The Cluthan OCTOBER 2019
Clyde Old Girls’ Association Inc Registered Number: A0028536K
THE PRESIDENT AND COMMITTEE OF THE CLYDE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION INC (COGA) INVITE YOU TO THE COGA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND OLD GIRLS’ DAY LUNCH
SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER 2019 at the Royal South Yarra Tennis Club, 310 Williams Road North, Toorak 3142 PROGRAM 10.30am 11.00am 11.50am 12.30-2.30pm
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Arrival and morning tea Annual General Meeting Guest speaker: Dr Penny McBain Old Girls’ Day lunch
Cost: $35 per person Please RSVP by 30 September using the yellow form inside The Cluthan
************************** Mrs Penny McBain (Dr Penelope Foster) MB BS Melb 1976 MRCOG FRANZCOG Penny is the current Chair of the Geelong Grammar School (GGS) Foundation Board, a role she serves with passion and commitment. Motivated by her belief in the transformational power of a good education, she works tirelessly to ensure scholarships are available to young people who may not otherwise be able to afford the educational opportunities they need, whether primary, secondary or tertiary.
GUEST SPEAKER COGA 2019 AGM
AGM 2018
Penny has had a stellar career in medical science, playing a founding role in the formation of Melbourne’s invitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics and services. She was appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and worked in IVF for 30 years in the UK and at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne. Together with her husband Professor John McBain AO, who is one of the world’s leading gynaecology and fertility specialists (former Head of Reproductive Services at Victoria’s Royal Women’s Hospital), Penny believes that Victoria’s laws should be more flexible to recognise the changing notion of what makes a family, and has been at the forefront of developments to provide safe fertility treatment to a diverse range of families. Penny was responsible for establishing the Chronic Viral Illness Clinic at the Women’s which provides safe access to IVF for HIV and Hepatitis patients. As a sideline she performed Caesarian sections on two gorillas at Melbourne Zoo – mother and babies all survived and did well! For more than 20 years the McBains have owned historic Glen Rannoch at 84 Devonshire Lane in Mt Macedon, a house and garden classified as High Significance for Victorian Heritage. Developed in 1873 by a Scotsman in the style of an Indian hill station, the Glen Rannoch garden features multi-level walks and stone steps through towering trees including a huge monkey puzzle tree. In late winter there are thousands of daffodils, from bulbs planted 20 years ago by the McBains and friends, while in spring a Western Hemlock tree stands on a carpet of lily-of-the-valley. In a major restoration project for the house and garden, Penny engaged her much-loved friend, the late David Wilkinson [husband of COG Bibi Wilkinson (Aickin)] and Adelaide Bragg [daughter of COG Georgie Bragg (Clarke)] whose combined skills in architecture, landscape and interior design have created an exceptionally beautiful and welcoming home on the mountainside. Penny’s three daughters are former Geelong Grammar School Garnett House students. Rosie (GA’06 was School Captain at Glamorgan and at Corio, Poppy (GA’09) was also School Captain at Glamorgan, and Anemone was Garnett House Captain – their mother thinks they are lovely girls!
L-R: Sally Salter (Stevenson) Dallas Kinnear (Heath) 2
L-R: Annie Hamilton (Coy), Jocelyn Mitchell (Low), Belinda Philp (Laidlaw)
L-R: Ann Rawlins (Hornabrook), Jane Grimwade (Rumley), Christine Nicolas (Blackwell)
L-R: Jenny Happell (Shaw), Margie Gillett (Cordner), Elisabeth Landy (Manifold)
L-R: Fern Henderson (Welsh), Joan Mackenzie (Bloomfield)
Clyde Old Girls’ Association Inc ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AGENDA 2019 1. 2. 3. 4.
Apologies Minutes Business Arising President’s Report
5. 6. 7.
Treasurer’s Report Other Business Election of 2019/2020 Committee
2018 – 2019 COMMITTEE MEMBERS Margie Gillett (Cordner) President Light Blue Coordinator 03 9525 3698 gillett22@bigpond.com
Fern Henderson (Welsh) Vice President 03 5989 2664 davhendo3@bigpond.com
Peta Gillespie Treasurer 03 5333 4324 pmg252@gmail.com
Trish Young Secretary 0414 235 316 tyoung@smsmt.com
Katrina Carr (Moore) Clyde House Liaison 07 3374 0196 ksocarr@gmail.com
Elizabeth Landy (Manifold) 03 5663 2220 elizabethlandy@bigpond.com
Sally Powe (Douglas) 0412 223 266 sallylmacgpowe@gmail.com
Di Whittakers (Moore) 03 5882 1143 burnimadeni@bigpond.com
Anne Stoney (Peardon) 0407 324 507 annestoney@gmail.com
EDITORIAL NEWS AND INFORMATION THE CLUTHAN
Thank you to those who have provided information about family and friends this year. It is greatly appreciated and some remarkable life stories have emerged. We are very grateful when COGs get in touch with us regarding Old Girls. Note: Obituaries are written depending on the information available. Please consider providing information and photos for this purpose if a Clyde family member or friend passes away. Please send Cluthan contributions to: Julia Ponder, 15/89A Bay Terrace, Wynnum 4178 (T) 07 3348 6644 (E) julia@comart.com.au or (E) coganews@gmail.com. The closing date for next year’s news, reports and obituaries is 30 June 2020. If you would like a copy of your submission so you can proof read it I can send you the pages as they will appear in The Cluthan – corrections are due back by the end of July. Thank you to those who have contributed stories, reports and news in this Cluthan as these are greatly appreciated by our readers. My grateful thanks to Margie Gillett (Cordner) and Sue Schudmak (Sproat) for all their help with research, writing, editing, proof reading and I thank everyone who helps with the distribution of the final copy. Thank you to the Old Geelong Grammarians’ Association who are generously funding the printing, to Geelong Grammar School for the postage for The Cluthan and to the Clyde Old Girls who kindly help each year with getting The Cluthan ready for mailing. LIGHT BLUE AND OGG UPDATE E-NEWSLETTER
Light Blue (the GGS magazine) and the monthly OGG Update email are other sources for COGs to receive and share information. Light Blue comes out three times a year and has a section of Clyde Old Girls’ information. If you would like to receive it (or cancel it), contact Katie Rafferty, Alumni Manager, (T) 03 5273 9338 (E) katier@ggs.vic.edu.au. Send articles, photos or contributions to Margie Gillett (Cordner), (T) 03 9525 3698 (E) gillett22@bigpond.com COGA ADDRESS LIST AND DATABASE
Please contact Sue Schudmak (Sproat) for changes to names, addresses, phone numbers and new email addresses (we now include those in our data base and address booklet) and notification of COG deaths. 5 Fawkner Street, South Yarra 3141 (T) 03 9867 2663 (M) 0418 560 563 (E) susanschudmak@icloud.com or Tom Maddicks, Data Officer GGS (T) 03 5227 6292 (E) communityrelations@ggs.vic.edu.au 3
AGM MINUTES 2018 Meeting held at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday 14 October 2018 Margie Gillett opened the meeting at 11:10 am and welcomed all the attendees.
(Whiting), Di Short (Little), Deb Skues (McMillan), Allison Smith (Pyper), Ann Spiden (Ross), Virginia Stevenson, Diana Todd (Lewis), Angela Wawn, Susie Webb (Harrison), Miriam Welton (Williams), Moira Westfold (Moon), Deb West (Blakiston), Ann Willcock (Thomson), Bronwyn Willis (Kirton), Trish Young.
PRESENT
Judith Allen, Susanna Allen (Hogg), Jenny Blencoe (Hogg), Jackie Catanach (Lempriere), Janet Clark (Armstrong), Mimi Forwood (Osborne), Peta Gillespie, Tim Gillespie (Street), Margie Gillett (Cordner), Janet Gordon (Affleck), Deidre Gowan (Leviny), Jane Grimwade (Rumley), Anne Hamilton (Coy), Jenny Happell (Shaw), Clem Hawker (Davies), Fern Henderson (Welsh), Meg Hornabrook, Dallas Kinnear (Heath), Elizabeth Landy (Manifold), Anne Latreille (Dalrymple), Joan Mackenzie (Bloomfield), Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly), Debo McNab (Grimwade), Jill Meredith Smith (Coy), Jocelyn Mitchell (Low), Gay Morton (Howard), Christine Nicolas (Blackwell), Belinda Philp (Laidlaw), Ann Rawlins (Hornabrook), Lou Robinson (McMillan), Sheila Rodeck (Thonemann), Sally Salter (Stevenson), Sue Schudmak (Sproat), Liz Smart (Goode), Anne Stoney (Peardon), Anna Tucker (Kimpton), Di Whittakers (Moore).
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS AGM
Having been printed in The Cluthan, these were taken as read. Sally Salter moved they be accepted. Seconded by Diedre Gowan. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF THE LAST AGM
Peta Gillespie advised that as a follow up from last year’s survey and in light of this year’s success, the Jumble Sale will continue unchanged in 2019. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Margie Gillett read the President’s report (see following page). Margie Gillett moved it be accepted. Seconded by Jackie Mackinnon. TREASURER’S REPORT
Having been printed in The Cluthan this is taken as read. Peta Gillespie moved it be accepted. Seconded by Anna Tucker.
APOLOGIES
By mail, phone, email or on the day. Jackie Catanach moved that the apologies be accepted. Seconded by Jane Grimwade. Anna Affleck (Durham), Ros Allen (Wilkins), Annabel Arnold (Hardy), Georgina Barraclough (Moran), Cas Bennetto, Susie Brookes (Lowing), Janet Calvert Jones (Murdoch), Dizzy Carlyon (Clapham), Fiona Caro (Macleod), Katrina Carr (Moore), Fiona Chirnside (Macfarlan), Felicity Dalgeish (Gardner), Mary de Crespigny (Bartram), Priscilla Donald (Boaden), Rosie Fairbairn, Lesley Griffin (Vincent), Elizabeth Griffiths (Lobb), Jane Grimwade, Gillian Holyman, Sue Home (Maberley Smith), Dale Gee (Howard), Ann Howard (McPherson), Sally Hudson (Mercer), Joanne Jackson (Jamieson), Sallyanne Johnson (Howard), Xenia Laycock (Gardiner), Susan Leask (Varcoe-Cocks), Jane Loughnan (Weatherly), Sarah Lysaght (Bellair), Janet McCulloch (Low), Marion McPherson, Anna Middleton (Jensen), Margaret Millard (Tyson), Sue Monger (Crooke), Gill Moxham (Penman), Suzanne Officer (Jarvie), Rosemary Parker (Holt), Judy Paterson (Handbury), Robin Paton (Learmonth), Libby Peck (McPherson), Prue Plowman (Manifold), Annabel Pobjoy (d’Antoine), Julia Ponder, Sally Powe (Douglas), Robina Redman (Burston), Judith Reindl (Sterling), Sue Richardson (Hawkes), Belinda Roper (Manifold), Caroline Russell, Kate Senko
ELECTION OF 2018/19 OFFICER BEARERS
Dallas Kinnear took the podium to declare all positions vacant and read out the nominations for the 2018/19 COGA committee: President: Margie Gillett (Cordner) Vice President: Fern Henderson (Welsh) Treasurer: Peta Gillespie Secretary: Trish Young Committee Members: Sally Powe (Douglas), Katrina Carr (Moore), Elizabeth Landy (Manifold), Di Whittakers (Moore), Anne Stoney (Peardon). The positions were moved by Jackie Mackinnon and seconded by Jocelyn Mitchell. All positions were approved by those present. GENERAL BUSINESS
Clyde Scholarships Dallas Kinnear raised the question of how the Clyde Scholarships and Bursary are allocated. Margie to provide some detailed information from GGS at next COGA AGM.
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The Cluthan Deadline Sue Schudmak stressed the importance of having all reports completed and forwarded to Julia by the end of July. Julia provides her expertise free of charge in putting The Cluthan together and does a
marvellous job. Thanks also go to Margie, particularly for her research and writing the Vales for Old Girls.
helping to create a sense of belonging for past students of Clyde School who did not actually attend GGS. We are delighted that Rebecca Cody has joined the school community, and we look forward to enjoying her company in the years to come.
Letter from Julia Ponder Peta Gillespie read an email received from Julia, thanking COGA for the book we sent as a ‘thank you’ for all her assistance in compiling The Cluthan; she stated she was really enjoying reading the history of Hanging Rock. Peta had told Julia that almost every reply received to the AGM made positive comments on this year’s Cluthan.
Friendships, memories and shared experiences never die. They become even more lively in the retelling, reliving or in reconnecting after many years. It feels good for the heart and soul. This has been evident at the 50-year reunion organised this weekend at Barwon Heads by Rosie Fairbairn and Susie Perchey (Russell). Clyde girls came from around the Bellarine Peninsula to join the class of 1968 in the two-day celebration with a great display of memorabilia. We are all grateful to the organisers of our Clyde reunions. Please keep an eye on the monthly OGG Update newsletters for reminders of significant decade reunions, there is plenty of support available at GGS to organise a gathering. The annual Tower Lunch at GGS is a brilliant event for those celebrating a 50year (or more) reunion.
Meeting closed at 11.45 am.
COGA PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2018 Welcome to the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club for the 2018 COGA AGM. Thank you to Jackie Mackinnon and Peta Gillespie for hosting and organising the event today. The flowers and gum leaves are a beautiful display. Peta has handled the replies and payments, name-tags, door lists and the agenda for our meeting; we are very grateful for her skills and dedication.
The Cluthan 2018 was completed by our editor (or ‘compositor’) in Queensland, Julia Ponder. A big thank you to Julia for her generous and diligent work in producing our annual magazine. Thank you also to Sue Schudmak (our guest speaker today) who tirelessly updates the Clyde database, along with proofreading, collating, communicating, gathering information and photos for The Cluthan. Meeting at Sue’s house for work on The Cluthan is always a delight. Jackie Mackinnon provides a wonderful retrospective each year with extracts from the Archives and Cluthans of yesteryear, thank you Jackie. We are also grateful for the archival storage facility and services provided through GGS Archivist Geoff Laurenson.
COGA’s constitutional objectives are firstly to keep Old Girls in touch with each other; secondly to assist specific educational projects approved by COGA, and thirdly to maintain the spirit and traditions of Clyde School at GGS Clyde House. This helps to foster a Clyde alumni community which is a multigenerational sisterhood of friends and fellow students. Reunions and communications help to keep Old Girls in touch. Our own school closed 42 years ago and we owe a lot to Geelong Grammar School (GGS) and the Old Geelong Grammarians (OGG) Association for making it possible for COGA to exist. Our thanks to the GGS Community Relations Department, particularly Brendan McAloon (Director), Katie Rafferty (Alumni Manager and Honorary OGG Secretary), Tom Maddicks (Data Officer) and Dougal Morrison (Data Analyst) for their admin support, advertising reunions, database management, printing and distribution of The Cluthan and for always being helpful and supportive.
We are grateful to those who provide obituaries and photos for their family members or loved ones. The life stories and family histories which emerge are often extraordinary and educational. Clyde girls have lived, worked and travelled all over the world. Adversity, challenge, success, drama or good fortune all combine to reveal the narrative of a vanishing era. Clyde girls never seem to be daunted or dictated to by the status quo and have always transcended perceived barriers and obstacles.
In the past year, the OGG community, including COGA, has farewelled GGS Principal Stephen Meek, and welcomed Rebecca Cody as the new Principal. In 2006 Stephen attended the launch of our history book at Corio in the Hawker Library, in 2010 he attended the Clyde Centenary Luncheon at Nine Darling Street, and Christine Meek joined our COGA garden tours to the Western District. Stephen received The Cluthan each year and often met Clyde Old Girls at regional or interstate OGG functions and the annual Tower Lunch. He oversaw the opening of a new girls’ boarding house in 2010, named in honour of COG Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (Greene). Our sincere thanks to Stephen for his warm and inclusive interest in the Clyde community,
The Isabel Henderson Kindergarten (IHK) is a significant educational project supported by COGA. After a review of the Jumble Sale last year, Jane Loughnan (Weatherly) will coordinate the Sale again in 2019, taking it one year at a time. Improving our online advertising will broaden publicity and attract more buyers, helping to overcome the proliferation of suburban opportunity shops and online trading sites. A big thank you to Jane for her excellent organising and managing the sales team on the day, and to Sally Hudson (Mercer) who kindly donated proceeds of a private clothing sale to boost COGA’s annual gift to IHK. 5
At GGS there is a Clyde Scholarship and Clyde Bursary awarded in COGA’s name to selected students in Clyde House for years 10, 11 and 12. This year the families of the current scholarship holders have written warm letters of appreciation to COGA, expressing their gratitude and saying how much a GGS education has meant for their daughters.
Elizabeth Landy (Manifold) and Di Whittakers (Moore), with a welcome back to Anne Stoney (Peardon) who rejoined the committee in 2017 – thank you all so much. We have a collaborative and friendly team and our meetings are so much fun. Very good tucker at the RACV too! It’s fantastic to see you all here today and thank you for coming.
Thank you to COGA committee member Katrina Carr (Moore) who has compiled the annual Clyde House liaison list of names for The Cluthan, ably assisted by staff at GGS. Trina also arranged for her niece, Clyde House student Olivia Moore to write a lively activities report of life at GGS. Usually one third of Clyde House students are related to COGs. Thank you Trina.
Margie Gillett (Cordner) COGA President
GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTION SUE SCHUDMAK (SPROAT)
Like many Clyde girls, Sue grew up in an isolated area of country Victoria. Her home town was Donald in the Mallee Wimmera region where generations of the Sproat family have farmed in the district for many years.
The new Clyde House buildings have been completed and will be officially opened in the next few months. It’s a larger brick complex with square windows and peaked rooflines, and retention of the inner courtyard. Landscaping is nearly complete with Dame Elisabeth’s sycamore maple tree and dedication plaque (2012) in good shape. The COGA committee will work with GGS to finalise plans for an ongoing display of Clyde School memorabilia.
At Clyde Sue was School Captain and starred in sporting teams. The qualities of leadership she showed then have been evident all her life. She did nursing after school and has worked in Australia and overseas. She and Phillip have two sons and she is the proud grandmother of some very lucky grandchildren.
Up at Mt Macedon, Braemar College has expanded by building a new $20m campus on the WoodendRomsey Road, near Hanging Rock. The land was purchased from the family of the late Lady Carmen Carnegie (Clarke), formerly a part of their property Flint Hill. The future of the old Braemar House building on the mountain is under review as the site is considered unsafe for students during the bushfire season.
Organised, diligent, meticulous, generous, full of joie de vivre, Sue makes anything seem possible. She loves reading, theatre, travel, is a passionate advocate for the environment, and is always ready to lend a hand on committees or contribute when asked. Or not asked. She is totally and utterly reliable. Quite an inspiration.
COGA awards annual prizes for year 12 students at Braemar College (the COGA Prize for Service) and at GGS (the COGA Prize for English) which the schools and the prize recipients truly appreciate. Congratulations to Gillian Storey (Kimpton) for being awarded an AM in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Over years of remarkable dedication, Sue has been President of COGA 1993-94; Treasurer 2005-09 and coordinator of the Clyde database for nearly 15 years, since 2005. She has protected COGA and kept it chugging along like a favourite vintage car. You replace a few parts, polish her up and off she goes again!
Clyde golfing teams do incredibly well in the two annual events they enter, the Fun Cup and the historic Women’s Interschool Challenge Trophy. Both events are highly competitive and Clyde teams are often triumphant. The spirit and camaraderie of golf as a uniting force is undeniable. Thank you to Anna Tucker (Kimpton) for coordinating the Clyde golfers, she also does an excellent job as President of the Women’s Interschool Golf Committee.
Below is a summary of Sue’s talk. “AROUND THE WORLD IN VINTAGE CARS – TRAVELLING AND SURVIVING”
Sue Schudmak has done a lot of travelling. In modern cars and trains and on her own ‘Shanks’ ponies’. But with her mechanically minded motoring enthusiast husband Phillip, she has done a lot more travelling in grand open-topped, vintage motor cars. All around the world in superb princely vehicles such as a 1924 Bentley 3/4.5 and a 1927 Bugatti Type 35B R, which was built in Argentina 20 years ago as an exact replica of the Bugatti 1927 Grand Prix racing car. The Bentley is big strong and reliable with room for luggage, tools and spares. It has a big engine capable of climbing mountain roads and cruises easily on good roads at 100kph. Luggage is kept to a mini-
A special thank you again to our Treasurer Peta Gillespie for her time, energy and efficiency in handling COGA finances and admin. She keeps the COGA fabric strong. Big thanks also to our COGA committee members for their continuing interest and support of COGA. To our very capable executives Vice President Fern Henderson (Welsh) and Secretary Trish Young, and to committee members Katrina Carr (Moore), Sally Powe (Douglas), 6
vintage car clubs such UK Bentley Drivers’ Club, the Bugatti Club of France, or other motoring enthusiasts. The advantage of linking up with these people is that a lot of work in finding accommodation, planning itineraries and sourcing local knowledge is done for them. But this means travelling with a ‘big book of instructions’ which shows every turn on the road for the next month or so! However, there is plenty of scope for personal detours and getting lost, so much calculation and recalculation goes on for the driver and the navigator.
L-R: 1927 Bugatti Type 35B R, 1924 Bentley 3/4.5 mum for ease and safety as there is no lockable space. In contrast the Bugatti is small, unreliable, tricky, totally impractical, but fun, fast and noisy. There’s no room even for a handbag on the passenger side, and the driver must wear special narrow driving shoes.
Perhaps by now people might be wondering why you would want to go around the world in old, open cars! They’ve been lucky enough to have done a lot of travel in other ways, but this is a completely different experience. It is adventurous, takes them places they would certainly not otherwise have gone, and is a great fun or they wouldn’t be doing it! Sue accompanied her talk with some wonderfully illustrative photographs of the countries they have visited. Daunted by the prospect of choosing from their computer file of 45,000 photos, about half of which were vintage car touring photos, she decided to tailor her coverage to trips done in Australia, South Africa, the Arabian Gulf, the UK and Europe (including Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Greece, Italy), the USA and Japan. Just to name a few!
Sue gave a list of the gear she packs for a typical trip. You’re exposed to the elements, so it’s light, waterproof, windproof ‘bikey gear’. No Isadora Duncan scarves to trail through the air, but a peaked cap for sun protection and a leather flying helmet to keep out the wind and keep the hat on! When it rains one must be adept at donning wet weather gear while driving along. While the windscreen will shield light rain, when the car is stationary up goes the umbrella. The cars have heavy fabric hoods which are supposed to be waterproof, but as discovered over the years water tends to gather in heavy puddles and pour through when one is least expecting it. It’s reasonably easy to keep warm and dry but much harder to cope with the heat. The heat beats down, the car heats up – especially on the passenger side over the exhaust pipe – and the radiator often boils.
