Tales of Daring & Doing

Glen Loftus came to Wesley in Year 8 in 1989 and was a part of the rowing program from Year 10 until his final year in 1993. In Year 10 he rowed in the Year 10 VIII, and in Year 11 he rowed second seat in the 2nd VIII that finished seventh in the Head of the River regatta. In his final year at school Glen was the Captain of Boats, for which he received Colours. He again competed in the 2nd VIII, this time as stroke. Interestingly, he never won a rowing race at school and never rowed in the 1st VIII.

He went on to be a formidable Australian lightweight rower and was a national champion, an U23 world champion and an Olympic silver medallist. In 2000, Glen made his first senior representative appearance, competing at the World Rowing Cup in the lightweight eight. At the 2000 World Rowing Championships in Zagreb, he stroked the Australian lightweight eight to a bronze medal. Following the regatta in Zagreb, Glen was selected as the reserve for the Olympic team competing in Sydney. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Glen rowed in the bow seat of the Australian lightweight coxless four, winning the silver medal.

His international career saw him compete in five World Rowing Cup meets, four World Rowing Championships and two Under 23 World Championship meets. Within Australia, Glen won three Australian national titles at senior level and a Penrith Cup alongside his WA teammates at the Australian Interstate Regatta.

Following retirement from competitive rowing, Glen joined Fremantle Rowing Club as Senior Coach from 2006 until 2011. During this time he was recognised by Rowing WA as Western Australia’s 2010 Club Coach of the Year. In October 2012, Glen was appointed to the board of Rowing WA and was responsible for the advancement of High Performance rowing in Western Australia from 2012 to 2016.

• Olympic Silver Medallist 2004 (LM4- Athens)
• World Championship Bronze Medal 2000 (Zagreb)
• World U23 Championships Gold Medal 1996 (Hazewinkel), Silver in 1997 (Milan)
• Western Australian Oarsman of the Year 1998, 2001
• Penrith Cup Champion 2002
• 3 x Australian National Champion (LM2x 1999, LM2- 2001, 2002)
• 4 x Australian National U23 Champion (1996 U23LM2-, U23LM4-, 1997 U23M1x, U23LM2x)
• 8 x Western Australian State Champion (Including M2-, M2x, M4-, M4x, M8+)
• Western Australian Club Coach of the Year 2010

When I was in Year 7 at Wesley College there were just three girls in my class. The girls used to sit as a big posse across all the year groups at lunch time -power in numbers!

As a child, I spent many weekends in my dad’s office. My mum was a real estate agent and worked on the weekends and so did my dad, running his own architectural practice. I would spend hours colouring in, printing, and building models. I guess it was inevitable that I would get into the industry too.

At the time, it was pre-computers so architects would use special marker pens to colour in all their beautiful perspectives and drawings. My dad would put the pens on the floor with some old, recycled drawings and off I went!

I was taking TEE Art and I was very interested in sculpture. My dad said, have you thought of studying architecture? And not wanting to do exactly what he did, I applied to do Fine Arts and Landscape Architecture. During my Fine Arts interview, they looked at my folio and said, have you thought of doing architecture?! So, they must have been able to see the same thing that my Dad could see in my work. I find architecture is that perfect balance between the technical and the creative.

After graduation I lived in London for a period, and I used that time to travel to see different styles of architecture. I lived with four other architects, and we spent our weekends travelling to see buildings in different countries. My favourite example of architecture is Therme Vals in Switzerland. It’s an incredible thermal bathhouse made from local stone and carved into a mountainside. It is one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.

I am currently an Associate Director at Hames Sharley, which is a multi-disciplinary national practice covering the specialist areas of architecture, interior design, urban design, planning, and landscape design. I am one of the national leaders in our education portfolio. I really enjoy working in the education sphere because of the clients we work with. I have worked on projects for several Australian universities, including a recent refurbishment of the Notre Dame Student Hub in Fremantle, which has been one of my favourite projects to date. I love having the opportunity to build spaces that make a difference to how people learn and teach.

I attended Wesley College from 1948 to 1952, boarding for my first three years, and then becoming a day boy for my final two years.

