STINTON, William George ‘Bill’ (1916-1977)
Modified on Sat, 12 Mar 2016 21:46 by Con — Categorized as: Biography - All, Biography - Students, Geelong College, Biography of War - World War II
STINTON, William George ‘Bill’ (1916-1977)
'Bill' Stinton, nurseryman and College benefactor, assisted the College through a series of donations of trees, shrubs, planning expertise and labour.
The son of Frederick William Stinton who operated Stinton's Claremont Nursey, he continued his father’s initiatives and generosity in assisting the School. Frederick Stinton was for many years a Councillor and five times Mayor of the City of Newtown and Chilwell. Nearby Stinton St in Newtown is named after the Stinton Family. Frederick's father, William Stinton had earlier leased several acres of land at Belmont owned by Emil Theodore Sichlau and between 1880 and 1888 had operated a nursery on the hill behind the Belmont Hotel with a frontage of 132 feet on the then Colac Rd. He later established a nursery in Gertrude St, Geelong West before transferring to Stinton Avenue. In 1934, Frederick Stinton donated trees, shrubs and provided his nursery staff to replant all of the College boundaries.
He initially workied as a draughtsman with the Department of Interior (Victoria Barracks) having qualified from the Gordon Institute of Technology (1934-1926) and the University of Melbourne Architectural Atelier (1937-1940). On 12 April 1941, at South Yarra, he married Miss Edith Gwendolene Wallis, the daughter of Frederick William Wallis and Agnes Stella Wallis nee White of Sandringham, and they had a daughter Judith Anne Stinton born on 7 March, 1942. 'Bill' enlisted on 20 July, 1942 and served at Air Force Headquarters. He was discharged on 6 August, 1944
'to resume his civil occupation.'
He died at Geelong in 1977.
In 1948 and 1949, ‘Bill’ Stinton donated plants for the area around the House of Music, the original Preparatory School and the Kindergarten. ‘Bill’ Stinton first attended the nearby Neossia School before becoming a day student at the College from 1925 to 1932. He married Gwen Wallis at Christ Church, South Yarra on 12 April, 1941. Bill’s brother Frank Victor Stinton (1920-1943) also attended the College as did Bill’s two sons Richard Stinton and Christopher Frederick Stinton (1949-1995).
In 1962, the Stinton Family sold two blocks of land, including buildings, to the College at a generously low price. This land, the site of the Stinton’s early nursery, subsequently became the College’s maintenance facility until these facilities were eventually re-located to the Preparatory School overlooking the Barwon River. The Stinton Nursery land was then sold. A plaque was erected on the Preparatory School maintenance buildings acknowledging the generosity of the Stinton Family in 2011.
Sources: Pegasus May 1936 p13; Pegasus Dec 1948 p13; Pegasus June 1962 p10; James Affleck. Geelong Collegians at the Second World War p497.