On a map of Australia, Sue pointed out they had travelled thousands of kilometres. The trip on the Ghan Railway to Alice Springs and the drive back was their first big trip twenty years ago; three times around Tasmania; twice across the Nullarbor; 10,000 ks from Perth to Broome, Darwin, Tennant Creek, and across the centre to Queensland (organised with the Bentley Club of Perth), and finally along the east coast from Melbourne to Port Douglas to complete a circumnavigation of Australia. She loved the unique Australian scenery like the Pinnacles north of Perth; the fabulous sunsets; visiting places like Fossil Downs, Mt Isa mines, rodeos, the Royal Flying Doctor service, School of the Air, and Barnaby’s Cattle Drive around Longreach and on to see the cattle sold in Roma. On their trip across the Nullarbor with international visitors, they drove through 40deg heat and played the ‘longest golf course in the world’ – Kalgoorlie to Ceduna, one or two holes in each town or roadhouse amongst the boulders and stones.
Transporting the cars overseas entails driving the car direct into a ship’s container at the dock, tying it down, closing the door and waiting about 6-8 weeks for it to arrive for example in the UK. Returning to Australia cars must be thoroughly cleaned to pass Australian quarantine regulations. For international touring Sue and Phillip have done much of their travels with another couple, or in small groups or joining ‘rallies’. The term ‘rally’ is a bit of a misnomer, it’s really travelling around the countryside, seeing as much as you can, often with international
Showing the map of South Africa, Sue said the trip had been privately organised through Swaziland, the Karoo, the Garden Route and Dutch Cape and it generated a lot of interest with the locals. The cars are well equipped for breakdowns, always carry spares, and she noted the guys secretly seem to enjoy the challenge of combining their expertise to solve mechanical problems. They were able to drive through safari game parks as long as the canvas hood was up, despite no windows! Touring through the Arabian Gulf was one of their best adventures. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi,
Phillip and Sue Schudmak in their vintage car ‘gear’ 7
Oman and Dubai presented unforgettable images and experiences. Men in pristine white dishdasha robes; visiting private houses including a banquet where they were served a whole sheep; crossing the desert sands; the super luxury Palace Hotel at Abu Dhabi (over the top and somewhat of a contrast to the tin shed at the Elliot pub on another trip!); visiting Abu Dhabi’s fabulous mosque with its inlaid coloured marble; culture, agriculture and mountains of Oman; the souk in Muscat with the fragrance of incense wafting through shops and houses.
through an organisation, of which he is the patron, which promotes the preservation of 100,000 acres of pristine meadowland so the shepherds can continue grazing and milking their sheep but still comply with EU regulations. The Transfargasen Pass to Bulgaria at 7000 ft is one of the highest roads in Europe, loved by the drivers of vintage cars! Bulgaria has some lovely old towns and villages where you still see women spinning wool outdoors as they have for centuries; there are Soviet-style structures and statues still lingering in some towns and staying in the Rila Monastery in one of the monks cells for $2 a night was definitely one of the highlights of their travels. Founded in the 10th century the walls are covered with the most superb frescoes.
Sue described a two-month trip in Eastern Europe, from Slovakia to Romania and Bulgaria, through small towns and back roads mostly avoiding big cities which are difficult for the old cars as they tend to overheat in traffic and present more security problems. Parking in the main square of provincial towns, they would wander off for coffee or shopping for picnics invariably returning to find the cars surrounded by chatty, curious and friendly locals. In Romania elderly people still wear the local national costumes and there are still many gypsies or Romani around. They stayed in Prince Charles’ tiny house where he had been staying with his sons a fortnight before in the small village of Viscri. He has a connection with Romania through his forebear the last Queen of Romania and Prince Charles’ dining room!
The Rila Monastery 8
In Kosovo young girls were always asking if they could have photos taken with the cars. In Dubrovnik, they stopped for ‘fettling day’ as there needed to be a mechanical overhaul, an oil change and to fix faded headlights. The night before with no headlights, Sue had had to lean out of the car with a torch to light the last six ks of their journey! Even so, a check-up doesn’t always prevent major breakdowns and the next day near the town of Zadir the Bentley broke a clutch plate. An incredibly helpful and friendly young mechanic drove a 700 km round trip across country to another workshop to make them a new clutch plate. It was a major job, but the rural towns in much of Eastern Europe are used to dealing with the comparative simplicity of old machinery. Sue said it’s enormously reassuring that the local people always seem so ready to help out if anything goes wrong with the cars.
sardines and morning tea on the beach with tomorrow’s octopus lunch drying on fishing lines. At all the B&Bs she noticed that the women and children did all the work, but the men always turned up at payment time – receiving cash as no one seems to pay tax. They visited many of the ancient sites such as Delphi, Olympia, Mycenae and were impressed to see they were very well kept and unspoilt by tourism. In Meteora they visited some extraordinary monasteries built at the top of narrow craggy mountain peaks. In the old days the only access was by baskets and ropes. On the journey back they drove through the Stelvio Pass between Italy and Switzerland with its precarious road and 43 hairpin bends – one of the most difficult drives in Europe which Phillip had always wanted to do and was thus able to tick off his ‘bucket list’. Showing a map to illustrate their USA National Parks trip in the Bugatti and New Orleans to Washington DC in the Bentley, Sue mentioned they had also just completed a one-month trip to NE USA, Yellowstone National Park, Glacial Parks and the Canadian Rockies. They joined the Pebble Beach Concours California, a prestigious annual event after a one-week Bugatti rally down the coast of California, organised by a professional Italian group. It was a compliment to Phillip to be invited to show a car there for a second time. This was followed by a Canyon trip to Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Intense heat meant trying conditions for Sue. She felt very close to sunstroke as she and the car both boiled, stopping every half an hour to take on more water as there’s so little room in the Bugatti to carry much. It was made up for by the spectacular canyons, Zion, Grand Canyon, Slot Canyons, the Antelope Slot Canyon with its walls like fabric, and their favourite Bryce Canyon where they walked down to the bottom.
Another trip was for three months to Spain, England and France. The car was taken by ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, and supported by Lonely Planet’s Back Roads Guidebook, they enjoyed a month of beautiful countryside. Back in Britain, they joined a superbly organised UK Bentley Drivers Club tour seeing as many stately homes, palaces and old villages that one could possibly fit in to a month. It began with two nights at the iconic Savoy Hotel in London, a tour of Castle Howard (‘Brideshead Revisited’) and a morning tea at the famous St Andrews Golf Club in Scotland. In France they joined four other Australian couples for a month of vintage Bentley touring. Each couple organised a section with Sue and Philip arranging a chateau in the Dordogne from where they toured the district, enjoying the local village markets and food specialities, walks and meals around the pool. On the way back they visited the Western Front and the Australian war memorials at Villers Bretonneux; always moving for Australian travellers in France.
In 2017 they joined a private UK organised SE USA Bentley Tour, touring through Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, the Carolinas, Virginia to Washington DC. They had an organised private visit to Biltmore House, the Vanderbilt family’s residence in North Carolina; enjoyed lots of music with jazz in New Orleans, then Country and Western in its musical homeland of Nashville, Tennessee. They saw wonderful Antebellum houses, pre-Civil War plantation houses; Confederate flags raised all over the South in houses and public buildings, a hangover from losing the civil war back in the 1860s – still an emotional and sensitive issue.
Sue described a three-month trip to Greece around the Peloponnese and the mainland. She hadn’t been to Greece since the 1970s and loved finding it unchanged; the local tavernas by the sea still grilling
In the next stage of sharing her travels around the world, Sue showed a map of Japan where they had joined three separate Bugatti events, spending a week each around Kyoto, Tokyo and Nikko. In Kyoto they stayed in the beautiful old district, revisiting the same Ryokan, Japanese Inn that they had stayed in during the 1970s sleeping with futons on tatami mats; they passed Geishas in the evenings; saw the Silver Pavilion and Zen Garden and many superb Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples. They took
Meteora monasteries 9
part in the Japanese Mille Miglia based on the famous Italian Mille Miglia, a 1,000 mile rally which is hugely popular in both countries. The rally began at the Meiji Shinto Shrine. The send-off is taken seriously with a blessing from Shinto priests, as the Emperor’s daughter waved off the vehicles. Roads are narrow, there are no roundabouts, so drivers stop and start all the time and Sue said it was the most testing trip they had ever done. In Nikko, Japanese friends had organised a small private tour which they felt privileged to be part of. The autumn colours were beautiful, accommodation was always ryokans or onsets (hot springs), with a dip in their outside hot tub before donning a yukata (like a dressing gown) for a Japanese evening meal, always of traditional food. It was truly extraordinary to witness the sights and hear the stories of Sue’s magnificent travels in their vintage motoring machines. To sum up Sue said in twenty years of travelling in those wonderful old cars one of the best things has been the number of friends they have made all over the world and the people they have met along the way, often in remote, far flung, rugged outposts rarely visited by tourists. She said the cars attract a lot of interest so people will approach and talk to them, when in a modern car they probably wouldn’t. She also feels being in an open top car means you are more aware of your surroundings and the environment
TREASURER’S REPORT 2018-2019 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 13 October 2019 This report refers to the Financial Statement of the Clyde Old Girls Association Inc for the year ending 30th June 2019. It is with pleasure that I again present the Treasurer’s Report to the members of the Clyde Old Girls Association. NOTES TO THE 2019 BALANCE SHEET
This year we ran at a loss, mainly due to the cost of the AGM which was subsidised by COGA. Apart from the Jumble Sale and AGM, we had no other activities during the year. THE CLUTHAN
On behalf of all members of COGA, I would like to acknowledge the support of the OGGs and GGS who have covered the cost of The Cluthan for both printing and distribution again this year. This is a considerable saving to us. JUMBLE SALE
Once again, Jane and her team have done a wonderful job in keeping the Jumble Sale going. There is a lot of work involved in setting up the hall the night before the event – as well as the cleaning up after. Thank you, Jane, from us all.
Sue admits it is not all plain sailing; it can be challenging. You are subjected to the elements, the cars are either big and cumbersome, or small and tricky. There is no power steering, no seat belts so you can’t afford to lose concentration for a minute. Ideally, they like to travel two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, but this can blow out to six or eight hours with delays, thus arriving in the dark in unfamiliar territory. It’s tough for the navigator who has to read the guide books, try not to miss any sites, read the maps, check the odometer every few minutes, recalculate distances, and readjust the journey when there’s a detour or they get lost, react to wet weather and find place to picnic or have a break.
The gross takings this year were $2,239.40 but with expenses the nett figure was $1,863.40. It was decided to round up this figure to $2,000 to forward to the Isabel Henderson Kindergarten. It is interesting to note that our average annual donation over the past 64 years is approximately $1,270.
However, they have had the most wonderful experiences and adventures, had tons of fun or as said before they wouldn’t be doing it, and hope they have lots more to come.
Peta Gillespie Honorary Treasurer, June 2019
SCHOOL PRIZES
COGA continues to support Braemar College and Geelong Grammar with a $200.00 prize. The thank you letters we receive from the students show that the prize is valued and recognises the Clyde School link with both these schools.
L-R: Margie Gillett (Cordner) presenting gifts to guest speaker Sue Schudmak (Sproat) 10
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2019 2018-19
2017-18
NAB (Opening Balance) 01 July 2018
29,144.36
28,372.15
NAB (Closing Balance) 30 June 2019
27,369.19
29,144.36
Total Assets
27,369.19
29,144.36
27,369.19
29,144.36
AGM Lunch
1,540.00
1,590.00
AGM / General Donations
1,975.00
2,060.00
Jumble Sale
3,739.40
4,550.00
Interest
103.22
132.14
Reimbursements
251.50
Assets
Liabilities O/S Cheques
Total Liabilities
Net Assets INCOME and EXPENSES 2018-2019 Income
History Book
65.00
320.00
7,674.12
8,652.14
2,552.00
1,650.00
888.30
385.50
Jumble Sale Proceeds to Isabel Henderson Kindergarten
2,000.00
2,600.00
Jumble Sale Expenses
1,876.00
1,876.00
Golf Cups (Fun and Interschool)
440.00
420.00
English Prize to GGS and Braemar
400.00
400.00
45.50
56.90
Total Income Expenses AGM Expenses Meeting Expenses
Incorporation Fee Reimbursements
391.53
Gifts and Donations
100.00
Promotional Materials
1,247.49
Total Expenditure
9,449.29
7,879.93
-1,775.17
772.21
Surplus / Loss for year 11
COGA ACTIVITIES GOLF REPORT
INTER SCHOOL CHALLENGE CUP 2019
FUN CUP 2018
This event was played at Sorrento Golf Club on 1 April 2019. Thirty teams of four players in each were entered. This year was the 90th year of the event being held. Probably the longest running women’s event of any kind in Australia. The cup is a beautiful solid silver antique trophy made in London in 1827 in the reign of George IV.
A smaller group than usual, thirty players in total, keenly turned up for the Fun Cup held at the picturesque but testing Sorrento Golf Club on 5 October 2018. It seems golfers are very busy people, with a variety of reasons such as travel, grandparent duties, work, gardening, bird watching and some were nursing injuries, making it impossible for them to play. Hopefully there will be more players able to come to Barwon Heads when next we meet on Friday 6 September 2019.
In the early years the entry fee ranged per player from 2/6 in 1930 to 3/- in 1940. In 1994 entries were $25 and in 2019 the fee was $115. These days the format of the event is similar to that played in 1929. All four scores count and the team with the highest aggregate stableford score wins.
Fortunately, the numbers across the three schools were equal which made for a keenly contested competition. It was a perfect morning, weather wise, as players headed off to their designated hole for the shotgun start. Clyde finished second on 125 points ahead of Toorak College on 121. St Catherine’s on 136 points were comprehensive winners. Lesley Griffin (Vincent), Caroline Russell, Prue Plowman (Manifold) and Anna Tucker (Kimpton) made up the team of four for Clyde.
Making up the team for Clyde were Angela Alcock (Gardner), Janet Coombes (Dalrymple), Julie Cole (Baird) and Prue Plowman (Manifold). Although no prizes were won, we thank them for making themselves available to play. All players and officials were rewarded with a specially designed souvenir divot repairer and ball marker in recognition of the 90th year.
Many thanks for the wonderful support in coming along on the day.
Korowa were the winners on 134 points, Fintona 2nd on 130 and Toorak College were 3rd on 129.
For further information on the Interschool Challenge Cup see http://www.womensinterschoolgolf.com/ The Fun Cup will be on Friday 6 September 2019 at Barwon Heads. Shotgun start 8.00am for 8.30 hit off. Any queries please contact Anna Tucker annatucker8@outlook.com or 0408 540 252.
L-R: Lesley Griffin (Vincent), Caroline Russell, Anna Tucker (Kimpton), Prue Plowman (Manifold)
Team photo Fun Cup 2018 L-R: Anna Tucker (Kimpton), Prue Plowman (Manifold), Fi Chirnside (Macfarlan), Deb Middleton (Noall), Ann Rawlins (Hornabrook), Caroline Russell, Julie Cole (Baird), Deb Calvert (Moore), Jo Armytage (Barr-Smith), Janet Gordon (Affleck), Lesley Griffin (Vincent) (obscured) 12
L-R: Ann Rawlins (Hornabrook), Anne Stoney (Peardon), Andrea Wilkinson (Clarke), Janet Gordon (Affleck)
Interschool Golf Challenge team L-R: Prue Plowman (Manifold), Angela Alcock (Gardner), Janet Coombes (Dalrymple), Julie Cole (Baird)
JUMBLE SALE REPORT 2019 Thursday 27 June, 2019 was a happy and busy day at the Uniting Church Hall in Toorak. We were able to raise $2,239.40, which was a great result. A big thank you to all the hard workers. It was so lovely to have the hall set up on Wednesday evening with the help from Deb Bray (Finch), Penny Lewisohn (Weatherly) and her daughter Alexandra, Ros Stansmore (McArthur), Anne Stoney (Peardon) and her husband Cullum, Sally Hudson (Mercer) along with others popping in and out to deliver jumble, help sort and hang. On Thursday morning more Jumble arrived and was quickly sorted and the doors opened at 10 am. Ann Willcock (Thomson), Kate Robinson (Richardson) and Julie Cole ( Baird) were busy doing the pricing on the main table, Margie Gillett (Cordner), Deb Bray (Finch ), Anna Tucker (Kimpton) and Ros Stansmore (McArthur) were busy around the room, continually folding and hanging. Andrea Wilkinson (Clarke) and Janet Gordon (Affleck) worked hard on the produce trading table, along with Ann Rawlins (Hornabrook). Anne Stoney (Peardon), Kammy Cordner Hunt (Cordner) and Lou Morris (Clarke) maned the bric-a-brac stall and saw a lot of treasures pass to new owners. Ros Allen (Wilkins) sorted and organised the jewellery table, while Christina Hayward (Pym) and her crew of Dizzy Carlyon (Clapham), Fern Henderson (Welsh) and Belinda Philp (Laidlaw) sold boxes of books. Clem Hawker (Davies) and Annabelle Pobjoy (d’Ant oine) counted and banked all the dollars to be sent off to The Isabel Henderson Kindergarten. Davina Hanson came to help pack up and the remainder of jumble was quickly packed and put into the Diabetes Australia Truck and taken away.
L-R: Belinda Philp (Laidlaw), Dizzy Carlyon (Clapham), Fern Henderson (Welsh), Christina Hayward (Pym)
Jane Loughnan (Weatherly) Jumble Sale Coordinator (M) 0417 535 862 (E) ejloughnan@gmail.com
Jane Loughnan (Weatherly) with her supportive family; husband Michael, daughter Anna and baby granddaughter 13
cabinets have not been reinstated, and their future is still uncertain, but we’re working on that). There were old sports day movies playing on the screen in the new Clyde House common room and lots of Clyde Old Girls attending the afternoon tea and opening ceremony, held in 42deg heat. The lunch invitation was restricted to former students and parents of Clyde House, which meant some COGs attended the lunch with their former Clyde House daughters. Principal Rebecca Cody invited OGG and COGA President Margie Gillett (Cordner) to join her and School Council Chair Jeremy Kirkwood in the official opening ceremony speechmaking. Rebecca was delighted to discover that the previous ‘new wing’ of Clyde House had been opened by Anne Cordner (Baillieu), Margie Gillett’s mother, in 1994. The Clyde House students loved hearing about our combined 110 years of history, and many said they would love an excursion to Hanging Rock to capture their ‘Clyde DNA’.
L-R: Ros Stansmore (McArthur), Julie Cole (Baird)
Rebecca Cody is committed to preserving and cherishing the history and traditions of GGS. It is hoped that the Hawker Library (which has been the Positive Education Centre for some years now) and the MCP Archives Centre will be fully reinstated to their original purpose. There is still a small but excellent Clyde School memorabilia collection there in one of the original display cabinets. However, currently there is restricted entry to the Hawker Library for the general school community and public while it is a Pos. Ed. office. Apparently, there is also an OGG community and heritage centre building project ‘on the drawing board’, which will ideally incorporate COGs and COGA input, but may be light years away ... L-R: Louise Morris (Clarke), Deb West (Blakiston), Dizzy Carlyon (Clapham)
During the past twelve months there has not been a great demand for weekly or even monthly visits to The Vault, but I worked with Geoff Laurenson to carefully clear out, re-list and rehouse all the Old Clyde School trophies, silverware and memorabilia from the former Clyde House. Perhaps a ‘donated’ glass cabinet in the foyer of the Fisher Library is a more likely place to lobby a more constant presence?!
ARCHIVE COLLECTION REPORT This year marks the centenary year of Miss Isabel Henderson moving most of her boarding school ‘family’ from Faireleight in Alma Road, St Kilda up to Braemar House on Mount Macedon, which she renamed ‘Clyde’ (Woodend). Not one headmistress in Australia had ever before embarked upon such a physical or fiscal challenge, it was unheard of! Jump now to this milestone year of 2019, to the Opening of the new replacement Clyde House on 2 March 2019, which was an ideal time to celebrate our significant joint history! I was unable to attend, but I hear that GGS Archivist Geoff Laurenson and Director of Community Relations Brendan McAloon revived and framed some 1919 photos of the first Camera Club picnic to Hanging Rock. Vintage black and white snaps of excited schoolgirls balanced on rocky tors, teetering on the brink of shimmering eternity, their skirts tucked into bloomers, and flowers in their hair. Fabulous images to accompany the newly refurbished and polished dining room sideboards and reupholstered sofas. (The memorabilia
The rumours about Braemar College ‘moving off The Mount’ are unfounded – yes, as part of their long-term planning they have bought 320 acres of land from the Rod Carnegie Estate (Flint Hill), and have already built a junior school complex on the Woodend-Romsey Road near Hanging Rock. There is a plan to refurbish the interiors of the former Clyde School Science Block and ‘New Memorial Buildings’ up on the hillside. PLEASE NOTE: The Braemar College Principal Russell Deer would be delighted to host any Clyde reunion at the school dining room, now called Jackson Hall. Options include dinner for 120; drinks and canapes or afternoon tea for 250 max. This means it’s worth COGA considering a 100-year reunion at Braemar to commemorate the move to Mt Macedon. 14
The Clyde History Book is still available from the GGS Uniform Shop (ring them or order online) and they will take $60 plus postage off your credit card and send your order in the post. Copies can also be obtained from Sue Schudmak (0418 560 563) or Jackie Mackinnon (0417 371 4960) in Melbourne.
young women, mentally, physically and spiritually. It was becoming increasingly difficult to fulfil those aims in an urban environment, with its social distractions and preoccupations. By mid-1918 Isabel Henderson was enquiring about purchasing a property outside Melbourne. Braemar House, an ornate timber mansion at Mt Macedon was for sale. Miss Henderson signed the papers on 19 September 1918 and became the new owner of the substantial guesthouse. It had large grounds (172 acres), offered healthy mountain air, and already had sporting facilities for tennis, golf and a croquet lawn for basketball. There was accommodation for 80 boarders and staff, and the guesthouse furniture was available with the property. Iron bedsteads, cedar chests of drawers, carved settees, Vienna dining chairs, elaborate sideboards all became familiar to generations of Clyde girls.
Many thanks to GGS Archivist Geoff Laurenson and the Fisher Library staff for all their wonderful support and interest. Nonetheless there’s always a little bit of Clyde ‘booty’ in the form of old books and Cluthans from our own COG community – we really appreciate it all. I very much enjoy contributing to our Archive Collection housed in The Vault of this Library – it is well preserved and safe. (Honour Boards and the old excess furniture from Clyde House are being stored with GGS furniture in a specific building at GGS Corio). Geoff Laurenson has had various attempts at trying to organise a Clyde School/Mount Macedon history display in the new Clyde House, however there have been changes of ideas, intentions, lack of space and promises, and he will keep us informed of progress.
