During the war years the shortage of young teachers was compensated for by the appointment of retired Masters from private and public schools. Of these some were outstanding teachers and others not so good. Mr Whitber, one of those, was an outstanding Maths teacher and very good at maintaining discipline. Walter Belford, a retired farmer, taught history but was never given the respect he deserved by his pupils. He was the author of the famous book “Legs Eleven” about the 1st Eleven XI WW1 Battalion. George ‘Bull’ Campbell who had been teaching at the school for many years was a wonderful teacher, very amusing and a delightful person. The best of all in my opinion was ‘Tix’ Jenkinson. He made the subjects seem easy and enjoyable and I personally went into science being influenced by his enthusiasm. Don Thomas was also a very good teacher who taught biology and influenced me to become a Biologist. Don was much admired for his gymnastic skills. On occasions he
walked up or down the steep flight of steps leading to the oval on his hands. He could also complete the giant swing on the high bar. He was a great asset to the school after he retired from teaching. There were five of us from Scotch who did degrees in zoology at UWA at about the same time. Tony Lee OSC1949, Don Edward OSC1950 and I all did Ph.D’s with Geoff Beyers OSC1949 and Graham Hodgkin OSC1949 both completing Bachelor’s of Science at UWA. In August 1960, my father wrote to me at Washington State University to tell me that the University senate had ratified my Ph.D. I wrote in my return letter that I had to thank ‘Tix’ for the motivation to study science. My father lived in a house directly above the Boatshed and on the afternoon that he received my letter he saw ‘Tix’ going into the boatshed and showed him my letter. I was pleased that he had done so because I never saw ‘Tix’ again” Shelley Barker 2023
Top: 1939-1949 Shelley Barker (OSC 1949) Under 16 High Jump Bottom: 1949 Shelley Barker (OSC 1949) catching his first Mulloway
Building a Tradition Right: 2017.10.20 Memorial Hall Re-dedications and Scotch College Heritage Centre Opening Dr Ken Michael, Mark Paganin, Dr Alec OConnell, Michael Silbert, Moderator Steve Francis, Chaplain Chas Lewis
Above: Headmaster Andrew Syme with students in 2007. Robert Miller and Matthew McGuiness hold up the Austin Robertson Cup for Shearer House
Our updated edition of Building a Tradition should be available early in 2024. We have been fortunate to have the original author, now Emeritus Professor Jenny Gregory AM, spend considerable time over the last 18 months updating the history and including five new chapters; focused on the end of the Dickinson era, the Syme era and finally the O’Connell era. Professor Gregory has utilised extensive oral histories, interviewed dozens of staff, students, Council members and parents to capture the history of the school, the changes in the community and the education being delivered and the heart and soul of the College. The new book will round out with a chapter focused on pandemics and the impact of these events on the College. Interestingly, when the original book was published, very little information was available in the Scotch archives on the impact of the pneumonic influenza of 1918–1919 which killed more people than World War One.
The original book is officially out of print and finding the original files, in a format that could be used, was a journey. For this reason, it was decided not to publish a history of the last 25 years but rather an updated edition that will include 125 years of Scotch College’s history. This has enabled Professor Gregory to continue her themes and research in the style which has been so well valued since the first edition was released in 1997, when it won the WA History Foundation’s Award for best first book in the field of Western Australian History. As Professor Gregory has said, the changes in the last 25 years have been “immense” and in a similar vein to the original, we are sure the new edition will become a valued and often cited piece of work, both by the Scotch community and for education in Western Australia. David Kyle, Director of Admissions and Advancement
