TRINITY Newr/e#et COLLEGE A PUBLICATION OF TRINITY COLLEGE WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE Vol. 1, No.1.
APRIL, 1967
WHO GAVE ALL THE PARTIES? (This is the text, slightly abbreviated, of the speech of the. Warden, Dr. - Robin Sharwood, at the Dïnner for the Commemoration of Benefactors, 29th November, 1966. ) Do you remember that charming musical play "Salad. Days" of a few 'Years ago? It was very much a University play, a College play, written and first produced.(I believe) in Cambridge; and deeply nostalgic. When the curtain rises, the young hero and heroine.. are.._"discovered" outside a .pair of .. •very a'tadetnie wróirght-iron gates as they prepare to leave the University for the great world. '!Who'll -give all the parties when •W2e're gone?", she asks. "There will be no more parties", he replies. "There will he na more parties". Is not ..this how it is for all -of us?' The College, the University, is for us, always, what it was in the days when we were here. We could not, at the time, enter into its past. We have had no real involvement in its succeeding years. For us it has been time- Tessly 1913, 1926, 1936, 1946 - whatever car great year may have been. PRIVATE VISIONS For some of us the Warden is "Bones" Leeper, still, the oak is but a sapling, the Chapel Mr. Horsfall's dream (did the Warden really make him • drink on champagne?), and the "hostiles" came across for tennis parties and tea fights.
Or is it 1926, we are living in the temporary Wooden Wing,; the Dining Hall is newly enlarged, a grandfather clock has appeared in the Common Room, a man named Farran is Treasurer of the Social Club, and "Jock" Behan, still a young man (was he ever a young man?) sits in his splendid new carved chair in Hall. Ten years later, 1936, and our Warden is "Jock" in his middle years, immensely dignified at Sunday Mattins. There is a new wing along Royal Parade (what did we call it again?). We have a Dean. Russell Clark is President of the'Students Club. Or perhaps we are of a generation for whom the Warden is Mr.. Cowan, "the Lull", striding determinedly from the J.C.R. after his first address to the College ("You kick me and I'll kick you"), or presiding in his prime over the great College expansion of the 'fifties and early 'sixties. Whatever our year, we have a private ancf particular vision of Trinity, do we not? And when we rise to drink the toast to the College, is it not to these memories above all that each of us drinks - to the College we knew, to the friends we made, to the fun we had, to the buildings we lived in, to our Warden? We drink, each of us, to our own Trinity, for which time stands still. Who gave all the parties when we went down? There were no more parties.
COLLECTIVE MEMORIES
And yet the odd thing is that the College did_go on, and does go on. There were more parties, and always will be. Trinity is not a' collection of stills,,, of fading snapshots; it is a moving picture, and it has been running without intermission now- for nearly one hundred years. The only way wecan 'know it - know it fully - it seems to me, is to know it collectively, to hold it in our corporate memory-. -.And-- at is the whole point of occasions such as this tonight. We come together, Trinity men from every era, because only when we are together do we see Trinity as a whole. Only when we are together thus can the toast to the College transcend the particular memories of the generations. In order to make this the more possible, we have this year changed the basis of invitation to th e Commemoration of Benefactors. From now on all men who sign the College Roll may expect to be invited back at regular intervals over the years to dine in Hall on this College feast day, and on every such occasion (as tonight) the invitations will span the generations.
I hope very much that this plan will become known and appreciated, and that the invitations will be welcomed. There are ho' ulterior motives: we will not be asking for money. We simply want mien to come back and enjoy themselves - meet old friends, wander around the buildings, tell of the past, learn of the present and of the future. For only through such nostalgic in-gatherings as these can we hope to come to an understanding of ourselves as Trinity men, of our corporate, collegiate identity, of -what our role has been as a College, might yet be, of our destiny. REMARKABLE REVIVAL
We are today witnessing -a remarkable revival of the collegiate idea in Australia. 'Twenty years ago we were wri,tten off as anachronisms. Now we are in the 'forefront of University planning. Sixtedb •Colleges were opened in Australia before, the end of the First World War, half of ,them before 1900. Only six were opened between 1918 and 1945. But today there are nearly seventy colleges and Halls of Residence in our Universities, and more are being planned and built. Melbourne alone has eleven, and in this University the proportion of full-time students in residence is climbing again towards the heights of half a century ago: it now stands at the remarkable figure of 18%. In th e light of this evidence alone, I believe the future of this College must be bright
. Witnessing a remarkable revival of the collegiate idea in Australia —Dr. Robin Sharwood, Warden of Trinity College.
