Great Scot 161_December_2020_E-Mag_V2b | Page 66

FOUNDATION
SIXTY ‘ DIGITALLY PROFICIENT ’ EMG MEMBERS GATHERED ONLINE
ABOVE : GLEN HOUSE . ABOVE , TOP RIGHT : THE ORIGINAL CALLANTINA ROAD GATES . BOTTOM RIGHT : CADETS ON PARADE AT SCOTCH ’ S THIRD SITE ON THE CORNER OF GREY AND LANSDOWNE STREETS

A CYBER CELEBRATION OF SCOTCH ’ S BIRTHDAY

It said much about the circumstances in which we find ourselves — and an interesting dichotomy of eras — when the EMG celebrated the School ’ s birthday via a cyber forum to discuss memorable aspects of Scotch ’ s 169-year history with School Archivist Paul Mishura .
Approximately 60 digitally-proficient ‘ regulars ’ of EMG gathered again online to keep in touch with each other and the School , a mere 26 days after the previous virtual encounter . In welcoming members , Director of Development , Tim Shearer (’ 85 ) relayed how all at Scotch were looking forward to resuming some sort of normal routine with great anticipation , and perhaps no-one more than Tim himself as the parent of a Year 10 boy !
OSCA Chaplain , Graham Bradbeer ’ s grace invited us to build gratitude into our daily routine , and share connectivity ; and he gave thanks for the strength of our associations and for Paul ’ s great work as the School Archivist .
OSCA Executive Director , Scott Montgomery and Paul Mishura then took the virtual stage .
Paul brought us into his world as the School ’ s Archivist and how in doing so he had to forsake some of his , admittedly pretty strong , Geelong College allegiances . Having loved History , as a Year 12 student
he saw some historic Scotch photos , and as he ‘ didn ’ t mind Scotch too much ’, he made contact with retiring Archivist Geoff Tolson (‘ 41 ) and was given a tour by then Archivist Dick Briggs (’ 57 ) in 1993 . Paul ’ s interest led to his becoming a volunteer in 1995 , his sister ‘ married a Scotchie ’, and in 2008 he became Assistant Archivist .
Scott commended Paul ’ s ability to discover Scotch connections which even family members did not know themselves they possessed , including Scott ’ s own family , and especially those families who have moved interstate through the generations and didn ’ t realise there was a Scotch association at all .
As we were celebrating the School ’ s birthday , Paul alluded to its origins : Scotch ’ s original name , the Melbourne Academy , ‘ never really took off ’, and by 1855 it was being referred to as Scotch College ; the 6 October birthday , however , wasn ’ t really celebrated until the School turned 60 in 1911 when the inaugural Old Boys ’ Dinner and the first Foundation Day Concert took place .
Claiming to have ‘ trawled the Archives ’ ( extremely unlikely given the present circumstances ) Scott produced several of Scotch ’ s most striking historic photographs , asking Paul to expound on the context and significance of each :
• Cadets on parade at Scotch ’ s third site on the corner of Grey and Lansdowne Streets , later to become the site of the Peter McCallum Institute ;
• 1917 photograph of Scotch boys and girls ;
• paddocks of the Glen Estate taken in 1914 ;
• the original Callantina Road gates , one of which has survived and will take its place on permanent display outside the new Archives Museum ;
• Glen House itself , completed by 1875 , which had not been lived in for some time before the School bought it in
64 Great Scot Issue 161 – December 2020