I enjoyed the Boarding House, but I recall I was quite pleased to become a day boy as the food was a lot better at home! There was always a bit of mischief in the Boarding House, never caused by me! In my first year, one of the boys threw a cracker out of the window just as we were going to sleep. That caused quite a ruckus and woke everyone up.

When it came to shower time in the Boarding House, we were allowed a hot shower twice a week in winter, and once a week in summer. There was always a supervisor on duty – to make sure we got into the cold shower and got out of the hot one!

Mildred Manning was a teacher I remember fondly. As well as being an exceptional Biology teacher, she took us for hygiene class and was an advocate for how to clean your teeth!

I was recruited as the stroke in the 1st VIII Rowing crew in 1952, the very first year Wesley joined the PSA. Rowing was a new sport for us, so as you can imagine we didn’t do very well in our first Head of the River. We were halfway through our race, rowing quite well, until one of the crew ‘caught a crab’ which upset our whole rhythm. We never caught up again after that, and that was the end of our rowing career! It feels quite special to be part of Wesley’s history, as a member of our first ever rowing eight.

Following school, I returned to the farm in Dandaragan, where I farmed for four years with my father. My good friend, Gordon Baron-Hay (48-52) used to visit me on the farm during the holidays to work and shoot rabbits. He was training to be a doctor and suggested I do the same. The Registrar of UWA looked at my grades and told me I had no chance of making it through medicine, and I should probably choose something else. That made me even more determined, and I graduated six years later in the top seven students in the first cohort of medicine graduates from UWA in 1962!

Throughout my career as a GP, I had an amazing group of friends. We were what I call ‘Old Fashioned’ GPs. We performed a wide variety of procedures, gave anaesthetics and practiced obstetrics and I proudly delivered up to 150 babies a year over my many years in practice.

My Wesley friends have always stayed close over the years. Bruce Francis, Doug Lawson, Alan Flavelle and Hugh Slatyer are some that I still see regularly from the Class of 1952. We have a yearly Christmas party, as well as attending the Pioneers’ Club events which I thoroughly enjoy being part of.

Emeritus Professor Peter Boyce was born in Bridgetown in 1935 and entered Wesley College at the of age 12 in 1948 after being awarded the Gowrie Scholarship.

As a proud member of Mofflin House, he excelled at History, Latin, English and Geography earning distinctions for all four subjects. He was highly respected being both College Captain and Dux of School in 1952.

Peter went on to study a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours and a master’s degree in History at The University of Western Australia. He also undertook a doctorate in International Relations at Duke University, North Carolina.

He worked briefly in the diplomatic service and began a distinguished academic teaching career firstly at the University of Tasmania as a lecturer in politics. His next post was at The University of Queensland where he led the Department of Government. In 1980 he returned to Perth to be closer to his parents. He became the Chair of Political Science at The University of Western Australia and later the Vice Chancellor of Murdoch University. As Murdoch’s longest serving Vice Chancellor, Peter oversaw enormous expansion in both university infrastructure and the teaching curriculum. Student enrolment more than doubled during his tenure.

At his leaving function outside the Chancellery in 1996 he commented that universities should always be places of ‘liberty, learning and light’.

Following his years in Perth, Peter returned to Tasmania as Adjunct Professor of the University of Tasmania’s Politics and International Relations Program.

Peter has also contributed significantly to the fabric of Wesley College. He served as a former member of College Council and authored the College’s History book— Honest & Unsullied Days: A History of Wesley College, Perth in 2001.

Peter Boyce was awarded the AO in 1995 for services to education, international relations and the community.

‘I believe that medicine is the most privileged life one can have. It teaches one humility and deep respect for the potential humans have for meeting suffering. More than a priest or a lawyer, it is assumed that the physician has no vested interest other than the well-being and benefit of the patient.’

Professor Alexander Cohen was born in Perth in September 1926. At Wesley College, Alex was in Hardey House and was a House Official and Prefect. He was involved in Cadets and attained the rank of Sergeant.

He studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1950, and undertook postgraduate study in London. He worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide, the University of Edinburgh and Harvard University. He was appointed to the Clinical Staff of Royal Perth Hospital in 1957 and served as physician there until 1992. His main interest has been in endocrine disorders and he has published widely on this subject.