Work soon began in earnest to build four timber schoolrooms for the start of a new school year in February 1919. Domestic staff were appointed – cooks, maids, waitresses and groundsmen. The house was scrubbed from top to bottom. Food supplies for 100 people were organised from local butchers, greengrocers and dairy farmers. Along with the school laundry, these were hauled by horse and cart up the perilous track several times a week. Miss Henderson ensured that the school offered the same academic opportunities as Town Clyde. There was a new timetable with morning drill, several resident mistresses led by the capable Miss Daniell and the Scantlebury sisters, and permission to conduct public exams at the school. Long afternoons before 6pm supper were incorporated into daily life, imbuing the school with its sense of freedom and adventure. The uniform was duly modified to include ‘bloomers’ and a black velvet jacket for evening wear. Church services were both Presbyterian and Anglican on alternate Sundays.
I attended the recent OGG Association AGM to ‘witness’ Margie’s retirement as OGG President after four years (2015-19) and would like to congratulate her heartily for being one of the best ever – a comment I constantly heard around the Community. Thank you Mags for making us all so, so proud and making a real difference in a number of ways – read her past reports! We are most grateful too for your masterful obituary writing, eking out the smallest detail and being able to highlight it so that we feel we have known those wonderful COG characters for years. Some have led such fascinating lives. With help from GGS, especially Alumni Relations Manager Katie Rafferty who is so supportive, we are going to make a vast improvement to our website and focus on the picture gallery and historical information – which should be made available to all members of the Community. This should enable online access to the latest and all past issues of The Cluthan – so invaluable for writing biographies and/ or family histories. Best wishes for a wonderful year ahead; please keep in touch.
The long trip from town was always a feature of the school: the crowd at Spencer Street, the exciting train journey, the hubbub at Woodend station, the slow and laborious drag up the mountain road through the forest, the perilous hairpin bend, the ritual welcome on the front terrace became part of Clyde’s unique world. As it happened, an influenza epidemic had spread through Victoria, delaying the much-anticipated Opening Day for a month. The first three girls who arrived at Clyde, Woodend on 8 March 1919 were Lila Cunningham, Meryl Hagenauer and Marjorie North, but 10 March became the official Opening Day. The sun was shining, yet a log fire blazed in the hall to welcome the new arrivals, thirty of whom arrived in three horse drawn cabs from Woodend station. Many arrived by motor car, some of them chauffeur-driven. The ornate timber mansion seemed a bewildering maze of rooms as the girls unpacked and settled in. Those early days brought an unbroken period of blue skies and sunshine, and the golf links below the school looked
Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly) Archives Coordinator (M) 0417 371 496 (E) baftaj@gmail.com 1919-2019: CELEBRATING 100 YEARS SINCE CLYDE SCHOOL, ST KILDA (TOWN CLYDE) RELOCATED TO BRAEMAR HOUSE ON MT MACEDON, WOODEND (COUNTRY CLYDE)
In 1918, Clyde School at Faireleight House in Alma Road, East St Kilda, was flourishing. The boarding houses were full, the school community was vibrant, happy and offered a challenging and satisfying curriculum. Students revered the school’s founder and principal, Miss Isabel Henderson, a renowned educator who sought to provide a broad education for 15
the inimitable blue of the mountains in the distance, and the changing beauty of Hanging Rock. Towards evening the sky is bathed in a glory of colour and the trees and the hills are like fairyland. And this is our daily possession. Can we ever be grateful enough for the beauty of it? We can but exclaim with the psalmist, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help”. By December 1919, Clyde girls were able to look back on their first year of four seasons at Mt Macedon. They shivered through winter, including their first dazzling day of snow at Clyde, enjoyed the calm spring days, the hushed stillness and colours of autumn, and sought out the shady parts of the golf course in summer after school, lying in the cool grass with books, chatting to friends. It was a busy year of sport, entertainments, work, visiting lecturers, recitals, fundraising performances, First Aid exams, Confirmation lessons for Communion, the new Camera and Dramatic Clubs. All the while surrounded by the deep changing blues of the hills, the green paddocks and shimmering reddish gum leaves atop the eucalypts, with the yellow wattles, violets and orchids flowering. The rural beauty and calm seemed a long way from the hustle and bustle of city life, or the problems in the world beyond. They felt they were cultivating the simplicities and sincerities of life, in contrast to “the artificiality, the sophistication, the meanness of a false civilisation” but did not feel they were becoming isolated. Golf was especially popular as there was a Tuck Shop at groundsman Mundy’s cheerful cottage on the sweeping golf links or afternoon teas at Lavender Farm. Clyde girls began joking about being tubby, strong, rural and loving to eat, they were ‘maidens of the mountain’. “Working days and holidays, or sad and melancholy days, they were great days and jolly days, at the best school of all …” as they sang in the school song.
green and inviting, despite the uneven terrain. On the morning of 11 March 1919, a ceremony for the first day of classes was held in the Boarders’ Common Room, the former ‘Nursery’ of the Braemar Guesthouse. It began with the National Anthem, followed by a prayer of thanksgiving for the victory of the Allies. Miss Henderson spoke of the new life opening out before them, the advantages of fresh, natural and lovely surroundings, and of the responsibilities that accompany great opportunities. She appealed to Clyde girls to do their part in ‘raising the standard of young womanhood’. When the School had been formally opened, everyone walked up to the cottage which was their temporary school-house ahead of the newly constructed schoolrooms. Desks, chairs and lockers from Alma Road had been carried up the steep steps to the cramped cottage rooms. Sundays became a day for peaceful reading and sunshine, solemnised by the weekly Church service held in the Hall. They all sat in rows, facing the colouredglass windows, with a Union Jack flag posted overhead. Church services inspired the girls to reflect on their good fortune and to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings. Walking to and from the golf links they were aware of the soft bright sunshine, the calm stillness of the bush, the shadows of late afternoon, smoke rising through the trees with the sounds of laughter echoing from the school or of hammering in the distance. In The Cluthan 1919, girls wrote that “we love the hills and smooth green lawns and
OLD GIRLS’ NEWS 1919 In April 1919 Clyde held a COGA meeting on the mountain. Miss Henderson was Patron, Louie Peck President, Janet McCulloch Secretary, and 142 Old Girls arrived from all directions. Membership numbers had increased to 200, with 42 joining in 1918. This led to a COG or Clyde Club being established in Melbourne with 78 members; the idea was to meet and socialise on the third floor of the Block Arcade in Elizabeth Street, and five members offered to be guarantors. An Old Girls’ Dramatic Club was formed and a performance planned at Faireleight to raise funds for the improvement and furnishing of the new Clyde Club rooms. This was duly achieved and the first social gatherings were held at The Block Arcade in May 1919. The Faireleight Dramatic Club was also inaugurated: Miss Henderson was patron and 36 girls attended its first meeting to decide on plays and casting. Standards were high. A Debating Club was established with its first topic for debate entitled: ‘That the League of Nations is Beneficial and Desirable’, a subject causing endless 16
discussion among the leading minds of the world. A Camera Club was formed in 1919, and photograph competitions encouraged. Up on the mountain, girls were photographing the first of Clyde’s 55 or so annual picnics at Hanging Rock. Girls leaving Clyde at the end of 1919 decided they would each give a tree to the school, a book for the library and a picture to the drawing room. The Diggers were returning from war, settling down to civilian life again, but the storm of the previous five years of war had left a “battlefield ripple and aching hearts at home”. Although the war was over, the Clyde patriotic and charity work continued, raising funds for the Children’s Hospital, Seamen’s Mission, Anzac Day, Kyneton Hospital, Yooralla Free Kindergarten, French Babies, the Australian Comforts Fund and the Foundling Hospital.
From 1919 to 1975, Clyde students were always inspired to write about the beauty of their environment, whether in letters home, in poetry or essays for The Cluthan, in their classwork, or in their own diaries. They wrote about the many steps up and down to class and sports field, morning drill or bracken-picking, bread and jam for morning break, the laughter of kookaburras, visits from the native wildlife and birds, waking early for teams practice, the long languorous afternoons spent walking in the bush, singing and dancing in the Nursery or listening to music in the sitting-room with its comfy sofas, the chance to gossip or read, the delight of receiving letters and crowding around the mail board. Little really changed between 1919 and 1975.
Written by Margie Gillett (Cordner) from Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly)’s notes which include editorials and reports in The Cluthan, May and December 1919; and ‘Clyde School 1910-1975 An Uncommon History’ by Melanie Guile.
REUNIONS 1968 REUNION
The Clyde class reunion of ’68 held in Barwon Heads was organised by Susie Perchey (Russell) and Rosie Fairbairn 12-14 October 2018: lunch, car rally, dinner and pre-reunion cocktail party! The sun shone for Susie’s Saturday lunch at her home for 22 out of a possible 28: Popsy Mollard (Austin), Julie Cole (Baird), Margie TempleSmith (Bond), Susie Ryan (Boynton), Bambi Hanson (Brown), Penny Cash, Andy Wilkinson (Clarke), Rosie Fairbairn, Gay Lewis (Grimwade), Jill Wilkinson (Gunn), Tinky Arnold (Hardy), Susie Trethewie (Harrison), Denise Calder (Landale), Sarah Bullen (Lobban), Anne Howard (McPherson), Jo Rankin (Mirams), Georgie Barraclough (Moran), Susie Perchey (Russell), Jillianne Smith, Ann Wilcock (Thomson), Anne Mewett (Weatherly), and Amy Tong (Wong). Sadly, Sara de Crespigny and Jillian Boldiston (Meares) have died but we did find Jillianne Smith (after 50 years) and Josie Jones (Bant) who unfortunately had a rowing commitment. Sara’s nephew Hunter de Crespigny was invited on Friday night
L-R front row: Annabel Arnold (Hardy), Rosie Fairbairn 1st row: Amy Tong (Wong), Andy Wilkinson (Clarke), Gay Lewis (Grimwade), Susie Ryan (Boynton), Jane Mollard (Austin), Susie Trethewie (Harrison) 2nd row: Denise Calder (Landale), Jo Rankin (Mirams), Margie Temple-Smith (Bond), Julie Cole (Baird), Susie Perchey (Russell), Bambi Hanson (Brown), Jillianne Smith, Penny Cash 3rd row: Sarah Bullen (Lobban), Ann Willcock (Thomson), Anne Howard (McPherson), Georgie Barraclough (Moran), Anne Mewett (Weatherly), Jill Wilkinson (Gunn) 17
and Jillian’s husband Doug Boldiston came for lunch on Sunday. Unable to attend: Josie Jones (Bant), Sybil Baillieu (Barr-Smith), Sue Story (Duncan), Nina Bovill (Laycock), Dizzy Synnot and Edwina Warrender.
Catering: Susie (rare beef expert), with salad recreated by Tommo after it inadvertently stayed at home, delicious bark cake by Andy and Georgie. All served on special Clyde 1968 table mats created by Susie from some 35 memorable photos. Displays: photographs, Tommo’s Clyde stationery, old Cluthans, Jillianne’s deportment girdle, Jill’s ‘goodbye’ book before her departure to the USA on a scholarship, Penny’s hockey stick and a uniformed mannequin named ‘Nina’.
L-R: Georgie Barraclough (Moran), Susie Ryan (Boynton), Julie Cole (Baird), Susie Perchey (Russell), Rosie Fairbairn, Sarah Bullen (Lobban)
Speeches: the best by Penny Cash, lately of Canada now Geelong, in appreciation of ongoing support. Special appearances: Tinky from England and ‘Nina’ the model. Tommo in blazer and hat. Award for being the oldest and looking the youngest: Amy born 1949. Apologies: Miss Joan Montgomery who remembered us all and would have attended but for a prior engagement. During the Saturday lunch for the girls, a car rally was organised by Charles Henry, Rosie’s partner; included was an inter war Rolls Royce brought over by the Hansons on the Queenscliff ferry, an orange and a yellow Morgan and a 1980 moke. The drive to Bouchon restaurant included Johnno Mollard, Simon Cole, Rod Hanson, Charles Henry, Henry Lewis, Randall Trethewie, Donald McNeur, Peter Howard and Bruce Rankin. The men were so lucky to be joined by Tinky’s gorgeous daughter Hannah! After their lunch, and ours, they returned amid great honking of horns to Susie’s to take the girls for a ride. Hannah Arnold was able to catch up with her godmother Penny Lewisohn (Weatherly).
L-R: Georgie Barraclough L-R: Rosie Fairbairn, Amy Tong (Wong) (Moran), Anne Howard (McPherson)
Celebrations continued over a dinner for 23 Clydesdales and partners on Saturday night at Riverhouse, Riverside Lane, Barwon Heads, the home of Rosie’s partner, Charles Henry. Pink gin cocktails by Gay and Henry, shiraz from Clyde Park, and more Bollinger. Catering Anna Jamieson (mother of 2019 GGS school captain Bobby Jamieson).
L-R: Ann Willcock (Thomson), Jo Rankin (Mirams), Rosie Fairbairn, Annabel Arnold (Hardy), Margie Temple-Smith (Bond)
Charles had the brilliant idea to invite local Clydies to a pre-reunion cocktail party at Riverhouse on Friday, the eve of our 50-year lunch: “there are so many Clydies locally”. Little did he think the invitations would grow to 84! They extended to Bellarine locals, those who holiday or play golf in the area, many suggested by old girls and ‘those worthy’ by their kind acts in assisting with preparations. The oldest invited was Cynthia Wagg (Sterling) at 94, followed by Virginia Ronaldson (Fisken) with Amanda McFarlane (Gubbins) the youngest leaving in 1975. Sylvia McLachlan (Clarke) parted company with her horse, broke four/five ribs and was unable to come. Girls and partners were met with name tags and mannequins in various uniforms brought by Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly) from the archives at GGS: summer dress and Andy’s blazer, a Clyde pocket, pompom hat and piece of blue/tan/black ribbon. Ange Lyon (Rouse) lent her skimpy sports tunic, white
L-R: Susie Trethewie L-R: Gay Lewis (Harrison), Jill (Grimwade), Jillianne Wilkinson (Gunn) Smith
L-R: Anne Mewett (Weatherly), Denise Calder (Landale), Bambi Hanson (Brown) 18
jumper and hockey blazer. Margie’s pompom beret appeared from the archives. Cecily Hardy found blazer and ties saying “I hope you have something to cover the bottoms!” – problem solved by using half mannequins. The Hardy’s bowler hats sat on the dining room table. Remember when we lined the route for the royal visit and Prince Philip was overheard commenting on the dreadful bowler style? So, the new stylish pompom beret was born. A few girls came for cocktails wearing their stylish black VJs (velvet jackets) captured in the photos Jackie took on Tink’s camera. Jo brought delicious Simmone Logue quiches and pies from Sydney, Gay (although suffering from a life-threatening kick from her horse) used her own props to create a stunning grazing table and Rosie provided canapés and oysters, Bollinger and Clyde Park shiraz. All was ably served by neighbour and catering whizz Judy Wilson in a Hermitage hat, and wine waiter Bruce Wilson (GGS). Decorations: Clyde bunting, balloons aplenty in Clyde colours blown up by Charles and Henry Lewis; ‘C’ written with lights on the Riverside lawn; Clyde flag design and large Clyde bunting (artwork commissioned by Rosie Fairbairn); flowers by Frankie Beggs (Fairbairn) and Susie Sutherland (Finlay). Apologies to anyone overlooked in any way and thanks to all who brought, helped, laughed and enjoyed. One thank you was even on Clyde stationery! Special thanks to Sue Schudmak (Sproat) for accommodation. A postscript: Cynthia Wagg (Sterling) was so excited about the cocktail party writing she was “very flattered to be included amongst those who left so recently.” Although she felt she had nothing to wear, she found something suitable in her wardrobe with the help of her carer. Sadly, Cyn died on Monday, just four days before what she had called “the event of the year”.
1969 REUNION
Lunching at the Lyceum Club on Friday 12 July were Jane Armytage (Bird), Anne Austin, Sally Bayles (Creswick), Penny Bennetts (Vine), Elizabeth Crauford (Angas), Elizabeth Cumming (Morshead), Vicki d’Antoine (Hughes), Pam Dempster (Levine), Amanda Elliott (Bayles), Alison Foran (Garnett), Peta Gillespie, Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly), Miss Joan Montgomery, Susan Perchey (Russell), Julia Ponder, Amanda Snaddon (White) and Susie Strachan (Skene). Jo Armytage (Barr Smith) and Wendy Forwood (Lipman) were also going to attend but had to cancel at the last minute due to illness. The Lyceum was a lovely place to have lunch; yummy food, great company and everyone really enjoyed the day. It was nice to see Joan too who was happy and relaxed talking openly about her memories of Clyde and things we didn’t know about. The formality and stiffness of a principal no longer evident. I can’t imagine being that graceful/lucid/on the ball/funny if/when I get to my 90’s! She’s amazing. Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly) brought memorabilia from the archives at GGS including the large Clyde flag which was draped over the grand piano. Peta Gillespie brought her ‘ta ta’ book and we added to what we’d written when we said goodbye fifty years ago. There were copies of the mini autobiographies sent in before the reunion which included reminiscences: “off honours and picking bracken (how insane was that?); playing the piano in the back music room early in the morning; friends hanging out around the school; walks to the Cross; chocolate royals; all those feathers in the Nursery corridor when someone cut someone else’s eiderdown in half; mail/food parcels; excursions to Melbourne for concerts and Hilliers; running up and down the steps to the golf course (where goats grazed to keep the
L-R front row: Pamela Dempster (Levine), Suzanne Strachan (Skene), Miss Joan Montgomery, Sally Bayles (Creswick), Peta Gillespie Back row: Anne Austin, Victoria d’Antoine (Hughes), Jane Armytage (Bird), Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly), Elizabeth Crauford (Angas), Alison Foran (Garnett), Amanda Snaddon (White), Susan Perchey (Russell), Elizabeth Cumming (Morshead), Julia Ponder, Amanda Elliott (Bayles), Penelope Bennetts (Vine) 19
THE COGA ‘FIFTY-NINERS’ MARCH AGAIN (OR STILL MARCHING?!)
1969 REUNION
L-R: Miss Joan Montgomery,
A Yarra River walk of seven kilometres was an excuse for the Clyde Fifty-Niners (the year they left) to get together in October 2018 for a walk. Led by our honorary tour guide Christina Hayward (Pym) we set off on a lovely morning from the Royal Kooyong Tennis Club on Glenferrie Road. Sauntering down bi-lanes onto the south side of Gardiner’s Creek, we followed walkways that linked in to the River. With much chatter we wove our way towards our destination, which was lunch at the Royal Botanical Gardens. We had several near misses with speeding cyclists having to dodge oblivious-to-traffic friends but we eventually arrived safely where we were joined by lunchtime guest Elizabeth Barkman (Piccoli) at the restaurant ‘Jardin Tan’. Our room was an attractive and relatively sound-proof glassed-in area within the gardens. This allowed us to really catch up with each other’s news. After lunch we dispersed and some returned by tram (a highlight?!) to Kooyong. Thank you to Belinda and Christina who successfully organised this popular event.
Elizabeth Crauford (Angas)
L-R: Vicki d’Antoine (Hughes), Susan Perchey (Russell)
L-R: Peta Gillespie, Anne Austin, Jane Armytage (Bird) L-R back row: Anne Hamilton (Coy), Eda Ritchie (Beggs), Christina Hayward (Pym), Dizzy Carlyon (Clapham) Front row: Anne Rawlins (Hornabrook), Lil Griffiths (Lobb), Belinda Philp (Laidlaw), Sue Sutherland (Finlay), Ros Bromell (Gardner), Lesley Griffin (Vincent) L-R: Sally Bayles (Creswick), Amanda Snaddon (White), Elizabeth Cumming (Morshead) grass at bay) – also for punishment; cleaning the prefect’s shoes; midnight feasts; bark cakes from Patersons for birthdays; Madame ten Brink – scary but the best French teacher; burning our legs on the classroom heaters; the ‘Men at work’ sign under the Clyde Girls School sign; writing thank you letters in Miss Montgomery’s study after visiting Sundays; thick slices of fresh white bread with apricot jam as lunch time fillers; mixing milo till it went white; sun baking on the tin roof; the freezing concrete swimming pool half way up the mountain. I cried myself to sleep the first term I was there and then cried when I left.”
Left side (front to back): Elizabeth Landy (Manifold), Anne Rawlins (Hornabrook), Christina Hayward (Pym), Lesley Griffin (Vincent), Belinda Philp (Laidlaw), Dizzy Carlyon (Clapham) Right side (front to back): Elizabeth Barkman (Piccoli), Lil Griffiths (Lobb), Susie Sutherland (Finlay), Roz Bromell (Gardner), Annie Hamilton (Coy), Eda Ritchie (Beggs)
Over lunch we toasted absent friends and spent time talking about them. Afterwards some of us went back to Vic’s place – more gorgeous food. A handful of us attended the final reunion at the Botanical Hotel for brunch on Saturday. 20
without women)! After some initial reservations Etienne has become an important member of the W20 group. Men also need to be convinced of the benefits of empowering women so it is important that they are included in discussions.
OLD GIRLS’ NEWS Zara Kimpton OAM
Margie Gillett’s daughter, Victoria, is currently an intern at the Australian Institute of International Affairs Victoria (AIIAV) in East Melbourne. While working there she discovered that two former Presidents of AIIAV had attended Clyde. The first was her grandmother, Anne Cordner (Baillieu)’s great friend, Prue Myer (Boyd) who was Dux of Clyde in 1942. Prue was AIIAV President from 1988 to 1990, initiating a very successful school education program that the AIIA ran in Victoria for many years. The second is Zara Kimpton OAM who was President of AIIAV from 2003 to 2006 before being elected National Vice President of AIIA in 2011, a position which she still holds. Zara says that her interest in the world beyond Australia started with Mrs Adams’ history lessons while at Clyde many years ago.
The Japan 2019 W20 summit in March was held only six months after the meeting in Buenos Aires. The W20 process is quite intense. Much online discussion takes place between the actual meetings via websites and other digital platforms. There were two important keynote speakers in Japan: the young Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai and Michelle Bachelet, a former President of Chile and now UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. One memorable comment by Malala summed up the type of goals which the W20 is trying to achieve: “If all girls completed secondary school, they could add up to US$30 trillion to the world economy”. Zara reports that other highlights of her trip to Japan were meeting Prime Minister Abe at a sumptuous banquet for delegates at a palace in Tokyo, and being there at the height of Japan’s cherry blossom season.
Originally founded in 1924, the AIIA is a federation of branches in all state capitals and the ACT. It now holds over 200 events around the country each year on all aspects of Australia’s international relations and foreign affairs. Several old Clyde girls are or have been members in Victoria. Anyone who is interested can attend AIIAV’s weekly meetings which host excellent speakers at the forefront of global politics, trade, science and cultural issues from all around the world.
Next year in 2020 the W20 will take place in Saudi Arabia. It will be interesting for W20 delegates to learn of challenges faced by Saudi women who have only just been permitted to drive and whose lives are dominated by the male guardianship system. Zara won’t attend as her three-year term as a delegate will be up by then. She is quite relieved that she will not have to cover up by wearing an abaya at an event which has the goal of empowering women. It will certainly be a topic debated around the world.