BASIC FACTS [Dr. Sharwood adds:— May I here note some of the basic factual information about the present College which I did not include in my speech? There were 206 students in residence in 1966, and 74 non-resident students were enrolled. The latest increase in resident numbers was made possible by the completion (in 1965) of the Cowan building, which lies along Royal Parade between the Chapel and Behan. At the end of 1965 we welcomed a new Bursar (Mr. A. W. Gunther) and in 1966 a new Dean (The Rev'd K. B. Mason, formerly Assistant Chaplain). Professor J. R. Poynter, formerly Dean and Joint Acting Warden, has been elected the first Fellow of the College. Our Chaplain is the Rev'd Dr. B. R. Marshall (at present on leave) and our Senior Tutor is Mr. J. D. Merralls. The academic work of the College is still its prime concern. We have some 15 resident and 30 non-resident Tutors, and we . offer tutorials in 70 different University subjects. The School of Theology, the only -discipline in which the College offers primary rather than supplementary teaching, has been reorganised and a new three-year course instituted. The Library, splendidly housed in the renovated Leeper building, now has a full-time Librarian and new books are being added to the limits of the money available in accordance with a purchasing scheme worked out by a Library Committee. College men continue to gain very good results in University examinations, as indicated by the fact that in 1966 over onequarter of all resident students held College Scholarships. SUPPLY AND DEMAND Although the demand for places in College still probably exceeds the supply, no major new residential building is presently planned. We do intend to complete the northern end of Behan, and at some future date we may extend Clarke to the western building line of Behan; this would bring our total resident student numbers to about 220. In the triennium 1967-1969 we have government support for the renovation of Bishops' and Clarke and for the completion of Behan, given that the College can find its share of the cost. Our financial position is not at the moment sound enough to enable us to commit ourselves further. But in any event it is our fervent hope that we may always be able to retain the Bulpadock inviolate!]
NEWSLETTER
Page 2
A SHORT HISTORY OF TRINITY COLLEGE By PETER BALMFORD
April, 1967
Leeper retired in 1918 and Dr. John Clifford Valentine Behan was appointed Warden in his place. Behan was a lawyer who had himself been a student at Trinity and was the first Victorian Rhodes Scholar. His first task at Trinity was to deal with the large intake of students at the end of the First World War. So far as accommodation was concerned, his temporary solution was the erection of a wooden structure which, in fact, remained in use as the "Wooden Wing" until its demolition in 1962. His long-term programme was an elaborate scheme of stone buildings covering much of the College site. He worked very hard in collecting funds for these buildings, but it was not until 1934 that the first of them was erected and named the "Behan Building". WAR AND PEACE
Early print of Bishops' Building, entitled simply: "Trinity College, North Melbourne."
The first formal steps towards the establishment of Trinity College were taken at a meeting of members of the Church of England held at Melbourne of 26th May, 1853. The meeting, which had been called by Bishop Perry, resolved that it was desirable "that a Collegiate Institution, in connection with a Grammar School, should be established in this City, with a view to the affiliating of the former with the Melbourne University; and that the same be established on Church of England principles". A Committee was appointed to consider the matter and report on the kind of government which should be adopted. That committee drew up a "Constitution of the Church of England Grammar School and College" which was adopted at further meetings held in July 1853. Logically the school needed to be developed before the College: the Council established by this constitution concentrated its attention accordingly and the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School was opened in 1858. Lectures were first delivered at the University of Melbourne in 1855, but it was not until September 1865 that the Council of the School and College decided to proceed with the establishment of the College and appointed a Committee to arrange accordingly. Already some funds were available: as early as 1847, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge had made a grant of ÂŁ2, 000 for this purpose and further moneys were gradually collected. The site of ten acres was, of course, provided by the Government and was formally reserved in 1866. Ultimately, the land was granted to five members of the Committee as trustees for the purposes of the College. The names of the five trustees are familiar to all Trinity men: Charles Perry, first Bishop of Melbourne; William Foster Stawell, Chief Justice of Victoria; Hussey Burgh Macartney, Dean of Melbourne; William Parkinson Wilson, Professor of Mathematics at the University; and James Wilberforce Stephen, then a barrister and Chancellor of the Diocese, afterwards Minister of Education, and later a judge of the Supreme Court. FIRST BUILDING
The College Committee met frequently from November 1868 onwards and the corner stone of the first building was laid on 10th February, 1870. Although the original inspiration for the College and the suggestion that it be called Trinity College came from Bishop Perry, it seems clear that it was Professor Wilson, as secretary to the Committee, who did a great deal of the preliminary thinking and dealt with the architect and the builder.
The College was formally severed from the Grammar School at a meeting held in September 1870 and a new constitution of the College was adopted in October 1871. After various delays and financial difficulties, the building was ultimately completed and the first students took up residence for the July term of 1872. There were five or six students in that term and they were housed in what is now called the Leeper Building but was then simply - Trinity College. At that stage a number of the larger rooms were partitioned off to form cubicles for the students. The Rev. George William Torrance had been appointed as Acting Head of the College and he lived in the same building. There, he and the students ate, slept and studied, but it was not for some years that any formal tutorials were given. FIRST WARDEN
In 1876, Alexander Leeper was appointed as Warden of the College. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and a classical scholar, he had come to Victoria for health reasons and was at the time of his appointment, a master at the Melbourne Grammar School. He remained at Trinity for fortytwo years and, under his direction, a great development took place. In 1878, the Bishops' Building was erected. The original building became the Warden's Lodge, except for the larger rooms on the ground floor which were used as a chapel, a library and a dining hall respectively. The Clarkes Building was erected, part in 1883 and part in 1887 and by 1894-5 there were 65 students in residence. Leeper was to a large degree responsible for the tutorial system which was developed first in the Colleges and later in the University itself. Non-resident students were enrolled from 1877 onwards, the first theological students in 1879 andwomen students in 1883. Residential accommodation for women was provided from 1886 onwards under the name "Trinity College Hostel", initially in houses on the other side of Sydney Road and, after 1890, in the building now known as Janet Clarke Hall. The Horsfall Chapel was built in 1914, releasing for other purposes the room in the Leeper Building which had been used for so long as a temporary Chapel. That room now houses the theological section of the Leeper Library.