He has served as a member of the University of Western Australia (UWA) Senate and Chairman of the Finance Committee and was Chancellor of the University from 1988-92. He also served as Director of Postgraduate Education at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and President of the Royal Australian College of Physicians from 1992–94 and Chairman of Committee of Presidents of Medical Colleges 1993–66. His service to The University and Medical Education was recognised in 2002 with the award of a Hon Doctorate of letters in 2002.

Professor Cohen was instrumental in setting up the Centre for Diabetes Research at UWA. The Alex Cohen Scholarship was established to honour his contributions and provide top-up scholarships to Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) students conducting research based around clinical, cause, complications or psychological aspects of any form of diabetes at the University of Western Australia.
His other achievements include:

• The Vice President of the Braille Society
• Director of Appeals at the Diabetic Research Foundation
• Board Member of the Perth Hebrew Congregation
• President of the Western Australian Division of the AMA
• Centenary Medal Winner
• Australian Medical Association (WA) Award
• Australian Medical Association (WA) President
• President of the Diabetes Research Foundation of Western Australia
• Member of the Order of Australia

‘I’ve been privileged to have the career I’ve had. It’s sort of developed in a somewhat fortuitous way, but I think both my scientific career and my more public career have been interesting, challenging, fulfilling. Frustrating at times. But I couldn’t have wished for a more interesting life.’
PROFESSOR RALPH SLATYER, INTERVIEWS WITH A SCIENTIST SERIES, 1993.

Born in Melbourne in 1929, Professor Ralph Slatyer had a career that took him from Wesley College to a role as Australia’s first Chief Scientist.

Ralph’s passion for science was evident from the beginning. In his final year at Wesley, Ralph won the W J Morcombe Prize for Agricultural Science.

His studies in agriculture continued at the University of Western Australia where Slatyer received a Bachelor of Science in 1951, a Master of Science in 1955 and a Doctorate of Science in 1960, with a focus on the factors linking plant and water relationships to climatology.

In 1951, he began work as a research scientist with CSIRO investigating the potential for agriculture in the north of Australia. His early research focussed on predicting the length of the growing season for introduced crops and pastures using climatic information, soil characteristics and other physical factors. He went on to become the inaugural Professor of Environmental Biology at the Australian National University, where he was a renowned plant ecologist and, later, Director of the Research School of Biological Sciences.

Ralph had enormous influence in Australia’s national science circles. In 1989–92, he served as served as Australia’s Chief Scientist. In this role, Ralph pioneered Cooperative Research Centres to bring the best of Australian science to market through collaboration between the public and private sectors. These are estimated to have created nearly $14.5 billion in direct
economic impacts to 2017.

World environmental issues were an enduring interest and he had a long-standing involvement with numerous UNESCO programs, including being Australia’s ambassador to UNESCO (1978–81). Ralph was pivotal in the establishment of several World Heritage Areas in Australia.

He received many honours and awards including being made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1982 and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1993.

Ralph married June (née Wade) in 1953. They had three children, Anthony, Beth and Judith.

William James “Jack” Dundas was an early boarding student at Wesley College, commencing at the College in 1924. Jack was born in Bridgetown, though due to his father’s work as a Reverend, the Dundas family moved around a lot. Boarding school became a viable option for Jack’s education, with Jack’s younger brothers Keith and Lionel also boarding at Wesley.

Jack was a dedicated and capable student – in 1927 he was Head Prefect of the College as well as Vice-captain of Hardey House. He also captained the cricket and football teams and ran the student magazine. After completing his education, Jack joined the National Bank and began a life-long career in banking. His early years in the workforce occurred during the economic depression when unemployment levels were high, and his income was vital in helping his family during this time, assisting his brothers to continue their education at Wesley.

In 1939, Jack took a break from banking and enlisted in the Airforce, using his considerable skillset to serve his country. He was posted to various locations including Townsville where he trained and operated as an Aircraft Engineer. When the war was over, he returned to WA and to his banking career, working as a Branch Manager in country and city branches across the state. He married Ena Brown and had two daughters, Margaret and Lyn.

