HOGA Newsletter - 2016

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER 2016

The Hermitage Church of England Girls’ Grammar School, Geelong

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

1

2

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Office Bearers and Committee 2015–2016 PRESIDENT

ARCHIVES

Deidre Griffiths mob: 0414 216 160 email: deegriffiths@iprimus.com.au

Kristeen Hunter Jan Koch Jill Nicholls

VICE-PRESIDENT & SECRETARY

LIGHT BLUE COORDINATOR &

Ann Tyers tel: 03 5250 4055 mob: 0448 504 055

NEWSLET TER

Ann Tyers

TREASURER

Prue Webb

Allison Rhodes tel: 03 5288 7162

RECORDS

GOLF DAY

Ann Tyers

COMMIT TEE

Rosalind Leigh tel: 03 5249 1380 Jan Koch tel: 03 5264 1237 Kristeen Hunter tel: 03 5221 1001

PHOTOS

Ann Tyers Jan Koch

Libby Nicholson tel: 03 5258 1297 Jill Nicholls tel: 03 5342 4889 Sue Callahan tel: 03 5264 1550 Zoe de Vries tel: 03 5222 1397

POSTAL ADDRESS

The Secretary GPO Box 591 Geelong Victoria 3220 EMAIL AND WEB ADDRESS E

hermitagegirls@gmail.com

www.ggs.vic.edu.au

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

3

Dates for Your Diary 2016 OLD GIRLS’ DAY AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

GOLF DAY

Saturday 3rd September 2016 Darling Hall, Geelong Grammar School AGM: 11.00 am Drinks: 12.00pm Luncheon: 12.45pm

Monday 3rd October 2016 Barwon Heads Golf Club CHRISTMAS CONCERT WITH LUNCH

Monday 5th December 2016 All Saints Hall, Newtown 11.20am For information concerning these functions contact The Secretary Ann Tyers tel: 03 5250 4055.

For the Golf Day contact Prue Webb tel: 0407 554 785

The Hermitage Old Girls’ Association Awards Tenable at Geelong Grammar School:

The Hermitage Old Girls’ Association Prize for Service

Savannah Gill The Hermitage Old Girls’ E V Krome Cup for Sportsmanship

Xenia Brookes Tenable at Geelong College: The Hermitage Old Girls’ Association Prize

Meg Kent-Spark

4

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

From the Editor As I write this Editorial once again our country is battling drought conditions in Western NSW and Queensland, floods in Sydney and northern NSW, fires in Western Australia and closer to home fires which have ravaged Wye River and our beautiful Great Ocean Road escarpment along with other areas of Victoria.

For those unable to attend Old Girls Day in September, I obtained permission from Gillian Opie, our guest speaker to print her speech in the Newsletter. Gillian has achieved so much for women and their babies, along with establishing the only Victorian Milk Bank, that I thought you may all like to read her speech. Unfortunately you cannot look at the slides she presented What a land of huge contrast. I do hope of some of these tiny special little folk. As that none of our Old Girls have suffered it was the 40 year reunion for Gillian’s year too badly, but realize that there are quite a group it was lovely to have some of them number living in the drought areas. attend Old Girls’ Day. I would like to acknowledge the passing of a valued HOGA committee member. Ann Purnell (Schlesinger 1947) was a member of the HOGA Committee for approximately 20 years, and during this time she was President in 1973/74 when amalgamation was announced. Ann was very involved in the move to Highton and the packing up and listing of items both belonging to the school and the archives. A passionate Hermitage Old Girl, Ann was much respected and loved by many members.

I would like to pass on congratulations from all Old Girls to Janet Thomson (Henderson) 1958 who received an OAM in January 2016. She received this award for Service to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne through a range of roles. Beginning in 1989, her services include being a Volunteer Guide, along with becoming Vice President and then President over a number of years, and many other achievements associated with the Botanical Gardens.

Our Guest Speaker this year is Judy Vanrenen who left school in 1969. Would be lovely if some of her year group are able to attend OGD. Following the launch of our History book Judith Laird took on the task of naming as many of the girls in the photograph on the front cover. That photograph has been printed in this Newsletter with numbers and names of the girls. I have also printed the letter Judy wrote to Kristeen Hunter detailing the hunt for names.

At the end of this newsletter I have added a list of the names of girls whose mail has been returned. If any of you can help us with new contact addresses or phone numbers could you please contact me.

In the near future, we are going to be forced to make changes to how we correspond with all old girls. As postage has increased there will come a time when we email the invitations to Old Girls’ Day, Christmas Lunch and the Golf Day and

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

5

you will be able to reply online. If you are not currently receiving emails from the Old Geelong Grammarians each month it means we do not have your correct email address. For others, could you please inform us of your email address if you have one? We will still mail out invitations to those who do not have email addresses.

(The Newsletter will continue to be mailed out.)

Because of the cost of organising the Year Group Reunions, the girls doing it try to email information to their year group.

It saves a huge cost to you all if they do not have to mail out information. This is another reason to keep email addresses up to date so please notify us when changes are made. Please email changes to hermitagegirls@gmail.com so our database can be kept up to date.

Thank you to all who sent/emailed Cooeegrams. In 2015 I had 24 Cooeegrams to print up. This year I received just 15 so I have done a ring around asking several people to write one. From the response to the Newsletter I know people enjoy reading it, but we need more input so hoping I receive many more this year. They can of course be emailed . Do hope many Old Girls will send them in by December 31st, 2016. They are what make the Newsletter possible.

Please remember that all HOGA mail outs are done in envelopes with Geelong Grammar on them, so please do not throw them out without opening.

Best wishes Ann Tyers

President’s Report This year we are one hundred and six years old and once again it has been an extremely busy but rewarding one for “The Hermitage” Old Girls’ Association. Today’s luncheon gives us a wonderful opportunity to review and celebrate our year, and to catch up with school friends.

This year we have been pleased to see our beautiful history book continue to sell and we have received lots of positive feedback from readers. We have also

6

done some marketing to promote it to a wider audience including such places as university libraries.

Your committee members have also worked tirelessly to make our social events – including today – happen and we thank them for their great contributions. I would also like to acknowledge the great work of past committee members of many years; without them, the association would not have continued to this day.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Our Treasurer, Zoe de Vries, is stepping down but we are very happy that she will remain on the committee. We would like to thank her for her enormous contribution, especially during the book project. We are fortunate to have Allison Rhodes, a 1972 Year Group member, stepping in to the position.

Once again our annual reunion gives us an opportunity to reflect on our school days, feel gratitude to our teachers for all their work and also to our families for enabling us to attend “The Hermitage”. I believe that what we gained from our education, and the many wonderful friendships we made, continue with us throughout our life. They are strengthened and enhanced by the Old Girls’ Association and, in turn, strengthen the Association. Our History Book now encapsulates all of this.

This year we have once again been made to feel very much a part of the continuing Geelong Grammar School community, which also helps to keep the spirit of “The Hermitage” CEGGS alive. We thank the school staff, and particularly Katie Rafferty, for their ongoing support of our activities. We have enjoyed our involvement with the continuing GGS as part of the OGGs committee, participating in various OGGs’ and school events. In particular, I know that the wonderful day celebrating the opening of the magnificent School for Performing Arts and Creative Education (known as “SPACE”), which is now the creative hub for the entire school community, was enjoyed by

several Old Girls. The exciting event showcased the talent and hard work of many students and their teachers and reflected the enormous amount of work, planning, contributions and dedication that produced the marvelous result.

It will soon be time once again for the OGGs Car Trial, which has recently become a favourite annual event for the Grammar community, and I can highly recommend it to Old Girls as a very enjoyable way to spend a day. I should mention that our Clyde sisters annually throw out a challenge to The Hermitage Old Girls to compete in this event! I hope some of us will rise to the challenge!

Details are available on the school website.

Our OGGs representative also shared several memorable evenings, attending OGGs committee meetings, dining and reminiscing. As full voting members of the OGGs committee, along with Clyde, we feel able to make a significant contribution to the work of the OGGs. We would like to thank the wonderful catering team at GGS and school staff, for their much appreciated contributions towards the success of today’s event.

Finally, I would like to again extend a special welcome to Hermitage Old Girl, Dr Gillian Opie, our guest speaker. Also an extremely warm welcome to all of you Old Girls! We are delighted that you are able to join us today.

Deidre Griffiths

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

7

Secretary’s Report This is the 106th Secretary’s Report for The Hermitage Old Girls Association. We now have 1376 on our mailing list, and of these we have email addresses for 728 girls. There are also unfortunately 1688 Old Girls for whom we have no contact details and 276 who want no mail.

The book is still selling well, and now all sales are done through the school shop here at Geelong Grammar School. Kristeen Hunter has organised a brochure which has been mailed out to all Departments of Women’s Studies and History Departments in Universities and libraries around Australia to see if they would like to purchase a copy Once again Lib Nicholson ran a very of the book for their particular institution. successful Golf Day at Barwon Heads Golf Prior to this we have had some requests Club. Each year the Golf Day seems to from historians and other organisations get better, and I am not sure just how Lib who have wanted to purchase the book. manages that, but she does. I think the Speaking of the book reminds me that I non golfers get as much fun out of the want to mention the Jessie Traill exhibition day as the golfers do, but they have the “Stars in the River” which is to be held advantage of arriving a lot later and not at the Geelong Art Gallery from the 28th braving the elements before lunch.

