School HISTORY
SELWYN HOUSE?
Why is our school called
the place of honour.” At the same time, he inherited from his father a love of the outdoors, and was well known for his prowess in running, jumping, rowing, swimming, diving and horsemanship. His boating skills were well known to the boatmen on the river. These abilities served him well in the days of hardship and adventure of his adult life. He came of age at time when England was torn by bitter political dissension. He developed a skill as a mediator between friends who found themselves driven apart by political differences. He had always possessed a religious inclination, and attributed his familiarity with his Bible to the early teaching of his mother. In 1834 he Bishop G.A. Selwyn entered the Anglican priesthood and became curate to the Vicar of Windsor. A Man of Perfect Balance Among his fellow clergymen, Selwyn was often ridiculed as On April 5, 1809, George Augustus Selwyn was born in Hampstead, London, son of a noted constitutional lawyer who an idealist. When the parish found itself in debt, he offered to contribute one-tenth of the entire sum himself, by refusing to was Senior Counsel to Queen Victoria. George Selwyn came from a distinguished family. His accept any stipend for the next two years. In his thirtieth year he married Miss Sarah Richardson, the younger brother Thomas was appointed chaplain at Windsor Castle, giving Prince Albert the rare privilege of having daughter of Sir John Richardson, a Judge in Her Majesty’s members of the Selwyn family counsel him in both spiritual Court of Common Pleas. and constitutional matters. George’s youngest brother, To New Zealand Charles, (later the Right Honourable Sir Charles) entered When the Archbishop of Canterbury sought to make an parliament as the MP for Cambridge University and eventually became England’s Solicitor General, a Privy appointment to the newly created bishopric of New Zealand, the post was offered to Canon William Selwyn, George’s older Councillor and Lord Justice of Appeal. George’s education began at a preparatory school at Ealing brother, who declined. Within the week, George was offered and continued at Eton and St. John’s College, Cambridge. He the appointment and promptly accepted. At this time, the average Englishman, if he had heard of rowed in a losing cause for Cambridge in the very first OxfordNew Zealand at all, would have dismissed it as an insignificant Cambridge boat race in 1829. “There was never a man of more perfect balance,” it has cannibal island somewhere in the wide Pacific. Nevertheless, been said of him. “He was, in the best sense of the term, a great George Selwyn eagerly left Plymouth Sound in December, 1841, arriving in Auckland harbour on June 24, 1842. all-round man.” One of the best-known stories of Selwyn was that, by the As a child, George Selwyn was described as “…the life of the home. In every romp his figure was in the forefront, and time he arrived at his new home he had not only learned the science of navigation at sea, but had become fluent in Maori, his laughter rang the loudest.” “He was truly the family friend and counsellor,” his sister the native language of New Zealand. On his first Sunday in the new land the Bishop threw the wrote, “ever ready to help in all difficulties. There was nothing that was pious, noble, self-denying, and generous, that my Maoris into ecstasies of delight by gathering them together and briefly addressing them in their own language. They were filled brother did not exhibit in his daily life.” In school, it is said, “He mastered every subject that offered with unbounded astonishment. There can be no doubt that, itself to his eager and hungry mind. In the classrooms at Eton by this single achievement, the Bishop completely disarmed it was usually taken for granted that Selwyn would be found in their prejudices and favourably inclined their minds to
any men of distinction have graduated from Selwyn House School since the institution was founded in 1908. Of that number, however, probably only a few have ever known where their school gets its name. Selwyn House students have often been told that their school’s name comes from Selwyn College at Cambridge University in England. The founder of our school, Algernon Lucas, and its second headmaster, C. C. Macaulay, both went to Selwyn College before immigrating to Canada. Hence the name “Selwyn.” But who was the original Mr. Selwyn, for whom both institutions are named? And why is our school called “Selwyn House” rather than “Selwyn College” or simply “Selwyn School”?
M
Veritas, page 6