Within a few years came the Second World War and Trinity was largely taken over by the RAAF as part of a training school for officers. The comparatively few students in residence lived in the Behan Building during that period. At the end of the War, there was a substantial increase in numbers - in 1946 there were 56 freshmen out of a total student body of 106. Dr. Behan remained as warden until the end of first term in 1946 when he retired and was succeeded as Warden by Ronald William Trafford Cowan. Cowan was a South Australian Rhodes Scholar who had served in the army during the War. The two previous Wardens had always the difficulty of finding enough students to fill the College: Cowan's problem was always to find room in College for those wishing to come into residence. This problem has not been solved and, indeed, it is generally thought that thereshould be a limit to the number of students in the one collegiate institution. The accommodation was increased in 1957 by the erection of the Memorial Building (Jeopardy) and in 1963 and 1964 by the erection in two stages of the Cowan building. In the meantime, the junior common room was extended, the dining hall was extended and the senior common room built. More recently, in 1965, a large part of the Leeper Building was renovated, improving the Library and College Office accommodation, and some extensions were made to the Behan Building. The number of students in residence is now 206. TREMENDOUS GROWTH
All these recent building works were made possible by grants of money, initially by the Commonwealth Government alone and, more recently, by the State Government also. At the present time, threequarters of the capital expenditure on approved projects is provided from government sources. Furthermore, in recent years the Commonwealth has provided a grant for current teaching and administrative expenditure, amounting in 1965 to $11, 000. This is, of course, for Trinity alone, because Janet Clarke Hall - for so long an integral part of Trinity College became a separate institution in 1962. In June 1964, Cowan died at the early age of 50. His period in office as Warden had seen a tremendous growth in the student body and the fabric of the College. His successor, Robin Lorimer Sharwood, resigned his chair in Law at the Australian National University to take office as fourth Warden of the College in June 1965. In a little less than a hundred years, therefore, the one building with five students has become two large Colleges and from being the only College in Victoria's only university, Trinity has become one of eleven Colleges in a university that is now one of three.
The Union ®f the F1eurDeLys By F B F.FF.Kni ht Knight
history of the Union of the Fleur-De-Lys since its foundation 82 years ago falls into three distinct periods due to the fact that its activities were twice interrupted by world wars. These periods are: 1885-1915; 1918-1942; 1945 up to the present time. This first instalment of what is necessarily an abridged presentation of the Society's story, traces its activities from the beginning up to 1915 and introduces a number of personalities who were involved and whose records could be traced, at least to some extent. The two later periods will be dealt with in further instalments which will appear in subsequent news sheets.
At a Dinner at the Union Club Hotel on Trinity Monday in 1885, twelve former students of Trinity College decided to found a Society to be known as the Union of the Fleur-de-Leys. The Warden (Dr. Leeper) and the Senior Student (A. J. Evans) were present at the dinner as guests. A Committee was elected with Herbert Bryant as President, Theyre a'Beckett Weigall and A. V. Green (Vice-Presidents), Donald MacKinnon (Honorary Secretary and Treasurer) and including F. W. Edmondson, Gordon Robinson and Reginald Stephen. Others recorded as being present were T. H. Armstrong, R. H. Potter, H. Kelly, Alexander Tyers, W. Charles Pritchard and one McArthur. Reginald Stephen was apparently absent.
Committee and occupied the chair as President, became an Archdeacon. Potter, who was assistant curate at Daldon when he attended the first dinner, rose to be Archdeacon of Wangaratta and Vicar-General of the Diocese. His son and grand-son have been residents at Trinity. The Senior Student present at the dinner was A. J. Evans, who after leaving College joined the staff of the Melbourne Grammar School where he remained for nearly forty years. Tyers was a member of the Society for many years, and a regular att endant at
The Committee was instructed to draw up a Constitution within one calendar month and it met soon after when the Secretary presented the Rules and Regulations. These laid down, notably, that the Society was to be known as the Union of the Fleur-de-Lys, and that all former resident students of Trinity College were eligible to join, providing notice of their desire to do so was given and a joining fee of 10/- paid (election of members to be vested in the Committee). A general meeting was to be called at least once in each year on Trinity Monday. Many of the founders of the Society achieved eminence not only in their chosen professions, but had wide outside interests as well. Three of them became Bishops. They were Green, Bishop of Grafton and Armidale from 1894 to 1900; Stephen, firstly Bishop of Tasmania and then Bishop of Newcastle; Armstrong, of venerable appearance whose image grew as his long beard turned from fiery red to white, Bishop of Wangaratta.
dinners but the names of Robinson and Edmondson appear twice only, while the first dinner seems to be the only one at which McArthur was present.