November, 2015 until the 21st February, 2016. Jessie was one of Australia’s most As you know we changed from having a important printmakers of the 20th century. morning coffee for our Christmas breakup When Miss Morres was retiring in 1933 to having a luncheon. I am pleased to say Miss Traill created an etching titled “The it was a huge success. It began with the Hermitage Gates” and gave 50 signed Bostock choir singing carols and then the prints to be sold to raise money for the Elsie string instrument players giving us a lovely Morres Scholarship fund. HOGA gifted two rendition of some Christmas music and book plates attributed to Jessie Traill to the several other pieces. Some of the members National collection and I believe they are were in grade one so had not been learning in the exhibition. Currently it is showing in violin and cello for very long at all. They Mornington. do have a very strong music programme at Bostock, which we all know continues As you know Zoe is stepping down as out at Corio. After the children left a lovely Treasurer after a number of years. I would luncheon of sandwiches and slices, cakes like to thank Zoe for all her good work, and all healthy food was served. Nobody and must make mention of all the extra seemed to want to leave and all were very work she had to do with the payments to happy chatting on over numerous cups Melanie and all the book money. There was of tea and coffee for several hours. But indeed a lot of extra work for her. the Committee were very happy with the event.

8

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

I would like to personally thank Gillian Opie for being available to speak today. When I contacted her I found out that it was in fact the weekend chosen for her year group to celebrate 40 years since they had left school, the last group to go through year 12. So alterations to their function were made so that Gillian could speak at Old Girls Day. I wonder how many of us would like to say it is only 40 years since we left The Hermitage!!!

You will have all noticed the changes to Light Blue. Grammar have decided to change the format so it appears we have lost our page as such, and in future will have to search for items that relate to the Hermitage Old Girls. In the past I have written the articles and taken lots of photos. These I take to Grammar, but they make the ultimate decision which photos are printed.

Once again I am appealing for more Cooeegrams to be mailed in or sent via email. So far we have received about 7 but I need a lot more to make the Newsletter happen. Also may I please ask that if any

Old Girls know of the passing of others could they please let me know? My phone number and email address are in the Newsletter each year. We try to keep the data base up to date, but unless people tell us of the passing of Old Girls or the change of addresses we do not know, and mail is returned undelivered. Email addresses are very important, so if you alter your email could you please let me know.

With 728 old girls with email addresses and the cost of postage continually going up we may get to a stage of emailing correspondence. There are 650 old girls who we do not have an email address for.

I would like to thank GGS for all the support they give us organising today, and particularly Katie Rafferty in the OGG’s office. Also a big thank you to the HOGA committee for the work they do on your behalf. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Golf Day in October or on Monday, 7th December at our Christmas Luncheon.

Ann Tyers

Archives Report With the three very busy years we had leading up to the publishing of the History book, “Proud to be Women”, things have been much quieter this year. After the launch we had many donations to the archives, which is always exciting. These, plus the many other items in the collection are slowly being catalogued, So far we have scanned over 4,000 photographs, 80% of which have been catalogued. We are endeavouring to continue and complete the photographing, and scanning of the rest of the collection.

As you can imagine, this is a very time consuming process.

THE HERMITAGE HERMITAGE OLD OLD GIRLS GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER — GEELONG — GEELONG GRAMMAR GRAMMAR SCHOOL SCHOOL

9

Unfortunately this year, we have had a few health and family issues to contend with, but I am sure now things have settled we will be full steam ahead again. Kristeen, Jan, Sue and I have spent many hours re-sorting the collection, as it became a little jumbled while the book was being written.

We are most grateful to Fran Walsh the Librarian at Grammar for her assistance in getting us better lighting in our areas of the vault and hopefully a little more space can be allotted to us, as our collection continually grows.

We are hoping to have a painting which was painted by Gwendoline Morres, who was Miss Morres’ sister, repaired. It was sent to Melbourne University for costing and it will cost $6,000 to have it restored and repaired. Unfortunately the Grammar Art Department cannot cover this cost in their budget, so the HOGA Committee are assessing our options, one of which is to re frame the painting with a glass front, which will assist in preserving it.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the Archives team for their dedication and hard work. If anyone has anything they think we may not have, we would love to add it to our collection, which is a very special part of our history.

Jill Nicholls

Interschool Golf Challenge The Inter-school Golf Challenge Cup was started in 1929 to foster women’s golf and to raise money for a charity that supports either women or children.

This event is now totally reliant on private donations for trophies and has been supporting “Cottage by the Sea” for a number of years. This year 30 schools competed at The Metropolitan Golf Club and the winning team was Firbank. The Hermitage has only won three times, the last time being in 2003 with the team of Jenny Jackson, Lib Nicholson, Robin Spry and Prue Webb but we keep trying!!

10

Ginny Palmer, Robin Spry, Jenny Warnock and Prue Webb, represented The Hermitage in the Inter School Challenge Cup Golf at The Metropolitan Golf Club this year and although not successful they enjoyed the day.

Unfortunately Prue Webb lost the Tommy Garnet Trophy on a count back and she and Ginny Palmer won the 4 Ball which is held at Barwon Heads and run by the OGGS.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Top:Judy Drinnan, Lesley Robinson Middle: Judy McCowan, Robin Spry Bottom: Mandy Edwards, Jo Barker

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

11

Top: Jan Sprague, Liz Morgan Middle: Jane Caldwell, Alison Roach

12

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Top: Janet Potter, Judy Delalande Bottom: Jill Nicholls, Kristeen Hunter, Sue Callahan

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

13

Top: Sue Callahan, Cath Bell, Jan Embling, Fiona East Bottom: Nova Urquhart, Cynthia Rosenburgh

14

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Golf Day Report We were again fortunate with the weather, which along with the comradeship plus excellent food and wine at the Barwon Heads Golf Club made for a great day. This year there were only 60 of us, including a special guest, Margaret Ganly, who thoroughly enjoyed her day and is an inspiration to us all.

The individual winner this year was one of the birthday girls, Sammy Vanrenen with 42 points and the runner up was Casey McLeod on a count back from Pammie Bradshaw both with 41 points. Casey and Pammie together with Winkie Mactier and Prue Troedel won the teams event with Pammie also winning the Nearest the Pin. This is my last and 9th year of running this event and I would like to thank you all for your support. Prue Webb (0407554785) has very kindly volunteered to continue this day.

Next year the HOGA Golf Day and lunch will again be held at The Barwon Heads Golf Club on Monday, 3rd October, 2016.

Lib Nicholson

Reunion Reports SIXTY YEAR REUNION – 1955 YEAR GROUP

Judy Laird It seemed just like yesterday, not 60 years or more, since the 26 of us who gathered at Kooyong Tennis Club in April 2015 celebrated the years we spent together at school.

A few of us started together in 1942 and went right through to Matriculation in 1955; others came later in junior school, and there were many who joined us in Form 1 – in most years I remember we had a few new girls. As was the custom not everyone went on to 6th form, we were deprived of quite a few friends after our Intermediate (4th form) and Leaving (5th form) years.

Sadly, eleven of our classmates have died, some of whom were quite young, and unfortunately we were unable to find eight girls – the same eight we couldn’t find for our 50th!

Luckily we had a private room at Kooyong because there was a lot of noise! As it was a photograph of our year that featured as the cover of our history we had great fun THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

15

Above: 1955 60th Reunion Group

16

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

17

1965 50th Reunion Group including Top: Casey Macleod (Whitehead), Kaye Smith (Harrison), Julie Bingley (West), Chris Wilson (Ainsworth), Anne Sears (Russell) Bottom: Year group photo

18

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Top: Anne Timms (Bailey), Jean Lonsdale (Thornton), Judith Collins (Williams) Bottom: Barb Rasmussen (McCracken), Susan Hewson (Baker), Jo Ritchie, Marg Ladd (Allen)

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

19

Top: Alison Turner (Haydon), Cathy Alderson (de Garis) and Jill Davies Bottom: Jo Ritchie, Julie Bingley (West), Casey Macleod (Whitehead), Sue Duras (Russell), Marg Ladd (Allen)

20

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Top: Margie Thompson, Cal Menzies (Dennis) Bottom: Hilary Veilleux (Underhill), Ann Andrew (Gooch)

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

21

trying to agree as to who everyone was. Wendy Freshwater (Stone) brought a photo taken in the front of the school of nearly 60 girls from our year and a few from the year above us and the year below. None of us remember it being taken or for what reason but it certainly provided us with lots of reminiscences of other girls who were not at our lunch. Some of us sang Cooee - and actually remembered the words without prompting. Others chose not to sing!!

A thoroughly fun day and we may not wait another 10 years for our next gathering!

FIFT Y YEAR REUNION - 1965 YEAR GROUP

Julie Bingley Sue Duras (Russell) Casey Macleod (Whitehead) and Julie Bingley (West) undertook the task of organising the Class of 1965 50 Year Reunion on October 10th 2015.

This took the form of a relaxed informal lunch at Sue and Peter Duras’s apartment in Southbank. This proved to be an ideal venue... a short walk from both railway stations for those “training” it, plenty of space for everyone to mingle comfortably and an added bonus, an amazing panoramic view over Melbourne.