As National President of AIIA Zara was invited as a delegate to the Women’s G20 (W20) summit in Berlin 2017. The W20 is one of seven engagement groups which form part of the G20 process. This was the third W20 summit following Turkey 2015 and China 2016. Berlin 2017 received far more publicity than the first two due to the attendance of Ivanka Trump who was inappropriately questioned about her father’s attitude to women in a session about empowering female entrepreneurs. The conversation went viral and very soon the whole world knew that Ivanka was in Berlin. This overshadowed all the good work being done by other participants such as Christine Lagarde (IMF), Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Germany’s Angela Merkel – who attended the conference three times.
The photo shows Zara presenting an Australia Institute of International Affairs Fellowship award to Martine Letts – she was made a Fellow because she is a former Australian Ambassador and SecretaryGeneral of Australian Red Cross.
Zara then became Leader of the Australian delegation to W20 summits in Argentina 2018 and Japan 2019. In Buenos Aires there were no celebrities but some very impressive women attended from all around the world. There are usually 60 or 70 delegates (from the 19 countries of the G20 plus the EU) at the closed sessions with up to 1,000 attending the open sessions with speakers. As at the Berlin summit the major topics were labour market, digital and financial inclusion. Argentina 2018 also included the development of rural women, a topic important in Australia, but dropped by the Japanese summit in 2019. At both the Buenos Aires and Tokyo meetings the sole French delegate was a man named Etienne, from an organisation called “Jamais sans Elles” (never
L-R at the Geelong Grammar School Tower Lunch: Anne Latreille (Dalrymple), Margie Gillett (Cordner), Frankie Beggs (Fairbairn), Jaki Fenton, Joan Mackenzie (Bloomfield) 21
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING AWARD WINNERS
COGA PRIZE FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE BRAEMAR COLLEGE
2019 Australia Day Honours
The Clyde Old Girls’ Prize for Service was awarded to Megan Riley. This is awarded to a student in Year 11 or 12 for service to the local community.
Alexandra Sloan Cl’1971-76 was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the community of Canberra and to broadcasting media as a radio presenter. Alex retired after 27 years as a broadcaster with ABC Radio in 2016 and was named Canberra Citizen of the Year in 2017. For more information refer to the Old Girls’ News section in The Cluthan 2018.
THE DAME ELISABETH MURDOCH AWARD
The Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Trophy (donated by the Geoff and Helen Handbury Foundation) was awarded to Audrey Mueller. This award recognises a student who has displayed generosity of spirit and/or has represented the College to an exceptional level. The award carries the Clyde School motto Spectemur Agendo ‘We are judged by our acts’.
Outside of broadcasting, Alex has also been a longtime supporter of a range of charities, including Hands Across Canberra and Project Independence, as well as taking on roles on the ACT Place Names Committee, the ACT Architecture Board and The Australia Institute’s Endeavour House Writer in Residence programme. She is Regional Director of the Churchill Fellowship Selection Committee and was a member of the USA Fulbright Scholarship Judging Panel (2006-2011).
COGA PRIZE FOR ENGLISH GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The GGS Clyde Old Girls’ Association Prize for English in 2018 was awarded to two students: Laura Blundy Jones (Fraser House), a Prefect and Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award recipient, she also received prizes for academic distinction, the Cuthbertson Sanderson and Isabel Henderson Essay Prize; Design and Technology; Global Politics; Literature (two prizes); Classical Studies; the Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program; Monash Scholar’s Programme; she was awarded Colours for academic work and represented GGS in netball, softball and aerobics, plays guitar and contributed to Amnesty International.
CLYDE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION BURSARY 2019
Andrew and Sophie Wilson of Puunyart, Camperdown have written a warm letter of appreciation to COGA (dated 2 September 2018), advising that their daughter Ruby Wilson (Year 10, Clyde House) has been awarded the Clyde Old Girls’ Association Bursary for 2019.
Archibald Whitford (Perry House), a Prefect and House captain, he also received prizes for Chinese as a Second Language, Debating, GGS Prize for Service, Physical Education, Geography; he was awarded Colours for academic work and represented GGS in football, cricket and debating, the Lorne 160 challenge, and plays guitar.
Addressed to the President of COGA, an extract follows: “We are thrilled for Ruby and chuffed that she had stood out as a worthy recipient. We have enjoyed a long association with GGS for many years. My husband’s father was in the first intake to Timbertop and my mother is grandmother to nine grandchildren who have boarded at GGS.
Congratulations to Laura and Archibald on their fine achievements, and we wish them all the best for their future success and endeavours.
I (Ruby’s mother Sophie) was in Clyde House and although not recognised on the leader boards, enjoyed terrific friendships and a great deal of fun. I remain firm friends with no end of Clyde old girls and know that I will continue to enjoy their company for many years to come.
CLYDE HOUSE REOPENING CEREMONY, SATURDAY 2 MARCH 2019 OGG/COGA PRESIDENT’S SPEECH
I know that Ruby will continue this tradition. It is lovely that all these years later, Ruby has been recognised through my association with her boarding house. She is a very kind, happy girl who is a keen contributor and I’m sure these attributes have been rewarded by your most generous bursary.
Today the stars seem aligned for the past, present and future of the Clyde community. My mother Annie, Anne Cordner (Baillieu), stood here 24 years ago in 1995 and opened a new wing of the old boarding house. It is the official start of another new chapter for Clyde House, but Clyde’s story really began 110 years ago when a great educationist, Isabel Henderson opened the doors to Clyde Girls Grammar School in East St Kilda. She believed in educating women from early childhood to be independent, en-
We would like to acknowledge your generosity and thank you very much. Yours sincerely, Sophie Wilson” 22
through the steep bush to build a log cabin classroom. They carted rocks and dug out a Greek style amphitheatre in the mountainside. There was no talk of women’s lib or feminism then because their sense of strength and freedom seemed to come naturally. This was heartily endorsed by the school’s longest serving principal Olga Hay, herself an adventurous spirit who favoured strength of character, often over academic achievements. Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (Greene) said that her 1920s schooldays at Clyde developed her resilience and self-reliance, a lifetime of consideration for others, and an abiding love of our native forests. It is fitting that Elisabeth Murdoch House has been named in her honour and to share her great legacy.
terprising, community minded and effective members of society. The school in Alma Road flourished but became overcrowded, and it is exactly 100 years this week since 10 March 1919 when Miss Henderson relocated Clyde School to the rugged forested slopes of Mt Macedon. She had visited girls’ country boarding schools in the UK and was impressed with the freedom and independence they offered to young students, away from the restrictions and confinement of city life. The second principal of Clyde, Dorothea Tucker had taught at a school uncannily similar to Clyde, Woodend: Woodford House in New Zealand. By coincidence, Rebecca Cody is a former principal of Woodford House.
In 1976 there was upheaval for Clyde girls when Clyde School closed down and amalgamated with GGS. The 55 girls who came to GGS took a while to adapt even though many were familiar with the school through family connections. The Clyde buildings at Mt Macedon had been very different to the newly built motel style boarding house at Corio with its multi-unit dorms. The grand timber mansion known as Braemar House had wrought iron lacework, twelve ornate gables with intricate fretwork, and a fanciful octagonal tower. It held ghost stories and legends in every dark corridor and very few comforts, except for the possums in the roof. All the former Clyde boarding houses contrast architecturally with the minimalist clean lines of this fabulous new age Clyde House, which is waiting for the stories you will bring to life within its walls.
Not unlike Timbertop, there were no boundaries at Mt Macedon, the girls were surrounded by the bushland wilderness and its native wildlife, with a view of Hanging Rock shimmering across the valley. They were encouraged to be adventurous and to explore. Every year they walked the few miles to Hanging Rock for their annual camera club picnic, clambered up the towering rocky monolith and walked back to school by moonlight, swinging lanterns along the dusty road up the mountain. Those outings have entered national folklore, since Clyde Old Girl Joan Lindsay (Weigall) penned her famous novel ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ in 1968, which illustrates the impact of one person’s creative idea. The mythical energy of the rock’s ancient history has always been part of Clyde’s DNA. You should go there one day (addressed to current Clyde House students).
Since amalgamation, it has taken years for the alumni association to reflect the co-educational balance of GGS. Past students of Clyde School and of The Hermitage have been welcomed into the Old Geelong Grammarians Association as honorary OGGs with full alumni status. The complete Clyde enrolment list of 2,066 names over 65 years was added to the GGS database. There are still around 800 living members of the Clyde Old Girls’ Association (COGA) and 1,147 past students of Clyde House who are OGGs, making up a cohort of nearly 2,000 combined Clyde alumni. Together we all form a multigenerational sisterhood of Clyde friends and fellow students.
Country girls lived alongside city girls at Clyde, fairly isolated for most of the year, seeing more of each other than of their families. It was lonely for some. Lifetime friendships and loyalties developed which have been a great source of comfort and enjoyment in our ‘advancing years’.
In the last 43 years Clyde Old Girls have steadfastly kept in touch with Clyde House, recording and protecting archives, memorabilia and stories. We thank
Clyde had a strong rural heritage. In the early years, some girls travelled for days on bullock dray and trains from remote family properties in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, or by boat from Tasmania to reach school. It was second nature for these girls to hunt, shoot, fish and ride horses bareback. In the 1930s they harnessed the school horse and hauled logs
L-R: Marion Macpherson, Angela Alcock (Gardner), Mary Hildebrandt (Downie), Rosie Borthwick (Ross) 23
those who have given so much time and dedication to this task, and to those at GGS who have collaborated and supported their efforts. COGA’s annual magazine The Cluthan each year publishes a Clyde House activities report written by a current student in the House, (thank you Olivia Moore) and we compile a list of Clyde House students who are closely related to COGs – over the decades nearly one third of all Clyde House students have been closely related. There is now a growing list of Clyde House connections as their own daughters and nieces enrol in the House. If you add all our male OGG relatives, that means we are part of one very big family at GGS.
The Annual Coriobald Competition saw our Art Captain, Georgie Spiden awarded the Photography Prize. A fantastic display of artistic talent on show across the school. The Clyde House annual outing organised by the CHPA committee saw a very successful evening at the football at the Geelong Stadium! 70 excited girls dressed in their Geelong and Melbourne colours enjoyed a very close game with Geelong taking home the win in the last few minutes of the game. Our theatre productions are always popular, and Sophie Darling, Pip Southey and Cici Nie delighted the audiences with their take on Beauty and The Beast. Clyde House had great success in the interhouse Debating Grand Final defeating Perry House with Meg Watkins, Annick Paterson and Grace Hill-Smith putting across a very convincing argument to take out the honours. Next up the House Rowing competition on the Barwon. Clyde won the Ladies Trophy in the Coxed 8 and first in the Coxed 4, led by Lucy Canny and Georgie Manifold. Always a great event with the final row for our year 12’s. The Clyde girls also put in a convincing effort with the house netball to be crowned Champions.
I should mention that Clyde representatives have infiltrated every level of GGS from staffroom to boardroom and beyond. There are six members of the OGG Committee who belong to COG families, as well as the former Chair of Foundation (Bill Ranken, son of Margaret Knox), the former Chair of the Biddlecombe Society (Neil Robertson, d2018, son of Lori Yencken), and the Deputy Chair of Council (Paddy Handbury, son of Helen Murdoch). Please welcome the 2019 Captain of Clyde House, Meg Watkins, who has been rowing in Nagambie this morning. Considering the school motto Spectemur Agendo means ‘we are judged by our acts’; Meg would pass with flying colours.
Lorne 160 is always a popular event to be part of for the Year 11 students. Mickey Stewart, Lulu Morton and Emma Kent represented Clyde and between all 20 runners across the school, $55,000 was raised for their nominated charity – Ocean Mind. Clyde is always well represented in the snow competitions. GGS were awarded the 7th consecutive Secondary Co-Ed Cup at the Victorian Interschool Snowsport Championships. Meg Watkins, Emma Kent, Katie Gerraty, Helena and Ava Lansell all enjoyed being part of the GGS Snow Team. The Snow Ski GGS House Cup was also won by Clyde.
Margie Gillett (Cordner, Clyde 1966-71) OGG President, COGA President
CLYDE HOUSE REPORT 2018/2019 The Clyde girls returned with great excitement to the long-awaited move into the newly renovated and refurbished Clyde House. It looks fabulous with a beautiful new building, fabulous courtyard and garden area, bigger common rooms and kitchen area and newly surfaced tennis court. Single rooms for all Year 11’s and 12’s and rooms of four for the year 10’s. After the long absence of the year tens being based in the annexe, it is exciting to have all the Clyde girls together.
Following the Valedictory Dinners for our year 12’s, Speech Day is an important part of the conclusion to the Clyde Girls education at GGS. Clyde Alumna Dr Elisa Hill was the guest speaker for Speech Day and was very well received. This was followed by an inhouse farewell dinner, put on by the Clyde Parent Committee, to wish the Year 12’s all the best in their exams and farewell them from Clyde. We said goodbye to Mrs Steer and Mrs Sun who have both been a big part of the Clyde Community over many years.
The whole of GGS Athletics Carnival is a wonderful day for all GGS families and students. Commencing with the outside Chapel Service and the Choir in full swing, and one oval holding the junior events, seniors on the main oval, and field events held around the outside, it is an exciting day to be part of. Looking across from the clocktower, the colours of the decorated house tents sets a fabulous atmosphere. Clyde had a big win led by Claudia Nance and Sophie Darling. Sophie Pierson was awarded U/16 Champion and Olivia Moore Runner Up for the Open Age Group. Clyde Pride was on display all day! The interhouse Cross country followed with a win, led by captains Claudia Nance and Sophie Darling. Maddie Atkins, Georgie Manifold and Celeste Towning led the Clyde girls over the finish line.
When the leadership group was announced for GGS and Clyde we were thrilled that Maddy Atkins was announced as our 2019 School Captain. Clyde House Captain is Meg Watkins, Vice House Captain Mickey Stewart, and Prefects Ava Nance, Olivia Moore, Lulu Morton, Pip Southey and Emma Kent. With the return to Clyde at the start of 2019, the garden had grown, the trees established, and Clyde was looking very welcoming for the girls. New Tutors Miss Rodgers and Mrs Haig joined the team in Clyde, alongside our Head of House Mrs Whitten, Deputy Head of House Mr Ellinghausen, and tutors Ms Roycroft, Ms Sherwin and Ms Dougherty. 24
Summer means rowing, tennis, badminton, diving, softball, swimming, table tennis, equestrian and sailing. First term is hectic as we welcome our new year 10’s from Timbertop. Such a big transition. First Term is full on with in house weekends going to the movies, family day, the John Landy duathlon, Head of the River and equestrian eventing to name a few of the activities to work in with study.
girls with Mrs Whitten taking them to the Geelong Stadium to watch past school Captain Nina Morrison star in the AFLW season opener between Geelong and Collingwood. Half the stadium was filled with GGS!! The practice for the House Music was reaching fever pitch, led by Bella Canny and Meg Watkins! ABBA could be heard across the courtyard with Mamma Mia selected as the group performance. Pip Southey performed a beautiful solo ‘Lost Boy’. The Clyde House ensemble made up of Pip Southey, Emma Sampson, Alice Needle, Meika Dorward, Skye McLachlan, Skye Dempsey, Celeste Towning, and Harriet Furphy sang a rendition of ‘Supermarket Flowers’. This was followed up with the Music Production ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for the Year 12 VCE Theatre Studies with Pip Southey, Bella Canny and Tillie Pridham on stage.
Rowing Captain Olivia Moore enjoyed helping the year 10’s start their new sport, along with training with the girls’ squad. A record number of 96 girls rowed in 2019. Family Day was fabulous in the newly renovated courtyard, perfect for the marquee and many families attended the day. Clyde had many dads and daughters competing in the duathlon. This was followed up a couple of weeks later with over 200 guests attending the reopening of Clyde House. Everybody enjoyed reminiscing, catching up and soaking up the atmosphere of the new Clyde!
Our summer representatives for the APS saw Sophie Pierson travel to Melbourne to compete in the APS Softball match. Harriet Furphy, Emily Headon and Amy McEachern were involved in a fundraiser for Anglicare and participated in an Altitude Shift abseil in Melbourne. They abseiled down 27 floors at 535 Bourke Street. A wonderful achievement and cause.
The Inaugural GGS Family Tennis Tournament was very well supported by students and their parents with all 80 places filled, and will no doubt be a regular feature on the school calendar. Tennis has been enjoyed by Josie Happell, Jemma Mitchell and Ruby Wilson. The Clyde girls are well represented across the many rowing crews. The firsts crew included Olivia Moore, Maddy Atkins, Meg Watkins, Emma Kent and Sophie Ward. The HOSG saw the girl’s seconds win in a spectacular race. Clyde girl Annabelle McLachlan rowed in the very successful seconds crew this year, with them also winning the Head of the River. The Firsts had a big win at the Head of the River, and then followed it up with two bronze medals at the Nationals for the Schoolgirls Coxed 8 and the U/19 Coxed 8. The Girls Seconds also enjoyed the experience of the Nationals and are ready to revisit the competition in 2020. At the end of the school rowing season Sophie Ward raced in the Victorian Pathways Crew competing in Sydney. The GGS Captain of Boats, Olivia Moore was invited to compete in the Rowing Australia Trials in Sydney. She was selected in the Junior Australian Rowing Team in the Coxed Four to compete at the Junior World Championships in Tokyo in August. A very exciting opportunity.
The annual Clyde Dinner was held at the beautiful Windsor Hotel and enjoyed by everybody. The Charity Captains Millie Ritchie and Josie Happell collected donations for Birthing Kit Foundation Australia. The annual Clyde Citizenship Award was presented to Flora Jamieson for her outstanding work in Clyde. The winter sports are well underway with Netball being a dominant sport for GGS and the girls’ firsts are currently undefeated. Clyde girls Sophie Ward and Grace Szepe enjoy the netball interschool competition playing in the firsts. Clyde was well rewarded with a win in the interhouse competition. Hockey is a popular winter sport. Julia Sinclair and Indi Laycock have enjoyed filling their week with hockey playing for GGS and the Geelong Rep. Team. Fabulous experience! History has been created with Girls Football being introduced this year for the Year 10’s and 11’s. The Girls Director of Rowing is Jane Horne, and it has been a wonderful experience for our girls competing in Division 2 to commence the girls footy at GGS.
The Equestrian Centre has been a huge success for GGS and Clyde girls are always well represented down at the stables with their horses. The Victorian Interschool Championships saw Millie Ritchie and Emma Sampson both qualify for the Nationals in October, which is a fantastic effort. The Equestrian is enjoyed by Millie Ritchie, Emma Sampson, Bec Gunnersen and Kate Gerraty.
Mrs Cody continues to do a wonderful job leading and running our school, she has immersed herself into every aspect of the GGS community. I would like to thank Mrs Whitten and Mr Ellinghausen for running Clyde House with their team of tutors. A huge thanks to Viv Murrell who is our House Assistant. The suppers are the best in the school and the Clyde girls would not survive boarding without her!! Good luck to the Year 12’s for exams and the next chapter after GGS!!
House swimming is always a fantastic event with the house chant sung with gusto, along with the diving. Bella Canny, Flora Jamieson and Ava Nance did a fabulous job in the diving. The first weekend for the Clyde House outing was very exciting for all the
By Olivia Moore, 2019 25
CLYDE HOUSE GIRLS WITH A CLYDE SCHOOL CONNECTION – 2019
Student
Relationship
Clyde Old Girl
Married Name
Clyde Years
Zara Bramich (Yr10)
Granddaughter
Kate Herman Margaret Herman Jane Herman
Foster Everett Angus
Cl’ 1954-60 Cl’ 1950-54 Cl’ 1957-63
Josie Happell (Yr12)
Granddaughter Great-niece
Helen Macdougall Jenny Shaw
Happell Happell
Cl’1947-53 Cl’1950-55
Bridget Hood (Yr11)
Granddaughter
Jan LeMessurier
Wheal
Cl’1960-62
Flora Jamieson (Yr12)
Great-niece Great-great-niece Great-great-niece Distant relative
Carol Jamieson Betty Anderson Flo Jamieson Joanne Jamieson
Hancock Jamieson Calvert Jackson
Cl’1949-54 Cl’1923-24 Cl’1917-19 Cl’1943-49
Helena Lansell (Yr11)
Great-niece
Peggy Lansell
Scott
Cl’1933-37
Ava Lansell (Yr10) Amy McEachern (Yr11)
Great-niece Granddaughter
Peggy Lansell Anna Harvey
Scott McEachern
Cl’1933-37 Cl’1962-63
Mia McEachern (Yr11)
Granddaughter
Anna Harvey
McEachern
Cl’1962-63
Annabel McLachlan (Yr12)
Great-niece
Sylvia Clarke
McLachlan
Cl’1960-67
Olivia Moore (Yr12)
Granddaughter Great-niece Great-niece Great-niece Great-niece
Mary Murphy Elizabeth Murphy Anne Murphy Susan Finlay Joan Kinnear
Moore a’Beckett Armitt Sutherland Moore
Cl’1931-37 Cl’1931-38 Cl’1938-45 Cl’1954-59 Cl’1940-45
Lulu Morton (Yr12)
Great-niece
Penny Weatherly
Lewisohn
Cl’1957-62
Ava Nance (Yr12)
Great-niece Great-niece Distant relative Distant relative
Anne Coy Jill Coy Jane Coy Belinda Coy
Hamilton Meredith-Smith Hallows Barclay
Cl’1951-58 Cl’1945-51 Cl’1956-62 Cl’1958-64
Pippa Naylor (Yr10)
Granddaughter Grandniece
Deirdre Davey Margot Davey
Naylor Woods
Cl’1948-54 Cl’1946-53
Sophie Pierson (Yr11)
Great-niece Great-niece Great-niece Great-niece
Amanda Bayles Aprilla Bayles Ayliffe Bayles Sally Creswick
Elliott Caldwell Hodgson Bayles
Cl’1964-69 Cl’1964-69 Cl’1957-63 Cl’1963-70
Amelia Ritchie (Yr12)
Great-niece Great-great-niece
Vivienne Knox-Knight Elisabeth Greene
Ritchie Murdoch
Cl’1951-53 Cl’1922-26
Arabella Ritchie (Yr11)
Granddaughter Great-niece
Eda Beggs Christina Beggs
Ritchie Hindhaugh
Cl’1957-59 Cl’1957-61
Julia Sinclair (Yr11)
Great-niece
Joan Kinnear
Moore
Cl’1940-45
Pascale Southey (Yr12)
Granddaughter Great-niece
Valerie Clarke Margaret Southey
Southey Mims
Cl’1935-38 Cl’1936-38
26
VALE WE RECORD WITH REGRET THE FOLLOWING DEATHS
Suzanne ‘Susan’ Mary AIRD (Hammond) 26 March 1917 – 20 June 2018 Clyde 1929-30
Audrey HORLEY (Burt) 9 December 1920 – 2019 Clyde 1936-37
Mary Louise ‘Mollie’ BAILEY (Officer) 28 July 1921 – 28 March 2018 Clyde 1936-39
Betty MACDONALD (Meldrum) 17 June 2018 Clyde 1943
Hilary Mary BLAKISTON (Heath) 24 December 1926 – 10 August 2018 Clyde 1942-44
Jacquelyn Anne Coverley MALING 23 September 1946 – 4 December 2018 Clyde 1958-63
Sarah Margaret COATS (Pizey) 14 December 1937 – 27 August 2018 Clyde 1948-49
Virginia ‘Bardie’ Winifred MERCER (Grimwade) 5 October 1929 – 13 March 2019 Clyde 1943-47
Susan Elizabeth DAVIS (Dodds) 16 February 1943 – 14 September 2018 Clyde 1955-58
Deasy Gladys O’CONNOR 22 October 1920 – 25 May 2018 Clyde 1934-38
Sheila Fraser DENNIS (Currie) 4 January 1919 – 6 April 2019 Clyde 1933-35
Cynthia ‘Cynthea’ Eleanor REED (Viney) 7 August 1927 – 6 February 2019 Clyde 1942-44
Helen Elizabeth DOUGLAS (Blake) 22 March 1920 – 2 April 2001 Clyde 1928-30
Margaret Gowan ROBINSON (Begg) 20 October 1935 – 5 March 2018 Clyde 1947-52
Joan Elizabeth DOWNES (Whitton) 14 March 1921 – 9 April 2018 Clyde 1937-39
Celia Jean SEARLE (Blake) 17 August 1917 – 25 September 2010 Clyde 1928-30
Edrina Caroline Tarring DUNSTAN (Henty) 23 February 1942 – 19 May 2019 Clyde 1953-59
Mary Mabel SUTHERLAND (Ramsay) 14 July 1931 – 14 September 2017 Clyde 1943-48
Margery GRAHAM (Richardson) 14 January 1933 – 25 May 2018 Clyde 1946-50
Cynthia Marguerite WAGG (Sterling) 3 May 1924 – 8 October 2018 Clyde 1937-41
Diana Jane June GRIFFIN (Rouse) 22 October 1952 – 16 June 2019 Clyde 1965-69
Jean Estcourt WARD (Luxton) 19 February 1929 – 25 December 2017 Clyde 1943-45
27
Hilary Mary Blakiston (Heath) 24 December 1926 – 10 August 2018 Clyde 1942-44
forth without a chaperone! Annie Cordner’s diary includes vivid descriptions of their adventures as they motored all over Spain, attracting the curiosity of black-clad peasant women, gesticulating señors and not least the ubiquitous gun-toting military police. Crowds of children followed them everywhere and chattered endlessly, not realising the Australians could only speak a few words of Spanish – enough to negotiate petrol vouchers and to buy churros, cigarettes and Nescafé. They often spent the nights with two girls in and two out of the car, only able to afford for two to sleep in a ‘sordid’ hotel. Sleeping in the car’s front seat meant winding around the gear stick ‘embryo like’. The diary includes a hilarious description of being moved on by the military police and Annie trying to drive in a sleeping bag with no clothes on. It was “a glorious and romantic adventure” and became the stuff of family legend for Hilary, Annie and Dordie.