Jack valued his time at Wesley and kept many of his treasured items from his school days up until his sudden passing in 1967, aged only 56. Jack’s wife and daughters continued to lovingly care for their father’s collection until generously donating the items to the Wesley College archive in our Centenary year. Jack Dundas’ collection includes rare items such as a napkin holder emblazoned with the College crest, a Wesley College document holder, a first edition OWCA pin, a selection of books won as prizes during his school days, Jack’s school tie and his beautifully handwritten chemistry workbook he used as part of his final-year examinations to gain entry to UWA. Jack’s items offer a unique glimpse into Wesley student and boarding life in the 1920s.

Daughter Margaret remembers that Jack “lived his life according to the values and experiences he had acquired at Wesley College. He was highly professional, held high expectations of himself and others, he worked hard and meticulously. He was a compassionate man who gave generously to others.”

John Hargrave entered Wesley College at 12 years of age into Hardey House. In 1947 he was Dux and winner of the Lance Hunt Memorial Prize during his 4th Year plus served on the Magazine Committee. He was a Prefect and member of the Athletics Team in 1948 and graduated with a first class pass in his last year at Wesley College.

He went on to study a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide in 1954. John went to the Northern Territory as a residential medical officer at the Old Darwin Hospital in 1956 with an interest in tropical medicine. Confronted with the leprosy that was then endemic among Aboriginal people, he developed a specialist knowledge. At the time forcible incarceration was the usual practice, but John worked for patients to be treated in their communities by training Aboriginal health workers. He developed his own skills in reconstructive surgery, microsurgery and pioneered obtaining artificial limbs for patients.

In the early 1990s, John led small volunteer teams of specialist doctors and nurses into Timor to give reconstructive surgery in rural areas. In 2002, he formed the Overseas Specialist Surgical Association of Australia Inc. (OSSAA), to continue to help those in the Timor region with severe physical deformities and disabilities arising from leprosy, burns, trauma and congenital defects. Since its formation, the organisation has flourished through the magnificent volunteering spirit of the doctors and nurses and the generosity of members, supporters and medical suppliers. From 2002 to 2016, there were 100 surgical team visits, 11,000 consultations and 5,000 life-changing operations.

John was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1995 for services to the treatment of leprosy and in reconstructive surgery and microsurgery. In 1996 he was awarded the Anzac Peace Prize for his lifelong care and rehabilitation of leprosy patients in the Northern Territory and Timor.

‘I had a passion for tall ships and doing the unusual, and you make the time for the things you’re really passionate about.’

Malcolm Hay boarded at Wesley College from thirteen years of age. He was a Prefect, Vice-Captain of Walton House and very involved in sport. He was Sports Committee Member, Vice-Captain Athletics Committee, Vice-Captain Rowing, Vice-Captain Swimming and Life Saving and Rugby Team Member. He won a Citizenship Prize and Colours for Athletics and Lifesaving.

Afterwards, Malcolm studied at the University of Western Australia and completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He has worked on the Antarctic base as a doctor and as specialist orthopaedic surgeon.

What is unique about Malcolm is his sense of adventure and understanding of how the challenge of a sea voyage or new adventure can bring out the best in people. Malcolm raised $3.5 million to develop the Leeuwin Foundation and Voyage Program for young Australians. In 1986, the Leeuwin embarked on its first voyage and since then has carried over 18,000 people.

In 1992, Malcolm received the Medal of the Order of Australia as recognition of his services to youth programs, particularly through the Leeuwin Foundations’ experiential learning and leadership programs.

‘I had three aims in undertaking the flight. I had done it to honour the memory of my father, to repay Legacy in a small way, and to experience the trials and tribulations and the sheer thrill of flying the same route, and in the same manner, as Australia’s magnificent aviation pioneers. I achieved all three.’ BRIAN EDWARDS, THE MATILDA MISSION, 1990.

Brian Edwards was a physiotherapist and amateur pilot with a taste for adventure. In the spirit of great Australian aviation pioneers, Brian flew his 1943 Tiger Moth, ‘Matilda’, solo from London to Perth in 1990.

Flying high was a natural trait for Brian, who entered Wesley College in 1954 at thirteen years of age, joining Mofflin House. In 1958, he was Vice-Captain of Mofflin and Captain of Swimming, a member of the Tennis Committee and General Sports Committee, and awarded Colours for football. In 1959, his final year, he was Captain of the Lifesaving Team, and a member of the General Sports Committee and Swimming Team.

