14th 1914, at 3 a m.,
there were cries of " Fire !" "Fire!". One of the girls had awakened to find the
school on fire. There was no way of contacting the Fire Department as it was
discovered that the telephone lines were cut. Miss Dade, one of the teachers
rushed over to the Railway Station to telephone the Fire Department. The
firemen arrived and fought the fire. However, very little of the furniture of the
school was salvaged Only the screens and the seats of the lower floor
remained intact.