JACOBS, Sir Roland Ellis (1891-1981)


Roland Ellis Jacobs, businessman, brewer and philanthropist, was a student at the Geelong College from 1903. The son of Samuel Joshua Jacobs (1853-1937), who also attended the College, and Caroline Ellis, he acquired his father’s interests in the South Australian Brewing Company. Unlike his father however, he used his wealth to become a distinguished benefactor of the arts and was ‘knighted’ in 1963.

He was a boarder at the School from 1903 to 1905. He was an active member of the Old Collegians’ Association and for many years was the Chairman
of the South Australian Branch. Rolland’s brother, Michael Charles Jacobs, a talented sportsman, also attended the School (OGC 1903-1905). (Pegasus reported in Michael’s obituary that he was so popular that when he left ‘the whole school went in a body to the station to wish him luck in his new life – an honour which is probably unique in the history of the School’).

Obituary-(Michael Charles Jacobs) Pegasus May 1914 p 38.