KNOWLE HOUSE (Centenary History Text, 1961)See Also
KNOWLE HOUSEThe following text is an excerpt from the
Centenary History of the Geelong College published in 1961:
Chapter 2TEN YEARS at KNOWLE HOUSE 'KNOWLE HOUSE was built originally as an apartment house. Somewhat modified, it is still standing, remarkably sound for its years, and making it easy to assess the qualities of its situation: the proximity to St. George's Church, with which the College was always so closely linked; to the Bay, allowing the boys to swim "every morning," to the heart of the town, which was a disadvantage; and the limited grounds, without any real sports area as understood today.
In the 'sixties the land at the eastern end of Skene Street, running down Latrobe Terrace to Aberdeen Street, was not built over as it is now. The lane which still runs westward from Latrobe Terrace was there, and in it were three cottages. The then vacant block below the lane was the College playground. As the school grew, the three cottages were taken over. Partitions were removed from one of them and two additional classrooms provided. The second was the masters' residence, while the third was used as a coach-house and man's room, inhabited from 1865 onwards by Hugh Mackay, Mr. Morrison's servant and confidant, who had come to Australia as the Rev. A. J. Campbell's house-boy.
The two resident masters who began with Mr. Morrison were Mr. George F. Hutton and Mr. Herbst. Mr Hutton remained at Knowle House until 1869, and it was he who designed the College crest — Pegasus with the motto "Sic itur ad astra".
The first boy to be entered was E. R. Sparrow. Some of the others who attended the first roll-call were John Calvert, L. G. Calvert, F. G. Campbell, J. McN. Campbell, A. S. Chirnside, J. L. Currie, Dundas Simson, Richard Skewes, D. E. Stodart, M. N. Strachan and R. N. Strachan. Apparently no systematic roll was kept in the very earliest days, and it has since been necessary to reconstruct a register with the help of prize lists and sports programmes.
Towards the end of 1861 the committee decided to make quarterly examinations of the College and appointed a "visiting committee". It also arranged that public examination of the pupils should be held before the Christmas vacation and that the public should be invited by advertisement.
This examination was held in the Geelong Town Hall on December 12. Such a function was a novelty to the citizens of Geelong, and on the appointed day there assembled a large audience-parents and friends of the pupils, and a considerable number of the general public. Mr. Morrison conducted the examination, with most satisfactory results. Then the Mayor, who occupied the chair, distributed the prizes to the successful pupils. In his report the Principal announced that the number of scholars had increased from forty to seventy. Five weeks' holiday was granted, and the first session of the College was closed.
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School resumed for 1862 with sixty-two boys. The committee was eminently satisfied, for this number was considerably in excess of that which it had guaranteed Mr. Morrison. In the second quarter the numbers rose again to seventy. The whole of the accommodation of Knowle House was occupied, and the question of new buildings began to receive attention. In May an application was made to the Executive Council for a grant of the block of land facing Ryrie Street, next to St. George's Church. At the same time a sub-committee was appointed to devise ways and means of providing money for the erection of a building.
On June 30, 1862, the first annual meeting of subscribers adopted the annual report, dealing chiefly with the opening and rapid expansion of the College, and approved the action already taken towards securing more suitable accommodation.
The investigation of possible building sites was continued with vigour. Several blocks in Newtown came under discussion, the most favoured, for a time, being situated between Virginia and Elizabeth Streets and measuring 200 feet by 220 feet. Terms could not be arranged, however, and another, a corner block facing Virginia and Pakington Streets, was then sought after. This contained an acre and a quarter and the price asked was £550. Before long all the possibilities had been investigated, but without any positive result.
Finance also presented some difficulties. Following the deliberations of the special sub-committee, a plan had been adopted for raising money by means of £25 debentures bearing eight per cent interest. At first the sum aimed at was £1,500, but in a few months the College so increased in numbers that the estimate was raised to £3,000, while the interest had to be lowered to seven per cent. (It is interesting to note that when the College actually came to be built the total expenditure required in the first three years was approximately £11,000)
It was at this stage—towards the end of 1862—that a slight uncertainty became evident in the committee's thought and actions. Before long it was to deepen to anxiety. The College was flourishing academically, yet the problem of the new site and buildings seemed incapable of solution. No public function was held to mark the close of the school year; the committee seems to have been too worried to think about it. Early in 1863 a meeting of "gentlemen who had agreed to be shareholders in the Geelong College"—that is to say, who had agreed to take up debentures—was called to consider the position, and only six attended.