Our lunch comprised a variety of delicious finger food catered for by Store 6 in South Melbourne and the dessert from Sweet Indulgence in Geelong was a chocolate hazelnut gateaux cake decorated expertly with a perfect replica of the School Crest (almost too good to cut!)

Thirty one “girls” attended the day travelling from near and far. Cathy Alderson (de Garis) flew down from Brisbane just for the day, Laurel Hinchliffe (Staples) and Barb Rasmussen (McCracken) came from Adelaide and Sue Hewson (Baker) from Sydney.

There would be no argument that the prize for the one who had made the most effort to attend went to Hil Veilleux (Underhill) who had flown from Atlanta U.S.A to attend her first school reunion! It was a joy to have her amongst us after so many years.

The room was a buzz with chatter and laughter from when the first arrived until the last left at 6.p.m.A very hearty rendition of Cooee was conducted by our Head Prefect and Head Day Girl of 1965 (Prue Thomson (Taylor) and Sue Hewson (Baker) amidst much frivolity (certainly not school assembly style!)

It was so hard to believe that it was indeed 50 years since we had all been at school but it was an absolute privilege to gather and spend such a special afternoon together.

A wonderful day was had by all thanks to the generous hospitality of Sue and Peter Duras. Hopefully another reunion before too long!

22

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

At the Golf Day were (Top) Ann Buntine, Rosie Garner (Bottom) Ceal Gubbins and Sue Baulch

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

23

Top: The Hermitage 1975 reunion Anita Eyres (Fisken) and Bay Fildes (Johnson) Bottom: Prue Webb, Lib Nicholson, Deidre Griffiths

24

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Top: Prue Troedel, Casey Macleod Bottom: Winkie Mactier, Pammy Bradshaw

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

25

Top: Rab Cole, Margaret Ganly Middle: Ros Claringbold, Faye MacLean Bottom: Ruth de Fégely, Nancy Cole, Rosemary Dupleix

26

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Top: Sammny Vanrenan, Angela Worthy, Sarah Tallent Bottom: Suzy Hurley, Wendy Speer, Sara Manifold

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

27

28

HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

FORTY YEAR REUNION – 1975 GROUP

Anita Eyres A get together was organised for the weekend of 4th and 5th of September in Queenscliff to celebrate the Class of 75. We had a great time, not sure of the numbers but it was a really big turnout.

A few of us met for drinks on the Friday night, it was a good way to stir the memory banks and piece together some gaps that have appeared after 40 years. On Saturday some attended the Old Girls’ Day meeting out at Corio where our girl Gillian Opie was the speaker. Gillian spoke of her professional life in neonatal care and the enormous changes in the practice of caring for very premature babies. It was an interesting and heart-warming talk, she did us proud and we came away thinking that little babies are in good hands.

We had a look around Hermitage house, swapped stories, did a lot of “do you remember ………………….,” lots of laughs. That night, some got together at Andrea Greys’ house for drinks before heading on to dinner at the Queenscliff Inn, by which time some of us had started to recognise those from a long time back! We had a noisy, funny and thoroughly enjoyable evening, we remembered those who are no longer with us and missed those who were unable to attend.

All in all it was a lovely weekend, I’m glad I made the effort and I’m glad I went to The Hermitage. Coo-ee to all.

HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

29

This photo is the unedited version on the front cover of ‘Proud to be Women’.

At the time the book was going to print only a few names were known.

Thanks to the efforts of Judy Laird and many of her year group, all but one of these have been identified.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

30

Rosemary Holmes Fiona Weir Lolita Cooke Jenny Little Valerie Jones Carolin Garden Wendy O’Leary Wendy Stone Angela Salmon Eril Gell Lois Chamberlain Adele Vines Elizabeth Collins Prue Rees Judy Lamb Faith Williamson Gillian Wright-Smith Hilary Colvin Tanne Shoppee Sue McIntyre

21 Helen Henderson 22 Marion Harris 23 Unknown 24 Judy Schofield 25 Jenny McFarline 26 Elaine Howard 27 Stephanie Jones 28 Nicole Henderson

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

31

Naming of Girls on Book Cover LET TER FROM JUDITH L AIRD

Several of my school friends (1955 school leavers) were present at the launch of the ‘History of The Hermitage’ book at Geelong Grammar in 2014. Imagine our surprise when first seeing the cover we instantly recognised some of the girls who feature in the photograph used. There were Adele Allard (Vines) and Elizabeth Collins strolling arm in arm in front of the main building and leaning over the balcony was ‘Lamby’ Judy Oakley (Lamb) who was with us on that day. Others who were easily recognisable were Fiona Proper (Weir), Rosemary Holmes , Wendy Way (O’Leary) and Carolin Panichi (Garden). But why were we gathered there? It looked like a very posed “casual” photograph which no one could remember being taken. After all we were never allowed to wander in the front of the school let alone hang over the balcony or sit on the main steps!

I thought it would be a good idea to identify all the girls featured so it was recorded for posterity. In talking with Kristeen Hunter she told me that the cover was only part of a bigger photograph and sent me a copy of the original (featured on the following pages). There are a lot more of us along that balcony. In April 2015 we celebrated our 60th anniversary with a lunch at Kooyong and I set those present the task of identifying everyone. Some were easy, others created a lot of discussion and there are still a couple on whom there is no consensus.

But none of us knew when the photo was taken nor why. Although it is the 1955 school leavers who feature it had to have been taken before the end of 1953 as Tanne Stafford (Shoppee) is in the larger photo and she left school at the end of 1953. The mystery remained! But no longer – Kristeen Hunter has found Miss Krome’s scrapbook and there is the photo taken by the Geelong Advertiser on October 13th 1952 to celebrate the opening of the new school library. Needless to say we still don’t remember it being taken! But we delight in adorning the cover of ‘Proud to be Women’.

32

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Information regarding Reunions Could the girls who are making reunions happen please email the date and a contact email address to hermitagegirls@gmail.com. These dates can be printed in the Newsletter and Light Blue so girls, particularly those overseas can have some advance warning. Please also email hermitagegirls@gmail.com and katier@ggs.vic.edu.au with the contact lists you make up from your reunions so that our database for year groups can be updated with correct details for all Old Girls.

May I ask that the girls organising the reunions please send in a group photo and a written report for the Newsletter. Over the last couple of years some have not been reported on as no information has been received. Girls who were unable to attend do like to read of their year group reunions. Photographs for Light Blue and the Newsletter need to be at least 1 mgb. Photos are much clearer with a camera rather than an iPad. Girls who are not currently listed as Old Girls can be added by forwarding details.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

33

Reunions 2016 SIXTY TWO YEAR REUNION – 1954 GROUP

Judith Read has once again organised a date for those who would like to join for lunch at the RACV Club in Bourke Street, Melbourne. Monday 17th October, 2016 at 12 noon.

Any further enquiries please ring Judith on 03 96452303 SIXTY YEAR REUNION – 1956 YEAR GROUP

Zoe de Vries is the contact person for this reunion, which is to take place at the Barwon Heads Golf Club on Monday, 16th May, 2016 at lunch time. If you have not been contacted re this reunion, please ring Zoe on 03 52 221397. Just hope this Newsletter reaches you before this date.

FIFT Y YEAR REUNION - 1966 YEAR GROUP

Due to unforeseen circumstances the 1966 Reunion has been put on hold. The organisers plan to do something next year. Maybe in the meantime a get together at Old Girls Day could be fun!

FORTY FIVE YEAR REUNION – 1971 YEAR GROUP

Carla Story (Muir) has asked me to suggest that for those who would like to meet up in 2016 for a 45 year Reunion to come to Old Girls Day on the 3rd September, for Lunch in the Darling Hall.

GEELONG LUNCHEON 2016 – JENNY JORDAN

As HOGA no longer has an Autumn Lunch or picnic at Balliang, a small group of us met last year for lunch at Black Salt restaurant on Western Beach. We will be doing the same again this year and would like to invite any Old Girls in Geelong at that time to join us.

The booking is as follows:

Venue: Black Salt Restaurant 13-15 The Esplanade, Western Beach, Geelong

Date: Thursday June 9th, 2016

Time: 12.00pm Please let Jenny know by Monday 30th May if you wish to attend so she can notify the restaurant. (Jenny Jordan - 5244 0145) This is quite a casual affair not organised by the Association. Each person buys their own food and drink and enjoys a good chat.

34

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Old Girls Day SATURDAY, 3RD SEPTEMBER, 2016

I am thrilled to let you all know that our Guest Speaker this year is Judy Vanrenen (1969 leaver). Judy was the Founder of Botanica some 15 years ago, is the Co-owner of Botanica and runs overseas garden tours, as well as in Australia. I hope after you read the following you will put the date in your diaries. (By the way, no one can use the football finals as a reason this year for not attending OGD – it is a Bye for all clubs).

Judy will be presenting a powerpoint presentation which I am sure will show many beautiful gardens.

Judy has over 30 years business and tourism experience both in Australia and New Zealand working for leading tourism organisations including AATKings, Evergreen Tours and APT. She is a Fellow of the Australian Company Directors Institute, past member of Grampians Tourism Board and past Chair of the Southern Grampians Tourism Advisory Board with a sound understanding of regional tourism.

She and her Executive Banking husband run a farming enterprise and enjoy gardening on their property ‘Wiltshire’ in Western Victoria. Here they have planted large quantities of trees to act as shelter belts, carbon sinks and wildlife corridors from the Grampians to the Otway Ranges.