There were no further interruptions until the outbreak of the first World War. The Committee responsible for this good work consisted of J. T. Collins (afterwards parliamentary draftsman), C. M. Long (who became the Bishop of Bathurst), the Senior Student, Franc Carse (a barrister who died of war wounds in 1917), and the Honorary Secretary, Arthur Morris. Morris was a cricket blue and well-known physician who also served in the first World War and died in 1932. In the earlier years of the Society, it was usual to appoint a Sub-Committee to make arrangements for the dinner. Among those who served most frequently on it were Will Lewers, W. Campbell Guest and Neville Wright. Those who knew these gentlemen well, would agree that in matters of wining and dining they were knowledgeable and in fact fastidious. Their efforts were unencumbered by the irksome restrictions of the subsequent Licensing Act, which were to plague future generations of diners. The Rev. E. J. Barnett who was elected Secretary in 1887, faithfully recorded the times of the closure of meetings, usually about 10.00 p.m., but in the year of his first election to office he recorded: "The meeting broke up at a late hour." In 1895 the dinner for 16 cost £6.9.0, tips 10/- and postage 5/- and in 1903 the dinner for 26 cost £9.8.0, tips £1 and postage 19/-.
The only reason why the others present have no memorial here, is that there has been insufficient time to trace their records.
The only year of that era in which the cost per capita increased materially was 1901, and this was a special occasion because it marked the completion of Dr. Leeper's 25th year as Warden of Trinity.
On four unhappy occasions after 1885 1893, 1905, 1907 and 1908 - no annual dinners (and no meetings) were held.
During these years the accounts show that each member attending a dinner was charged 10/6 (except in 1903 when 7/6 was asked) but it isn't possible to say whether or not drinks were included. They probably were, since in 1894 the Committee decided that the dinner was to cost "not more than 5/- per head, wines excluded."
Stephen at one stage of his career was acting Warden of Trinity after he had been sub-warden.
The Committee decided against a dinner in 1893 "because of the general depression due to the suspension of Banks, etc."
Bryant, Weigall and MacKinnon were barristers. The first two took silk and Weigall for a time was an acting judge of the Supreme Court. He also became President of the Lawn Tennis Association of Victoria. MacKinnon entered State Parliament, attained ministerial rank and at the time of his death was President of the Victorian Cricket Association.
No reasons for the other three lapses are to be found in the minutes of the Society, but apparently the position was serious.
Pritchard, who took a keen interest in the Society all his life, served on the
A Committee was appointed and it met three days later, the outcome being that the Union of the Fleur-de-Lys was in fact "resuscitated." A dinner was held on October 29, 1909.
In 1909 a dinner was given in College by present students to past students, of whom 18 attended. The past students then held a meeting and a motion was passed that: "The Union of the Fleur-de-Lys be resuscitated and have a wider range than heretofore."
The Warden was invariably invited to the dinner and his absence was rare. Until 1890 the Senior Student was also a guest. The first one, already mentioned, was A. J. Evans. Will Lewers was present twice as a law student, who later practised at the Bar and became known as a man of many parts - poet, literary critic and amateur actor. He was President of the Society and was present at nearly every dinner until 1926, when he was still a
member of the Committee but he died before the next dinner. Another Senior Student whose name appears in the records as an invitee was C. F. Chomley, a law student who was called to the Bar after graduation but who didn't practise, preferring to become a journalist. He went to London in 1908 and enjoyed a successful career. In 1890 Trinity won a boat race and the stroke of the victorious eight (J. W. Thompson) was invited. Thereafter no other guests other than the Warden were invited until 1895, when Hugh Bullivant (a law student) attended in no stated capacity, but he was in the College crew and was also a rowing and cricket blue. In 1896 Harold South, a medical student and stroke of the crew, was a guest. He graduated later and died in England when a captain in the A.A.M. C. Other student guests up to 1904 were Edward Field (a cricket blue who later practised medicine in Melbourne), W. H. Gosse, R. A. O'Brien, H. C. Fulford (each of whom stroked the crew) and Clive Shields (President of the Social Club). They were all medical students. Gosse came from Adelaide. He served as an R. F.A. officer in the Boer War and the first World War. He was awarded the M. C. and was killed in action in 1918. O'Brien subsequently practised in England. Fulford did not live long. He was ship's surgeon in the "Waratah" which was lost off the coast of Africa with no survivors. In 1910 the Society collected from past students the money necessary to erect a tablet to his memory and it is now in the Chapel. Shields practised in Malmsbury for many years. In 1909 Senior Students came into their own when they were elected to the Committee. Franc Carse who held the position in that year was present at the dinner, but whether or not as a guest is not disclosed. From then up to 1914 the only Senior Student guests recorded are Blois Lawton and Noel Puckle, both medical students who later served in the first World War and practised in Collins Street. Lawton was awarded the O.B. E. , Puckle the Italian Silver Medal for Valour. Lawton was Secretary in 1920 and President in 1938. The majority of guests became financial members and remained so during their lives, even when resident abroad. At the Annual Meeting in 1887, it was resolved that it was undesirable that the same gentlemen should be President for two years and the spirit of this resolution has been followed ever since. Except where the activities of the Society have been in abeyance, no man has been President for more than two consecutive years, and only two have had the honour twice, and then at long intervals. They were Dr. R.R. Stawell (1888-89 and 1918-19) and Dr. E. Alan Mackay, (1901-2 and 1927-28). Dr. Stawell was subsequently knighted and he became President of the British Medical Association in 1935. Dr. Mackay was a well known practitioner in Toorak. As Presidents have been elected over eighty years (except where there were lapses) their number is too great for details of all to be given here, but as it is a matter of interest, a chronological table is being prepared. During the first 30 years there were only five Secretaries, honorary of course, and it