Naturally Mr. Morrison was awake to this trend in events, and at his instance a special meeting was held. He pointed out the urgent necessity for new buildings, and emphasized the crowded state of the house. He asked that, since this had involved increased outlay on his part, the committee should consider the propriety of not enforcing payment of the ten per cent on all receipts from the previous July as laid down in the agreement. The committee replied by requesting a statement of receipts and expenditure, and then plunged into fresh consideration of the site question. They decided to return to their first love and apply to the Board of Lands and Survey for a grant of the piece of land to the east of St. George's Church. Later it was learned that this land had been granted to the Town Council for public baths, so it was resolved to approach the councillors, "craving that they would relinquish their claim to the ground referred to". Their answer was a prompt refusal.
A month later, almost on the eve of the second annual meeting, a letter was received from the Board, definitely declining to grant the land asked for, on the ground "that although the Geelong College is stated in the rules of the institution to be connected with the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, the connection does not appear to be of so definite a nature as is the relation of schools and colleges in the vicinity of Melbourne to the religious denominations". This was a sad blow; the ruling on the status of the College undoubtedly had a lasting effect; but it was decided to ask that the land be put up for sale so that the College might purchase it. This was never acted upon. The committee was gradually becoming disorganized, and some meetings were adjourned for want of a quorum.
When the second annual meeting of subscribers was held, only five attended. The report was mainly a recital of the efforts to obtain a building site. The serious financial position was underlined by a resolution to ask Mr. Morrison to take over the school furniture at a valuation, the truth being that the committee was considerably in debt, but, owing to its failure to find adequate accommodation, was unwilling to enforce payment of the percentage due by Mr. Morrison.
Shortly afterwards it was decided to dispense with the services of Mr. James Campbell as secretary, and Mr. Morrison was appointed honorary secretary. Mr. Campbell had been granted a salary of £25 a year, but for fifteen months had been paid nothing. Liabilities at this stage amounted to £33/18/6, and there was only money enough to pay accounts totalling £2/13/6.
Other building sites had been discussed, with the now familiar result. As a last despairing effort, an attempt was made to persuade the Government to hand over Flinders School to the College. A letter was directed to the "Educational Board", which, as might have been expected, refused to entertain the request. The end was near. Significantly, after the frequent meetings of the previous two and a half years, none was held at this period for almost ten months.
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The school, in the meantime, was running as well as ever. The Rev. A. J. Campbell remained in close touch with Mr. Morrison, and both were anxious that, whatever might happen to the subscribers and the committee, the educational side should continue along the successful lines it had so far followed.
Towards the end of 1863 Mr. Morrison expressed his dissatisfaction and disappointment at the committee's failures, and suggested that his interests, as well as those of the College, would be best served by placing the institution in his hands entirely. He announced his willingness, if this were done, to clear off all liabilities and to provide a new site on which he would erect adequate buildings. He further undertook to interview members of the committee and obtain their consent. Mr. Campbell agreed to this proposal.
It took Mr. Morrison several months to secure the consent of all concerned, and it was not till the following June that he was in a position to convene a meeting of the committee—the last ever held. Only a few of the members were present, but they held that the absence of the others implied consent, since they knew the purpose of the meeting. The minutes, recorded in Mr. Morrison's handwriting, were brief and to the point, as follows:—
A meeting of the Committee of the Geelong College was held here this day, Mr. Calvert in the chair. Present: Mr. Simson, Dr. Carstairs, Mr. Calvert and Mr. Morrison.
It was moved by Mr. Simson and seconded by Dr. Carstairs that the original agreement between this Committee and Mr. Morrison be cancelled and handed over to Mr. Morrison on condition of his paying all the liabilities of the Committee. Carried unanimously.
(Signed) JOHN CALVERT.