Hilary was born in Bairnsdale, Victoria in 1926, the eldest daughter of Bill and Hazel Heath. The family lived together with Hazel’s parents, the Masons, at Oakbank, overlooking the river flats. At Bairnsdale State School Hilary was in a class of 40 with one teacher. She said it was an excellent education – her grammar and spelling were exceptional. When Hilary was ten the family moved to Geelong, to an old home called Chesterfield in Noble Street. Hilary attended The Hermitage before going to board at Clyde School from 1942-44. It was during WW2 and she said the girls took turns to go up the tower and keep watch for enemy planes during the night. She made lifelong friends at Clyde and was a loyal old girl serving as President of COGA from 1971-73. During this time, she collated the Clyde Cookbook, which was such a hit. In the 1970s, when the Head of the River was on the Barwon River, Hilary offered her Geelong home as a pickup point for parents when the over-excited Clyde girls were bussed down from Mt Macedon for the event.
After returning to Australia, Hilary married Peter Blakiston in 1951 and they spent 54 blissfully happy years together. Theirs was a strong and equal partnership, and they were devoted to each other. Peter owned the Blakiston family transport and warehousing company, founded in Geelong in 1889. In 1990 he published the book ‘History of Blakistons 18891989’ and became Chairman of the Geelong Harbour Trust.
Hilary’s sister also attended Clyde, Dallas Kinnear (Heath, Cl’1947-53) as did her three daughters, Deborah West (Blakiston Cl’1966-70), Susan Piper (Blakiston Cl’1970-72) and Caroline Adams (Blakiston Cl’69-74). Hilary had strong connections with The Hermitage and GGS. Her daughters and sister also attended The Hermitage before going to Clyde, and at least 20 other close relatives, including grandchildren, nieces and nephews attended GGS.
In 1950, the Heath family had built a holiday shack on a jetty in Boxes Creek near Metung, Gippsland. There were many extended family holidays there: sailing, swimming and fishing. Hilary’s father, Bill would sit on the bollard at night playing his mouth organ, spinning yarns about going up the back of Omeo where he grew apples and kept a few cattle, reciting Banjo Patterson to all the little kids. Later in the 1960s there were memorable Blakiston family holidays at the Queenscliff Cruising Yacht Club on Swan Island. Boating, fishing and swimming at Pope’s Eye in the Rip. The girls all have special memories of these wonderful holidays.
After leaving Clyde in 1944, Hilary was sent to Invergowrie Homecrafts Hostel with the aim of coming home to manage the household at Chesterfield. Her parents were very hospitable and many friends visiting Geelong from far-flung parts seemed to end up there. Everyone in Noble Street was welcome to use the tennis court and Hilary kept up many of these neighbourhood friendships throughout her life.
When only 22, Hilary was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and regretted having to give up golf, as she had already won a few cups at Barwon Heads. Always looking on the bright side, Hilary turned ‘outsourcing’ into an art form, with a veritable army doing the heavy lifting at home. This freed her up to satisfy her endless curiosity about the world. She read voraciously, particularly history and politics. Hilary and Peter travelled extensively on business, while she familiarised herself with many of the world’s museums and art galleries.
In 1948 Hilary took a ship to London where she shared a flat with her Clyde friends, Annie Cordner (Baillieu), ‘Dordie’ Rouse (Rolph) and Joan Bostock (Connell). She studied at the prestigious Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London which set her up beautifully for a lifetime of entertaining. She had a thorough knowledge of the chemistry of food and was brilliant at managing souffles and terrines, stocks and sophisticated sauces.
An active member of the Geelong community, Hilary was trained and spent ten years as a Marriage Guidance Counsellor in the 1960s-70s, while her daughters were away at Clyde. She used to deliver pearls of wisdom to her teenagers and their friends, such as: “Don’t ever think you can change a man by marrying him” or “Don’t marry anyone without liv-
In September 1948, the four ‘senoritas’ headed down to Spain, driving a Ford Prefect called ‘Georges’. This was not long after the Civil War and very soon after WW2. It was rare for young females to venture 28
ing with them first”. She was often one to challenge the status quo.
tions within ICI (ANZ), ultimately to become chairman, enabled the family to move back to Melbourne and set up home in Macquarie Road, Toorak. Weekends were spent in the longstanding family home Rannoch, Portsea. It was here that Margie along with her brothers David and Michael enjoyed the delights of a life by the sea, learning their crafts of fishing and boating.
Her daughter Caroline remembers Hilary asking one of her school friends what she wanted to do when she left school. “I don’t know, Mrs Blakiston, I think I’d like to get married”. Hilary famously replied: “Well, that will take about twenty minutes, what are you going to do then?”
Margie boarded at Clyde from 1947-1952. She loved sport and being in ‘the country’. In her letters home she talked about the heat and the flies, picnics at Hanging Rock and heating cans of Carnation condensed milk on camp fires to make ‘yummy’ caramel – probably highly illegal! From photos of that time Rosie Revill (Digges) seems to have been a frequent partner in crime! Margie developed a lifelong interest in poetry but found academia tedious. Thankfully she was aided by buddies who advised on what to mug up in order to pass the exams! Margie represented the school in tennis, golf (captain) and hockey. She was pleased when Mitzi Begg (Wilkins), her future sister-in-law and one year her senior, vacated the much-coveted centre forward position! Her lifelong friend Susie Martin (Millear) was another team mate and, according to a newspaper clipping, later shared a memorable dance for 300 in the Kooyong Tennis Club House in 1954.
Hilary was a member of the Board of Management of Grace McKellar House (an aged care facility in Geelong) from 1973-88, serving as President from 1985-88. During this time, it became a major rehabilitation facility and was one of the first to introduce a village atmosphere with shops and cafes. She was passionate about keeping people out of care and living in their own homes if possible. In 1988, Hilary was thrilled to be involved in a visit to the facility by Queen Elizabeth II. Hilary Blakiston House, at Grace McKellar was named in her honour. From the late 1980s Peter and Hilary spent the winter months in Noosa Heads, with summers spent in Geelong. After Peter’s death in 2006, Hilary continued her Noosa trips, meeting up with many friends who holidayed there, including Tim Gillespie (Street). Her sister, Dallas Kinnear (Heath), usually joined her for a couple of weeks. At 85, Hilary won the trivia night on French history at her favourite Noosa restaurant. In Geelong, she regularly lunched with Jane Nevile (Lewis) and Rosemary Weatherly (Russell). They often attended Tower Luncheons at GGS and Clyde AGMs together, most recently in 2017. She remained an avid opera lover, regularly attending Opera Australia performances.
After Clyde Margie, her brother Michael and their parents sailed to the UK in 1955, where she worked as a secretary for Dulux in Park Lane, Mayfair, opposite the Dorchester Hotel. They had a high old time, partying – Earls Court and Buckingham Palace, Royal Ascot and Henley, Oxford and Cambridge Balls, West End theatres and many watering holes in South Kensington. Weekends were often spent out in the Shires, at various country houses, one of which turned out to be her future ‘in-laws’, Nan and Bill Robinson, whose son John at that time was jackerooing in the Kimberley region, Western Australia.
Hilary instilled in her daughters a love of cooking, gardening, reading and travelling, among many other things. She loved a good laugh and was always interested in others. She kept up her international friendships through email and included emojis in texts to her grandchildren. She never complained about her arthritis, even when very painful. She never let her disability limit her. During her final illness, a brain tumour at 91, her courage and determination shone through: “I’ve had a good life. I’ve lived long enough. Better that younger ones are cured ...” Beloved by her Clyde friends, Hilary will be remembered for her intelligent, forward-thinking outlook, her kindness and her enduring love of people.
Margie returned to Australia for continued partying on Shelley Beach, Portsea and Melbourne. It was at one such party that she recognised John from a photograph she had seen whilst staying with his parents in Wiltshire, UK. She introduced herself to John, by then a sheep farmer in the 90 Mile Desert, SA. At the end of the evening he said ‘Give me a call sometime’; she said ‘I don’t ring boys’ – Helen had obviously trained her well! Despite this skilful brush-off a romance blossomed and they were married in St John’s Toorak in 1958. They set up home at Chute Standen, Keith SA, in the farm house John had built and started married life in the country, the setting as with Clyde, Margie so loved. The dog, cat, horses and sheep were joined by Tim, Peter and Mark, their three sons in succession. Life consisted of hard work and hard partying. Margie played an active role on the farm, tractor driving, drilling holes for fence posts, mustering and counting sheep, shooting snakes off the veranda!
Eulogy written by Deborah West (Blakiston), our sincere thanks to Deb for this wonderful tribute. Margaret Gowan Robinson (Begg) 20 October 1935 – 5 March 2018 Clyde 1947-1952 Margie Robinson was born in Wellington NZ, daughter to Ken (KG) and Helen Begg, whilst KG was managing director of ICI (NZ). KG’s promo29
After ten years of developing the farm in the blistering heat John decided upon a career change to sculpting. They sold the farm and emigrated to England, initially North Devon in a Georgian mansion with a barn for John to sculpt in, and then to Agecroft, a 500 year old thatched sandstone house in Somerset where they lived for the rest of their days. John’s sculpting career developed initially with figurative pieces, children and athletes. He progressed into his next phase in which he created his Symbolic Sculpture series, pieces which were commissioned and placed worldwide. His bronze sculptures were cast in an Italian foundry which enabled them to make trips to Tuscany 2-3 times a year, and also provided them with many wonderful adventures throughout Europe en route, having conveniently dispatched their sons to boarding school.
courage and resilience kept her going. She managed to attend the final exhibition of John’s symbolic sculpture collection that was donated to Durham University. But she knew her time was running out – I know this having subsequently read her scribbles over her final few months. Mercifully she died swiftly and painlessly, of a stroke in her sleep. No suffering, no dramas, just as we all wish to go. Her ‘Letter of Wishes’ came to light when we were tidying up. She explicitly stated ‘No funeral, No Memorial’ and Ashes scattered with John’s, at the base of their favourite oak tree, in a field by a brook. We respected and obeyed her wishes. God bless them.
Throughout those years Margie was an amazing support to John, as a sounding board, social secretary, cuisiniere and wizard of corporate hospitality – all essential ingredients to John’s success – as well as an expert mother to their three sons. Along with her commendable people skills, she had a wonderfully bold sense of adventure – unconventional family holidays were the norm – sailing across the Baltic, Irish and North Seas, horse trekking in the Rockies, Welsh and Atlas Mountains, hiking and camping across Europe, caving in the Pyrenees, skiing the Alps and Aspen, off-roading through the Kimberleys and Uzbekistan. These combined qualities of people person and adventurer were encoded in her but also nurtured I’m sure through experiences gained, in part, from her time at Clyde.
Obituary written by Margie’s son, Tim Robinson. Our thanks to Tim for providing a wonderful tribute to Margie who was greatly loved by all her Clyde friends and family in Australia. Note: Many COGs would be familiar with John Robinson’s beautiful bronze sculpture in the Victoria Gardens opposite the Arts Centre in Melbourne. A landmark entitled ‘The Pathfinder’, it is more commonly known as ‘The Hammer Thrower’. Suzanne (Susan) Mary Aird (Hammond) 26 March 1917 – 20 June 2018 Clyde 1929-1930 Susan was born on 26 March 1917 at Carinya, Kensington Road, South Yarra, the daughter of Stanley Forrest Hammond (1876-1958) and Ivie Constance Hammond (Webb d1933). Charles McCubbin lived next door, and the Misses Armytage of Como House owned the land around Carinya, and would send milk from their cows to Susan as a young child. Her father was a director of WD & HO Wills. She had three sisters, Claire Stewart (b1909), Patricia Marion Guest (b1912), and Joyce Ellen Turnbull (b1913).
In 2007 John, her soulmate departed, a swift death from lung cancer. Margie entered her next phase of life as a widow, a courageous phase for anyone to embark upon. Her life changed massively, from one of total immersion in the world of art, to one centred about her beloved Agecroft, with its cosy thatch, the cottage garden created by her and the orchard planted by them over 40 years. Life revolved around family, chiefly her seven grandchildren and her beloved dog Elsa who arrived soon after John departed. Margie had always been a prolific corresponder (her letters were the stuff of legend) as well as a superb hostess; her welcome, warmth and hospitality were a tonic to all. These pursuits and passions became her raison d’être.
In 1921, her uncle John Langley Webb, gave his sister Ivie Hammond a magnificent house called Coonac in Clendon Road, Toorak, still standing today in one of Melbourne’s most beautiful streets. This became Susan’s family home. Susan had a series of governesses until she was nine, when her parents went to England for an extended period. She stayed with relatives and her nurse at Melville in Middle Crescent, Brighton, a house built
Margie’s health deteriorated over her last year. Broken hips and pelvis, and skin cancers (she said to the skin Doc, the Aussie sun yes, but we just had to look good at the parties!) Her mobility suffered but her 30
by her maternal grandfather, Captain Thomas Webb, later a partner in Huddart Parker shipping company. (More recently it has attracted attention as the home of cricketer Shane Warne.)
Ian died in 1965 and in 1970 Susan moved to North Melbourne. Travelling, languages, history and football were her recreational interests. During the 1970s and 80s, Susan travelled to the Soviet Union, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Iran on guided tours. She went to Scotland, Greece, France and Hungary with friends and took a day trip to Antarctica. She had learned to speak French and German at the finishing schools, and later studied Italian, Russian, Persian and Spanish (she liked ironing to Julio Iglesias songs). She was fascinated by ancient history and became an active archaeologist in Keilor, a site near Melbourne.
Susan’s first school was Firbank, which had been owned by her paternal grandparents. Then two years at St Catherine’s, followed by boarding at Clyde from 1929-1930. From 1931-1933 the Hammond sisters endured a tuberculosis (TB) scare, Joyce became ill, followed by Claire, and Susan was quarantined on a balcony for 18 months to ensure she had fresh air. It was a formative time for Susan, the girls read books voraciously, and Mrs Syme, wife of David Syme of The Age newspaper, delivered boxes of books for literary review, which had to be returned.
She was passionate about family history, conducting detailed research particularly on a Norfolk branch of her family. She was a diehard supporter of the Melbourne Football Club and attended meetings to prevent an amalgamation with Hawthorn FC. She always loved reading, crime novels and whatever would distract her from an ‘unpalatable’ political scene. She maintained a robust left-wing stance, announcing that she would burn a letter from PM Malcolm Turnbull to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Ivie Hammond died in 1933 when Susan was 16. She attended finishing school in Paris (1933) and in Munich (1935). In Munich she refused to stand for Hitler when he opened a swimming event, but the countess she was staying with insisted she do so or there would be ‘dire consequences’. Returning to Melbourne in 1937 with her sisters Claire and Joyce, who had both been living in London, Susan had a coming-out dance held at Coonac in her honour, against her will. She promised her father she would remain ‘in society’ for just a year, and kept her word. She said it was very boring. A photo in The Argus, 27 Feb 1937, shows Susan with arms folded, looking unamused. Another photo of Susan in Table Talk shows an attractive intelligent young woman.
She gave annually to charities supporting indigenous Australians, the visually impaired, the disadvantaged and vulnerable, the environment and humanitarian causes. Described as independent and intelligent, she was an educator with extensive cultural interests, following The New Yorker, Simone de Beauvoir, Jaques Tati, Bertolt Brecht, Kenneth Tynan and Kenneth Clark. She was described as “an amazing woman, strong, vibrant, adventurous – a true believer who stood up for a better world”. Susan died aged 101 years and is survived by her three children, four grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.
Susan became politically aware as a 19 year-old because of the Spanish Civil War. She joined the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) and was politically active in Melbourne and Sydney from 1936-1958.
Information from an obituary published in The Age “Susan Aird: A true believer of the radical Left”, 30 November 2018. Trove NLA, The Argus and Table Talk.
She married Ian Bryan Aird in 1939 and they moved to Sydney. Ian was the crime reporter for the Sunday Telegraph until he enlisted in the army with the writer Ross Campbell in 1942. They were heady days: an illegal communist printing press under their house at Twin Pines in New South Head Road, and a bohemian social life with people she thought were brilliant. Susan returned to Melbourne, living in Balwyn from 1946 to 1970. She continued to be active in the Communist Party, was busy raising her children Patrick, Liz and Michael, and she worked in the Australian Soviet Friendship League. She was concerned about the referendum to outlaw the CPA, with many anxious days before the result was known. Had the referendum passed, Susan and Ian would have been detained on Flinders Island and the children fostered out to friends of the family. There was social ostracism in the neighbourhood, and the grocer no longer delivered to their household. Susan learned not to look people in the eye for fear of being snubbed.
Deasy Gladys O’Connor 22 October 1920 – 25 May 2018 Clyde 1934-1938 Deasy O’Connor was a fifth generation Tasmanian. Her ancestors were the ancient Irish Connor family of Trim, County Cork, whose descendants, two O’Connor brothers sailed to Australia on their own ship the Ardent in 1824. Since 1824, successive generations of the O’Connor family have been community leaders, running prominent agricultural enterprises in Tasmania through the Connorville and Benham estates. Deasy was born on 22 October 1920, the daughter of Arthur Francis O’Connor and his wife Agnes O’Connor of Benham at Avoca. Benham was always superb sheep country, with river frontage, undulating grazing land, timber groves, rocky rises and warm shelter on a fertile alluvial base. Deasy had a brother 31
Arthur Francis (Barney) O’Connor who later inherited the estate. Her father’s brother, Rodric G O’Connor managed Connorville. They were graziers, racehorse owners and sheep breeders whose merino wool clips have been among the best produced in Australia. Deasy was six years old and living with her parents in Benham Cottage on the estate, when the magnificent 1880s Benham homestead was destroyed by fire in 1926. Fire had once before destroyed the original 1820s homestead in 1886. On both occasions, the O’Connors lost irreplaceable heirlooms, family silver and furniture, with the losses considered a significant blow to Tasmania’s heritage. In recent years Benham has expanded under the management of Robert O’Connor with an irrigation and cropping enterprise, farming, livestock and timber.
commissioned by The Victorian Railways to sketch a six-part series of rail tourism posters. These were published in various magazines and appeared as Railway advertising in theatre programmes. Deasy often painted animals and people, describing her art as “humour paintings”, many of which she sold. One work called ‘The Expedition’ showed animals at the South Pole.
While generations of O’Connor boys have attended Geelong Grammar, Deasy boarded at Clyde School from 1934-38. She left in first term 1938 and was awarded her Intermediate Certificate. In the 1970s her close relative Julie Farrell (O’Connor), from Connorville, also attended Clyde.
An article about Deasy appeared in The Examiner, 18 December 2014, headed “Forgotten book comes to life after 67 years”. The photo shows Deasy with her great-niece Pip Tyson, holding a newly published children’s book. The playful picture book,
Deasy stopped painting after her mother’s death in 1969, saying she had no further desire to paint. She did not want to sit alone in her studio, but rather to travel and see the world. She became a voluntary driver for the Blue Cross Animal Society of Victoria for two years, helping with cruelty cases and rescue animals. She then became a taxi driver in Melbourne.
School holidays in Tasmania were very social with events reported in local newspapers. Clyde girls sailed home on vessels like the Taroona. As she often did to welcome her children, Deasy’s mother held a festive party in May 1936 at her home in St George’s Square for Deasy and Barney. The ballroom was decorated with autumn flowers and foliage, the verandah with Chinese lanterns and the supper room with carnations and ferns. Deasy’s ‘pretty dance frock was of blue silk crepe patterned in silver with drapery of pink georgette in a sash’. Her Clyde friends attending were Margaret (Meg) Boyd, Patricia Gatenby, Marion Outraad, Barbara Cooley and Barbara Archer. As a young girl Deasy loved to paint and eventually studied Art at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. She had her own art studio at home in Melbourne where she lived with her mother after her father died and her brother Barney was managing Benham. Deasy and her mother Agnes attended Barney’s wedding when he married Nellie Marguerite (Neddie) Littlechild at Kirklands in Tasmania on 2 August 1940. Always stylish, Deasy was noted as wearing a ‘musquash fur coat over her carnation pink woollen frock’.