is right and proper that they should have special mention because, firstly, they deserve the sincere thanks of those who have occasion to peruse the minutes and, secondly, they carried on the work of the founders competently - often in difficult times. Donald MacKinnon was the first Secretary, succeeded by the Rev. Barnett in 1887, who resigned in 1895, and probably left Victoria then because he apologised for non-attendance in 1897, his last known address being Hong Kong. The third Secretary was the Rev. E. S. Hughes, a sports lover who had rowed in four winning College crews, later Vicar of St. Peter's, Eastern Hill, a canon of St. Paul's, Rural Dean of Melbourne and successor to MacKinnon as President of the Victorian Cricket Association. He remained Secretary until 1903, after which year there is no record of the appointment of any Secretary until 1909. Dr. Arthur Morris was appointed in 1909 and Franc Carse in 1911. During their years in office they had the satisfaction of seeing the number of members increased and the activities of the Society broadened. Up to this point, a member who did not att end the dinner would appear to have received no material benefit from his subscription. Nevertheless, the minutes throughout disclose an affection for the Warden and a sincere desire to help the College. At the Grand Hotel dinner in 1901, the Warden (Dr. Leeper) was presented with a tribute signed by those present, to mark the completion of his 25th year of Wardenship. It mentioned the successful establishment of the collegiate system at the University of Melbourne, Trinity's academic distinctions, the Warden's interest in the athletic and social life of the students, and his personal sacrifices in maintaining the efficiency of the College. In 1889, Dr. Harry Salmon sent a guinea for the purpose of founding a scholarship for the sons of Ex-Trinity students and it was resolved that ex-students "be invited to subscribe towards a fund for the purpose of offering to students of the College an annual prize to be called the Fleur-de-Lys and that the surplus be invested until the same added to additional subscriptions shall produce a sufficient sum the interest of which shall amount to eighteen guineas." In 1892 a subscription was opened to supply funds to the Dialectic Society for a prize. £10 was donated as a prize for an essay. In 1901 Dr. Salmon announced that the prize fund totalled £100. In 1903 he reported £73.9.0 having been received for it, ten guineas donated to the Dialectic Society and a balance in hand of £59.12.6. This cannot be the whole story, as figures do not balance. In the previous year the Bishop of Wangaratta had been presented with a cheque "towards defraying the cost of his episcopal robes." This was the gift of his former students. In the first 20 years of the Society's existence, the membership does not appear to have been large, 31 being the maximum attendance at a dinner and the average much less. There were sound reasons for this. Trinity was a magnet attracting students from far afield as well as locally. Many Victorians, on qualifying in their professions, naturally made their living far from Melbourne. To keep in touch with every past student was beyond the capacity of any Secretary. In 1909 a new Constitution was drawn up, which ignored the original rules entirely.
The principal objective was to revive the Union of the Fleur-de-Lys and to bring together as many old Trinity students as possible at least once a year. The new membership fee was to be 5/annually and all old students who had been members of the Social Club were eligible for membership. The subscription was to include a copy of each issue of the Fleur-de-Lys and subsequently the Committee agreed to pay the Social Club 1/3 for each copy of the magazine supplied to members. The following year was an eventful one. Successful appeals to past students resulted in subscriptions sufficient to meet the cost of a portrait of the Warden for presentation to the College; and the erection of a tablet to the late Dr. Fulford. In that year, also, permission was obtained to use the College crest on the Society's note paper, a then record 38 members attended the dinner and later in the year a smoke night in College attracted 25 members at a total cost of £10.1.0. In 1912 the Society received £120 from the executors of the will of the late Dr. Harry Salmon, a former President previously referred to herein. Of this, £100 was placed in trust to provide prizes for oratory and essay writing among members of the Dialectic Society, and the remainder paid into the Warden's portrait fund. Donations had been made to the Society before this and a large one was still in the future, but, so far as can be ascertained, this is the only instance of the Society receiving a legacy. The last dinner before the first World War was held on Trinity Monday in 1914 at Hosies. The President, Dr. Arthur Morris, was unable to att end and T. a'B. Weigall, K. C. , took the chair. He and Archdeacon Pritchard were the only representatives on this occasion of those who were at the inaugural dinner in 1885. In addition to the Warden, 35 signed the Minute Book. The Senior Student was a guest but did not sign. Dr. Blois Lawton responded on his behalf. It is interesting to record that, of those present, 21 subsequently served in the first World War, and three of them did not return. They were Norman Hodges, LL. B. , W. S. Garnett, M.D. , and Franc Carse, LL.B. At the annual meeting which followed, H. I. Graham was elected President, Carse retired as Secretary and was succeeded by C. L. Baillieu (now Lord Baillieu). A Committee meeting took place on April 29, 1915, and it was resolved "that the annual dinner not be held." A note followed: "Mr. C. L. Baillieu, having enlisted in July, he then handed over the books of the Society to me." This was signed by Harvey Sutton, afterwards Professor Sutton, O. B. E. He was then Sub-Warden and medical tutor. He was a Rhodes Scholar and a great athlete. What happened to the books when he joined the A.I.F. in December, 1915, does not appear, but he must have placed them in good hands because the original Minute Book is still extant and was used until its pages were filled in 1958. So ended the first period in the history of the Society known as the Union of the Fleur-de-Lys. All its activities ceased until 1918, when it was revived. Its resilience was to be demonstrated again as it went on to increased membership and wider influence. To be continued.