After leaving Wesley College in 1959 he obtained a Science degree from the University of Western Australia and later a degree in Applied Science from Curtin University. He was a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists. His solo aviation flight from England to Perth set out to honour the memory of his late father, Clifford, who went missing in action in World War II, and to raise money for the charity Legacy.

On March 1990, after fifteen years of planning, Brian left Binbrook Airfield in England bound for Australia. On the first day, he had to make a forced landing due to a snapped crankshaft. He later said, ‘A momentary feeling of being in a dream—a nightmare—came over me. This couldn’t be happening. It was my first day. I could see the Channel. I was on my way to France, the beginning of my adventure. Reality hit me. This was no dream—the dropping air speed indicator told me it was all too real.’

Brian survived the forced landing and continued on his 20,000km flight to finally arrive at Langley Park in Perth on 13 May 1990.

In 1992, Brian was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to Legacy and physiotherapy.

Brian passed away in 2003 from leukaemia, but his memory and the dream he achieved lives on. You can still see his beloved Tiger Moth, Matilda, in the hangar at the family vineyard, Edwards Wines, in Cowaramup. A true darer and doer.

Every quilt tells a story.

Some tell a story of the quilters; some celebrate weddings; the arrival of a newborn; or some quilts are created in memorial for loved ones.

The Wesley 80^th Anniversary Quilt, meticulously stitched by seven Wesley mums in 2003, was made to honour a community they love – Wesley – in celebration of its 80^th birthday. Today, this exceptional quilt stands as one of Wesley most treasured cultural objects within our archival collection.

The making of the quilt was a collective affair – hundreds of woman-hours went into the extraordinary creation. The quilters, all Wesley mums, included: Dene Ede, Carolyn Smith, Denise Nicholls, Anne Abbott, Narelle Jones, Kim Ryan and Julie Sharp.

Recently, at the invitation of Ross Barron, Head of Wesley College, they shared their memories of the quilt-making process over afternoon tea.

From sewing costumes for theatre productions to volunteering in the canteen, they all fondly recall their involvement with the College. Life-long friendships were forged over coffee and craft in each other’s homes as they shared stories about their families, solved the problems of the world and supported one another.

The idea for the quilt was sparked by Dene, and after discussion with the group a design was agreed. Everyone took on responsibility for creating a designated number of squares. Together, they painstakingly positioned the squares to capture the social and academic history of Wesley College between 1923 and 2003.

As you look closely at the richly textured quilt, you get a sense of the love, care, and attention to detail. From miniature school ties and caps to delicately cross-stitched ribbons adorning the hair of a little girl and the College song embroidered around the border. Each time you look at the quilt you discover something new.

Fast forward 20 years later, Wesley is still a part of their lives – from grandchildren, to neighbours, to lifelong friendships.

The Wesley 80^th Anniversary Quilt is on display in Kefford Wing as part of Wesley’s Centenary Celebrations.

Wesley’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program is known to be one of the strongest school programs in the country and as a community we’re very proud of the incredible young people who graduated and gone on to change the world. Brothers Gavin and Charlie Mallard were at Wesley when the foundations of Moorditj Mob were being formed, here is what they remember about this special time.

GM: When I first got to Wesley College in 2006, there was only six indigenous students and we were all living in the Boarding House. Lynn Webber came on board as the Indigenous Support Coordinator and she started up regular meetings and get togethers. Our very first meeting was held in the common room at the front of the Boarding House. I was running a late because I was at the back of the lunch line. Lynn and the boys were throwing arounds ideas and brainstorming a name for our group. When I arrived, I said ‘Well do we have a name yet?’ And the boys said no, and so I just  said ‘Why don’t we call it the Moorditj Mob?’ Because we’re all moorditj.’ Everyone looked at each other and said YES! The rest is history.

CM: I started in Term 4 of Year 8 and the Moorditj Mob had just began that year. It’s my brother’s great claim that he named the Moorditj Mob. A name is important because when something has a name it creates ownership, which then turns into responsibility.

