Trinity Trophies – Part Two

Tradition plays an important role in a school and at Trinity, over the course of 118 years, many traditions have been started, some of which continue today. Of course, it is also important that there is room for change and modernisation in a school and not everything should be how it was years ago.

Some trophies and prizes are presented at Assembly by the Principal while others are held over until Presentation Night at the end of the year.

J N Watson Shield

This Shield is presented annually at the Junior School Final Assembly to the overall winner of the House Competition. The four Junior School Houses, Friend, Henderson, Inglis and Summers, compete in House sporting events during the year and Houses can also gain points for schoolwork. There have been two John Watsons at Trinity. William John Phillips Watson was a teacher in the Junior School from 1937 to 1974 and became Head of the Junior School. The Watson Building (Wing) is named after him. John Neil Watson (no relation) commenced as a teacher in the Junior School in 1966 and later became the Deputy Head. The Watson Shield is named after John Neil Watson.

Lachie Adams and Alby Mahony with the JN Watson Shield

Original Honour Boards

The original Honour Boards hang in the new Arnold Hall and they have been duplicated to record the Captain of the School, Rhodes Prize and School Council Prize for Dux of the School. You will notice from the photograph that there were Captains of Cricket and Football in 1903, and in 1904, Trinity had its first Rhodes Prize winner. The first School Captain was Colin Friend in 1909 and Kenneth Henderson won the Rhodes Prize three years in a row. This has only happened once since with Peter Barclay.

In years gone by, boys would often come back to school for a ‘second year Matric’ or Year 12. These students would also become the School Prefects and student leaders of the school.

Year 12 students Harrison Preiss, Angus Plowman and Tom Walker holding (l-r) the Nigel Kendall Cup, the Mitre Trophy, the Kennedy-Carroll Cup and the Bates Trophy

W H S Dickinson Prize

This Prize is for the Dux of Humanities. In 2020, it was presented to Stephen Mack, who was also the Editor of The Mitre.

William Henry Schorey Dickinson was a student at Trinity from 1931 to 1940 and sadly died in 1941 at the age of 16. His brother, Ron Dickinson, and Ron’s son, Richard Dickinson, both attended Trinity and became doctors. The award for Dux of Humanities was originally named after Leonard Towns, School Captain in 1918, and it was likely changed after the death of W H S Dickinson.

The Peter Crone Award for Design and Architecture

A more recent prize was donated by Peter Crone. Peter was the architect who designed the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, and also completed the renovation of the Junior School and the Peter Crawley Centre for the Arts. In addition, he designed the Science, Design and Technology Building. Crone changed the landscape of Trinity and the Peter Crone Award for Design and Architecture was first presented in 1995. Sadly, Peter, who was a student at Camberwell Grammar School, passed away earlier this year.

The Mitre Cup and the Nigel Kendall Cup

These trophies were initiated reasonably recently. The Mitre Cup was introduced in 2006 by our Principal, Adrian Farrer, when he was coach of the First XVIII Football at Camberwell Grammar School, and Stephen Maus, who was Head of Year 11 and coach of the First XVIII at Trinity. The Cup was intended to celebrate the First XVIII game between Trinity and Camberwell, as they are both Anglican Schools and close neighbours. The competition between the two schools for the Mitre Cup now encompasses football, soccer and hockey in winter and then cricket, basketball, tennis and volleyball in summer. The tally of wins decides the winner of the Mitre Cup (which is actually a shield) for that year.

The Nigel Kendall Cup is awarded to the winning side in a First XI Cricket match between Ivanhoe Grammar School and Trinity. Nigel was the Deputy Headmaster at Ivanhoe and Chair of the AGSV Sports Coordinators for many years. Disappointingly, the 2021 game was washed out. Trinity retains the Cup as a result.

Rohan Brown