‘The Mystery Cave’ is a story about a girl and her horse Monty who slip into a cave and accidentally open a spell-locked door to find a family of fairies. The words were written by Agnes O’Connor and brought to life by the wonderfully imaginative pictures painted by her daughter Deasy in 1947, then aged 27. Agnes had written other stories, but never a children’s book and none had been published. Deasy had painted the illustrations in her home studio, and said she had forgotten about the book until it resurfaced in 2003. The story and paintings were found at the family home. Pip Tyson said she loved her greataunt’s paintings because “they just make people smile”. In 2014 ‘The Mystery Cave’ was published in time for Christmas, and was available at Petrarch’s Bookshop (Hobart) at that time.
Deasy’s artwork was popular. In 1949 she worked briefly for an animated film company in London, and was given the job after showing some illustrations she had done for a then-unpublished children’s book written by her mother in 1947. She held an art exhibition in November 1951 at the Princes Gallery. Her works were described as “whimsical watercolours, drawings and portraits. Subjective and illustrative they appeal to the humorous rather than the aesthetic sense”. She was regarded as an accomplished commercial artist and illustrator. In 1952 she was
Deasy was married to the late Ralph Gamble and they lived for a few years on the east coast of Tasmania before she returned to Hobart. She died aged 97, having been a much-loved member of the 32
O’Connor family, and resident at Tyler Village where she spent her final years. A positive spirit and warm personality, with a great sense of humour and style, she was described as ‘bubbling with laughter’ whenever she spoke.
Maudsley’s description of life in the WRANS was summarised in The Cluthan 1946: “… As a Visual Signaller we learned Morse, semaphore and flag-signalling … all outgoing and incoming ships had to be identified. It was always exciting watching a convoy depart at night. The ships came slowly down the bay one by one: all that could be seen were red and green lights burning brightly … At times life consisted of nothing but telephones, lights, ships and flags, all working simultaneously to create complete confusion – monotony was unheard of!” Their work increased as units of the British Fleet arrived – aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers. “V -P Day came, but routine work continued, then the POW ships started returning. Heavily bedecked with flags, they entered the harbour where they were met by hundreds of yachts, motor boats and small craft. All the sirens, horns, and everything that could make a noise, sounded, as the ships sailed up Sydney Harbour.” Cynthia also served in naval intelligence, where she was tasked with trying to crack Japanese secret codes.
Information from the internet; newspaper reports (The Age, The Examiner, The Mercury); Trove NLA (Tasmanian history references); Tom Maddicks, GGS Data Officer; Ros O’Connor and Julie Farrell (O’Connor). Cynthia Marguerite Wagg (Sterling) 3 May 1924 – 8 October 2018 Clyde 1937-1941 Cynthia Marguerite Wagg, born in Melbourne on 3 May 1924, was the daughter of Robert James Sterling and Annie Stella Marguerite Sterling (Turnbull) who were married in 1920. Cynthia had a brother Ian Robert Burns Sterling (1926-1986) and two younger sisters Judith Reindl (Sterling) and Pamela Mary de Vreugt (Sterling, 1930-70). They grew up in Melbourne ‘when there were still cows grazing by the old brick works off Toorak Road’. Cynthia’s primary education was at Little St Margaret’s in Melbourne, where she made lifelong friends. She boarded at Clyde School from 19371941. She excelled at sport and was a multi-talented contributor to all aspects of school life. In her last year 1941, Cynthia was awarded Best All-Round Sport with colours for Basketball and Tennis. She was also a school Prefect, Faireleight House Captain, Dramatic Secretary, Gardening Club Secretary, Music Club Treasurer, Secretary of the Birthday League Auxiliary, serving as well on committees for Camera Club, Sports, CHA and Golf. She was praised for her role as Hastings in the senior school play ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ by Goldsmith. The play was performed at the University of Melbourne Union Theatre to raise funds for selected charities. Cynthia was modest about her achievements; she used to tell her family that she only won so many trophies because she was “slightly thinner than the other girls”! Cynthia’s two sisters also attended Clyde, Judith (Cl’1941-46) and Pamela (Cl’194148).
After the war, Cynthia returned to her music studies, and in 1948 she married Herbert John Wagg (19192006) who had emigrated from England after the war. Cynthia and John lived in Toorak and raised four children Nicholas, Michael, Roderick and Elizabeth. In 1969 they moved to Nardoo, a 165-hectare property at 1361 Kilmore Road, Riddells Creek, in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges. During WW2 four Italian prisoners of war were posted there, working on the farm during the day and being locked in the upper storey of an outbuilding at night. One of the region’s oldest and most beautiful estates, Nardoo has stables, an art studio, a tennis court and a three-hole golf course, 25 paddocks, a large shearing shed, 400year-old trees, and a picturesque lake with deck and jetty. The custom-built main house was designed by architect Alistair Knox in the 1970s for Cynthia and John. It had vaulted ceilings, large picture windows and Matchem Skipper-designed chandeliers. Cynthia and John lived on the property for 20 years, before moving to Barwon Heads in 1989. Cynthia often said her years at Nardoo, farming and living in the country, were the happiest of her life. She made strong connections there, and continued to meet her Macedon friends for ‘mountain maids’ lunches at the Alexandra Club for as long as she was able.
After leaving Clyde, she was enrolled at Invergowrie Homecrafts Hostel in Hawthorn to study the fine arts of domestic management. According to her family, she only lasted a few days because she failed “bedmaking 101”. Clearly her interests lay elsewhere and she enrolled at Melbourne University to do a Bachelor of Arts in Music, studying at the Conservatorium. She loved the piano but always felt a little doubtful about her singing ability.
Cynthia’s three sons and two of her grandchildren Olivia and Emma Wagg attended GGS. She always regularly played competitive tennis, golf and bridge, and was active in community service. She worked for the Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, the Geelong Botanical Gardens, Riding for the Disabled, and was a commissioner in the Girl Guides. An active and energetic person, she went abseiling at Mittagundi for her 70th birthday, and according to her son Nick,
During the war, Cynthia was among a number of Clyde Old Girls who joined the navy, enlisting in the WRANS. She worked alongside Ann Angas (Maudsley) and Elizabeth Moran (White). Ann 33
she continued her zest for life until she died aged 94.
best amateur.
“She was a musician, music lover, charity worker, gardener, farmer, wife, mother, granny and great granny. Mum was a very independent woman all her life, maintaining her wits and intellect until the end. As she became frail in recent times, with children far away, she relied on the generous help provided by her network of friends and neighbours. Many visitors brightened her days with help and companionship. Rain, hail or shine, the front door was always open. Like most of her generation she was stoic and if asked how she was, always replied firmly “Very well thank you”, even the day before she died. Mum was always cheerful and enthusiastic, modest with an enquiring mind. She had the most marvellous life and was enormously grateful for it. We will miss her very much.”
After Sydney, the Whitton family lived in Perth for some years before moving back to Melbourne, where Joan’s parents had married in 1920. Living at 37 Fernhill Road, Sandringham, Joan had a brother Bill Whitton and a sister, Flora Grimwade (Whitton). Joan was privately tutored before attending St Catherine’s School in Toorak. She completed her secondary education at Clyde School 1937-1939. She enjoyed history, art appreciation and sport being awarded Hockey Colours and was Golf Champion. In 1938 she was Dux of Va, was awarded prizes for Reading, Bookkeeping and Scripture and was Clutha House Captain in 1939. Joan’s sister Flora Grimwade (Whitton) also attended Clyde 1941-43, as did her nieces Suzanne Grimwade (Cl’1961-66) and Janie Grimwade (Cl’1965-69).
At Clyde, Cynthia was also a poet, and despite her manifold achievements, still wished to improve herself:
During WW2 from 1941-1946, Joan worked at the Red Cross Australia head office in Flinders Street, Melbourne, arranging for parcels and letters to be sent to prisoners of war in Germany and Italy (the Japanese did not accept POW parcels or letters). After the war from 1948-53, her father was appointed to the rules of golf committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, Scotland. He took Joan and her mother with him to England in 1948 when the committee met at St Andrews to review the rules of the game. Joan remembered meeting the Australian Davis Cup tennis team travelling on the ship. When her parents returned to Australia Joan stayed on in England and worked at a travel agency in London. She enjoyed being independent, having her own room with a pleasant family in South Kensington.
GEOGRAPHY Oh! How I wish that I could be A genius at Geography; To know the how and when and why, And what keeps clouds up in the sky, The reasons for rotation, and The build of every different land, Why sunrise alters every day And comets sometimes go astray. The form of delta, lake and sound, Of river, billabong and mound. The causes and effects of tides, The regions which grow skins and hides, And wheat, and rice, and coconut, And sugar, maize, and cotton, but – Oh! How I wish I could be A genius at Geography!
Joan returned to Australia in 1949 aboard the SS Orontes. She had an active social life in Melbourne, and played senior A-grade pennant golf for RMGC and the Kingston Heath Club at Cheltenham. She travelled to NSW in 1950 to visit her mother’s cousins the Macdonald family at their property Kelvin at Bringelly, near Camden. During this visit Joan met her future husband at a night tennis party, a ‘handsome young farmer and sportsman’ John Downes whose family owned the historic Brownlow Hill dairy property, also near Camden. Robert John Frederick Downes (born 22 October 1916), the son of Edgar and Isabel Downes, was a keen polo player and a member of the Australian Polo Team that won the President’s Cup tournament in The Philippines 1938-39. He served in New Guinea during the war under Samuel Hordern who inspired him to a lifetime of community service. In 1951 the Whittons invited John to Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup festivities, and before long he and Joan were engaged. Several newspaper and magazine articles mentioned the social events celebrating their engagement, leading up to their wedding on 1 May 1952 at All Souls Church of England in Sandringham. Joan wore a satin brocade gown and vintage lace veil, both family heirlooms, and the flowergirl was her niece Suzanne
(By C. Sterling, Faireleight, 1941) Information from The Cluthan 1941-46; the internet (Turnbull Clan Association website); real estate websites (re Nardoo); Nicholas Wagg eulogy. Our sincere thanks to Nick for assisting in this tribute to Cynthia. Joan Elizabeth Downes (Whitton) 14 March 1921 – 9 April 2018 Clyde 1937-1939 Joan Elizabeth Whitton was born in Sydney on 14 March 1921, the daughter of Ivo Harrington Whitton (1893-1967) and Evelyn Jessie Whitton (Jennings), known as ‘Cuckoo’. Her father Ivo Whitton, educated at Melbourne Grammar, was a wool broker and top amateur golfer, winning the Australian Open Championship five times between 1912-1931 and numerous amateur championships. In his memory, the Royal Melbourne Golf Club (RMGC) established the Ivo Whitton Cup, and the Victorian Golf Association (VGA) the Ivo Whitton Trophy for the 34
Grimwade. The Women’s Weekly of 14 May 1952 carried an article and photos of the wedding.
Downes and his wife Lynne are the fifth generation to call Brownlow Hill home. Changed management practices mean that chemicals are no longer used, crops and pastures are rotated and renovated, removing the need for drenching or inoculation of cattle. The crops are resistant to insect infestation, there is no salinity evident in the river or the soil, and with regenerative farming practices, Edgar and Lynne are able to continue the family tradition at Brownlow Hill. In 2009, Joan’s grandchildren Clare and Henry Downes initiated an annual Secret Garden Festival at the property for a weekend of ‘music, art, food and fun’. Joan and John would be happy to know that the Downes family legacy lives on with the next generation.
Joan and John Downes became the fourth generation of his family to run the Brownlow Hill estate at Weromba, NSW. Built in the 1830s, the homestead and farm complex was established by Alexander Macleay, first Colonial Secretary of NSW. It was first leased by Jeremiah Frederick Downes (182187) in 1859, who then purchased it in 1875. Brownlow Hill is regarded as one of Australia’s significant early agricultural and settlement sites, used for research into change and development over more than 200 years. It was the first dairy farm to serve the fledgling settlement of Sydney. The 19th century infrastructure is still intact with 1830s colonial homestead, garden layout, farm buildings including brick stables, aviary and sandstone balustraded pond wall in a landscape setting. It features in W Hardy Wilson’s ‘Old Colonial Architecture’. There are four dairies on the property, and quarries for sandstone, shale and mudstone supplies. Joan’s sister-in-law Diana Wilson (Downes) restored and lived in the historic Round House, or Monks Cottage, also on the property.
Information from Trove NLA newspaper archives; Sydney Morning Herald, John Downes obituary by Lynne Cairncross 2008; For more information on the fascinating history of Brownlow Hill, see ‘National Trust of Australia. Colonial Landscapes of the Cumberland Plain and Camden 2000’ and ‘National Trust (NSW) Parks and Gardens Conservation Committee. Brownlow Hill’ (1995) and Heritage Office, database number 5051301; Camden Historical Society; The Camden Library Oral History Project recorded an interview with Joan Downes in 2011, which is available on CD at the library. Our sincere thanks to Edgar Downes for his assistance.
Joan and John were community leaders, opening their home to visits by National Trust members, specialist heritage and garden groups and for fundraising days for the Red Cross and other charities. The family’s interest in cattle and horses meant they were prominently involved over many years in the Camden Show Society, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (John introduced the animal nursery to the Royal Easter Show), and active contributors to the local Wollondilly Shire Council.
Sheila Fraser Dennis (Currie) 4 January 1919 – 6 April 2019 Clyde 1933-1935
Sheila Dennis (Currie) was born in London at the end of WW1, on 4 January 1919, the only daughter of Capt. J Clive Currie AIF and Joanna Currie (Culross), originally of Marlee, Mount Lofty near Adelaide. Her parents married in London where her father was serving with the British Army, before they returned to Australia to live at his family’s property Gala at Lismore, Victoria, residing in the ‘Gala Cottage’.
By chance in the 1980s, Joan discovered in the back of a drawer the original diaries of John’s greatgrandmother Caroline Husband, who arrived from England in 1852 and whose daughter married Frederick William Arthur Downes (1855-1917). Caroline’s fresh youthful commentary and sharp witty observations of colonial Sydney and country life were taken up by author and historian Anne Philp and published as “Caroline’s Diary, A Woman’s World in Colonial Australia”, Anchor Books NSW 2015. Joan’s discovery became a valuable addition to literature portraying authentic women’s experiences in 19th century New South Wales.
Gala is one of the most historic sheep stations in Victoria’s Western District. Its first owner was John Brown who named it Gala after Galashiels in Scotland. After a few changes of ownership, it comprised 30,000 acres in 1889 when it was bought by Sheila’s great-grandfather John Lang Currie, whose family also owned Ettrick, Larra and Mt Elephant stations. Continuing a line of family ownership, Sheila’s father Clive took over the running of Gala after the death of his father Edwin Currie in 1938.
After John died on 29 June 2008, Joan continued to live in the main house. She maintained the rainfall records as John had for over fifty years before her. Since 1882, the Downes family have had an unbroken tradition of providing rainfall measurements to the Bureau of Meteorology. In 2011 family and friends gathered to celebrate Joan’s 90th birthday with several parties, including a champagne drinks party on the lawns beside the old homestead.
Generations of the Currie family have been highly regarded in the local community. Sheila’s grandfather Edwin epitomised the Currie family spirit, described as “a generous devout Anglican with a charitable heart, charming and courteous, a staunch friend, good master and beloved at home”. On his 18th birthday in 1914, Sheila’s father Clive was described as “being like his parents, he stands in high
Joan is survived by her two children, Edgar and Eleanor, and several grandchildren. Her son Edgar 35
estimation of all who come in contact with him”. The Curries were renowned for their warmth, generosity and hospitality at Gala, creating a home environment which shaped many of Sheila’s own personal qualities. They avidly celebrated their Scottish family traditions. In the 1880s the Gala Christmas celebrations were legendary, with hundreds invited from around the district for “refreshments, foot races, cricket, singing, dancing and other sports”. There was a huge Christmas tree with fruit and toys for all children and a picnic for everyone.
‘Tim’ Street as flower girl, and Norman Wettenhall (father of Helen Connell (Wettenhall) as best man. Sheila wore a “simple afternoon frock of white pebble crepe, a white hat and carried a bouquet of white lilac”. The Dennis family sheep property Tarndwarncoort was first settled in 1840 by squatters Alexander, John and William Dennis. Their Polwarth Stud was founded in 1880 by Richard V Dennis and has continued in family ownership down the generations. Recognised for its quality and commercial success in Australia and overseas, the stud has played an important role in the development of the Polwarth breed, a Lincoln/Merino cross. The Dennis and Wettenhall families had shared interests in Polwarth sheep breeding.
Sheila had a younger brother John. At home she was schooled by a governess until she chose to go and board at Clyde School, mainly because it had a golf course and the family were keen golfers. After leaving school, in April 1936 she travelled with her parents and brother John on the SS Maloja to England. There was a farewell party held at Gala attended by several Clyde friends, including Patricia de Pledge, Peggie and Jane Hood, Rhoda and Veronica Law-Smith, Isabel Rowe, Betty, Catherine and Paddy Ramsay. The family planned to be away for eight months visiting relatives, the British agricultural shows and checking the sheep market. On return, Sheila helped her mother at charity fundraising events and enjoyed a busy social life at town and country events for racing, polo, bridge or tennis, and holidays at Barwon Heads. On 26 February 1937, her parents hosted a dance at Nine Darling Street to celebrate Sheila’s ‘debut’. “Great bowls of exquisite flowers formed a perfect background for the guests”. Described as ‘delightfully unaffected in manner and looking most charming in her frock of apricot pink net and velvet, Miss Sheila Currie won all hearts’ that night. Another ball in Shelia’s honour was held in March 1938, also at Nine Darling Street attended by many country visitors in town for the races. Clyde friends included Joan McIntosh, Sheila Armytage, Patricia Whitehead, Judith Chirnside, Sheila Creswick, Patricia Synnot and Denise Raleigh; with their beautiful gowns noted for the social pages.
The Dennis and Currie families were very keen golfers, with golf links on their home turf, and both clans maintained substantial historic homesteads at Gala and Tarndwarncoort (an aboriginal name meaning ‘like a bandicoot running’). At Gala there were holiday golf tournaments attracting friends from all over Victoria. The “delightful undulating links had big plantations to shelter the fairways and form a perfect breakwind”. With so much in common, Sheila and Norman were a natural match for each other. In 1943, the tragic news came through that Sheila’s brother Pte. John Culross Currie (VX52785) had died on Active Service in Thailand as a prisoner of war in Japanese hands. In 1945 Norman joined his brothers Robert and Noel in reviving the business name of Dennis Bros to manage the Tarndwarncoort Polwarth enterprise in partnership with their father. The shearing shed had been destroyed by fire in 1944 so a neighbouring woolshed was used. Sheila and Norman bred polled Polwarth sheep at their property Coorameet in Warncoort as part of the Dennis Bros enterprise. Sheila would travel to Melbourne for the annual Royal Melbourne Show or the Australian Sheep Breeders’ Association show at Newmarket, where she caught up with friends and watched the judging. While involved in the running of Coorameet, Sheila was an active and generous contributor to their local community She loved golf, gardening, reading and meeting up with her many friends from far and wide, including fellow Clyde girls over her lifetime. Sheila and Norman raised five children, David, Celia, Tom, Edward and Rowena, and over her long and happy life Sheila became the beloved matriarch of 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She died aged 100.
During WW2 Sheila worked for the war effort in munitions, and for the Lismore Flax Mill. This was opened in 1943, stimulated by Australia’s war needs and made possible by local landowners who formed a Flax Production Committee, grew flax crops and sourced efficient machinery. The Mill employed returned soldiers and locals, 40 men, 40 women working round the clock in three shifts. Adult women could earn £4 17 shillings for a 44-hour week. On 19 October 1940 Sheila married Lt. Norman A Dennis AIF (ex-RAAF), eldest son of Mr and Mrs Alec Dennis of Tarndwarncoort, Warncoort, at Scots Church, Melbourne with her young cousin Veronica
Information from the internet, Trove NLA (newspaper reports, history of Currie and Dennis families); with thanks to Sheila’s son Tom Dennis. 36
Jacquelyn Anne Coverley Maling 23 September 1946 – 4 December 2018 Clyde 1958-63
bred the first Merino sheep in England. His flock was derived from the Spanish Merinos of King George III, and his merinos were first imported to Australia in the early 1800s by Captain John Macarthur, the pioneering NSW grazier.
Jacquelyn Maling was born on 23 September 1946. She was the youngest child of Dr Henry Maling and his wife Evelyn ‘Eve’ (Spain), and the much younger sister of Janet Fowles (Maling, Cl’1945-48) and brother Dr Bill Maling. The family lived in Portland, Victoria, where her father and brother were GPs and general surgeons for many years, and her mother Eve was a nurse.
In 1828 Thomas Henty successfully applied to buy 84,000 acres of land on the Swan River in Western Australia. Thomas and his wife had one daughter, Jane, and seven sons, the eldest being James (18001882) from whom Edrina is descended. On 6 June 1829 James Henty and two brothers Stephen and John set sail in the Caroline, loaded with livestock and equipment bound for the new colony in Western Australia. James and John then moved on to Launceston, Tasmania, leaving Stephen in WA. They were later joined in Tasmania by their parents, who emigrated with daughter Jane and four other sons Edward, Francis (Frank), William and Charles.
Jackie attended Clyde School from 1958-63. She was on the Senior Library Committee, Cluthan coeditor, was awarded the Senior Lady Robinson Reading Prize and gained her Matriculation with French Second Class Honours. After leaving Clyde she enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts course at Monash University, but decided to change direction and instead studied Librarianship at RMIT.
Convinced there was good grazing land near the prosperous whaling station at Portland Bay, Victoria, Edward Henty and his younger brother Frank moved to Portland in 1833. Their older brother James helped them to battle authorities for the granting of land rights, eventually negotiating the right to settle and cease to be labelled as “squatters”. They were the first permanent settlers in Victoria, and on top of their pastoral pursuits, the Henty brothers profited from the thriving whaling trade.
After qualifying, Jackie travelled abroad extensively in the 1960s and 70s, living overseas and working for several years as a librarian in England. She travelled overland from Asia to London; and then to the United States, and continued travelling overseas for holidays. She returned to Australia and moved home to Portland to help care for her mother, Eve in the 1970s. She became the Portland and District Senior Librarian, a position she held for 30 years until she retired in 2003.
Stephen (from Swan River) and John Henty also settled near Portland, while James, William (solicitor) and Charles (bank employee) remained in Launceston with their father Thomas who died there in 1839, aged 65. Eventually James Henty, a merchant and shipping agent, with an interest in a whaling company and who saw himself as the mentor of the family, joined his pioneering brothers in the Portland Bay district.
After retirement, Jackie led quite a private life with her dogs, Daisy and Lily. She was always intelligent and pursued her lifelong interests in music, film and sport (especially tennis and cricket). Affectionately known as ‘Jax’ to her family, she was a great friend, mentor and aunt to her nieces and nephews Liz, David and Kate Fowles; and Henry, Catriona, Bridget and Annabel Maling. Jackie also had many greatand great-great nieces and nephews.
