became in 1977, as his father, Bill (Cu’22), and uncle Peter Lempriere (Cu’26) had been, chairman of the Australian Council of Wool Buyers; and later he became president of the Australian Council of Wool Exporters, chairman of the Federation of Australian Wool Organisations, and in 2005 president of the Brussels-based International Wool Textile Organisation, where he followed the principle, shared by his immediate predecessor, Juan Casanovas of Spain, that sound marketing of wool needs to “work from the shop back to the sheep”, and spearheaded a return to a personal style of collaboration with partners along the whole chain of supply. In 1962 Michael married Diana Dougall, and they had two sons, Ben (an architect and artist) and William (P’85), who has followed family tradition in the wool trade. For 31 years from 1975 he held the historic Fairbairn property Banongil, near Skipton, where he and Diana made improvements and developed one of Victoria’s great gardens. He established branches of his firm in Argentina, the United States, South Africa, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, and particularly New Zealand. Michael was widely loved and admired, and he leaves a huge gap in many lives as well as in the wool industry. Dr Michael Jones PSM (P’56) was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2009 Australia Day Honours “for service to medicine in the areas of health services, management, accreditation, and patient care, particularly with the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards and the World Health Organization”. Bill Mackinnon (M’57), whose death at seventy has brought sorrow to many, was a great ambassador for the School, where as a boy (1948-57) he had been in the first full year at Timbertop, become a School sub-prefect, won Colours for cricket, and matriculated, going on to read Law at Pembroke College, Oxford, and to be called to the Bar in London. A solicitor (from 197095 a partner of the firm then called Blake & Riggall), grazier (at the historic sheep, beef, and cereal-growing property Langi Willi, near Skipton, which had come through his mother, Jean Russell), breeder of thoroughbred horses (most famously Paris Lane, winner of the Caulfield Cup and second in a Melbourne Cup), and prominent in the worlds of racing (a member of the VRC Committee from 1998), polo (for a time President of the Victorian Polo Association), and golf (with a handicap of four at his height), he was a “lateral thinker” and a man of great charm, kindness, humour, and total integrity. For 27 years he served on the Marcus Oldham College Council, where his astute legal thinking was of particular value. He played a leading part in setting up what became the Geelong Grammar Foundation, of which he was successively Chairman (1999-2003) and President (till his death). His paternal grandfather, the Honourable Donald Mackinnon (Old School 1876), was a great benefactor to GGS and a highly influential Chairman of the School Council (1922-32). Bill’s father, Daniel Mackinnon CBE (M’20), one of four distinguished brothers to attend the School, was MHR for Wannon (1949-51)
Commodore Dacre Smyth (P’40)
Michael Lempriere (Cu’53)
and Corangamite (1953-66) and Australian Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru. Bill married Judy Sands, from England, in 1965, and our deep sympathy has been with her and their children, Serena Mitchell (Cl’83), Mark Mackinnon (M’85), and Sasha McGregor (Cl’90). Professor David Hill AM (P’59) was advanced to the rank of Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2009 Australia Day Honours “for service to public health, particularly through leadership roles in the promotion of cancer awareness and prevention programmes”. John Fairfax AM (M’60) also was advanced to the rank of Officer (AO) in the same Honours “for service to the print media industry, particularly the development of news services in rural and remote areas, and to the community through executive roles with agricultural, youth, and charitable organizations”. Emeritus Professor Alison Mackinnon née Madin (He’62) was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2009 Australia Day Honours “for service to education, particularly in the fields of social research and development, as an academic and author, and to the community through roles with history organizations”. Clive Blazey (P’62) is the author of Heirloom Vegetables (Digger’s Rest, 2008). Jamie Grant (M’67), himself well-known as a poet, has edited 100 Australian Poems You Need to Know, published in 2008 by Hardie Grant. He restricted his selection to one poem per poet, and the main criterion for inclusion was his own enjoyment and memory. Katrina Weatherly née Kelly (Cl’71) is the author of The Daddie of the Field: The Kelly Story from Ballinasloe to Barwidgee, published in 2008 after editing, design, typesetting, and formatting by John Bedggood (Cu’52; Staff 1955-95) of Robjon Partners, Point Lonsdale. Spanning County Galway in Ireland and the Western District of Victoria, it is a fine history of a well-known pastoral and sporting family including the four brothers (who have now all died), Colin (M’39), John (M’43), Jim (M’44), and Charles (M’52), and their sister, Pauline Cowell (Cl’41). Richard Andrews (P’81) in 2008 began his second diplomatic posting to Tokyo as Counsellor responsible for political, strategic, cultural, and public-affairs issues in the Australian Embassy there.
Bill Mackinnon (M’57)
Andrew Cust (FB’92) is a veterinarian based at the Ballarat Veterinary Practice and Equine Centre. He worked as a mixed vet in Kilmore for three years before travelling to Asia and working at the Macau Jockey Club for another three. See below for the birth of his daughter. Sally Wilson (Cl’92), mezzo-soprano, and her husband (from 2008) Mark Kruger, pianist, gave a magnificent charity concert in the Morrison Hall at The Geelong College in March 2009 in aid of The Cottage by the Sea (now 120 years old) at Queenscliff. They are based in Berlin, described by them as central to the musical world of 2009. Christopher Davidson (Staff, Glamorgan, 1967-94) was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2009 Australia Day Honours “for service to education, particularly to people with néeds, through the Specific Learning Difficulties Association, Victoria”. Matthew Maruff (Staff 1992-96) is to be Headmaster of Girton College, Bendigo, from January 2010. Since Timbertop (1994-96), following Corio, he has taught in Melbourne at Ivanhoe Grammar School and then St Kevin’s College, where he is Director of Studies.
Births
(Guest and Turton entries corrected, with apologies) Danielle née Howe (A’91) and Christian Angus (A’91), a son, Matthew William Colin, on 12 June 2008 Sally née Lansdell (Fr’95) and David Baines (Fr’95), a son, Angus Gregory, on 29 November 2008 Kate née Graham (Ga’92) and Richard Bell, a daughter, Odette Kate, in September 2006 and a son, Charles Blue, in December 2008 Susannah and James Calvert-Jones (Cu’85), a daughter, Heidi Matilda, on 31 January 2009 Katyana and James Cook (M’91), a daughter, Eliza Cecille, on 7 January 2009 Louisa and Andrew Cust (FB’92), a daughter, Amelia Elizabeth Rose, on 10 December 2008 Sarah Gilder (Cl’86) and Jarrod Dellamarta, a daughter, Meredith Claire, on 17 October 2008 Claire and Alex Dobson (Cu’94), a daughter, Georgina Frances Anne, on 24 January 2009
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