For thirteen years Judy was a member of the Victorian based Small Business Mentoring Service (SBMS), a non-profit volunteer organisation of experienced and professional business people who each year assists over 700 small & micro businesses.

She also served as their President for two years. In 2003, Judy was awarded a Centenary Medal for her services in “improving the performance of small business in Victoria”.

Gardening Tourism has always been a passion of Judy’s and in 2000, she and business partner, Geoff McGeary (owner of the APT Group) joined forces to start Botanica World Discoveries.

Botanica is the preferred garden tour operator for Garden Clubs of Australia Inc. and has a strategic partnership with Diggers Club, Australia’s largest garden club.

They operate the worldwide garden tours for BBC Gardeners World Magazine based in the UK and also represent RHS Garden Holidays in Australia and New Zealand.

‘Beyond the Garden Gate’, a 200-page coffee table book has been written by Judy to celebrate Botanica’s 15th birthday. It will be complimentary to all Botanica travellers in 2015 and 2016. www.botanica.travel THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

35

Old Girls Day 2015 SPEECH PRESENTED BY DR. GILLIAN OPIE (1975)

It is 40 years since I graduated from HSC in 1975 and it is a great honour to be here speaking to the Hermitage Old Girls Association in this anniversary year. Although I completed the last two terms of my schooling at Geelong College I remained a Hermitage girl at heart.

Now back to the beginning. 1963 was an auspicious year, I started school in Volum house, my sister was born and it was also the birth of modern Neonatology, the career I have pursued.

I believe my sister is somewhat responsible for my choice of career as at the tender age of 11 months she contracted viral meningococcal-encephalitis and was admitted to Queen Victoria Hospital for 2 weeks. Back then children under the age of eight were not permitted to visit their siblings and parents were restricted to short visiting hours.

Many years later I sat on the same bench outside the ward as I waited to present a practice clinical case in preparation for my specialist examination.

Neonatology is a sub-speciality of Paediatrics caring for both premature babies and full term infants who for one reason or another need intensive care. In the late 1800s, a French obstetrician was inspired by the apparatus displayed at the World Fair for hatching chicken eggs. He devised a model suitable for human babies, although sometimes the babies were over warmed. German doctors made improvements to the temperature control. As the premature babies are unable to coordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing they were fed breast milk provided by wet nurses using a spouted cup that dripped milk down the nose. This was probably to reduce risk of choking.

In the early 1900’s exhibition of “real” babies in incubators occurred at Trade Fairs to alert other doctors to the new technology. They became very popular as a sideshow attraction. Indeed there was a permanent exhibit at Coney Island, New York that only closed in 1943. As the cost of incubator care was expensive these exhibitions provided funding.

In 1963 Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of JFK, was born 5 1/2 weeks early. He had respiratory distress due to Hyaline Membrane disease. He was the first newborn to be put on a ventilator. Unfortunately he did not survive, but his death was not in vain as it proved to be the impetus for the development of modern neonatology. We have come a long way since then with the development of several different types of ventilators, the instillation of surfactant , the substance that is often in low volumes and is the

36

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

cause of respiratory distress, the benefit of antenatal steroid injections for mothers at risk of preterm birth, the use of cooling beds for asphyxia. I presented several graphs showing that survival of very premature infants is possible; 50% of infants born at 25 weeks will survive and 95% of 28 week infants survive. However it is not just survival but quality of survival that is a challenge. In Australia our quality of survival is good, better than our UK or USA colleagues, still about half of the infants surviving at 25 weeks will need physical therapy and remedial learning at school.

So here are a few photos of babies in whose care I have been involved. These triplets were born at 27 weeks because one little boy was not growing properly, this little girl had to be born early because her mother had a major heart problem, cardiomyopathy and pregnancy was too stressful in her heart. Finally this very tiny boy was growing so poorly he weighed less than half expected for his gestation of 27 weeks, only 375 grams at birth.

Apart from direct care of very premature babies at birth, I established Victoria’s only donor breast milk bank. Most of us recognise the value of breast milk for babies but it is even more important for infants born prematurely with very immature immune systems and vulnerable intestinal systems. Altruistic women who have breast milk surplus to the needs of their own infant donate their milk, which is then pasteurised and microbiologically checked before distribution to very preterm infants in our nursery. Many mothers of premature infants struggle to achieve sufficient volumes to feed their own babies and having access to donor milk can be therapeutic, taking the stress away and helping them it produce more milk. Other activities with which I am involved are as part of the Victorian Infant Collaborative Group which is a long term neurodevelopmental outcome research group. Every 5 years all the babies born before 28 weeks or below 1000 grams in Victoria are enrolled and their development tracked. Not all work occurs in hospital. Recently I have become the Chair of Ready, Step, Grow; a not for profit enterprise that provides emotional support to parents and developmental stimulation in a focussed playgroup environment, and their prematurely born children.

That is all, thank- you for listening and thank- you to The Hermitage for giving me the inspiration to achieve.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

37

Cooeegrams Patricia Roberts (Knappstein) 1963 122 ELPHIN ROAD, L AUNCESTON. TAS 7250

Mary Thomas (née Fairley) is a Consultant Midwife Specialist at the Box Hill Hospital in Victoria. This year, 2014 was Mary’s 45th year at Box Hill Hospital as a Midwife, which is a very impressive effort and I understand it is the first time that anyone has achieved so many years of service in Midwifery at that hospital.

There were two ceremonies to honour Mary’s achievement, the first was at the Box Hill Hospital on 20th May and the second at Eastern Health on the 18th November. I was honoured to be invited to both ceremonies.

Mary’s husband Roger attended the two events and at the Eastern Health presentation, her son Edward and her sister Ann Tyers (née Fairley), were also there; they had been unable to come to the ceremony at Box Hill. Mary’s other son Oliver, was living in London at the time, and unfortunately was not able to attend.

Mary gave a speech at both ceremonies saying how much midwifery had changed in the 45 years, including some amusing anecdotes. When Ann and I arrived at the Eastern Health event, we were really impressed and proud at the high regard in which Mary was held. This was borne out by the standing ovation she received after her speech.

Due to her many years as a Midwife and coupled with her life experience, Mary is a wonderful mentor for the young Midwives and a highly valued member of the Midwifery Staff.

Editor’s Note – I apologise to both Patricia and Mary for omitting this Cooeegram from the 2015 Newsletter. I had it filed away and simply forgot to include it. Mary is still working there and in to her 47th year)

Elizabeth Ollquist (Page) 1960 370 THOMSON ROAD, HAZELWOOD SOUTH VIC 3840

This year Ross and I went to Vietnam and Cambodia. I had previously spent two weeks in Vietnam and four weeks in Cambodia (looking after grandchildren whilst my daughter volunteered for NGO). After 8 years there was a huge difference in both countries.

I was sorry to miss Old Girls’ Day but the day fell on our grandson’s 10th birthday and we went to Mt. Hotham (where my daughter has a share in a ski lodge) to celebrate the birthday. I keep in contact with Claerwen Ellis (Jones) and she recently returned 38

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

from 6 weeks in Italy, touring with her husband Robin.

We are moving to Melbourne, Hawthorn to be exact in May/June 2016. We have paid a deposit on a retirement apartment in a 69 Unit development. When we move in mid 2016 our address will be 116 St. Joseph Mews (Denham Street) Hawthorn.

Margaret Daly (Bland) 1945 192 BARTON TERRACE WEST, NORTH ADEL AIDE. SA 5006

Greetings once again to those of my vintage (1940’s), anyone I taught as their sports mistress. Our main trip this year was taking our car on the Spirit of Tasmania and touring around the whole island. What a fabulous place.

Our youngest child just turned 50!! Time passes! Fortunately we both keep reasonably well and keep busy with church activities, aquarobics and family.

I enjoy having lunch monthly with one of my old students Jenny Pope (Oldfield).

Wishing you all best wishes for the future and hope that you too will continue to relish the memories as I have of my days at “The Hermo”.

Helene Dennis (Holdsworth) 1954 2/4 HARBECK STREET, HEYFIELD. VIC. 3858

I am on my own now as my Husband Michael is in care with dementia. He is being well cared for and I visit daily as he is in the Heyfield Hospital. My sister Margaret Beneche (Holdsworth) now 87 is amazing. I visit her and her husband Fred regularly in Sydney.

We always talk about our times at “The Hermo”.

My daughter Rosy lives in London. She has a catering business. I am going to London in September 2015 for her husband’s 70th birthday and to get ‘pressed into service’ to help. I am coming back through India as I have a train trip from Delhi.

Editor’s Note – Since Helene sent this Cooeegram in, her husband Michael has sadly passed away in January 2016.

Geraldine Condon (Cumming) 1968 32 GEORGE STREET, REDCLIFFE. QLD 4020

David and I are travelling Australia in our caravan. Our youngest son Patrick married last August in the Hunter Valley and has a son born in June. Daughters Kate and Penny are both married and each have a son and daughter. Kate lives in Kyabram and Penny in Brisbane.

David and I have been settled in Brisbane for 34 years. I still work very part time as a

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

39

nurse and have jobs in Victoria and Brisbane. We are loving being able to travel and will settle back in Brisbane when we are done.