When I first started, the Moorditj Mob room was small, and it felt cool to have our own space to hang out in. Lynn organised for Olman Walley to come in and teach us how to play the didge and learn about Noongar culture. The idea was to get us to be more connected with each other and provide support for one another. The connection to Noongar culture and teaching us as a group, created a little cultural collective. Now the program has skyrocketed!

It’s really special and surreal to know that Gav and I were there for the beginning of the Moorditj Mob. Knowing what the program was, and what it is now is crazy. In my role with MADALAH, I get to come on campus and see the students often. I really have to take a step back and appreciate how far we’ve come. The impact that we’ve had as a group and individually is wild. I’m very proud and honoured to part of this group.

Born in Perth in 1943, Kerry Hill studied at Wesley College from 1956–60, boarding for the last three years of his schooling. A Prefect of Mofflin House in 1960, Kerry was a member of the Football 1st XVIII and the 1st VIII Rowing crew, and received Colours for athletics when he broke the U/17 Public Schools’ Association (PSA) high jump record.

When the University of Western Australia (UWA) opened its architectural faculty, Kerry moved across as a third-year student from Perth Technical College and graduated in 1968. After working at architectural firms in Perth, Hong Kong and Jakarta between 1969 and 1978, Kerry established his own firm, Kerry Hill Architects, in 1979 with offices in Singapore and Fremantle. His company completed many projects in Australia and internationally, specialising in resort and hotel design.

His success in Asia was a result of his focus on creating contextually sensitive buildings that draw on local styles, building techniques and materials. In 2003, he was awarded the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Robin Boyd Award for Ogilvie House in Queensland and won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 2006. In 2010, he received the Singapore President’s Design Award.

Kerry was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Architecture from UWA in 2008, and was a member of the RAIA and the Singapore Institute of Architects. He lectured at the National University of Singapore, the University of Hawaii, UWA and the University of Queensland. He was an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at both UWA and the University of New South Wales.

Kerry died in 2018 after a brief battle with cancer. The Australian Institute of Architects’ Acting National President, Richard Kirk, paid tribute to Kerry as the architect whose body of work ‘has come to define tropical modernism in the region. Kerry was one of Australia’s most renowned architects and he will be sorely missed by many.’ He was inducted into the Wesley College Gallery of Honour in 2018.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 1980–86 The Darwin Centre, Darwin, Australia
• 1987–91 The Sukhothai hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
• 1992 Armitage Hill hotel, Galle, Sri Lanka
• 1992–94 The Chedi hotel, Bandung, Indonesia
• 1992–94 The Serai hotel, Bali, Indonesia
• 1992–94 The Datai Langkawi, Malaysia
• 1996–97 Ooi House, Margaret River, Western Australia
• 1998–99 Singapore Cricket Association Pavilion, Singapore
• 1998–02 The Lalu, Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan
• 1998–03 ITC Sonar, Kolkata, India
• 1999–02 Ogilvie House, Sunshine Beach, Queensland, Australia
• 2002–04 Soi 53 Apartments, Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand
• 2005–10 State Theatre Centre of Western Australia
• 2007–10 Beachside Leighton apartments, Fremantle, Western Australia
• 2010–14 City of Perth Library, Western Australia

‘For more than 50 years, Geoffrey Bolton was one of the nation’s most eminent historians. His scope was international as well as local and, certainly, he was Western Australia’s preeminent historian. Through his impeccable scholarship, inspired teaching, persuasive oratory, mentoring and quiet diplomacy he influenced the practice of history and illuminated for many the complexity of historical events. In much of his work, he rendered history as the experience of ordinary people, his approach often from the bottom up rather than the top down.’  DAVID HOUGH IN ENCORE: OBITUARIES OF 50 WEST AUSTRALIANS, 2016.

Born in North Perth in 1931, Geoffrey Bolton was one of Australia’s most distinguished historians and authors. Geoffrey arrived at Wesley College in 1943 after being awarded the Joseph Hardey Scholarship. In 1946, he was a member of the Magazine Committee and achieved a First Class A Pass in fourth year. Nicknamed ‘Professor’ by his fellow students for his scholarly excellence, in his final year in 1947 Geoffrey was awarded a University of Western Australia (UWA) exhibition in English and History.

