STRACHAN, James Ford (1849-1925)

Modified on Tue, 28 Aug 2018 16:00 by Con — Categorized as: Biography - All, Biography - Students, Geelong College

STRACHAN, James Ford (1849-1925)

James Ford Strachan, son of James Ford Strachan and Lillas Cross nee Murray, born on 10 April 1849 at Geelong, is reputed to have attended Geelong College in 1861. There is no enrolment record for him as Enrolment Registers for the period 1861-1870 have not survived. He entered Scotch College, Melbourne from 14 July 1865 to December 1865.

Pegasus published an obituary in May 1925: ‘James F. Strachan died at his home in East St Kilda on 15th April after ailing for only a few days. Born at the old family home, ‘Lunan’, he was the oldest son of the Hon. J. F. Strachan, M. L. C., who was one of the first English settlers in Victoria, and was responsible for the erection of the first brick house in Melbourne and the first stone house in Geelong. James attended the College in 1861, and later went to school at Norwich, in England, and then to Cambridge. He was a member of the Cambridge crew, which defeated Oxford in 1870. During the war, he devoted himself wholly to the interests of the Comforts Fund. Among his many other charitable works, his chief interest was the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, for which he did much work by his translations into Braille. We extend heartfelt sympathy to his widow and two sons, Ford and Geoffrey.’

His brothers, Hugh Murray Strachan (1851-1933), and Robert Norman Stachan (1835-1927), are also alleged to have been educated at Geelong College.

Sources: Pegasus May 1925 p36.