Five generations at BGS

BGS Old Boy John Siemon ‘63 always knew his family had a five-generation long connection with BGS.

But after delving into Brisbane Grammar School’s archives, he discovered that two great uncles, John and Edward Crosser, also attended BGS – a family connection John was previously unaware of. “I didn’t know that my father’s mother’s brothers had also attended the School,” John said.

The Innes family, on John’s mother’s side, set a possible record for the most boys to attend BGS. John’s grandfather, Reverend Professor Henry Innes (1910), was the eldest of seven brothers, followed by Robert (1909), Wallace (1913), Alexander (1916), James (1917), Murray (1924), and Kenneth (1926).

This accomplished family produced three ministers of religion, two teachers, two doctors and a social worker who all made their mark. Dr James Innes became a world-renowned expert in the treatment of leprosy, and his eldest sister also became a doctor, which at the time was an unusual occupation for a woman. After school, Henry went to Sydney University and graduated with honours in Philosophy and Greek. He became a Presbyterian minister and was the Dean of the Theological Hall at Emmanuel College at The University of Queensland (it was originally located in the heritage building which fronts St Andrews Hospital on Wickham Terrace).

But the story starts in the previous century. In 1881, the year BGS moved from its original Roma Street site to Spring Hill, John Crosser was enrolled at BGS. His much younger brother Edward would also attend the School in the new century, finishing in 1904. Edward worked in the Public Service, later becoming Under Secretary for the Treasury and Auditor General.

Up the railway line from Brisbane, Wilhelm Siemon, his wife Christina and their 12 children lived in a house backing onto the Ipswich railway station, from where they freighted fresh, locallygrown produce to the Roma Street Markets.

By WWI, the Siemons family were prominent in the Milton area, owning several properties including the now heritage listed Milton House, and running businesses on Coronation Drive and Roma Street. John and Edward Crosser’s sister Isabella married Robert Siemon in 1915 and the couple sent their two sons Stanley ’32 (Professor of Chemical Engineering Christchurch and Melbourne) and Edward (Ted) Siemon ’34 to BGS.

In 1944, Ted Siemon was serving in the AIF when he married Henry Innes’s daughter Jean, uniting these two influential migrant families; one with roots in Scotland, the other in Germany.

As a post-war baby born in 1946, Ted and Jean’s son John marks the halfway point in his family’s connection to Brisbane Grammar School, which includes his two sons, Greg ’92 (selfemployed Chemical Engineer) and John ’94 (Director of Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney), and grandson Thomas Siemon (Year 10).

John said Thomas is following in great-grandfather Ted’s footsteps. “Dad won the 100-yard, 200-yard and was a member of the winning 4x400-yard relay team in 1934. I couldn’t run, and my sons weren’t interested, but Thomas took up running last year and was the 15 years Cross Country Champion in 2021.”

Now with a 53-year career as a geologist, John remembers Earth Science classes and field trips as a highlight during his time at BGS. “In Form 5 we went on a trip from Upper Brookfield across the hills to Mount Crosby led by our wonderful teacher John Minter. On the following day he led another group of students along the same route, but unfortunately, he lost his life taking a swim in the Brisbane River,” John said. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget how quiet the School was the next day as the news spread about the loss of a wonderful man.”

John’s long career, principally in industrial minerals, led him to be involved in selecting sandstone for the completion of St John’s Cathedral. “To see the sandstone go from the pit to the stonemasons to the Cathedral was very interesting. I later went to a wedding at St John’s and I think I spent more time looking at the stones I remembered from the pit than the bride!”

John has passed on his geological knowledge through contributions to books and a digital app, Brisbane History in Stone and Brick, for which he was awarded the 2016 Neville Stevens Medal for Geological Education by the Geological Society of Australia.

Dad won the 100-yard, 200-yard and was a member of the winning 4x400-yard relay team in 1934. I couldn’t run, and my sons weren’t interested, but Thomas took up running last year and was the 15 years Cross Country Champion in 2021.