Geoffrey enjoyed student life at UWA, where he edited the student newspaper Pelican and became President of the Arts Union. He studied history, writing his Honours thesis on Alexander Forrest, a Western Australian explorer and politician.

He held academic and professorial appointments at many universities throughout the world.

In much of his work, he rendered history as the experience of ordinary people, his approach often from the bottom up rather than the top down. His narrative skill, sharp eye for everyday lives, evocative prose and wry humour entertained and informed generations of readers.

A celebrated author, Geoffrey penned more than twenty-five books and is credited for bringing much of WA’s history and political development to the everyman. He was inducted into the Wesley College Gallery of Honour in 2018.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours, University of Western Australia

Master of Arts and a Doctorate of Philosophy, Balliol College,

University of Oxford

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSORIAL APPOINTMENTS

• 1958–62 Australian National University (ANU)
• 1962–65 Monash University
• 1966–73 University of Western Australia
• 1973–76, 1999–2002 Murdoch University, Foundation Professor of
• History, University Senate and Chancellor
• 1982–85 University of London, established the Australian
• Studies Centre
• 1989–93 University of Queensland, inaugural Chair of
• Australian History
• 1994–96 Edith Cowan University
• HONOURS
• 1984 Officer of the Order of Australia
• 2001 Centenary Medal
• 2006 Western Australian Citizen of the Year

Peter Cowan was born in 1914 in South Perth. His grandmother was Australia’s first female parliamentarian, Edith Cowan. Peter entered Wesley at nine years in 1924 and left in 1930 to work in insurance and as a farm labourer. After further study at Perth Technical College and the University of Western Australia, he graduated as a teacher and returned to work at Wesley College.

He married Edie Howard and they had a son, Julian. The family moved to Melbourne in 1943 while Cowan served in the Royal Australian Air Force. While in Melbourne, he became involved in the Angry Penguins modernist literary movement.

After the war, Peter returned to Perth and taught English and Geography for many years at Scotch College. In 1964, he became a Senior Tutor in English at UWA, and later an Honorary Research Fellow after his retirement. Peter Cowan published eight volumes of short stories, five novels and three biographies. He also edited two books of diaries and letters and co-edited seven volumes of short fiction.

Peter’s novel The Color of the Sky won the WA Premier’s Book Award for Fiction and the Western Australia Week Literary Award in 1986. In 1987, he was made a Member of Order of Australia, and in 1992 he received the Patrick White Award for an Australian Writer of Great Distinction.

Edith Cowan University conferred its first Honorary Degree (Doctor of Philosophy) on Peter Cowan in 1995. In 1997, the Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre was established at the Joondalup Campus of Edith Cowan University, based in the reconstructed house of his grandmother.

Peter was named one of Western Australia’s Living Treasures in 1999, and was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to literature through writing. He was inducted into the Wesley College Gallery of Honour in 2018.

George McNeilance Prowse was a man for firsts. He was 14 years of age when starting his Wesley journey and appointed as the first-ever College Captain from 1924 until 1926.

The Prowse family were well-known for their philanthropy and commended for their work in the community for the betterment of Perth. George was the son of Edith Prowse and Australian politician John Henry Prowse, who served as Mayor of the City of Perth from 1913 – 1914. John Prowse worked on an early committee to assist in the establishment of Wesley College, saying in 1925 that “he had watched the growth of the College with the deepest interest and was delighted to know it was doing so well.”

Along with his older brother, Jack, George was one of Wesley College’s foundation scholars in 1923. Mildred Manning records in her diaries that both George and Jack were in the first biology class that she taught at Wesley, out of a total of just six students taking the subject. Mildred writes that she and the small group of students “became good friends, although I was rather nervous of them at first.” Mildred spent time tutoring George in the library and allowed him to accompany her to Perth Zoo to collect sample materials for biology lessons.

George was captain of the XVIII Football team in 1926 and described in the Wyvern of that year as “an excellent captain, splendid centre man with a fine mark and kick. He has shown the team the true spirit of sportsmanship.”

An able student, Headmaster Ward noted in the 1925 speech day that George Prowse was the first Wesley student to “carry the Wesley name for the first time into the Leaving Certificate examination” which was a big milestone for the College.