April, 1967
NEWSLETTER
40 YEARS ON It is now forty years since I left Trinity College. I went there as a Freshman in March 1923 - a steam train brought me to Spencer Street Railway Station and I and my luggage went on to Trinity in a four-wheel horse drawn cab. In Sydney Road and crossing the cable tram tracks we entered the drive of Trinity College. It was a fairly long drive in those days and passed to the right of the chapel, curved round the Bulpadok, and was lined by plane trees. The cable tram used to take us all the way ùp to Flinders Street for 2d. I was amongst the twenty freshmen who entered College that year to bring its total numbers up to the full capacity of 83 men most of us went into the New Wing, a temporary wooden structure at the rear of Clarkes'. I was told that it was called "temporary" to allow a wooden structure to be erected in a "brick" area, but that was the only sense in which it was temporary; and, indeed, more than thirty years later it provided accommodation for my son in his first year at College. It was clean, neat and had a central corridor with about ten bed sitting rooms on each side, and toilet and lavatory facilities at one end. A resident tutor - Mr. D.G. Taylor LLM, called "Squizzy" after his infamous name sake of the underworld, had the unenviable task of sleeping in the wing to act as a deterrent to unseemly behaviour. His main function seemed to be to levy a fine of 5/- for failing to turn off the lights. The Council had just relieved the Social Club of the expense of paying for gas, electricity and toilet paper used by the students, so that strict economies were being enforced and no waste was allowed. MAN OF DISTINCTION
Looking back after more than forty years, we were an undistinguished lot of freshers for although there were in the college in that year men who were to reach positions of eminence and distinction, our year either because they left too soon, died too young or developed arterial disease, was noted by the production of but one man of distinction a bishop: Alan Winter, having in later years obtained a M.A. degree from Trinity and some association with Christ Church in South Yarra, two very helpful ingredients in the making of a bishop, became the Bishop of St. Arnaud. As freshmen we were told that for the moment we were merely being tolerated in the college. In the meantime we had to respect and support college activities especially the coming inter-collegiate cricket match which was due to start soon on the
University Oval. INITIATION
Trinity defeated Newman in the first round and then Ormond in the final after a long tense struggle lasting for four days. This was the first win for some years and had to be properly celebrated at dinner on the night of the victory. It was during the period between these cricket matches that we had the initiation ceremony. Each freshmen had some specific task to perform. I remember that mine was to buy one weetie, get a receipt for it and to deliver a dissertation on Farinaceous foods. Others had their own tasks. An impromptu play was not very well received, but the daywas saved by one of our number, Phil Freyer, chanting a song on the college cricket team to the tune of the Three Blind Mice. The next night was the Freshers Dinner when we were formally admitted as full members of the college -but mind you, we were still very much "Freshmen" and had to do as we were told. Dinner was a formal meal in College, a gown had to be worn and we were all expected to be punctual. There were nine tables of about ten places each with the table president at the head end and freshers at the other. The tutors and warden when present sat at a high table at the top end of the dining room. Beer was obtainable from the Buttery including Cascade, usually reserved for occasions like celebration dinners. - —EXTRA-CURRICULAR-ACTIVITIES
We freshmen assiduously attended our lectures as most of us had scholarships and were expected to pass the year with one first or two second class honours to retain them and we were all a bit worried. The next two sporting events were Rowing and Athletics and in this the college did not make a very good impression despite our unstinted support. In addition we had Commencement, Easter and M.U.R. camp to fit into this first term of the year. It was not an idle one. We played an active part in Commencement as the Trinity Freshers put on a play described as a "blood curdling representation of a Ku Klux Klan enterprise . " The second term was notable for the inter-collegiate football but Trinity failed to survive the first round, and our extracurricular activities were then centered within the college. The Dialectic Society run by Bruce Hunt - a medical student who finally became a physician in Perth - provide much food for debate; and such
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DR. E. A. FARRAN
episodes as when Percy White, another medical man who settled in the West, and Russell Keon Cohen roused some husky freshmen one might to help them place a tombstone in Ormond College. The incident is reported as follows:- "At that hour of night when the graves give up their dead a number of freshmen were led by the intrepid Percy, in his bowler hat and Russell, in the remnants of his to the yard of a neighbouring monumental mason. There they selected a large tombstone, and placed it, suitably inscribed, in the hall of another college." On the way over an inquisitive policeman stopped the party. The story is that Russell, who had been to a wedding, but still retained his presence of mind, said that the tombstone wrapped in a gown was an inebriated friend being taken home; but they were being followed by a gentleman on a bicycle, whom he pointed out. The policeman (who had evidently been to a wedding also) believed him and went off after the cyclist. There were some slight repercussions to this episode as the stone was inscribed as a memorial to the master of Ormond. In addition the College play, which was to become an annual feature replacing the Glee Club, took place in this term. SPRING, FUN, GAMES—AND EXAMS!