Robin Spry (Bell) 1962 4 HENRY STREET, QUEENSCLIFF. VIC 3226

As our friends and family say “you are always travelling”. Our response “do it while you can”.

This year we enjoyed two weeks in Morocco on tour with five long time friends, a week alone in Portugal, two weeks on a “snail trail” gourmet walk in the south of France, and a few days in beautiful Paris before heading home. We stayed at home in Queenscliff for the exceptionally cold winter and this prompted my husband Garry to suggest we keep our camper trailer and to head north in it for four months next winter. Sounds good to me! To celebrate my seventieth birthday instead of having a party we decided to treat our cash-poor daughters and families to a week in Fiji. There were twelve of us aged between eight and seventy six and everyone had a great time without being in each other’s pocket.

Last but not least was the Hermitage Golf Day and Lunch at Barwon Heads in October which is always a great catch-up day.

Sandra Beck 1957 PO BOX 5725, WEST END. QLD 4101

This has been an exciting year as I have had a wonderful voluntary job teaching reading to intellectually disabled adults from 18 to 65 years plus. Two mornings a week also handwriting, which you would not believe judging by this sample of my handwriting, and stimulus writing. Ability ranges from zero to reading as well as my own, marred by past trauma, illness or social mal-function.

I use my maiden name having been married and widowed twice, it’s simpler. I now have ten grandchildren and three great grandchildren. My hobbies are driving, reading, coffee, art galleries, studying (presently maths on line after recently completing an Auslan introduction course), gardening, and dog walking. I would be happy to return emails to any past friends; smoxson@hotmail.com I was briefly excited by the possibility of attending the Christmas lunch until I realised I will be in Melbourne in January, not December, after attending a memorial in Canberra for great uncles who served at Gallipoli.

40

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Desiree Cohen (Horne) 1968 2/9 BUNGARA COURT, OCEAN GROVE. VIC. 3226

We are now living in our new home in Ocean Grove. I am working as a Marketing Consultant for Brunswick Private Hospital and as the Regional Coordinator for the Stroke Association. My son Rob married Emi in January and they will be moving to Australia from Japan next year. I now have 6 grandchildren with the arrival of my grandson to son Ben and his wife Emma in Warrnambool.

Margot Craddock (Goss) 1954 15 SARAH COURT, MONTROSE. VIC. 3765

This breeding season, 2014/2015, the Helmeted Honeyeaters have been busy in the wild as well as in captivity producing their own kind. It has been a good year for them breaking all records as to the number of fledglings – 46, beating the 1995-1996 record.

Also, the number of individuals in excess of 130 individual birds – a record number of birds since the start of the recovery program in 1989 and 23 breeding territories – a record number also. A new training program was started and over the last two years the captive birds have been introduced to the stranger danger training of the predators that they would find in the wild. Some wild birds were brought in to help. They have found the survival numbers went from 45% in the wild to 90%. So we are thrilled.

I spent 6 weeks in the UK during April/May, to welcome our second grandchild, another girl! I also managed to visit the Chelsea Flower Show as well as doing a tour run by the homeless people. I was shown how they coped in their situation as well as the history in and around Covent Gardens. Of course, the Barnes wetland was visited as often as possible. I just might have a granddaughter interested in wildlife.

Hoping you are achieving some of your dreams?

Winkie Mactier (Reilly) 1963 315 FELLOWS ROAD, PT. LONSDALE. VIC. 3225

In September 2015 my husband John and I flew to Crete to research my father’s war experiences. Dad’s name Lt. A.J.C. Reilly, 2/6 Division A.I.F. After evacuating Greece the allied troops escaped to Crete. German airborne forces landed in Maleme and Chania on the 20th May, 1941. The allied soldiers (NZ, Australian, British) lacking air protection were forced to withdraw and ordered to walk over the formidable White Mountains to Hora Sphakia (a small fishing village on the south coast) where British and Australian war ships were to sneak in at night and evacuate the troops. 1,000 soldiers were rescued and shipped to Alexandra, but on the 1st June the Germans outflanked the Australian rear guard holding the ridge and captured 5000

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

41

hungry and abandoned allied troops – before them lay 4 years in a German P.O.W. camp. Dad survived the P.O.W. camp and lived a happy and fulfilled life.

Apart from that history, Crete is absolutely beautiful and exciting.

Margaret Gibson 1952 AP T 909, 124 SPRINGFIELD RD, OT TAWA KIM2C8 ONTARIO, CANADA

Thank you for always remembering me, to send all the notices and Newsletters. I greatly appreciate all of them. It always makes me sad I am unable to attend all the wonderful lunches and functions you arrange. If I lived locally you would see me at all of them. I notice you always have interesting women speakers which I like.

I have a woman doctor friend who is a leading Neonatologist and Paediatrician here.

She goes to all parts of the world to conventions and has many doctors coming here to learn from her. Often she goes to Sydney or Melbourne. I can tell you next time she is in Melbourne. If it is your meeting time you might like her to come.

Please remember me to all the Old Girls I was at school with. My wish is to see them very soon and meet the later ones I do not know.

Mary Young (Tait) 1954 248 BOBBIN HEAD ROAD, NORTH TURRAMURRA NSW 2074

A cautionary tale from Mary Young. The moral is “Watch Your Step”.

In April, my husband Bob and I were staying in a cottage at Brindabella Station, on the Goodradigbee River, two hours out of Canberra. The valley has no mobile phone coverage. I went alone for an early morning walk up the hill near the cottage.

Unfortunately, I tripped on a stone and fell. Snap!! Fractured hip. Impossible to stand, so I sat against a rock watching the birds and little kangaroos until Bob came looking for me several hours later. I ended up with a helicopter ride to the Canberra Hospital and a month of rehabilitation after hip surgery.

Almost recovered, and back in Sydney. I had an enjoyable visit one day from Berry McDade (Angus). The next day I heard that she had a tumble at the football, while watching the Sydney Swans and had broken several of her ribs.

At our age, it is best to be careful, especially when far from home!

42

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Bernice (Berry) McDade 1954 4 RUTHERGLEN ROAD, VERMONTH SOUTH,. VIC. 3133

I have enjoyed cruising near home this year to Noumea and the Isle of Pines to celebrate my daughter Fiona’s birthday with her family. Then In December Bill, my husband and I cruised to New Zealand with our son and family to celebrate Will and Jane’s 10th wedding anniversary.

When in Sydney before the Noumea cruise I was able to catch up with Mary Young. It was lovely to see her as she was unable to join our school friends for our 60th reunion at the RACV club in Melbourne last year.

I am in touch with Margot Craddock (Goss), who is very active at the Healesville Sanctuary, especially with the Helmeted Honeyeaters. We both enjoyed Old Girls’ Day this year, particularly with such an interesting guest speaker Gillian Opie.

I had a lovely cruise last year on the Baltic and visiting St. Petersburg including The Hermitage. I spent a long time at the Hermitage exhibition of Katherine 11. That had a long run in Melbourne. One could not see it all in Russia! I had always wanted to visit the other “Hermitage”.

Rosemary Holmes 1955 115 SL ATEY CREEK ROAD, INVERMAY PARK . VIC 3350

I completed my book on the History of the Australian Lavender Growers’ Association which was launched at the 20th Conference in Ballarat in April 2015.

Since then I have been working on my novel, “Adaptation”, a book of interest to the farming community. The synopsis proved of interest to the publishing company and when the total manuscript was read, it was accepted for publication. The book launch should be about May 2016, which will be a most exciting time.

Val McDowell (Bendle) 1944 PO BOX 80 HOLMESGLEN 3148 VICTORIA

This year has been full of interest, with new and rewarding activities.

In February, Joy (my daughter) and I flew to Egypt to fulfil a lifelong ambition of mine. During our eight day tour we visited the Pyramids, Sphinx, Cairo Museum and the Coptic churches. As we sailed along the Nile River, the story of Moses in the bullrushes came alive. The layout of the temples that existed during the period of the Israelite slavery in Egypt fascinated us. There were striking similarities (such as the Holy Sanctuary for the local god) to the subsequent divine plan for the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

43

We had 2 different guides who were graduates in Antiquities; one was also a staff member of the Museum. As we viewed the inscriptions on the tombs and temples, the guides gave wonderful insight into the ancient Egyptian culture and beliefs.

I had another link with Egypt through my father and father-in-law, both of whom trained beside (and on!) the pyramids in 1915 before leaving for Gallipoli and Palestine respectively. My father-in-law stabled his horse at Mena House, a royal hunting lodge adjacent to the pyramids. We were able to tour this building, now a first class hotel.

During October, Joy and I took the opportunity of a last minute booking for a Pacific cruise, visiting New Caledonia and Fiji. Our visit to a Fijian village was a highlight. There we were entertained by their choir and witnessed a Kava ceremony. The very modern local chief showed us around the village and escorted us to the large open-sided Methodist church, probably built by an early missionary.

The following day at a museum we were shown a giant sized garden type fork which was used to eat the flesh of the first Methodist missionary! The cannibal chief had even tried to eat the man’s shoes, but the soles, which were on display, proved unchewable! Our guide assured us that good eventually came from this tragedy; today, 80% of the Islanders are Methodists.