I associate my time at Wesley with a strong sense of community. When I was at Wesley, I really felt a part of something. In every small part of school life, in the classroom, in the sports and the arts, even in small moments like lunch times or bus rides, I felt a real sense of belonging and camaraderie. Among all the great memories, it’s hard to pick a favourite moment, but one story does come to mind as a good example to illustrate part of my experience.

It was a bright day in early October, in my final year of school.  I was near exhausted, having just reached the end of my mocks, and was about to go into my WACE practical exam for Indonesian. Speaking Indonesian was my weakest point in that subject, I was always better at reading and writing, so it’s fair to say I was more than a little nervous. We were taught to treat the practical exam more like a conversation than a test, and this was something I tended to struggle with.

Sitting outside the exam room, I kept going over practiced words and phrases in my head, convinced that I’d somehow forget them in the moment. Before I went in to my exam, however, one of my friends walked out, having finished his own. That friend and I had recently tied at the top of our class at the end of the school year, so from an outside perspective, one might think us competitors going into the final practical exam. And yet, noticing my apprehension, he walked over to me and began trying to put me at ease and help me warm up for the exam by speaking a little Indonesian with me. A few days earlier, he had even given me a shirt he bought in Indonesia, intending to help me impress the examiner.

This small act of kindness from my friend sticks in my mind as an example of the mutual support among my peers. We were never really competitors, and that was my experience at Wesley. As students, we supported each other, and shared each other’s success.

We pushed each other to dare and to do, and it made our time at Wesley all the richer.

A pioneer in Wesley College heritage, Barbara van Bronswijk joined Wesley as the College Archivist in 1995. Don Carter (former Deputy Headmaster) and John Maloney (Director of the OWCA) learned about the work Barbara was doing in the Penrhos College archive and approached her to start up a school archive at Wesley. Headmaster Kefford agreed to an initial three-month contract, however she remained at Wesley College for 21 years!

Establishing the archive

Barbara remembers “I was given unlimited access right across campus. I could talk to anybody, I could look in any cupboard, and I was given authority to investigate and record anything that I thought was of pertinence to a school archive.”

The College Archive began in a modest shed at the back of 43 Coode Street. In those days 43 Coode Street functioned as the offices of the OWCA, having earlier been the College Tuck Shop. “The back garden housed an old Colorbond shed. That was my office and archive for the subsequent six years, complete with a noisy air conditioner, small compactus for storing records, and many boxes of records and memorabilia saved over the decades.”

Honest and Unsullied Days – A history of Wesley College Perth

“What I didn’t realise when beginning at Wesley was that at that time historian and Old Collegian Professor Peter Boyce was intending to re-start the writing of the College history. In 1997 Don Carter called me to a meeting where I met Peter Boyce and was surprised to be asked to be the research assistant for the project which became Honest and Unsullied Days, published in 2001.

Peter lived in Tasmania.  He would visit every few months and between visits he sent copious questions and requests for photographs.  Each time he returned we would work for a few days to progress the drafting of each chapter.  Additionally, Peter and I conducted many oral history interviews to supplement the documentary records.

It was hard at times. I would sometimes work until evening but, having said that, it was the best thing that happened because I was on this steamroller track to quickly learn as much as possible about Wesley College in a short time, while at the same time researching for the book, and establishing the archive and record systems.  It was a busy time, but very satisfying in the end. Honest and Unsullied Days was published in 2001 and very well received. And by the time the book was published, there was also the foundation of the archive.

Wesley Community

“It’s hard to put your finger on what exactly makes Wesley a strong community. It’s probably a combination of factors.

I was physically removed from campus, working in my little shed for six years and it never interfered with the sense of community and support I felt at Wesley. It says a lot about the people that are employed. I think the Boarding House has also played a huge part in the comradery and sense of community we have at Wesley, because it’s been here from the start. It’s always been a community.

When you think that the OWCA commenced in 1926, just three years after opening – that is another thread that has bound the Wesley community together. In 1945, at the end of the war, the Wesley OWCA established the OWCA education fund, which paid tuition fees for the education of children whose parents had died in the war – a clear indication of the sense of community that prevailed.”