CELEBRATING 125 YEARS OF HISTORY 1896-2021
Guildford Grammar School ’ s 1954 Staff - with Headmaster Peter Nelson Thwaites to right of centre , front row .
prizes . The other priorities were a sports pavilion , added facilities for cricket and a new boat shed . A fete was held which raised 296 pounds . By 1930 , enough money was raised to open the new pavilion at the Preparatory School .
The first Interhouse Music Competition was held in 1928 and Drama continued as an important part of the School ’ s culture . Freeth abandoned Saturday night study in favour of general recreation .
A uniform was introduced for the first time in the Preparatory School in 1929 and extended to the Senior School in 1930 .
Freeth resurrected the Guildford Cadet Corps in 1930 following a decade in which enthusiasm for universal military service in Australia had gradually waned and was abandoned in 1929 .
During 1939 , Freeth ’ s health gave way under the pressure of 11 years ’ work without a break through the Depression . The Council agreed to him taking six months leave .
World War II had already commenced by the time Freeth returned from his long service leave in England . Parents of overseas students , especially from former English and Dutch colonies sought safe schooling for their children . Many were withdrawn from English and other European schools .
On 23 March 1942 , the United States Medical Corps informed the Council that the School would be handed over to the Americans by midday Saturday , 28 March . They would not require the Preparatory School but would take over all the buildings at the Senior School . Guildford Grammar School was saved by Kingsley Fairbridge Farm School at Pinjarra . The Americans only stayed for three months and then the 2 / 1 Australian General Hospital took over .
When the School finally returned after 20 months , Freeth had to face the restoration to its pre-war conditions . Some compensation was eventually paid by the Commonwealth Government .
In March 1949 , Freeth announced his retirement to the Council for Church of England Schools . Freeth had been hampered by the war years and lack of funds for his plans for many improvements to the buildings .
It was said his shyness made him a hard man to know . His tall dignified figure and cold manner concealed his genuine interest in not only the boy , but the parents and staff .
The years between 1928 and 1949 had been very successful for the School in the sporting arena .
Guildford won the PSA Athletics in 1930 , 1940 , 1945 , 1946,1947 and 1949 . Cricket was won in 1935 , 1936 , 1937 and 1946 . The School won the Football in 1935 , 1936 , 1938 and 1946 . The Head of the River was won in 1948 and the interschool shooting team won four times .
Freeth died on 16 September 1979 , aged 93 . In 1965 , Freeth House was named in his honour as the fifth boarding house .
Peter Nelson Thwaites – 1949 to 1956
In September 1949 , Peter Nelson Thwaites was appointed the seventh Headmaster of Guildford Grammar School , succeeding Rev ’ d Canon Robert Freeth . He was aged just 32 .
The Council for Church of England Grammar School took a risk with Thwaites ’ appointment , balancing his lack of teaching against his obvious academic brilliance and his commendable war record . He had graduated from Oxford and served in the Royal Australian Navy as a Radar Specialist . He married May Pask , a Melbourne girl in 1942 .
On his arrival at the School with his wife and son Michael ( who joined St George ’ s ), Thwaites recognised the need for massive maintenance and repairs which echoed Freeth ’ s complaints over the previous decade . The Preparatory School was in an advanced state of disrepair . The dilapidated buildings needed a major overhaul and the boys needed more modern facilities for recreation . Additional classroom space was also urgently needed .
Conditions in the Headmaster ’ s house which was built in 1911 , were very poor and the staff cottages were primitive . Staff salary scales needed an urgent upgrade . The advancing ages of some of the more senior staff showed that the old superannuation scheme was totally inadequate .
To keep up with other schools , Guildford Grammar School needed to grow from an enrolment of around 350 to 600 , with a more varied curriculum .
A newly formed independent Council for Guildford Grammar School first met in September 1950 . During 1954 the Council planned a long-term building scheme which included a new Science War Memorial Block , honoring those Old Boys who died in WW2 and all who had served . A new gymnasium , library , assembly hall , boarding house , swimming pool , staff quarters and revamp of the Preparatory School were required .
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