Third term came on with the prospect of exams at the end of it, and for some the sprouting of leaves on the oak tree was a warning that spring was here and serious work should begin. Early in the term the College Dance was held in the St. Kilda Town Hall and was closely followed by the inter-collegiate tennis which Trinity again won for about the fifth successive year. The captain of the team was Clive H. Fitts who had played in all five of the winning teams. He is now Sir Clive Fitts - a leading Melbourne physician. The final events were the rowing known as the Elliot Fours and the Annual College Mixed Doubles Tennis Tournament. It seemed that all was now ready for a last run at the work when the police strike broke out in Melbourne, and caused further interruption as a number of the freshmen became special constables for a week or so until the emergency died down. The College organisation then was much the same as it is now, but no wireless except an occasional crystal set, and of course T. V. was undreamed of. Still, we had our sing-songs around the piano, played by B. T. Keon Cohen. EMINENT MEN
THE FIRST THREE WARDENS OF TRINITY
Dr. Alexander Leeper, Warden 1876-1918
Dr. (afterwards Sir) John Clifford Valentine Behan, 1918-1946
Mr. Ronald William Trafford Cowan, Warden 1946-1964
N.B. Pictures above of Dr. Leeper and Sir John Behan are reproduced from plates printed in the Fleur-De-Lys magazine of October, 1919.
There were in College that year some men who have attained eminent positions Reg Sholl who became a Rhodes Scholar in 1924 and went on to become a judge and a knight of the realm. John Bloomfield who repeatedlywon the shot putt, and was in the M.U. Athletics Team for this event and has now been the Victorian Minister for Education for many years. Tom Smith was subeditor of the Fleur-de-Lys and is now a Judge of the Supreme Court, and in addition we had a number of hard doers and brilliant students. I suppose our 83 members would represent an average College year, and included several who played in the various University teams. In cricket we had Bill Irvine, now a Q. C. and a Crown Prosecutor for Victoria, Continued on page 4
NEWSLETTER
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OPINION SURVEY The College is conducting a survey seeking the opinions of its members and others on a number of matters relating to College life and activities. When analysed, the results of the survey are expected to provide a valuable guide in planning for the future. If you have not returned your questionnaire will you do so as soon as possible? Your co-operation in this way will be of great benefit to the College.
TRINITY IN THE 1920's
I remember saying at our valedictory dinner that I owed more of my development to my college than to my school. In those days my school used to worship success in sport above everything, and it was an awakening experience to be among men who did not take these standards for granted, and to work out my own standards afresh. Not that Trinity was free of the worship of
By DAVID J. MUSCHAMP
No longer do cable trams take us to Flinders Street for 2d; cars now leak their oil over what were for forty years foundations of the temporary Wooden Wing; few gentlemen of the College possess crystal sets, all have access to and most occasionally use a television machine; Cascade cannot be reserved even for celebration dinners and there are no cows to browse and cud in the Bulpadok. But the enduring things of the College endure.
It is, some few of us might think, far too long since there has been a police strike. We have had to direct our considerable philanthropic energies towards the healing of other social ills. Forty of us regularly chop wood for the elderly of Carlton; many more have raised money for World University Service projects to aid overseas universities and in the 1965-6 vacation thirty-six men of Trinity and women of Janet Clarke Hall worked and played in Papua New Guinea. Indeed, this College has taken a significant role in voluntary aid in the Territory and many of us are beginning to know of the complexities involved in the rapid changes taking place. Money often reflects concern; more than $1,300 was given to the Dogure (Papua) Hospital Appeal. Foaming glasses are still filled and bumper toasts drunk to the dear old Coll. especially when we have traditionally excelled in rowing (under the expert coaching of yet another Keon-Cohen), tennis
40 YEARS ON Continued from page 3 F. C. Langlands and Jack Hasker - two medicos. Jack went down in the H.M.A.S. Sydney. They all played in the intervarsity matched that year. While Robin Orr now an eye specialist got his blue for rowing, and John Bloomfield and Russell Keon Cohen got theirs for athletics. John Bloomfield "Put the Shot" while Russell who became a lawyer and a school master ran in the 880. Reg Sholl amongst many distinctions that came his way in that year got his blue for football; and Clive Fitts and his fellow medico Bunny Hallowes played in the inter-varsity tennis.