Edrina was the great-great-granddaughter of the eldest brother James. Her father Edric Henty, James’ great-grandson, flew over the Somme as a major in the Royal Flying Corps in WW1. Her grandfather Harry Henty, James’ grandson, built the family house Bath Lodge in Anderson Street, South Yarra which became the childhood home of Edrina and her sister Sheridan Girardot (Henty, Cl’1953-62). Called Bath Lodge because it had the first swimming pool built into the design of a private residence in Melbourne, it was the marital home of her parents after they married in 1932.
She was loved by her extended family who appreciated her constancy: “She never really changed. She had no airs or graces and was oblivious to fashions, trends and fads – and she certainly didn’t suffer fools! She was very special to us all …” Information from family members, with thanks to Janet Fowles (Maling) and Katie Fowles. Edrina Caroline Tarring Dunstan (Henty) 23 February 1942 – 19 May 2019 Clyde 1953-1959
Edrina walked to school at Merton Hall nearby until 1953 at which time, aged 11, she and her sister Sheridan were sent to board at Clyde, the former school of their mother Betty Wilkinson (Cl’1927-29) and aunt Phyllis ‘Paddy’ Wilkinson (Cl’1927-31). Betty had remarried, her second husband was an Old Geelong Grammarian, GA ‘Mick’ Richardson, whose son was boarding at Glamorgan, so it was decided the Henty girls should go to Clyde. Edrina made lifelong friendships at school, especially with
Edrina Caroline Tarring Henty was born in 1942, the daughter of Edric Percival Henty and his Adelaideborn wife Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Wilkinson. Descended from Victoria’s earliest European settlers, the Henty brothers, Edrina’s first name was derived from her father’s name Edric; her second, Caroline was the name of the ship on which the first Henty brothers came to Australia in 1829; and West Tarring was the Sussex parish where her ancestor Thomas Henty 37
Elisabeth ‘Lis’ Gunness (Jensen, Cl’1957-59). Lis recalls that in the 1950s the only communication with home was by postal letters, or a phone call once a week. “Edrina excelled at tennis, golf and basketball. She was well-behaved and polite – popular with the teachers. When I (Lis) managed to lead her astray by smoking black Sobranie Russian cigarettes in our room, Sister Neville came by and interrogated Edrina who answered quickly that the sports mistress was smoking in her room, and it must have drifted up the corridor.” Lis added, “of course Miss Goody-Two-Shoes was believed!”
because of her father’s service in the Royal Flying Corps 19141918”. Edrina was very close to her father, and was devastated by his death in 1966. Edrina and Lis were together at the opening night of the ballet ‘The Nutcracker’ in 2009 when she suffered a stroke, after which she was not able to skate again. Her husband David died in 2011, and in 2013 Edrina moved to their Mt Eliza holiday house, eventually rebuilding the cottage. She made new friends and reconnected with some old friends who were in the area.
Back in Melbourne Edrina’s mother, now Mrs Betty Richardson, had a distinctive new home in Toorak. Known as The Bridge House, it was designed by architect Robin Boyd and was suspended by two arches over a subterranean creek bed.
According to Lis, “Edrina had a wonderful ‘warped’ sense of humour, always laughing at her own ploys, she was eccentric, generous to a tee, yet frugal, kind, and a generous patron of the arts. A beautiful and loyal friend she will be sorely missed by her family and many friends.”
In early 1959, during her Intermediate year at Clyde, Edrina left school and travelled to the UK to spend 18 months with her aunt Paddy Wilkinson and other members of her maternal family. Contact with UK branches of the Henty family in Sussex had been lost by then. She began ice-skating after taking lessons at the Bayswater skating rink in London, becoming a keen, proficient and elegant skater. On her return to Melbourne she worked for the National Trust of Victoria in their South Yarra offices at Como House.
Our sincere thanks to Sheridan Girardot (Henty) and Lis Gunness (Jensen) for sharing their memories, history of the Henty family, and assisting in this tribute to Edrina. The Henty family has been well recorded in historical reference material, contact History House, Cliff Street, Portland (historyhouse@glenelg.vic.gov.au).
Edrina married David Dunstan in May 1965 and moved to Winifred Crescent, Toorak. Their son Edric Dunstan was born in 1967. Despite some challenging times, Edrina enjoyed regular ice-skating, golf and competitive tennis with the ‘Tuesday Ladies’ at Royal South Yarra. She had a busy social life and often attended the races with her friends. Edrina was a brilliant ice-skater. She joined a group called the ‘Silver Blades’ and took part in many spectacular ice-skating productions throughout her life both as a solo artist and in performance ensembles. She also loved ballet; her father had taken her to performances by international ballet companies visiting Melbourne. When the Australian Ballet Company was formed, Edrina and Lis Gunness joined The Ballet Society and she became an enthusiastic patron and voluntary contributor. They attended performances together at the Palais de Danse, followed by supper at the Stokehouse Restaurant in St Kilda. When the Arts Centre opened, they went to France Soir in Toorak Road after the ballet, or attended postperformance soirees to meet members of the corps de ballet.
Celia Jean Searle (Blake) 17 August 1917 – 25 September 2010 Clyde 1928-1930 Celia Jean Blake, always known as ‘Jean’ was born on 17 August 1917 and died in New Zealand on 25 September 2010 at the age of 93. Jean attended Clyde School from 1928-30, accompanied by her three sisters Barbara Blake (Cl’1928 -30), Ina Blake (Cl’1928-30) and Helen Blake (Cl’1928-30). According to school records the Blake sisters were enrolled as day students. The girls were actively involved in school life and won various prizes for needlework and other studies during their three years at Clyde. Jean married Allan Searle and members of their family live in New Zealand. Her obituary published in the Herald Sun on 28 September 2010 noted that Celia Jean Searle had died peacefully in Havelock North in New Zealand, “the devoted mother of Barbara and John Smith, Allison McMinn-Collard. Much loved grandmother of Nick and Lilas; Will and Julie; Josie and Rowan; Allan and Kirsty McMinn-Collard; Matt, Joel and Kelly, Mike and Josh. Special great-grandmother of 18 in Australia and New Zealand. Loving foster grandmother of Christopher Kerr and Dani Smith.” (Her grandson Allan’s wife Kirsty McMinn-Collard is a noted singer in the district of Waiapu, North NZ.)
Edrina and Lis shared a close friendship for 62 years, they were godmother to each other’s sons, Edric and Campbell, who were born a year apart. Edric has fond memories of his mother working in her garden, pruning her roses and attending to her pet cats. Lis recalls Edrina’s many interests: “stamp collecting, books new and rare about Henty family history, ballet, Coco Chanel, and the two world wars
There is little information available for a fuller obi38
tuary. Presumably with four sisters at Clyde, there is a story to tell! We were notified of Jean’s death by Tom Maddicks, GGS Data Officer in November 2018, and would welcome any information from Clyde Old Girls about the Blake sisters.
as piano soloist had performed Sonatina, op.13 by Kabalevsky. In July 1950 she helped to organise a charity event in aid of the World Student Relief Appeal, with four Conservatorium students playing music for an informal dance given in the University ‘Hut’. In 1952 Jean on piano accompanied cellist Beverley Calder, showing “a promising sense of gradation of tone in phrasing” as they performed a cello sonata by Grazioli at a Conservatorium Student Concert. In July 1952 at a concert in the Elder Hall, she joined the string group in an oboe and strings arrangement of a 17th century Masque. In March 1952, Jean was awarded her Diploma in Music from Adelaide University at a ceremony in the Bonython Hall.
Jean Estcourt Ward (Luxton) 19 February 1929 – 25 December 2017 Clyde 1943-1945 Jean Estcourt Luxton was born on 19 February 1929, daughter of Mr and Mrs F E Luxton of Glenunga, Adelaide, South Australia. Her mother was a local representative of the worldwide Clan MacLeod Society which hosted a visit to Adelaide by its hereditary chief, Dame Flora MacLeod in 1954. Jean’s middle name ‘Estcourt’ reflects her British heritage, descended from an old Gloucestershire family, the Estcourt Bucknalls. In 1860 her paternal greatgrandfather Ernest Estcourt Bucknall arrived in Australia with his brother Frederick Estcourt Bucknall, then aged 22. They settled in South Australia, Frederick was a keen sailor, became Mayor of Hindmarsh and was involved in the hotel and brewing industry. He built the Australian Club House Hotel in 1869, and in 1874 married the widow of brewer H H Haussen. Frederick’s grand home in Adelaide, Estcourt House, still stands and has been heritagelisted for protection from development. Renowned for his musical ability as an organ player, he entertained socially on a ‘lavish scale’. Jean’s greatgrandfather Ernest Estcourt Bucknall’s daughter Maude Mary Bucknall married Jean’s grandfather Daniel James Luxton in 1886. They gave the middle name ‘Estcourt’ to their children, a tradition continued by Jean’s parents.
Jean’s social life in Adelaide revolved around her fellow music students. Soirees, 21sts, farewells, welcome home parties, concerts and dances. Her cellist friend Beverley Calder hosted a “refreshing and gracious soiree at her home in Eden Hills” where Jean was among final year diploma students from the Conservatorium, who performed chamber music, trios or songs. They also brought along their favourite records. On a visit to Melbourne in January 1951, Jean hosted a lunch in the Mexican Room of the Hotel Australia attended by Clyde friends including Jane MacGowan (Casey, Cl’1945-46) who was to leave for the UK in the SS Orion in February, and Ruth Cowen (Cl’1942-45) who was also soon to travel abroad. Jean then went for a holiday at Point Lonsdale with Mrs Keith Whitehead and her daughter Ann Whitehead (Cl’1942-45), before returning to Adelaide. In 1953, Jean was photographed at a farewell party for a friend about to travel overseas. Her own travel plans materialised on 7 January 1954 when Jean and two SA friends departed on the SS Maloja for a 12month trip to England and Europe, with London as their primary destination.
At the age of 14, Jean was sent interstate to board at Clyde School from 1943-45. In 1944 she received an Honours Prize; in 1945 she was Treasurer of the Art Club, served on the Music Club committee, was awarded a Music Prize and passed her Leaving Certificate. The Music Club was very active at Clyde in the 1940s, with many recitals, concerts and the development of a school Music Library.
Jean married Richard Ward, they lived in South Australia and they raised three sons, Stuart, Duncan and Robert Ward. She was a loving grandmother of seven grandchildren. In 2013, aged 84, she started her own Twitter account, describing herself as a “former teacher and craftsperson”. She is affectionately remembered and much missed by her extended family.
After leaving school Jean returned to South Australia and enrolled in a Diploma of Music course at the Elder Conservatorium of Adelaide University. During her years at university, she successfully passed her exams and was actively involved in campus social life. In 1948 Jean was on the organising committee of the Contemporary Arts Society Ball in the Palais Royal held on 1 October. She hosted a sherry and buffet dinner party for 20 at her home in Glenunga before the ball. Decorations for the CAS Ball featured ‘brilliant surrealist posters, a huge caricature of Beethoven with fiery red hair, an orchestral cartoon and brightly coloured balloons painted by university art students’.
Information from The Cluthan 1945-46; Trove NLA, re Frederick Estcourt Bucknall; Jean Luxton at the Conservatorium; the internet for history of Estcourt Bucknalls in the UK; The Age and Adelaide Advertiser obituary notices. Virginia ‘Bardie’ Winifred Mercer (Grimwade) 5 October 1929 – 13 March 2019 Clyde 1943-1947
In November 1949, Jean was among advanced students of the Elder Conservatorium who were commended for their high standard of performance, Jean
Virginia Winifred Grimwade (or Bardie as she was known from a very young age) was born on 5 October 1929, the second of three daughters of Thornton 39
Grimwade and his wife Ruth Grimwade (Affleck, Cl’1915-17). She was the third in her family to attend Clyde, following her mother Ruth and then her sister Rosemary ‘Posy’ Durham (Grimwade, Cl’1941-46). In turn she was followed on the mountain by her younger sister Debbo McNab (Grimwade, Cl’ 1948-54), her daughter Sally Hudson (Mercer, Cl’ 1966-71) and her niece Anna Affleck (Durham, Cl’1966-71). To complete the line her granddaughter, Georgie (Mercer) was a member of Clyde House at Corio (2006-2008) as were Posy’s granddaughters Celia, Pin, Sophie and Edwina Affleck.
near Derrinallum, living there for the next 57 years. There she lovingly raised her two children (Sally and David) and supervised her two grandchildren (Will and Georgie) with a firm but caring hand. Never one to let obstacles get in her way, Bardie felt the view to the landmark Mt Elephant from her homestead was impeded by the cypress hedge in the garden. A ‘localised’ fire mysteriously took care of that problem and the hedge now stands reduced, but healthy, in the garden with the view out to Mt Elephant just as Bardie wished! Always inventive, on another occasion she took the property’s fire-truck to a hair appointment in Derrinallum, her car not being in working order, only to be ‘sprung’ when John returned from the paddocks looking for the truck to attend a small fire in the district!
Bardie lived most of her life in the Western District. Her early years, pre-Clyde, were spent at her parents’ property Urara south of Lismore. She has written of the wonderful, carefree life she led amongst the animals, visiting neighbours and cousins in the district, riding out to see friends and swimming and playing in the waterhole in the creek below the house. All supported by loving parents, greatly involved in the local community, and a number of domestic staff, particularly nurses and governesses, many of whom became lifelong friends.
Bardie threw herself into the life of the district. She was President of the Derrinallum Infant Welfare Centre from 1955-60; Secretary of the Derrinallum branch of the Liberal Party 1976-93; District Commissioner of the Lake Gnarpurt Pony Club 1962-64, having attained her Pony Club Association of Victoria (PCAV) Instructor’s Certificate in 1962; Secretary of the National Trust of Victoria at Mooramong Homestead 1988-98; she organised cycling trips around the district, and arranged guided tours for visitors, sharing her encyclopaedic knowledge of the homes, families and historical landmarks of the Western District. Clyde Old Girls who enjoyed her niece Anna Affleck (Durham)’s garden tours to the Western District will remember Bardie’s wonderful history speeches aboard our bus tours. Her knowledge of local history was profound, contributing to Browns Waterholes, the history of Lismore, and three items in Gordon Forth’s Western District Dictionary of Biography. She had an abiding interest in the preservation of the Shipwreck Coast around Peterborough/Port Campbell and its history. She was also a regular participant in Red Cross bridge days held around the district, and a keen breeder of fine Labradors.
Initially holidays were spent with her paternal grandparents at their home Marathon, a beautiful house high on the cliff at Mt Eliza, overlooking Davey’s Bay. She described her visits there thus: “Our parents stayed at the big house, and we children stayed in a charming little old cottage near the stables with our nurse and a maid. Each day we visited our parents and grandparents as we passed the big house on our way to the steep path that led to the beach.” After a while, principally because of its proximity to Urara, but also because the journey was nowhere near as exhausting for her mother as the journey to Mt Eliza, the family started holidaying at the Affleck cottage at Peterborough, beginning a lifelong love of, and interest in, that part of the Victorian coastline.
Her sense of fun was never more evident than in the hijinks that took place over many summers in the ‘Great Hall’ at Peterborough (aka the Mercer garage) as she supervised the costumes, make-up, jewellery and high heels to adorn the unfortunate males deputed to be the Lady Mayoress and Lady-in-Waiting for the Australia Day festivities at Peterborough.
Bardie’s early education was at home via a series of governesses. She recalls teasing one unfortunate governess by persuading her to come riding with her charges, and then putting her on an old white pony prone to bucking! At the age of thirteen she began at Clyde School and has written of the contrast between her idyllic life at home and the rather starker atmosphere at boarding school. Whilst not regarding her time at Clyde as the most wonderful of her life, she did settle in to a degree and made some lifelong friends there.
At the age of 79, Bardie decided it was time to move from her beloved Elephant North into Camperdown. In her meticulous way, instead of looking to buy a comfortable home with an established garden (“Why would I want to live in someone-else’s house”, she firmly told her son-in-law), she set out to find a block that had views of her beloved Mt Elephant. Having found such a block, with help from Sally and David, she set about having a new house built, with her bedroom looking out towards the Mount. There she spent four happy years, visiting Peterborough regularly, going back to Elephant North from time to
In 1952 Bardie married John Mercer, an experienced pilot who served in the RAAF Squadron in WW2. They settled on his sheep station Elephant North 40
time, and, journeying to her beloved Noosa Heads to escape the worst of the Victorian winter, before moving to Sunnyside in Camperdown for her declining years.
Mooleric gardens, golf days on the property’s private links, or bridge parties in the sitting-room, “bright with a huge glowing log fire and bowls of spring flowers”.
Bardie was farewelled on a glorious autumn day at Elephant North by her family and a multitude of friends across the generations whom she had touched over her 89 years around the district. Of her childhood she wrote “… there were many happy times and many wonderful people … and I repeat that we were very lucky children to have lived out those carefree years in such idyllic surroundings …” Those at her farewell all agreed that those words apply equally to her adult life and the love and support she gave to her husband, children and grandchildren, and all those in the wider district with whom she came into contact.
Mary had an older sister Ann and two brothers Robert and Andrew Urquhart Ramsay. They enjoyed a happy childhood at Mooleric with its historic bluestone homestead and distinctive three-storey tower. Mary loved her horse Donah, her two shetland ponies Darky and Paddy, and was always accompanied by her pet dog Bun. Weekends meant a trip by horse -drawn dray to collect chickens for Sunday lunch. On Sundays they attended church in Birregurra, or held a service in the Mooleric dining room followed by a traditional roast lunch, a walk and a game of tennis. Sometimes Mary’s mother held pony gymkhanas on the property for the four Ramsay children and their friends. Children would ride long distances from other properties, share a picnic in the pine plantation near the homestead, then compete in bending and flag races, musical chairs and other novelty events. A local paper reported that “They made a fascinating picture riding about the paddocks on their ponies, clad in jodhpurs and multi-coloured jerseys”.
Our sincere thanks to Bardie’s daughter Sally Hudson (Mercer) for this wonderful tribute. Some extra details from ‘Directory of Old Geelong Grammarians (including Old Girls of Clyde School and The Hermitage) 1994’, entries for ‘Mercer’. Mary Mabel Sutherland (Ramsay) 14 July 1931 – 14 September 2017 Clyde 1943-1948
Mary boarded at Clyde from 1943-48, following her sister Ann Hope Johnstone (Ramsay, Cl’1938-43). Mary’s first school report in 1943 indicated that she worked well, won “a competition at the Gardening Fete by naming 16 leaves growing near the school”, but she was “rather noisy in the house”. In 1944 she was praised for her good work in drawing and craft but she “lost house points for untidiness and unpunctuality”! Her keen interest in gardening and painting developed at an early age.
Mary Mabel Sutherland was born on 14 July 1931, the youngest of four children of Major Robert Andrew Ramsay (d1948) and his wife Mabel Alice Ramsay of Mooleric, Birregurra in Victoria. Located between Winchelsea and Colac, on the southern slope of Mt Gellibrand (one of several extinct volcanoes in the Western District) Mooleric was first owned by Alex Dennis who came from Tasmania in 1838. It became the property of Robert and Urquhart Ramsay in 1899. The Ramsay brothers were champion athletes at Scotch College in rowing, football and cricket. They were natural leaders who became equally prominent as woolgrowers. In 1903 Urquhart Ramsay acquired Turkeith nearby at 6,000 acres, and Mary’s grandfather Robert retained Mooleric and Bleak House at 6,500 acres. The Ramsays ran a successful enterprise in woolgrowing and cattle breeding. They bred Polwarth sheep on lines introduced by RV Dennis of Tarndwarncoort in 1880, and Hereford cattle on Golf Hill bloodlines.
In December 1949, Mary joined her family in hosting a summer barbecue at Birregurra attended by 150 guests, including Mary’s friends Elizabeth Burston (Cl’1946-48) and Sonia Cole (Cl’194546). In 1950 Mary was living in a flat in Jackson Street, Toorak. In March that year Mabel Ramsay hosted a dinner dance in her honour at the Delphic in Melbourne, attended by many of her old Clyde School friends. Also, in 1950, her sister Ann married Douglas Hope Johnstone and moved to his property Rippenhurst Estate, near Macarthur. In February 1952, Mary and her Clyde friend Elizabeth Aickin (Gullett Cl’1945-48) were bridesmaids at her brother Andrew’s wedding to Gillian Forrester.
Mary’s father Robert Ramsay graduated in law at Melbourne University before settling at Mooleric as a grazier. He was chief of the Colac Caledonian Society for 36 years, a member of the Commonwealth Wool Inquiry Committee (1932), President of the Graziers’ Association of Victora (1939) and President of Colac Shire Council. He served with distinction at Gallipolli in WW1, gave many horses as remounts to the Army’s 20th Light Horse and encouraged others in the district to volunteer for the Australian division. Mary’s mother Mabel Ramsay was President of the Birregurra Baby Health Centre, she hosted fund-raising events in the award-winning
On 27 November 1952, Mary married Hugh Malcolm Sutherland, only son of Mr and Mrs HD Sutherland of Berachah, Hamilton at Christ Church Birregurra, having met Hugh through her sister Ann. She wore a white lace ‘redingote-style frock over knife-pleated marquisette’. They settled at the Sutherland family sheep and cattle property Berachah for a happy marriage which lasted over 60 years. Family folklore has it that Mary was granted her driving licence by the local Branxholme policeman 41
after offering him freshly baked treacle scones. After a brief driving test as far as the cattle pit, he granted the licence and returned to enjoy morning coffee with said hot scones!
pool. She not only emerged with calm dignity but with a dry cigarette held high above her head.” Mary and Hugh moved to Bhealich in 1991 where her creative talents were used in the design of a new house and garden. Her ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren were very special to their ‘Grannie Mary’ and she formed a unique relationship with each of them in her own way. As her health and physical mobility deteriorated, she moved into Wannon Court, Coleraine in June 2014, having to live separately from Hugh. Despite this, her empathy, grace and dignity in difficult circumstances sustained her. With characteristic good humour, gritty determination and decisiveness Mary earned the gratitude and pride of her family. She was loved, admired and appreciated by her extended family as ‘an extraordinary mother, wonderful grannie, greatgrannie, aunt and friend’.
Mary and Hugh raised three boys, David, John and Andrew Sutherland who were born in close succession before their daughter Helenmary. Her children appreciated her guidance through their formative years, teaching them right from wrong with ‘fair but stern’ discipline and establishing a ‘formidable culture of manners’. She created a wonderful family environment for them, surrounded by a loving extended family. Friends were always welcomed, encouraged to visit and fed along with the family. Mary was a great hostess, not only for her own social life but also for the four children. According to her daughter, “our milestones were always celebrated as both Mum and Dad loved a party”. Mary’s children all attended the local Morgiana State School, followed by Hamilton and Alexandra College, Geelong College and Morongo Girls School. She was actively involved on school committees and contributed to fund-raising fetes, book stalls and uniform shops. She loved to watch her children perform or play sport. She campaigned for increased funding for country school bus runs, and supported local Liberal Party branch functions and fund raisers.
