Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Saturday 16 July 1921, page 10


THE FOUNDING OF ST. PETER'S COLLEGE. . By a Contributor. The Rev. Theodore Percival Wilson M.A., of Brasenose College, Oxford, was engaged by Bishop Short in England for educational and ministerial work in Ade laide. He sailed with the Bishop in the Derwent, which reached Port Adelaide on December 28, 1847. The ship was becalmed on Kangaroo Island on Christmas Day. and the Christmas hymns rang out with thriv-ing effect over the - calm, still waters. On the bishop's arrival, he found that a grammar school had been established for a year previously i'n Trinity Schoolroom. Mr. Wilson was placed in charge of this. The proprietors of this school were willing to incorporate it with the proposed college, so the bishop bought 37 acres of land, near Bailey's Gardens, with part of the £2,000 granted by the S.P.C.K., and contributions began to flow in, chiefly through the energy of G. W. Hawkes, secretary to the Gover-nors. Capt. Allen, of the Milner Estate, Port Gawler, gave £2,700. His partner, John Ellis, Governor Hindmarsh's son-in-law, gave £300. Sir Henry Fox Young gave 111 acres of land, to found the ex-hibition which bears his name. The first examination for the Young Exhibition was held in 1850. The exhibition was divided between three successful competitors in this way:— Theodore A. G. Wilson (son of the head master). £10; Richardson Reid, £5; and David McGeorge, £2 10/. —Laying the Foundation Stone.— The foundation stone of the new build ing was laid on Queen's birthday, 1849.

Twenty college boys, under the charge of the head master, the second master (S. P. R. Allom) were ranged round the stone. In 1850 the college moved into its new schoolroom. Besides his educational .work, Mr. Wilson, in hie unattached capacity, heid services at Walkerville, Magill, the Sturt, Hindmarsh, and Gienelg as oppor-tunity offered. In 1851 he resigned the head mastership, owing to a breeze with the governors. He went to St. John's, Halifax street, for a short period, and then returned to Eng-land, where he held a living near Shrews-bury. He died at Pavanham, in Bedford. He was a great temperance advocate, and wrote 'Frank Oldfield,' a prize tale of some merit, the scene of which was laid in the colony. S. P. R. Allom, afterwards advanced to the diaconate, became acting head master on the resignation of Mr. Wil-son. The wet winter of 1851 prevented 10 schools from being held. George O'Halloran won the Bishop's prize, which entailed the captaincy of the school. He ako won the Christ Church Scholarship^ — £10 per annum— the gift of the Bishop's old College. The school was examined in Greek for the first time in 1851— the sixth form in the Georgices.and the first book of Homer. In 1852 services were started in the schoolroom on Sunday evenings; these were a great convenience to the people around. In winter they took place at 4 p.m. They were held in that part of the college, designed for a chapel, and it was very inconvenient fitting up this room week by week, so the college boy9 determined to fit it,up permanently. They issued a circular^ and got half wfoat they -wanted ( £50) within a week. In 1852 Mr. Allom- resigned. He was pr& aented with a piece of plate by George O'Halloran, captain of the school, and an address was read by Tom O'Halloran, cap tain for the ensuing year. Major O'Hal loran was one of the original^ gover nors. He died 1870, and liea in the family vault at Christ Church, O'Halloran Hill. The Rev. Edmund Jenkins took Mr. Allom'8 place at the college (1853). Fifty boys answered the roll after the Christmas vacation. The Bishop was pre sent to introduce the new head master. —The College Chapel.— Eight hundred pounds was subscribed for a college chapel. The governors rtiere negotiating for the purchase of an organ, price £75, the property of Mr. Lisht '***. organist of St. Andrew's, Walkerville. The proceeds of a bazaar amounted to £120, augmented by £46 private subscriptions. This went towards the purchase of a bell and clock. Mr. Jenkins held office till the arrival of the Rev. George Farr, by the Daylesford (1854).. He afterwards became incumbent of St. Matthew's, Kensington (1855-1888). He lies in ite churchyard. In 1854 there was no half-yearly examination, the school having broken -up on account of measles. In the same year Vansittart, who founded the scholarship which bears his name, .was killed by a fall from a horse near Guichen Bay. The horse ran him against the limb of a tree. The Vansittart scholarship ?provides board and education for a boy from the Mount Gambier district. In 1855 Bishop Short conducted the examina tions of the college. The pupils were afterwards entertained at dinner, turkeys and sucking pigs being the principal items. -Old Scholars' Prize.— In 1856 the old scholars' prize was awarded for the first time. Randall. Bon nin, and Morphett were the successful com petitors. This year was also marked by the deaths of Capt. Allen, -whose benefac tions to the college amounted in all to £7,000, and Benjamin Bay (the husband of the first college matron). He was an old Peninsula, veteran, and went by the name of the 'Hero of Corunna.' Arch deacon Farr was head master from 1854 to 1879. As to the staff, Mr. CT W. May, of North Adelaide, formerly assistant to Mr. Bewjus, was appointed third master of the college by the governors in 1850. He married a daughter of Sir John Morphett, of Cumminr?. near Gienelg. He now lies in the Brighton Cemetery. He was much beloved by the boys. J. B. Harrison was French, and Henry Nootnagel German master. —Other Masters. — In 1852 Pktts was second master, and Richvdson Reid ('Our Australian mas ter,' as Bishop Short called him) was third. He was the first college boy to become a master, and also .the first from the college to receive orders. On account of this a great fuss was made over him, and three Bishops (Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide) laid hands on him when he was ordairred in 1860. In 1853 Mr. Samuel Wilton was appointed assistant mathe matical master. He was a son of the Rev. Wilton, head master of an old-established foundation school in Salisbury, Wiltshire. In 1855 the Rev. S. B. Lewin died at his residence, in Franklin street. He was a master of the college, and curate of St. John's. The college boys lined up in front of St. John's, and formed an avenue for the funeral procession to pass through. In 1858 Mr. Jessop was second master. The Rev. Francis Williams began his long' con nection with the college in 1861 as third master. He became successively second master and bursar, acting head, and at last head master. He married Miss Laurie, daughter of B. F. Laurie, S.M., of South cott, Port Elliot.