ARCHIVES
MR PAUL MISHURA SCHOOL ARCHIVIST
EWAN HOUSE , KNOX ' S ORIGINAL PREPARATORY SCHOOL , WHICH OWES MUCH TO SCOTCHIE GEORGE GILLESPIE ' S GENEROSITY
SCOTCH BOYS AND THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF KNOX GRAMMAR SCHOOL
The Scottish love of education is evident in Old Boys ’ role in the founding and first century of Sydney ’ s Knox Grammar School .
On 3 September 1923 the newly-formed Knox Provisional Council met to establish a Presbyterian Church school to meet a long-recognised need for one on Sydney ’ s Upper North Shore . It resolved to purchase ‘ Earlston ’, a 12 acre property at Wahroonga . That Council included two men recognised as founders of Knox : Scotchies George Gillespie ( born 17.7.1863 , entered Scotch 1877 , died 10.4.1938 ) and Bryan Cecil Fuller KC ( born 17.8.1888 , SC 1902-06 , died 23.3.1956 ).
Gillespie was a general merchant at the Anchor Flour Mills , joint Managing Director of Gillespie Brothers , a director of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company , and a grazier . He served on the Knox council from its 1923 foundation until his death . Gillespie
anonymously deposited a large sum of money into Knox ’ s account during the Great Depression , and , in 1933 , provided funds to repay the mortgage on Ewan House , Knox ’ s Preparatory School . His brother , ( later Sir ) Robert Winton Gillespie ( who did not attend Scotch ), was also a co-founder of Knox . He ( not George ) is the eponym of Knox ’ s Gillespie House ).
Fuller was a barrister and a Presbyterian layman who later became a council member ( 1921-55 , Chairman 1938-55 ) of St Andrew ’ s College , University of Sydney , procurator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia , and President of the New South Wales Lawn Tennis Association . Fuller was a member of Knox ’ s council from its foundation until 1945 but remained involved at Knox . He is the eponym of Fuller House , in Knox ’ s Preparatory School . His son , Sir John Bryan Munro Fuller , was a foundation Knox boy ( KGS 1924-35 ).
Knox opened in 1924 with 28 boys . Its first Headmaster was Neil Harcourt MacNeil MC ( born 17.4.1893 , SC 1903-11 , died 1.8.1946 ), a 1910 and 1911 Prefect , and editor of The Scotch Collegian . He served in the British Army from 1914 to 1917 , when he joined the Royal Flying Corps ( 1917-18 ). For the defence of Loos on 25 September 1915 he was awarded the Military Cross . For more information , see https :// www . scotch . vic . edu . au / ww1 / honour / macneilNH . htm
MacNeil served Knox as its Headmaster until 1939 , and was then Headmaster of Wesley College from 1940 until his death . He set Knox on a solid foundation and saw it through the Great Depression , increasing enrolments to over 300 . MacNeil conducted Knox as if it were a military exercise , which was not always appreciated by its boys and staff , but he had forward-
106 Great Scot Issue 171 – Edition 1 2024