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Fr. Piet de Wit
was appointed as a resident priest in
Brunei
Town
in 1937 to assist Fr.
Crowther, MHM, who was the first
resident priest in
Brunei
. Fr. Piet de
Wit started the first Catholic school in a
rented house owned by Mr. Kay in
Jalan
Padang, which
also housed a chapel and the living quarters
of the priest.
By 1941, a building to house the activities
of the church had been constructed at
Kumbang
Pasang on the
land donated by Mr. George Ah
Foott. The
school building by this time included a
small chapel and living quarters for the
resident priest. The priest was also the
principal of the school.
During the Japanese Occupation of 1942-45,
Fr. Piet de Wit
together with the other priests were
interned by the Japanese and sent to
Batu
Lintang,
Kuching. The
Japanese authorities used the church for
their activities while the Anglicans used
the school building for their services.
After the war, the school was re-established
and managed by Mr. George
Newn Ah
Foott with his
daughters as the teachers. The Mill Hill
Missionary priests continued to come to
Brunei
from
Labuan
such as Fr. McCarthy, Fr. Ben
Walsh
and Fr. William
Smit. It was Fr.
Smit who gave
the school the name
St. George’s
School
, after its founder and benefactor.
In 1953, Fr. Delaney was appointed as the
resident priest. He was instrumental in
constructing many buildings. He extended the
school and constructed a new church. This
building later became the Parish Hall. Fr.
Delaney single-handedly taught the 12 Form
One students in 1963.
The school building was rebuilt 1963. Fr.
Conway was appointed to
St. George’s
School
from July 1964 to June 1965. Mrs. Paula
Mah started
teaching at
St. George’s
School
in January 1964. She was in charge of the
Form Two students. It was also the time when
the school uniforms patterns were chosen by
the students and permission was granted by
Fr. Conway. He was
followed by Fr. Wolbers,
who was appointed as Acting Rector and
School Principal in September 1966. He also
made the school uniform official.
The 12 students sat for the Sarawak Junior
Exams in 1965 and scored 100% passes. This
excellent performance was published in the
Borneo Bulletin.
By January 1969, Fr. Jan
Dekker was sent
as temporary replacement when
Fr.Wolbers left.
During this period, Bishop Galvin appointed
a layman, Mr. Guy
Alwines, as Principal of St. George’s
School. Fr. Paul Tong was appointed Rector
in August 1969. He was followed by Fr.
Francis de Vries
in 1970 and by Fr. Thomas
Keogan.
Fr. Jan Heuschen
managed the school from 1972 and took over
from Fr. Keogan
who left in 1978. Fr.
Heuschen was an excellent
administrator, who was firm but friendly,
demanding but generous. After working in
Brunei
for thirteen years, Fr. Jan
Heuschen left in
October 1984. Fr. Dunne took over for a
short while until Fr. Peter Chiang was
transferred to Bandar from the
Seria Parish. In
1991 Fr. Chiang and Fr.
McClorey had to leave
Brunei
. The departure of the last two foreign
priests was a time of great trial with the
burden of responsibility falling into the
hands of the single local priest, Bishop
Cornelius Sim.
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