Jill Nicholls (Holmes) 1968 165 JOLLY HILLS ROAD, SMY THES CREEK . VIC.3351

In June this year my husband Rod and I joined 7 others on a wonderful 3 week tour of Normandy and Brittany .Three of the other members of the trip were old Hermitage girls; they were Barbara Phoenix (Smith) Val Clark (Taylor) and our illustrious leader Jane Annois, who runs Zeste French Tours. We spent the first five days doing a thorough exploration of Paris, and Jane with her wealth of knowledge of the area showed us many wonderful hidden gems. We walked from morning to night and loved every minute of it. Visiting the museums, boat trips down the Seine, I don’t think we missed a thing, also enjoying beautiful meals at very interesting venues. The highlight, of which there were many, was going to the ballet which was held in the magnificent Opera House.

We then travelled in a mini bus, ably driven by Jane and travelled the beautiful country side of Normandy and Brittany, we visited Monet’s Garden which had been on my bucket list and I wasn’t disappointed. Being on a mini bus with a very knowledgeable tour guide, we often went off the beaten track to some lesser known treasures, and wonderful little villages. Mont Saint Michel was amazing as were the oysters at Cancale. We stayed at a mixture of beautiful hotels overlooking the sea, to old Mills, mansions built in the 14th century and B and B’s with interesting and entertaining owners. With Jane’s amazing grasp of the language Mrs Thompson and Miss Walker 44

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

would be so proud and also with her knowledge of the country we had an amazing time. I would thoroughly recommend Jane’s tours to everyone. Barb has been on three of her tours and we are looking to go on another soon.

Sandra Beck 1957 (2) PO BOX 5725, WEST END. QLD. 4101

Lucky in Every Way: My experience of The Hermitage is not typical. I believe I started in kindergarten at about 2 years of age. The only time I ever got my name on an honour board was for winning a Wading race in about 1947. In 1945, I left the school for a while due to my father dying and my being taken to live with relatives in Melbourne, attending Ruyton as a weekly boarder. I returned to The Hermitage until mid 1947 when my mother took her four children in a caravan to Queensland for a six month holiday which turned into five and a half years.

Initially Mum planned to return to Geelong purely to renovate and possibly sell our house, but early in our return journey the caravan had smashed and this was very disruptive to our family. The house in Geelong needed more repairs than expected.

My step father got work at Fords as a Safety Engineer and my younger brother and I started at Geelong High School, both in year 7 as we had not taken French at the island school which educated to year 8. During the year, I won a scholarship into year 9 at The Hermitage. During my absence from the school, Miss Krome and I intermittently wrote to each other. Our friendship continued after I left school and I sometimes walked miles to visit her in the Dandenongs from my grandmother’s house at Kalorama.

Despite Helen Garner’s description of Miss Krome as a virago, I always found her an inspirational teacher. I admire many of the strong teachers of our years. Miss Featherstone, Miss Franklin and Miss Montgomery, who was so old and fragile that winter Latin lessons were sometimes held in her bedroom with her in bed. Also through Deaconess (Mary Kent) I was given a love of learning, a strong sense of identity and values, a deep religious faith which has stood me through thick and thin, a love for the school and the ethos of the school and happy memories of so many of my peers. I am deeply grateful to Miss Krome for taking this fatherless child under her wing, believing in me, standing by me when I was later failing due to emotional and social problems at home, for often finding or suggesting a niche for me, and most of all for inspiring a love of scripture. I regret that I am not the strong woman of these role models, but I am not ashamed of the person I am nor of my values. Perhaps she also has something to do with my preparedness always to speak out.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

45

Marcia Tanswell (Carroll) 1945 OPAL VARSITY RISE, 12 L AKE STREET, VARSITY L AKES. QLD 4227

At Christmas 2015 I received a card from Stephanie Day and contacted her. Always glad to hear from old girls. My mother was at the school the year after it opened.

Thelma Carroll (Hocking) 1907-1910. Also my Aunt Gracie Hocking 1907-1914. I commenced aged 7 in 1936, leaving around the war time in 1941 to finish at “Ormiston” in Melbourne in 1945. Quite a history.

Following some falls, broken bones, hospitalization and aged care places, I’ve now been at the above address for seven months now. Prior to selling “Aunt Gracie’s “ of Healesville a box of pristine hot off the press copies of my book “A Letter From my Father Through the Panama Canal to France - 1918” was found. I thought I had sold them all years ago having had the book launched by Nell Wynd at the Geelong Historical Society’s Christmas Meeting in 1991, a great thrill now.

I have enclosed a copy for the Archives and if anyone would be interested to obtain a copy please contact me.

Jan Koch (Campbell) 1968 PO BOX 2088, GROVEDALE EAST. VIC.3216

In October 2015 David and I went on our first cruise. The trip was arranged by our youngest daughter Jess, who works as a travel consultant at Destination HQ in Beaumaris. On the 2nd October we flew to Venice to spend a couple of nights before we were due to sail from there on the 4th October. Jess thought it wise that the ‘oldies’ recovered from the flight before embarking on our ship Oceania, a medium size ship we were told - accommodating max 1200 passengers.

Transport from Marco Polo Marina (Venice) airport was via water taxi for a wild ride to our hotel situated on The Grand Canal. “Of course this taxi driver knows what he’s doing” I thought as we and our luggage bounced on the swell of every wave, negotiating pylons and a flotilla of other boats.

Did the usual Venice sightseeing, markets and shopping, including a ride on a gondola, we were asked by a young Turkish couple on their honeymoon if they could share the ride to save them a few Euros.

Embarkation day arrived and we hired a local porter to carry our luggage on his trolley, over two canals with steps, to the bus station to hop on the “People Mover” transporting us to the marina. The porter was so efficient and very fast – pushing his trolley faster than I have ever pushed my golf buggy out of a thunderstorm!

Once aboard Oceania, after all necessary security checks we were escorted to our 46

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

cabin, mid ship, 11th deck and introduced to our personal butler Jitu, and stewardess Marlene who gave us all the valid information for our cruise. All passengers had to attend compulsory evacuation drill and life jacket demonstration prior to the ship leaving port. You could pick the ‘very frequent cruisers’ who took little notice and “I’ve done this ten times already this year” type of attitude. The majority of passengers were the over 60’s and we only met one other couple who were on their first cruise.

The ship had a main restaurant – The Grande Dining Room, and four specialty restaurants, serving French, Thai, Western and Italian food. Each had their own special décor and theme to match the fare. There were also more casual buffet, grill and pool side eateries. We chose to share tables each evening and met interesting people from many countries. Entertainment was provided nightly including stand- up comedians, themed dances and musicals.

I will mention highlights of our trip rather than detail every port visited, which after Venice included single-day stops at Dubrovnik Croatia, Kotor Montenegro, Igoumenitsa Greece, Messina Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence, Pisa and Monte Carlo Monaco. Every day you had to be back on the ship by a designated time, usually 6 or 8pm. “Don’t be late or we’ll sail without you” we were told.

It was not unusual once you disembarked at the ports, the local tourism operators would descend upon you, flourishing tickets, pamphlets and madly bargaining and competing to win the tourist dollar.

At Kotor we had planned on using one of the ‘hop on/hop off’ buses, but an enterprising local explained that his taxi travelled twice the distance as the bus for two hours and half the money. As he clinched the deal he admitted he was not the driver, just the negotiator, and beckoned our driver, Nef, a delightful 21 year old uni student using his father’s car as the ‘taxi’. He drove us to interesting towns, beaches and places you would never find on your own, including Porto Montenegro – a luxurious port developed only five years ago, from an old shipyard, now the home of billionaires. As I snapped up a shot of a private yacht the size of the Queen Mary, a security guard appeared “no photos Madam.” Our trip turned into four hours with Nef chatting about his countries culture, history and more, with more information than Lonely Planet could produce.

We were to be anchoring off shore at Taormina in Sicily, but due to poor weather it was not safe for a tender service to shore, so we had to proceed to dock at Messina. Here we arranged a local six seater taxi van to drive us with another Oz couple to Taormina, 50 kms on a narrow coastal road. Our driver Vita, spent more time waving his arms gesticulating than holding the steering wheel, which was quite an experience in one of the many tunnels on the way. A very pretty city, lovely shops an interesting ancient amphitheatre, some great photo opportunities.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

47

Unfortunately weather was unfavourable for our next day’s anchorage off Sorrento, so again a port change, this time to Naples. This day was meant to be the highlight of our day trips and had been arranged before leaving Australia, to share with another Oz Melbourne couple. Sadly the magnificent scenery of the Amalfi coast was spoilt by constant rain. We drove through Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Rivello with the rain getting heavier the further we ventured. After leaving Rivello the rain was torrential and suddenly in front of us there was a huge rock slide which our driver considered too dangerous to drive through and made the decision to turn back. We could see we were now running out of time to get back to board the ship’s 6.30pm deadline. Our local driver did an excellent job negotiating the now slippery hazardous Amalfi coastal, 30km/hour drive back till we hit the freeway. I could just visualize a write-up in the Geelong Addy, “Four Aussies washed off the Amalfi Coast or four in a car smash on freeway into Naples” - where our driver was hitting 140km/hour while pleading on his phone to our ship’s crew to buy more time. We were given 15 minutes grace and sped into the port without a moment to spare. By sheer coincidence a police car with lights flashing drove onto the pier in front of us. Looked like our own personal escort!