By Prof. G. W. LEEPER
We have special feelings about our University college since this is the place where we spent the most important years of our life in growing to adulthood. If today we feel a bond of friendship towards our contemporaries and can still feel at home within the college walls, this must mean that we were fortunate in our friends and in an organisation that lessened some of the strains of becoming an adult.
College Life Today
Gowns and punctuality are still required at dinner; the oak tree warns us of impending examinations and puritanical attempts are made to be economical about gas, electricity and lavatory paper. If a catalogue of recent activities in and of the College seems a farrago of undateable period pieces, this is because the important things are what they used to be.
April, 1967
golf and football. This last pursuit, that of the six point kick, warrants especial mention. After seven lean years Trinity has returned to its former excellence, and though to us it matters not who won or lost but how we played the game, it's heartening to know that we beat everyone but were defeated in the final by a team previously and properly vanquished. There really are good grounds for saying we'll win them all, even the final, in 1967. And, even if we don't, we've never been beaten in Rugby. Cricket and athletics find us, as ever, gallant losers. It matters not; we are, as others of us have been, splendid in defeat. Bene tradita, bene servanda. Because there are more than two hundred and twenty of us now living in Trinity, some patterns have necessarily changed a little. But the woof and the warp has not. Our warps are as ever, or rather more. Few tutorials, increasingly valuable to us, are able to be held in the cosy comfort of a resident tutor's study. The Barn and the Lower Bishops' study are in almost constant use. The Library has been rejuvenated, primarily as a result of a bequest of Dr. South. Although there are large gaps to be filled current books of importance are readily to be found, a matter of great significance since it's increasingly difficult to consult texts from the University Library. College tutors both visiting and especially resident, seem to have stayed with us rather longer than usual, and as a result there's a considerable amount of social and academic harmony. John Poynter, former Dean and now the first Fellow of the College, was given the Ernest Scott Chair of History; Ian McKenzie, M.D., B.S. and M.R. A.C.P. who attended an international conference on nephrology, and his wife Ann, F. R.A. C. S. , Three are our resident medical tutors. barristers comprise our resident law tutors, of whom one, J. D. Merralls, is the senior tutor; Dr. Barry Marshall, Chaplain, is spending his sabbatical studying at the Sorbonne. Dr. Farran refers to the Glee Club, replaced by the College Dramatic Society.
sport; much would be forgiven to a member of a victorious eight or eighteen. Trinity even added another irrational worship - that of seniority, of mere length of residence. On this second score I was always on the side of the rebels, and chose my company where I could have the conversations that I preferred. It is having to deal every day in some way or another with each of dozens of fellow-students that makes up the greatest part of the undergraduate's education at college. The college is something of a microcosm, a small model of the big world. One learns that "what is all right for B may not satisfy C, for C is so very particular". The gaps in my memory concern what it was that we talked about after our suppers until the early morning hours. A good deal of the time, it was just scandal at the expense of the authorities or of our fellowstudents. But the rest of the time we must have been teaching each other to argue, to get our thoughts into shape, even to listen to outrageous notions without exploding. Perhaps a tradition of tolerance is the greatest thing that a college can give to its students. Academic standards in Melbourne University - in my subjects, at least - were low at that time; otherwise it would hardly have been possible for me to have got into the interstate Chess team - not to mention the equally time wasting activities of some of my friends. Things have changed for the better since then; and another change which I approve of is that College men take a greater share in University affairs than in my time; we used to think poorly of a fellow who gave too much of his interest to the other side of Tin Alley. What I have most to be grateful for on looking back is that when I left Trinity I was a good deal better educated about my fellow-men than I would otherwise have been, and that I made some friendships that have lasted through my life. The College has done its best to ameliorate the necessarily inadequate conditions of the University of which we are a part; in 1966 our play was produced in the Chapel, there being no University Theatre. To quote from our own critic, "for once football, women, College 'politics' and apricots lost their place as chief topics of conversation and the ghosts of literary criticism crawled about the tables". As a result of all these sorts of things, traditional, social, athletic, intellectual and artistic, the College is in good heart, as always. Or, if you prefer, Trinity never is as good as it was. Yet we who now are residents believe that we will always have good reasons to be pleased to meet our fellows, colleagues and friends in later years. Which is one of the reasons we are pleased to be and to have been at Trinity.
COLLEGE PLANS IMPORTANT FUNCTION
The year was also notable because the Warden J.C.V. Behan was awarded his Doctor of Laws for a very learned thesis.
The Warden wishes to announce that the College plans to hold an important dinner towards the end of May. This occasion will provide an opportunity not only to meet friends, old and new, but also to learn something of plans for the future.
Looking back after more than forty years I can say that the life in College was very enjoyable, and during that time we associated with a number of men anyone of whom we were always pleased to meet in later years.
Although arrangements have not been finalised at this stage, it is expected that invitations will be mailed in late April; should your name be omitted, inadvertently, from the invitation list, would you please notify the Warden without delay so that this omission may be corrected. PRINCETON PRESS