Alumni Newsletter, August

Dear Alumni

I would like to congratulate all who successfully nominated for positions on the OLA Committee at our recent AGM. The committee now comprises of the following.

1. President – Will Green
2. Vice President – Georgie Eastaugh
3. Vice President – Eliza Jones
4. Treasurer – Charlie Henty
5. Secretary – Fleur Castle
6. Headmaster – Richard Ford
7. Immediate Past President – Simon Wood

Committee Members –

• Tom Diprose
• Tom Dowling
• Bridget Dunn
• Melissa Freeland
• Claire Gregg
• Kathryn Millar
• Ingrid Morrison
• Deb Stewart
• Hamish Wallace
• Fiona Woolcock

I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank retiring committee members John Crawford and Emma Brown. Thank you both for your outstanding work and support over many years.

On my retirement as President, I would like to thank the school community for your support and friendship over my seven years as President, and over a decade on the committee. It has been an honour and privilege.

To Headmaster Richard Ford and staff, my sincere thanks to you for your support, assistance and friendship.

In conclusion, thank you to past Committee members, I have enjoyed working with you all, thank you for your service to the OLA and our great school.

Best wishes,

Simon Wood
Immediate Past President

What is the role of a school in modern society?  No longer is it the instructor of reading writing and arithmetic alone. Today’s curricula include subjects, which were considered unimportant and disregarded even in the days of our grandparents. Today it is imperative that teachers concern themselves with the development of fine characters among their pupils, who will become young men and women able and dedicated to live in harmony with their fellows.

The school courses must be not only with cramming academic subjects into the students minds, but in other forms of indirect education designed to foster talents such as the ability to enter confidently into social and health giving activities, and to discourse naturally on social occasions without diffidence or awkwardness, personality and poise.

The needlework that was fostered during their school days by a group of past pupils, this bond continues today as they meet each week to work on different pieces together.

To help raise funds for the Broadland Stained Glass Window in the Launceston Grammar School Chapel these past students decided to hold an Embroidery and Fine Arts Exhibition at the Junior Campus.  Some of their needlework is displayed below.

Lesley Buchanan (Smythe), Judith Loche-Waters (Patterson), Judith Reid (McFarlane) and Diggy Cleary(McFarlane)

Rosemary Stobart
President

A new date has been set for the Melbourne Reunion – Friday 19 November.

Please refer below for additional details relating to the event, which remain the same. If you haven’t already secured your ticket and would like to attend, please RSVP with the button below.

If you are unable to attend on this new date, please email community@lcgs.tas.edu.au for a ticket refund.

DATE: Friday 19 November 2021

TIME: 12 pm for a 12.30 pm Lunch

VENUE: The Kelvin Club

Register your interest for the event here.

Update your contact details by visiting our Alumni page.

Launceston Grammar is celebrating its 175th Anniversary.

The 40 Year Reunion Class of 1981 event details are:

DATE: Saturday 23 October

TIME: To be confirmed

VENUE: Café 1846 at the Senior Campus

Register your interest for the event here.

Update your contact details by visiting our Alumni page.

Recent Reunion

The Canberra Reunion was a lovely occasion with a number of alumni from across the grades attending.

We look forward to hosting another one next year. If you are based in the ACT and would like to be included on our database, please visit www.lcgs.tas.edu.au/community/alumni/

Breaking News

We are pleased to announce the 2021 Peter Sculthorpe Alumnus Award recipient is Tasmania-born journalist and television presenter, Pip Courtney. Pip will be recognised at a Senior Campus assembly in October and also be a part of our 175 Gala Evening on 16 October.

Named after eminent Australian composer and Old Launcestonian Peter Sculthorpe, the award was created in 2015 to honour a member of the Launceston Grammar community who has made a significant achievement within their field of endeavour.

The award is also intended to inspire the next generation, providing opportunities for current students to meet, interact with and learn from the award recipient.

Previous recipients include former Australian diplomat Peter FitzGerald, leading scientists Professor Derek Denton and Professor Elizabeth Blackburn, journalist Indira Naidoo, former politician and prominent business leader, the Hon Warwick Smith AO LLB and Australian classical composer, Don Kay AM.

Save the Date – Gala Evening

Invitations will be sent out very soon for our Gala Evening event to celebrate the School’s 175-year milestone.

The gala evening will be held on Saturday, 16 October 2021.

The Broadland House Girls Grammar School Headmistress report for 1915 stated that ‘the girls have taken up cricket with great enthusiasm since they now have the benefit of a cricket pitch on their grounds’.

It wasn’t until the 1930s that cricket was approved as a sport for girls in Launceston schools and Broadland House and Methodist Ladies College exchanged some of the first matches.

In the early days of girls’ cricket, the players wore long dresses and big hats. The long dresses caused some issues, particularly with LBW decisions because the bowlers could hardly see the wickets however they came in handy for fielding as the ball would get caught up in them.