The rest of the cruise had none of this excitement, but we enjoyed visiting Rome, Florence and Pisa, eventually finishing at Monte Carlo, Monaco on October 14th.

After leaving The Oceania, for the next week we travelled by train across France to Avignon, St Remy, toured Provence region, Lyon and spent the last two nights in Paris.

Joan Ray (Temple-Watts) 1946 47 CAROLINE DRIVE, TEMPLESTOWE LOWER. VIC. 3107

“By The Grace of Dog”, my first book just published! Between 1989 and 2007 I coordinated a Pet Therapy program for Guide Dogs Victoria (VISPAT) and subsequently for Lort Smith Animal Hospital. Since 1987 I have also taken my dogs to visit both hospitals and nursing homes. These visits gave rise to the poems in this book. Besides poems, colour plates and factual notes are also included in this charity fundraiser.

For further details go to www.graceofdog.altervista.org

Rosemary (Jessie) Poyner (Thomson) 1954 SOUTHERN CROSS CARE, AP T. 15, 82 REGENT STREET, MOAMA. NSW 2731

My house in Moama sold in four days nearly two years ago, and am well cared for here, with my own apartment and ensuite and can come and go as I wish. It is great to go to the dining room for meals and not have a garden to maintain. It is so important family and friends visit the elderly instead of it being a case of “out of sight out of mind”. I have a sister and brother and their families in the area, but my daughter Susan Poyner and son Robert and his family live in Melbourne. They will be in Moama for Christmas and New Year. Two grandsons, Finlay is 14 and his brother Ellis 11years old. Hermitage 48

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

House was grateful to receive two historic drawings in frames of our Old School House and the wrought iron gates I passed on. It was good to attend Jane Poyners (Calvert) 80th birthday dinner in Melbourne recently. We spent our 21st birthdays together in 1957.

I thought Tammy Fraser (Beggs) would have too many letters to answer my condolences after Malcolm died, and I wasn’t sure of her address. But she did reply, and appreciated I felt. She always kept our school motto “Esse Quam Videri”.

I miss the friends I made in England where I worked most of the time from April 1987 and retired home at the end of 2000. A trip to Tasmania is planned in 2016, the only state I have not seen in the past.

Sally Horne (Jaques) 1968 7 MULLENS ROAD, VERMONT SOUTH. VIC 3133

Since retiring from fulltime teaching in 2012, my husband Alistair Horne (Geelong House 66) and I have spent a lot of time travelling overseas.

In the last year we have enjoyed three wonderful trips.

In late February, we travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam. Although we had originally booked on a group tour, it ended up with us being the only people in the group! We had a driver and guide all to ourselves. We loved Hanoi, and as it was the New Year Festival of Tet when we arrived, everyone was in party mode. The city was very colourfully decorated with flowers and special floats everywhere. We spent time visiting the hill tribes in the mountains north of Hanoi, then cruised on beautiful Halong Bay. Our tour then took us to Da Nang and the old town of Hoi An. This is very unspoilt and quite traditional. We loved exploring the fish and vegetable markets, and took part in a cooking lesson using fresh local produce. Delicious! Further points of call in Vietnam included Hue, and of course, Ho Chi Min City. We spent a fascinating day exploring the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Viet Cong eluded the US Troops in the Vietnam War, and visited the War Museum and US Embassy.

Then we ventured on to the mighty Mekong River cruising into Phnom Penh. The Killing Fields and prison tour was truly horrific, but we felt a special need to witness these atrocities as our son in law is Cambodian, and fled to Australia as a refugee many years ago. We then visited Siem Riep, and the wonderful temples at Angkor Wat. It was heartening to visit several places in both Phnom Penh and Siem Riep where Australian agencies are making a real difference in the lives of the people, especially in feeding and educating children. We sponsor three children here through World Vision. More donors and volunteers are always needed!

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

49

In May we visited Israel on a study tour, which was a pilgrimage led by two Anglican Priests to explore the ways in which Israel is the land of three faiths. Alistair’s sister Cyn Roseburgh (née Horne, Hermitage 65) accompanied us. We visited archaeological digs in Beer Sheva and Jericho, and stayed overnight in a Bedouin camp in the Negev Desert, where we rode camels. We floated in the Dead Sea and explored the endlessly fascinating Old City of Jerusalem. We renewed our baptismal vows in the Jordan River, and visited The Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, Nazareth and Bethlehem. It was a wonderful experience that we will never forget.

In August we undertook back to back tours of Spain and Portugal, and Scandinavia.

Both were fascinating places. In Portugal, we especially enjoyed Lisbon, with its beautiful food and wonderful beaches. In Spain we watched flamenco dancing, went for twilight carriage rides and visited Gaudi’s magical gardens and cathedral in Barcelona. In Scandinavia, we visited Santa’s Village on the Arctic Circle, ate reindeer, and witnessed the Midnight Sun, that doesn’t set, at the North Cape of Norway. We descended the Troll’s Staircase and cruised the beautiful Gerainger Ffjord, before ending our tour in Oslo. Truly a magnificent six weeks away!

In May, my mother, Mary Jaques (née Graham, Hermitage 1941), celebrated her 90th birthday. We organised a wonderful family party at Truffleduck in Fyansford. Mum is still living in her own home in Newtown. My sisters, Louise Jacques (Hermitage 74) and Nanette Ashkanasy (née Jacques, GGS 78) were there too. Louise is living in Grovedale, and Nanette and her husband live in Modewarre. Nanette teaches Grade 3/4 at Newtown Primary, and has two children.

We have a son in the Army in Darwin, three grandchildren in Townsville, a son in Byron Bay, and a son, and a daughter with five children in Melbourne. When we are at home our time is very full with family. I help out with literacy assistance at our grandchildren’s primary school, along with anything else that needs doing! I love attending HOGA events when I am able and catching up with old friends from my Hermitage school days.

50

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Zoë de Vries (Cain) 1956 1A HARCOURT STREET, GEELONG. VIC. 3220

We met in 1948/1949 in P4 and P5 at “The Hermitage”(pictured left to right); Zoë de Vries (Cain), Heather Moreton, Jill Buchanan (Purnell), Pam Copeland (Bond).

We all lived in Geelong or on farms not far away so we were Day girls. Pam’s family moved around a lot and frequent changes of school caused much disruption to both education and friendships. Eventually she finished at a Melbourne school and I lost touch with her… Until 3 years ago.

Heather, Jill and I completed our secondary schooling at “The Hermitage”, moved to live in Melbourne to follow different training paths and fields of work, and eventually marriage and children. Due to common family interests (schools, Pony Club, etc.)

Jill and I found our paths crossing many times. We three have always kept in touch, although there were times when the connection was not so good.

Last December Jill arranged for us all to meet for a special lunch at the Sofitel in Melbourne. Jill and I travelled from Geelong by train, using every minute to exchange recent news. Heather and Pam also came by train, from opposite ends of Melbourne.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

51

When Jill and I arrived in Reception we were warmly greeted by both Heather and Pam who jumped up from seats almost side by side, but had not recognised each other!

They had not met since 1952!

A few changes to everyone since then! Grey hair, different bodies! glasses added, or none at all, hearing aids! (they sometimes don’t aid at all!)… Soon we were enjoying glasses of beautiful “Bubbly” and a delicious lunch, during which we tried to fill in some of the spaces in our knowledge of each other’s lives and families in recent years, and reminisced freely of school and childhood experiences.

With four women, all approaching 80 much faster than we would like, swapping tales of youthful adventure, memories of events long forgotten, well-loved places now changed beyond recognition and dear friends who can no longer be with us; it was inevitable that Nostalgia crept in from time to time but the never-ending stories were just as often punctuated by gales of uproarious laughter.

All too soon the time came for us to catch our separate trains. Pam produced three carry bags of cherries from her neighbours orchard. A truly delicious memento of the day!

We look forward to meeting up in May with other old familiar faces, and some not so well-remembered, at the 60 Year Reunion of our Class of ’56.

Sue Davidson (Paton) 1957 29 SKENE STREET, KENNINGTON. VIC. 3550

Last September (2015) Terry and I took a whirlwind trip – around the world in 30 days.

This was prompted by the marriage in New York of my great nephew Rupert Boyd, a classical guitarist to Laura Metcalf, a cellist. Being dubbed the “Dowager Aunt” by his mother, I just had to be there.

The wedding was held in Jefferson Park Garden, a delightful space of lawn, trees and brightly coloured flowers. In another era it was the exercise yard for the adjacent women’s prison – now the Greenwich Village library. The reception was held in a nearby bookshop that doubles as a reception venue. It was all good fun with some speeches and music to accompany the good food and wine.

Rupert was off on tour a few weeks after the wedding – to Nepal, the Philippines and then England to make a new CD. In May he will be performing in various venues in Australia. Anyone interested could check his website (www.rupertboyd.com) for details. Sometimes he performs with Jacob Cordover as the Australian Guitar Duo. Interestingly, Jacob lives in Barcelona and Rupert in New York City.

We enjoyed ten days in NYC, visiting with friends who ‘knew the ropes’ in Manhattan – a great help in our enjoying the stay there. However, one does not take long to 52

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

find one’s way as people are so friendly and helpful. We also met up with friends. We delighted in the art galleries and museums we visited. The J.P. Morgan House being outstanding in its collection of first edition books, ancient manuscripts and music scores as well as other artefacts. In the temporary exhibition space we were treated with Lewis Carroll’s life and works. While one always thinks of ‘Alice’, I was unaware of his mathematical pursuits and his puzzles. Central Park is an amazing space. It is so extensive and well used by locals for bike riding, running, walking (with or without dogs) and also for having a picnic.