Thus, on June 16, 1864, after three years as a Public School, the College came under private management; and so it was to remain for almost one-half of its first century. It would be unkind to say now that the founders lost heart as soon as they encountered difficulties. It could be that Mr. Morrison pressed them too hard too soon. The onecertainty is that he was a man of great courage and determination, with the scholastic and business ability to carry on where a group of well-meaning but inexperienced men had failed. As it turned out, it was several years before he was able to undertake the erection of a new building. He met with difficulties, as the committee had done, in searching for a site. But his ideas were larger. He was sure that the College would become great, and persevered till he felt that he could provide adequately for the future. Meanwhile the school remained at Knowle House.
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The Jubilee History of the College (1911) is so occupied with the business worries leading to the change of constitution in 1864 that it gives very little of the inside story of the Knowle House years. Fortunately, however, there are still in existence some copies of the "Annual report, Prize List and Prospectus-, which Mr. Morrison issued on Speech Days. The files of the "Geelong Advertiser" have proved another profitable source of documentation. These contemporary records possess an originality of outlook and expression which allows the College of a century past to be seen as it saw itself.
In the prospectus the Principal commended his school to the public thus:—
None but Teachers of the highest efficiency are employed, and the Principal not only exercises a careful superintendence over all the Departments in the Institution, but takes an active part in the Teaching of every class.
The Religious Instruction is Scriptural, without any regard to Denominational differences. Particular attention is paid to the morals, manners, and deportment of the Pupils.
From its known salubrity, Geelong is well adapted for such an Institution, and the College is situated in the highest and healthiest part of the town, contiguous to grounds where there is every facility for Cricket, Foot-Ball, and all healthful exercises.
In the Boarding Establishment the arrangements are made to approximate as closely as possible to those of a well regulated home, and everything is done to promote the health and happiness of the Boarders. They have sea bathing every morning, and are always accompanied by the Principal or one of the Resident Masters. Each Boarder has a separate bed.
The contiguity of Knowle House to suitable playing fields must not be taken quite literally, though there were open paddocks a few hundred yards west along Aberdeen Street. Some football matches were played at South Geelong, while the annual athletic sports took place on either the Corio Cricket Ground at East Geelong or the adjoining Friendly Societies' Reserve.
The time-table shows that a schoolboy's hourly routine was then much as it is now, though the actual work has changed. One report offers a rare glimpse of the-attainment of the fifth (i.e., sub-Matriculation) class:—"This class has gone through all Colenso's Arithmetic, the first six books of Euclid, the greater part of Colenso's Algebra, three books of Virgil, and several chapters of Xenophon, in addition to the usual amount of English, etc."
Speech Day, too, is different. In 1868 there was a display in the Mechanics' Institute—opening at 10 a.m.—of drawings, samples of writing etc., "which for the time being converted the hall into a miniature art gallery". In the evening there was a large audience to listen to the elocutionary and musical efforts of the boys, hear the report read and see the prizes presented.
In scholarship, tested in open competition with candidates from other schools, the pupils and Old Boys of the College won high distinction from the outset, as is revealed in the following extracts:—
1861: Among the successful candidates at the recent Matriculation Examination in the University of Melbourne are three pupils of the Geelong College—Timms, Campbell and Garbutt. It is certainly highly creditable to Mr. Morrison, the Principal, that of the eleven successful competitors in an examination to which the Melbourne Grammar Schools and the principal schools in the country send their best scholars, no fewer than three were from the institution over which he presides.
1867: Within the last six years there have been awarded by the University of Melbourne 16 Matriculation Exhibitions, 5 of which have been carried by pupils of the GEELONG COLLEGE. During the same period there were 22 candidates from this School, who were successful in passing the Matriculation Examination. This is the only School out of Melbourne, whose pupils have won Exhibitions.
1868: At the Matriculation Examination seven candidates attended from the Geelong College, and all of them passed. On no previous occasion, since these examinations were instituted, has such a large number succeeded in passing from any one school in the colony without a single failure. This unusual success becomes the more marked when viewed in connection with the result of the examination as a whole. There were in all ninety-four candidates, thirty-nine only of whom came up to the rigid standard maintained by the University authorities.
1869: Of the first year's students only ten passed the Arts examination, and of these three were educated at the Geelong College, while two of the five who passed the Medical examination were alumni of the same Institution.' The College of those earliest years was an experiment, a trial which was not without its errors, but it possessed already in unmistakable form the seeds of greatness to come.
Sources: The Geelong College 1861-1961 by G C Notman and B R Keith. Chapter 2, pp 6-13.