Information from Trove NLA (Ramsay and Mooleric history); The Cluthan 1948; with sincere thanks to her daughter Helenmary Macleod for her assistance in writing this tribute to Mary. Diana Jane June GRIFFIN (Rouse) 22 October 1952 – 16 June 2019 Clyde 1965-69 Diana Jane Rouse was the eldest of four children born to Edmund Rouse and Dorothy ‘Dordie’ Rouse (Rolph). The Rouse family home during her childhood was at 22 Gascoyne Street, Launceston. Diana Jane had two younger sisters Angela and Virginia, and a brother David. The children’s friends remember a happy, loving household full of fun and laughter, great hospitality and hours spent in the swimming pool. Always a hive of activity, it was a delight to be invited to the ‘Rouse House’. Beach holidays were spent swimming, water-skiing and sailing at Low Head, Tasmania. The girls’ Clyde friends were often invited to attend the annual Matrons’ Ball in Hobart, enjoying the moment the debutantes waltzed with their fathers, resplendent in their ivory ball gowns and classic white gloves. A glimpse into the grand and tightly held social traditions of Tasmania.
She was a great organiser and tireless contributor to her children’s equestrian and other holiday activities. Her children remember Pony Club rallies and events, five horses to plait, packing the saddlery, gear and clothing, supplying food for the day. Beach holidays at Portland, packing clothes, linen, food, trampoline, guinea pigs, surfboards and providing salad rolls and Golden Gaytimes for sustenance. Long car trips to Mooloolaba or Merimbula or outback camping trips meant creating diversion and games for the children. Mary had a keen interest in spinning and weaving, and was a founding member of the Wool and Craft Guild in 1971. A flock of black/brown sheep duly appeared on the grazing lands at Berachah. According to her children, the local shearers were very obliging to Mrs Sutherland when shearing time came around, despite the frown on Mr Sutherland’s face. Mary was active in many community organisations including Friends of the Botanical Gardens, Friends of the Hamilton Art Gallery, Meals on Wheels and regional hospital committees. She loved her participation in each of these organisations and the friendships that evolved from them.
The marriage of Diana Jane’s parents, Dordie and Edmund, enhanced one of three newspaper dynasties in Tasmania. Launceston was the birthplace of the Australian provincial press, with the first published newspaper in 1825. The Launceston Examiner began publication in 1825, with a campaign to end the transportation of convicts to Australia. Diana Jane’s maternal great-grandfather William Robert Rolph became associated with ownership of The Examiner in 1897, and sole owner in 1916, and the family maintained its connection until 1990. After the death in 1959 of Dordie’s father, Sir Gordon Rolph, his son-in-law Edmund Rouse became Managing Director of The Examiner in the 1960s. The Rouse family moved interstate to Victoria in the 1990s after the
She was described as having ‘a keen eye for mischief, spotting her children’s pranks and being a participant in many amusing events’. She had ‘a great sense of humour, an ability to rise above problems and see the bright side of things’. Her children recall a ‘famous pool episode’: “Mum quietly sitting smoking a cigarette and reading as we swam – to be ambushed by David and John and tossed into the 42
parochial and regional dominance of the Tasmanian print media industry inevitably shifted. Diana Jane attended kindergarten and primary school in Tasmania, starting at Broadland House in Launceston when she was four years old, at the same time as Vicki d’Antoine (Hughes, Cl’1964-69) who recalls that Dr Elizabeth Blackburn, the only Australian Nobel Laureate for Biological Studies, also went to Broadland House. “Two brilliant minds Diana Jane and Dr Blackburn going to the same school”. Diana Jane (or ‘DinaJane’) attended Clyde School from 1965-69, as had her mother Dordie Rouse (Rolph, Cl’1940-42), her aunt Agnes Humphreys (Rolph, Cl’1938-39), and later her two sisters Angela Lyon (Rouse, Cl’1967-71) and Virginia ‘Ginny’ Llewellyn-Jones (Rouse, Cl’1968-72). At Clyde Diana Jane excelled academically, winning Government and Commonwealth scholarships, Honours prizes, and matriculating as Dux of the school in 1969 with honours in General Mathematics and French. She was three times form captain, elected a junior prefect in 1966, a senior prefect in 1969, played senior seconds hockey, won the Ballroom Dancing prize and served on the Cluthan and School Dance committees. The Rouse family kindly donated Clyde’s individual champion swimming trophies for the House Swimming Sports; the three Rouse sisters often helped to win the trophies for Clutha! Alison Foran (Garnett, Cl’1963-69) remembers that during schooldays at Clyde, they had a craze for doing handstands: “Diana Jane could walk on her hands WAY more than any of us. We used to stand around counting her out, sometimes reaching 100. She was the only one studying physics in matric and I used to help her out with various experiments if she needed two people; things like spinning a bottle top very fast on the end of a piece of string around my head!”
Diana Jane met her future husband Alastair Griffin in 1973 while on a snow-skiing holiday with Juliet ‘Julie’ Avery (Kimpton, Cl’1963-69) – pictured left to right above. She was a bridesmaid at both Julie and Sally Bayles’ weddings, and was godmother to Sally’s son Timothy Bayles. Alastair and Diana Jane had much in common, they travelled a lot during their life together, including long distances on fast motorcycles. They married and settled in Sydney, where they became parents to their three children, Hamish, Philippa and Natasha. Sally Bayles recalls that “Diana Jane was the most adoring, loving mum and NOTHING was too much for her. She was fully involved in all their school activities; she was a fabulous organiser and provider of all things wonderful for children.” Diana Jane and Alastair lived and worked in London and New York in the early 1980s, enjoying numerous snow-skiing holidays in Australia, Europe and the USA, initially with their children and in later years with other friends. They often attended opera and music concerts, Diana Jane played tennis regularly, and loved her pet cats. Adored by her lifelong friends and very close extended family, several have written of Diana Jane’s “lovely sunshine smile”, her generous bubbly personality, great sense of humour and warm friendly manner. She was always beautifully dressed and groomed, glowing with health and joie de vivre. An amazing “all-rounder, not a mean bone in her body” who was gifted with remarkable intelligence and instinctive wisdom.
After leaving Clyde, Diana Jane enrolled at Melbourne University in a science degree, residing at Janet Clarke Hall as had Dr Elizabeth Blackburn four years earlier. Diana Jane graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Chemistry. She went on to work as a research scientist for Dunlop, living in a share house with Sally Bayles (Creswick, Cl’1963-70) in Melbourne for two years, before they took off to see the world together. Sally describes Diana Jane as her “dearest, sweetest, most loyal friend and confidant. Even though she had a hugely bubbly personality, she was eminently sensible and reliable. We had many fun times. She taught me to snow ski in Austria, and for a member of the University ski team, she showed a lot of patience!”. In turn, Sally took Diana Jane on a comprehensive tour of thoroughbred horse studs in Kentucky, USA.
Information from Trove NLA (Tasmanian newspaper history); The Cluthan 1970; with thanks to Alastair Griffin, Sally Bayles (Creswick), Vicki d’Antoine (Hughes), Alison Foran (Garnett), Jackie Mackinnon (Kelly), Elizabeth Crauford (Angas), Margie Gillett (Cordner) and all others who have shared reminiscences for this tribute to Diana Jane. All recollections will be kept for the Clyde Archives. Cynthia ‘Cynthea’ Eleanor Reed (Viney) 7 August 1927 – 6 February 2019 Clyde 1942-44 Cynthea was born on 7 August 1927, the second daughter of Norman Geoffrey Viney and his wife 43
Sheila Allison Viney (Shields) of Fernhill, Nile, Tasmania. Cynthea’s maternal grandfather, the Hon Tasman Shields KC CMG was a politician, elected to the Tasmanian Legislative Council as the Member for Launceston, 1915-36. He made a significant contribution to the development of Tasmania after Federation. Cynthea had an older sister Margaret Gluth (Viney Cl’1940-42) and a younger sister Jennifer Ashton (Viney Cl’1945-47).
aged 20 in 1827, aboard the Tiger, after a long hard journey by steerage. Over a lifetime of extraordinary achievements, guided by evangelical faith, he acquired pastoral lands, including a free land grant of 640 acres at the Nile rivulet, developed a shipping enterprise and helped to establish a lucrative whale oil trade at Launceston. He married his English cousin Maria Susanna Grubb and they had eleven children, the foundation of a Tasmanian dynasty.
Cynthea’s Viney ancestors emigrated to Tasmania from Somerset, England in 1842, sailing aboard the Arab. Charles Viney (1805-62), his wife Mary (Cundick 1806-72) arrived with their five Englishborn children (and three step-daughters) who were later joined by seven more children born in Tasmania. Charles Viney first worked for James Cox at Clarendon, Nile and then in 1847 tenant-farmed for Mr Cox at Fernhill, Nile. Fernhill was later purchased by Charles and Mary Viney’s descendants, thus becoming Cynthea’s childhood home.
Cynthea and Bill lived at the historic Reed family property Parknook, in Cressy, raising four children: Marcia, Henry, David Marcus (Mark) and Anna Maree (Anna). All the children attended boarding school in Tasmania, Marcia and Anna at Broadland House CEGS in Launceston and Fahan PGC in Hobart, while Henry and Mark attended Launceston CEGS before heading off to Geelong Grammar School.
When her family left Fernhill and moved to Launceston, Cynthea attended the Methodist Ladies College (Oakburn, Launceston) before going to board at Clyde School. At Clyde in 1945 she was Form Captain of Pass, played in the Senior Firsts Basketball 1944-45, was Vice President of the CWA, Secretary of the Birthday League, and a committee member for the Arts Club. Cynthea recalled her schooldays at Clyde as being happy years of making wonderful friendships, which she maintained throughout her life. Her two sisters Margaret and Jennifer attended Clyde, as did her nieces in later years, Victoria Gluth (Cl’1966-71), Margie Temple-Smith (Bond Cl’1964-68) and Jennifer Bond (Cl’1964-66). [The Bond sisters were her nieces by marriage, daughters of Bill Reed’s sister Helen Marie Bond (Reed) of Eastfield, Cressy.]
During their years at Parknook, Cynthea developed a ‘glorious garden’, made significant friendships and supported Bill in his progressive agricultural pursuits. In 1938, Bill initiated the Tasmanian Grey cattle breed by crossing an Angus bull with a white Shorthorn milking cow to produce a grey offspring. As the herd developed, the cattle outperformed his Angus cattle in carcass and steer trials, so he switched to Tasmanian Greys, similar to the Murray Grey cattle bred along the Upper Murray Valley on the NSW/Victoria border since 1905. The greys produced excellent milk and were calm in temperament. The Murray Grey breed was registered in the 1960s and the “Tassie Greys” adopted the Murray Grey name in the 1980s.
In 1946, Cynthea attended a Play Leaders course in Launceston to train in early childhood education. After qualifying, she worked as a kindergarten teacher at Frederick Street and Inveresk Kindergarten in Launceston. In 1947, Cynthea moved to Melbourne with her mother, and lived in Queens Road. Cynthea trained as a consultant with Elizabeth Arden cosmetics and was employed at the Myer department store in Bourke Street. The Elizabeth Arden brand had become an international success from the 1920s, and managed to flourish even during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
In 1993, Cynthea and Bill moved to Launceston where Bill died in May 2004, and where Cynthea remained for the next 15 years. For her 80th birthday, the children arranged an album of her life, with photos and letters written from friends wishing her a happy birthday. Those letters reflected that Cynthea had a great capacity for love, kindness, grace and style: ‘As a family we experienced Mum’s tolerance, understanding and unconditional love.’ Friends were always made welcome, even surprise visitors who arrived for breakfast. She enjoyed conversation, was happy to be helpful and would offer advice about etiquette, manners and the right thing to do. She thoughtfully remembered birthdays and anniversaries, and would make posies from the garden or a good casserole to help someone out.
Cynthea married a fellow Tasmanian, Henry Anthony ‘Bill’ Reed of Evandale near Launceston. After maintaining a long-distance relationship with occasional visits, they were married in February 1950 at Christchurch, South Yarra. Press photos of ‘Cynthia Viney’ appeared in Melbourne social pages to announce the details of their wedding. Bill was a member of the pioneering Reed family. His ancestor Henry Reed (1806-1880) was a landowner, shipowner, merchant and philanthropist. He arrived in Hobart,
She loved parties and was a great entertainer at Parknook. The children remember the waft of cigar smoke through the house after a dinner party, and the promise of a spare after-dinner mint. There were 44
BBQs in the paddocks, ladies’ lunches, solo, afternoon tea parties, water skiing, and tennis parties. When Cynthea and Bill moved to Launceston, there were lunches and drinks, with a welcoming cup of tea or coffee always on offer. Cynthea was an excellent cook, had an instinctive flair for house and garden design, and a personal style that was effortlessly classic and distinctive. The children remember how efficiently she would pile them into the car (‘four rambunctious and boisterous children’) for an outing, leave the back seat pandemonium to be managed by Bill who was driving, then sit calmly painting her nails in the front passenger seat. Apparently her most effective rebuke for bad behaviour was … total silence. It made the perpetrator think again about their words or actions.
Fleet in 1938-1939. His naval career dictated her parents’ frequent relocations to different countries, and as a result Sarah and Pamela spent their formative years in the care of their loving grandparents. It was a wartime childhood, devoid of close parental attention. In 1948, Sarah’s father was promoted to rear admiral and served in Australia as Chief of the UK Services Liaison Staff aboard HMS Terror. While in Australia during 1948-49 Sarah, together with her sister Pamela, was sent to board at Clyde School for two years, where she excelled in tennis, loved the great outdoors, and became a competent horse rider. On returning to the UK in 1950 she attended St Christopher’s Preparatory School, then boarded at the Abbey School in Malvern, Worcestershire. Her parents were then in India, where her father was Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy 1951-55. This was a happy time for Sarah, holidaying with Naval families and schoolfriends, and riding horses over the Malvern Hills with ‘the wind in her hair’.
With her background in early childhood education, Cynthea loved and understood all children, especially those in her own family, and was delighted with her 15 great-grandchildren. She kept in touch with everyone when she could with phone calls, letters and cards and looked forward to their visits. Above all, according to her family, “the love of her life was our father (Bill) with whom she enjoyed a life of rural idyll along with her children, and the garden that she loved”.
After leaving school, Sarah worked in London, lived in a small flat and saw more of her parents, as her father was in the UK as Commander-in-Chief Plymouth. In 1960 she met her future husband, a ‘tall, dashing naval officer’ who invited her to her first Oban Ball, held at the Argyllshire Gathering Hall the night before the annual Oban Games in the Highlands of Scotland. On 26 August 1961, Sarah married Lt Cdr James Alexander Pountney Coats (19271993) known as Sandie, the son of Ian Pountney Coats and Hilda May Latta. As Sandie’s ship was stationed in Malta, their first marital home was back in Sarah’s birthplace.
Note: Cynthea was born as Cynthia but may have changed the spelling of her name to avoid confusion with her husband Bill Reed’s first cousin Cynthia Reed (born 7 August 1929) who married Sidney Nolan the artist. Cynthia (Reed) and Sidney Nolan, with Cynthia’s brother John Reed and his wife Sunday Baillieu, were founding members of the artistic circle who created the Heide gallery and art colony at Bulleen, living in the original homestead where they developed an organic vegetable garden and self -sufficient lifestyle.
Sarah and Sandie returned to the UK, eventually residing at Gorten Lodge, Carse, Tarbert, Argyllshire, in the west of Scotland. The village of Tarbert is built around an inlet of Loch Fyne and extends across to the peninsula of Kintyre to Knapdale. They raised three daughters Amanda, Annie and Fiona. As her daughters grew up, Sarah shared her equestrian experience and became an active contributor to the Argyll Pony Club, enabling her girls to learn horsemanship. Sarah’s parents became more involved in her life as grandparents, steaming up to Tarbert in the Waverley and enthusiastically joining the young family’s activities.
Information from the internet (Australian Dictionary of Biography, Henry Reed and history of the Reed family); Trove NLA, newspaper articles and photos; with sincere thanks to Cynthea’s daughter, Marcia Telford (Reed) for her assistance and contribution in memory of Cynthea. Sarah Margaret Coats (Pizey) 14 December 1937 – 27 August 2018 Clyde 1948-1949
Family life on the beautiful Argyll coastal farm was character building. Sarah and Sandie surrounded their girls with horses, ponies, donkeys, dogs and hens, with horse riding days at Dunmore. Visits from friends and family meant sheep shearing, haymaking, sheep dog trials, holiday cottages, mackerel fishing and beach BBQs. Sarah’s gentle strength and hands-on competent approach made the farm a success, and in turn guided her daughters to their own success.
Sarah Pizey was born on 14 December 1937 at the Royal Naval Hospital (Bighi Hospital) in the small town of Kalkara on the island of Malta. She was the younger daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey (1899-1993) and his wife Phyllis May Pizey (D’Angibau, 1904-1993). She had an older sister Pamela Mary Hawkins (Pizey Cl’1948-49) who married Lt Cdr James Barry Hawkins MBE. Her parents were in Malta during 1935-1937 as Sarah’s father served as Executive Officer aboard HMS Woolwich in the Mediterranean, before commanding the destroyer HMS Fortune in the Home
Beef cattle and sheep were not sustainable in South Knapdale, and in time the land evolved into forestry. 45
Sarah immersed herself in the local community, particularly Earra Gael (the former weighbridge in Tarbert), a project that supported the work of Argyll artists and craftsman. For nearly 50 years, Sarah and her colleagues developed the small business, including a trade delegation to Canada, and it remains profitable today. One local recalled acting as Sarah’s chauffeur for a lively day trip to Arran to stock up the shop, collecting oatcakes, candles and driftwood for stock display, Arran chocolate and local tour guide books. Sarah was described as “one of life’s quiet achievers, always welcoming new people and offering to help … Over the years she could be seen wandering round the fields with a succession of dogs (and hats) building up her knowledge of original field drain locations, a resource which proved invaluable as time passed”. She delighted in life, and loved her children and grandchildren. She faced trials and tribulations stoically, including the loss of husband Sandie, and never lost her composure. She travelled far and wide and continued to run the Earra Gael business until 2018. As her health declined, her kindness, quiet dignity, thoughtfulness, and cheerfulness shone
through, bolstered by her “infectious smile and laughter which was such a boost to everyone”. In farewelling Sarah, her family quoted the final chapter of the book of Proverbs, which says about a gracious woman: “She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future”. Information from the internet (biography and naval career of her father); our sincere thanks to Amanda Minshall (Coats) for providing the eulogy written by Peter Minshall, delivered at Kilberry Church, 14 September 2018. Amanda Minshall, Sarah’s daughter wrote: Mum’s sister, Pamela Hawkins (Pizey) is very well, living on Hayling Island, Hampshire. If anyone is visiting Scotland, please come and stay (in our holiday accommodation). It is just down the road from where Mum lived, we have plenty of room and it is a beautiful part of the West Coast of Scotland as you can see from the picture below. Contact: amandaminshall@aol.com or visit our website www.barrnacriche.com, or phone: 0044 (0) 1880 820 833.
Apology In the 2018 Cluthan this picture was incorrectly positioned in the obituary for Rosemary Paton (Watson) however it is a picture of her sister Faith Brown (Watson). Faith’s son, Rod Brown, said that they were often mistaken for each other, right up to the end.
We have had mail returned from the following COGs. If anyone knows the whereabouts of any please contact Sue Schudmak, 0408 560 563, susanschudmak@icloud.com or 5 Fawkner Street, South Yarra 3141. Deborah Barnes (Brack) was 6 Bentley St, Surrey Hills 3127 (Clyde 1973-74) Helen Morey was 99-101 Swift St, Ballina NSW 2478 (Clyde 1970-71) Josephine Price (Yencken) was PO Box 341, Gisborne 3437 (Clyde 1949) Carline Torweihe (Lapirow) was 3750E Garden Drive, Phoenix Az 85028-284 USA (Clyde 1969) Philippa Woodward (Agnew) was 20 Avenel Rd, Kooyong 3144 (Clyde 1943-45) 46
tastic way to connect young children to the world around them. “This is enlightenment for the development of children’s minds”, he said, and added that he would love to see more kindergartens and schools using nature to tell stories about local history. “As you walk across the land, your feet brush through plants that were medicines for us, and food. He pointed to a wattle tree and said it could tell the story of William Barak, an indigenous leader in the early days of European settlement in Australia. The children are helping to plan a bee and butterfly garden as part of the nature program.
ISABEL HENDERSON KINDERGARTEN – NEWS
The Isabel Henderson Kindergarten (IHK) in North Fitzroy, supported by COGA for nearly 70 years, was featured in the media recently because of its development of a nature program. In a nationwide ABC News report on 23 July 2019, it was revealed that IHK has abandoned traditional toys and created an indigenous forest playground with the help of the local Wurundjeri community. “There are no train sets at IHK, no trucks, no play dough, no plastic dinosaurs.” Centre director Nicole Messer said that when you take away traditional toys, children are obliged to think for themselves. They can create stories, use their imagination and learn to solve problems creatively in an unchanneled environment. The development of a nature program at IHK is supported through an inquiry style of learning. The inquiry teaching approach takes place in a natural environment, the kindergarten playground is like a wilderness garden with trees, plants, rocks, and mud. Lots of it, especially after rain. There is even a mudslide where the children are encouraged to get dirty, which is often out of their comfort zone. “Play is all about developing language skills, sensory development, gross motor development on the way to learning self-regulation, and is crucial for three- and fouryear olds”, said Nicole. The ABC News team visited the kindergarten, and found the children were happily making mud pies and “plenty of mess”. IHK worked with the local Wurundjeri community to turn a disused factory, which is part of the kindergarten’s grounds, into an indigenous forest, reflecting the different seasons. Local Wurundjeri elder and actor Jack Charles, who officially opened the warehouse forest playground on 22 July 2019, said it is a fan-
The adventurous and creative pre-school education offered at Isabel Henderson Kindergarten reflects the passion and inspiration of the kindergarten’s director, Nicole Messer, the teaching staff and helpers. The opportunity for inner urban children to play and explore in a little patch of wilderness is exceptional. The work of the IHK staff to achieve this justifies on every level COGA’s loyalty and support over many decades, ever since Isabel Henderson promoted the Free Kindergarten movement around 100 years ago. The visit from Uncle Jack Charles with the sun dappling through the garden, was gloriously captured on the ABC News. Journalist Margaret Paul, who was a student of IHK, spoke with Uncle Jack Charles, Nicole and some of the children to produce a TV News story (now available on ABC iView), as well as a story for print found at www.abc.net.au/news/201907-23/north-fitzroy-kindergarten-swaps-plastic-forindigenous-forest/11335116. To any Clyde Old Girls who are interested: Please do not hesitate to contact Leanne at IHK if you would like further information or resources.
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CLYDE SCHOOL IN 1919