Broadland Cricket X1 1915 to 1916

In 1854 the Rev H Kane organised some Launceston Grammar students to produce a map of Tasmania and Bass Strait along with part of the southern coast of Victoria.

In 1855 a second map was produced, this time including six sailing ships and a steamer; the latter also having three masts and sails for use in favourable conditions or, in the event, that the coal had run out on board.

At these times, the Crimean War was raging, originally instigated by Russia against the Turks in October 1853. Britain and France joined the fray against the Russians in 1854 until peace was declared in February 1856.

Early in July 1855 a Bazaar was held in Launceston with a view to raising funds for assisting the wounded British soldiers and in some cases their widows and children. Over 1,700 pounds was raised.

The second map was sold at the Bazaar to Mr James Cox of “Clarendon” Evandale, my Great Great Great Great Grandfather and Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather of George, Minnie and James Calvert, current students of Launceston Grammar.

For the latter half of the 20th century, this map was hung at “Yaccamunda”, Mininera, Victoria, the property of my Grandfather, Mr John B Cox, one of the last Cox descendants to live at Clarendon, who also attended Launceston Grammar and later my father, Mr James CS Cox. With the sale of Yaccamunda, the map remains in the hands of a Cox descendant in Melbourne and is well preserved and cherished.

Lil Calvert (current parent)

I joined Broadland House as a new Grade 6 student with teacher, Mrs Panton. After 3 years I transferred to the Commerce Class, a good practical course and to many students, the best! We had Mrs Lawson for Shorthand and Typing and Mr Wilkie for Business Principles. Mrs Lawson was always cheerful and Mr Wilkie a real gentleman. There was a Junior and Senior Class in the one room, and we had very good subjects for those venturing into business, journalism, politics, and general administration work.

We had excellent teachers and learnt to touch type and achieve a good speed in shorthand and touch typing which helped me pass my Schools Board in both subjects. Mr Wilkie made sure we could balance the ledger! At times, the Class talked too much, so much so one day the very patient Mr Wilkie walked out. Consequently, we were given a very hard exam, which thankfully I passed.

I might add here that we invited Mr Wilkie to our 30-year class reunion and upon receiving his invitation he exclaimed to his daughter ‘Oh after all these years they haven’t forgotten me’! He remembered each-and-every one of us and thoroughly enjoyed the day, as did we.

On the sporting side I took tennis lessons with Mr Lovatt and have played tennis now for most of my life. I also enjoyed athletics and sprinting especially. Our annual school athletics was held at the cricket ground. Unfortunately, our Headmistress, Miss Rooney never allowed girls to run the 400 yards. The 200 yards was the maximum distance to run.  In later years I often heard of Old Girls who took up long distance running upon leaving school with the introduction to 5 and 10 km runs to marathons.

On Sports Day, our School invited girls from other independent schools to join with us for the Relay event. After the event, a Judy Gibson from St Thomas Moore’s encouraged me to join her Athletic Club, and so began a 7-year athletic career from age 15.

In the 1960s I was a member of the Tasmanian Team for the Australian Amateur Athletic Championships in Hobart where I ran against Betty Cuthbert and Shirley Strickland. In Adelaide, two years later, I won the Open Invitation 200 yards on my 21st Birthday – a truly memorable occasion.

Rosemary Hirst (alumnae, 1959)

A Record!  Two Premiership in 4 Weeks.

1970 Public School’s State Premiership

Keith Dawson (Captain), Brian Smith (Coach), Len Cuff, Selwyn Church (Vice Captain).

Launceston Grammar 6 goals 13pts defeated Hutchin’s 2 goals 11pts

1970 Northern Amateurs Premiers

OLFC 13 goals 30 pts defeated St. Pat’s 8 goals 4pts

The three students and their coach, Brian Smith, created School history when together they played in two winning premierships within a month of each other.  All four played with the OLs when not required for the School 1st XVIII.

The Science of Science

‘Get Curious this August’ is the theme for this year’s Tasmanian offering of National Science Week (NSW). Alumnae Professor Elizabeth Blackburn, who was the recipient of Launceston Grammar’s 2019 Peter Sculthorpe Alumnus Award, is also Patron of Science Week Tasmania. Professor Blackburn is also the first female of Australia’s handful of Nobel laureates.

Now based at the University of California, San Francisco, Professor Blackburn is a leader in the area of telomere and telomerase research. She discovered the molecular nature of telomeres – the ends of chromosomes that serve as protective caps essential for preserving the genetic information and what makes us, us! Professor Blackburn and her research team at the University of California, San Francisco are working with various cells including human cells, with the goal of understanding more about this key part of our biology.

Also featuring in this year’s NSW program is University of Tasmania PhD Candidate, Alumnae Georgia Stewart. As part of the Young Tassie Scientists program, Georgia will be presenting on ‘Shedding Light on Black Holes’ and sharing her love for physics with her audience.

View the Tasmanian programme here