Family History & Memoir
From Bundu to Boarding School
My Early Days in Southern Africa
Edited and published by Malcolm Gray
Born in England in 1935 and raised across Northern Rhodesia and South Africa, Harry Gray grew up among Methodist mission stations, dusty roads, steam trains, frontier towns and the routines of boarding school life.
From Bundu to Boarding School is his personal account of childhood and youth in southern Africa during the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s.
Available in paperback and Kindle editions.
The Memoir
About the Book
Harry's memories follow a childhood shaped by frequent movement across southern Africa.
They include early life at remote Methodist mission stations, wartime travel, family moves through places including Broken Hill, Lusaka, Kafue, Knysna and Chingola, and the long railway journeys that connected home and school.
At the centre of the memoir are his years at Kingswood College in Grahamstown, where he became a boarder in 1944.
His recollections capture both the difficulties and humour of boarding-school life: homesickness, dormitories, discipline, cold showers, church parades, cadets, sports and the friendships and experiences that accompanied growing up far from home.
Together, the stories provide a personal view of childhood in southern Africa during a period of considerable social and historical change.
A Family Project
The Story Behind the Publication
My father originally wrote From Bundu to Boarding School only a few years ago.
His purpose was primarily to record his memories for family and friends, and a small number of copies were produced locally in a simple photocopied format.
I felt the story deserved to be preserved more permanently.
I therefore undertook a new edition as a personal project for my father — editing and organizing the manuscript, restoring historical photographs, researching supporting material, redesigning the book and preparing it for professional publication.
The intention was not to change his voice or turn the memoir into something it was never meant to be. The goal was to preserve his story carefully, while presenting it in a form that could survive beyond the original family copies and be shared with anyone interested in the people, places and period he describes.
The paperback and Kindle editions were published in 2026.
The Author
About Harry Gray
Harry Norman Gray was born in England in 1935 and spent much of his childhood and youth in Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and South Africa.
The son of Methodist missionary Sidney Douglas Gray, Harry grew up at mission stations and other communities across the region before attending Kingswood College in Grahamstown, South Africa.
From Bundu to Boarding School records his memories of those formative years.
Publication Details
- Title
- From Bundu to Boarding School
- Subtitle
- My Early Days in Southern Africa
- Author
- Harry N Gray
- Editor
- Malcolm Gray
- Publisher
- Vorlon Holdings Inc.
- Published
- 2026
- Paperback ISBN
- 978-1-0680106-0-6
- Kindle ISBN
- 978-1-0680106-1-3
- Formats
- Paperback · Kindle
Available in paperback and Kindle editions.