Then to Dublin, Ireland, for a few days to meet again with Terry’s Irish cousin, and onwards to Bilbao, a city we missed the last time we were in Spain. The Guggenheim Museum had not then been built – now we could enjoy the building, an art feature in itself. The current exhibition was by Jeff Koons with his entertaining, and at times wacky sculptures. We enjoyed some day hiking in an area that we had fallen in love with the last time there, the rugged and at times snow capped mountains of the Picos de Europa along the Biscay coast.

On to Italy and the town of Reggio Emilia where we met friends who treated us to local food, a highlight being Mr. Cattani’s restaurant. Mr. Cattani is a charming octogenarian who still insists on cooking and serving his meals. We also visited the railway station for the high speed trains that travel the length of Italy and beyond. This architectural gem rises out of the countryside like a line of nautilus shells. Another fascinating feature of the station is a very large mural of the ‘Last Supper’.

The next day in Verona we explored the old city with friends who insisted we saw Juliet’s House. Well, the place was crowded and some of the walls a mess with heart graffiti and of course, names and initials. Seeing the queue of visitors lining up to embrace or stroke the statue of Juliet was entertaining.

The night performance of Romeo and Juliet set as a musical was spectacularly entertaining , held as it was in the Roman Amphitheatre; the downside being that it rained and, although prepared for that, we still had to walk back home with wet pants, not recommended.

Our next stop was Malacca to visit my Malaysian relations. We managed to see almost all the tribe, even the newest one, being one week old.

Then back to Australia, but we could have kept going.

Our dog had a marvellous time for the month with her three Jack Russell friends. She missed them for about a week.

Best wishes to all for 2016

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

53

Anita Eyres (Fisken) 1975 “DOORENUP”, RMB 207, KOJONUP. WA 6395 This Song was written by Mrs. Quickmire for the Madrigal Group to sing at the School Concert 1974 (To the Tune of “Matchmaker, Matchmaker”, from Fiddler on The Roof”)

House Captain, House Captain Give me a match Please let me play, Some one might scratch House Captain, House Captain, Please don’t be mean But let me play in a team.

House Captain, House Captain, I’m not so proud, I’ll join a D team, If I’m allowed House Captain, House Captain, Don’t I deserve, At least to be made reserve.

Oh, Austin, snap up my talents, And Morres – I would not play the fool, If Volum won’t see my virtue, Maybe I could get transferred to School House Captain, House Captain, Please find a place, I Promise I’ll Not bring disgrace, House Captain, House Captain, Take down my name, And put me in someone’s game.

Annie, and Mary! Have I got a team for you, They’re brawny, they’re tough, (They’ll beat you black and blue,)

54

For they’re a tough team, a top team True, true.

They seem to be short sighted, At least when in flight, They beat up all their own side, And serve you right.

Did you think it would be fun, Sport’s a thing to which you give, Cracked noses, smashed jaw-bones, Torn muscles and tendons, Be thankful if you live.

House Captain, House Captain, At a new glance, I think I’ll give Others a chance Up until now I just didn’t know, That I could get damaged so.

So Volum, vote in another And Morres, draw a name from the pool Please, Austin, I’d rather umpire Or maybe I’ll write down the score for School.

House Captain, House Captain, I’ve hurt my arm, It just needs rest, No cause for alarm.

House Captain, House Captain, I’d like to say, I’m sorry but I can’t play

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Kerry Ennis (Gray) 1955 46 ROSEDALE ROAD, GLEN IRIS. VIC 3146

This is an Obituary I wrote on the passing of my school friend Wendy Freshwater (Stone 1955).

Wendy Freshwater died early in September 2015, just two weeks short of her 77th birthday. Aldene Glenister (née Splatt) and I attended her thanksgiving service and joined with her family and friends celebrating her life.

Wendy started at the Hermitage at age three and a half in kindergarten, then Prep at four and a half years old. All her schooling was completed at the school and she left in 1954 to attend Teachers College. After graduating she met then married Ian Freshwater who was an engineering student and they built a home in Geelong and later moved to Melbourne. They had three daughters, Jennifer, Catherine and Elizabeth and a son Scott and now have several grandchildren. Jennifer and Catherine gave a very detailed happy account of their mother’s life at the service and explained why her school days were so important to her.

Wendy’s mother was a matron of a nursing home in Pakington Street, Geelong West called Pineville. Wendy and her brother lived on site (her father had been killed in WW2). She walked up Pakington Street hill to school each day and was delighted to have so many friends to play with and all the grounds and equipment to play on, having needed to be so quiet at home. In later years she boarded at our place and I can remember chats and cups of tea around the kitchen table; we had great fun getting ready for the dances at St David’s and St George’s.

Wendy was a great student at school and some of her teachers inspired her to try the teaching profession. Her daughters told of her love of the children she taught especially the prep grades. She always taught them the hymn ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ and we all sang it together at her service.

When our history book ‘Proud To Be Women’ was being collated, Wendy was a great help with photos and names. She had a phenomenal memory and she was so accurate.

The book’s cover is our form and she knew them all. She and Jennifer attended the launch.

Aldene Glenister (Dene Splatt), Valerie Mills (née Slack) and Wendy and I would meet several times a year for lunch and we will certainly miss her happy disposition at future gatherings. Her school days had a profound influence on her life and I’m glad I was part of it as we were always in the same class together.

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

55

Deaths Jacqueline Baker (Purnell) 1938 Wendy Freshwater (Stone) 1954 Joan Fulton (McIlwain) 1949 Lynette (Lyn) Martin (Mitchell) 1971 Mariana Matthews (MacKinnon) 1950 Zelda Mills (Gatenby) 1936 Clytie Siddall (Prime) 1975 Judith Bone (Dickins) 1958 Alexis Joyce Gerritsen (Bell) 1959 Jenette Kuhne (Miller) 1956 Clare Greaves (Carter) 1948 Dorothy Black (James) 1942 Mary Sambell (Bennett) 1939 Susan Dean (1975) Lenore Twentyman (Westman) 1935 Nancy Downing (Baird) 1936 Ruth de Fégely OAM (Beggs) 1948 Ann Purnell (Schlesinger) 1947 Frances Payne 1948 Elizabeth Moorhouse (Hayes) 1938 Betty Whitcombe (Dallimore) 1936 Janet Mayor (Nall) 1946

56

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Bereavements Jennifer Charlton (Freshwater) - Mother Patricia Taylor (Bingley) Susan Bingley - Mother Jennifer Mills – Mother Nerida Turner (McCann) - Husband Hilary Stone – Sister Deborah Russell, Fiona East (Russell) – Father Ann Buntine (Lamont) – Brother Gillian Mohr (Donald) – Husband Lynette Rae Anderson (Dickins) – Sister Rhonda Prosser (Mitchell) – Sister Sally Wishart – Daughter Sally and Tina Wishart, Louise Sutherland – Mother Kathryn, Helen and Fiona Purnell - Mother Judy Llewellyn (Purnell) – Husband Gillian Preston (Tomkinson) - Husband Julie Gainey (Slocombe) – Father Helene Dennis (Holdsworth) - Husband Janice Manning (Rooke) – Brother Patricia Bailey, (Salter) Barbara Salter – Father Judy Chirnside (Sanders) – Brother Priscilla Laird (Kyle) – Husband Patricia Adam (Salter) – Sister Rosie Darling (Brown) – Brother Helen Mayor (Nall) – Sister Georgina Sanders (Strachan) – Husband

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

57

Returned Mail Birgit Campbell (Wieland), 1975, Form 5, Carlton Elizabeth Trotter (Stanley), 1964, Malvern Pat Nelson (Brownbill), 1948, Tugun, Qld Leuwin Ferguson, 1974, Form 4, Malvern Cecily Lawrie (Miller), 1950, Belmont Maureen Hurst (Firth), 1952, Mysterton, Qld Please email hermitagegirls@gmail.com if you have any contact details for any of these old girls.

58

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Cooee To school fellows near us or distant, We send out our Cooee today; Wherever you be may you hear it, Whether hard at your work or at play.

In our own sunny home or in lands far away Do you hear it? Just listen! We greet you today.

Cooee! Cooee! Long live the School!

Australia’s own call to her daughters is the call of your school now as well: May its echoes ring cheerily round you, Making feelings of gratitude swell.

May it be that your conduct will aye prove the worth Of the love of your school and the land of your birth.

Cooee! Cooee! Long live the School!

May lessons you learn in your school days, Through life make your path ever bright, May you grow in all virtue and beauty Gentle, honest, and strong in the right.

In all games that you play, in all work that you do, Do the work, play the game, as a girl straight and true.

Cooee! Cooee! Long live the School!

May our song in far days waken mem’ries, Of comrades and friends tried and true, Days bright with the freshness of morning, Pleasures many and sorrows but few.

Then here’s to you, schoolmates, young, old, far and near, Accept our glad greeting and ring it back here.

Cooee! Cooee! Long live the School!

59

The Hermitage Church of England Girls’ Grammar School, Geelong news letter 2016

60

THE HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER — GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL