I haven’t posted here for a while and it’s not that I haven’t been busy. Real (well, my paid) work has ramped up, I’m writing my third book, have been helping Dad with his second and also helping out around the traps with land research for others. But today, as I walked my dogs in Newtown, an idea and the urge for a post finally came to me.
Geelong College is one of the oldest schools in Geelong. Established by George Morrison on Newtown Hill it has a wealth of history. But there’s a few little-known things at the senior school that I thought I’d share with you.
The bell – Saxon Onward 1960
In the northeast corner of the school (on corner of Talbot and Aphrasia Streets) you’ll find the little College chapel. (The one that I got married in.) And while the chapel looks like it’s been there for years, it definitely wasn’t there when I finished my schooling. It was actually only opened in 1989. They’ve done an excellent job in matching it to the rest of the school. [Update: I am reliably told by other old Collegians that the chapel used to be a music room and was extended and converted. That must have been in 1989.]
On the school side of the chapel there is a side entrance. Above the entrance hangs a small bell. The bell is very clearly engraved with “SAXON ONWARD 1960.” It was donated to the school in 1987 by William Nicholls and came from his North Sea trawler 'Saxon Onward.' He donated it after he heard about the ‘disappearance’ of the Otago Bell. (See below.)
“The 'Saxon Onward', overall length 34.85 metres, was built in 1960 by J. S. Doig Ltd of Grimsby for Alfred Bannister & Co. She was brought to Australia in 1976, and after several changes of ownership, the vessel was acquired by the Nicholls Family in 1983 and afterwards employed in the South East Australian trawl fishery. The vessel was still operating out of Hobart in 2008. ‘Will’ Nicholls was the owner and operator of the 'Saxon Onward'. He first started fishing in the 1960s in Spencer Gulf and out of Port Lincoln before studying deep-sea fishing technology at St Johns, Newfoundland during the 1970s. He brought this knowledge back to Australia and pioneered the deep-sea trawl fisheries off the west coast of Tasmania and in the Great Australian Bight. Tragically, ‘Will’ was killed in an accident at sea in 2000. His children Saxon, Olivia, Angus and Hannah, all attended the College. Notably, the year the bell was donated was also the year that the 'Saxon Onward' rescued the seven crew members of the 'FV Vesna Star' before that vessel sank off King Island.” (1)
The reference to the Otago bell, relates to the bell from the ‘Otago’ that hung in the cloisters at College since about 1932. Apparently, it disappeared twice but was luckily recovered both times. The second disappearance was in 1985. I was at the school and cannot recall it, but I was probably not really interested at that time. The bell no longer hangs in the cloisters, I know as I have been and had a look. I am told it’s locked away safely in the school. I’m not sure where but I’ll see if I can find out.
References:
The stone seat
Immediately behind the College chapel there’s a brick and carved stone seat. This is the TH Kelsall memorial seat. It is in memory of Thomas Hastie Kelsall (1919 – 1941.) Kelsall was an old collegian and he was killed on active service in an aircraft accident in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1941.
The seat is engraved:
REMEMBER
TH KELSALL RAAF 1919-1941
The seat was unveiled by Mr R. A. Forster, who gave it to the college on Friday 11 December 1942 with a guard of honour formed by the college air training cadets. The service was conducted by Rev A. Stewart, assistant Chaplain General of Presbyterian Church, and Rev F. W. Rolland, the Geelong College Principal.
Sources:
"Country News" The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) 12 December 1942: 3. Web. 22 Mar 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206823962>.
"MEMORIAL TO OLD COLLEGIAN" The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 12 December 1942: 3. Web. 22 Mar 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12009140>.
The JHM Rolland gates
At the diagonally opposite point to the previous items we find a set of old gates. They front Noble Street and are adjacent to Mackie House. They are rarely open and took me several years to even notice the worn plaque on them.
The gates were erected in the memory of John Henry Maitland Rolland. Rolland drowned in the sea between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove on Sunday, 23 January 1938 attempting to save William Irvin from drowning. Irvin survived, but tragically Rolland did not.
“When he attempted to rescue a boy who was in difficulties on a surfboard at Barwon Heads to-day, Mr. John Maitland Rolland, aged 26 years, of St. Kilda road, Melbourne, lost his life in the heavy surf.
Mr. Rolland was a member of a party from Melbourne, and when William Irvin, who is a telegraph messenger at the General Post Office, Melbourne, called for help,
Mr. Rolland and two other members of the party, Messrs. W. Sloane and J. A. Lawrence, went to his assistance. Messrs. Sloane and Lawrence were forced to return, but Mr. Rolland reached the boy, and gave some assistance. He then appeared to, become exhausted, and sank. The boy reached the shore with the help of several bathers.
Efforts were made to recover Mr. Rolland's body with the aid of boats. These have so far proved unsuccessful.
Before going to Melbourne Mr. Rolland lived at Prospect (S.A.).”(2)
Rolland was a student and a boarder at Geelong College from 1923 to 1927. Following that he attended the University of Melbourne, obtaining a Bachelors of Architecture.
The wrought iron memorial gates at Mackie House were presented by his family and were officially dedicated on the same day Wednesday, 14 December 1938, that the new Mackie House, as it still stands today, was officially opened. The Governor-General of Victoria, Lord Gowrie, opened the boarding house and attended the dedication of the gates.
The memorial tablet on the gates was unveiled by the Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, Rt. Rev. J. MacKenzie. Mrs. F. W. Rolland opened the gates, and his Excellency was the first person to walk through.
Earlier in the year, in August 1938 Rolland received a posthumous award from the Royal Humane Society of Australasia for his courageous act.
References:
(2) "DROWNED IN SURF" The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 24 January 1938: 1. Web. 23 Mar 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11142778>.
"OBITUARY" The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 26 January 1938: 13. Web. 22 Mar 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11143610>.
"LORD GOWRIE AT GEELONG" The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) 15 December 1938: 19. Web. 23 Mar 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205214010>.
"ACTS OF HEROISM" The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 2 August 1938: 3. Web. 23 Mar 2020 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12455582>.
We live in interesting times. It’s never been truer.
You stay safe out there.
Chris
(More to come soon – we might take shanks’ pony and go look at some streets around here.)
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