thinking ideas about education , and was powerful and respected at the Headmasters ’ Conference of Australia . Despite his gruff bearing , a brave young Knox boy , John William Wentworth Butters ( KGS 1934-43 ) ( who described him as being like granite ), decided to say farewell , in his office , on MacNeil ’ s last day at Knox . MacNeil looked out the window at the oval while Butters spoke to his back . MacNeil then turned around , thanked Butters , shook his hand , and Butters saw tears running down MacNeil ’ s cheeks .
Knox ’ s House system originally had three Houses . In 1953 , School House was renamed MacNeil House . Three of Knox ’ s 14 Senior School Houses are named after Scotch boys who served Knox well .
In 1970 Knox added Murdoch House . Alan May Murdoch MC ( born 12.11.1894 , SC 1906-09 , died 25.5.1971 ) joined the Knox School Council in 1938 , and was its Chairman from 1955 to 1969 . He had served in the AIF from 1916 to 1919 , winning the Military Cross by capturing an enemy line at Messines during fighting from 7-9 June 1917 . See https :// www . scotch . vic . edu . au / ww1 / honour / murdochAM . htm .
Murdoch was Assistant General Manager of the Australian Mercantile Land & Finance Company and a Chairman of the McGarvie Smith Institute . His son , Alec Brown Shepherd Murdoch , attended Knox from 1937 to 1940 .
Montgomery House was added by Knox in 1977 . John Alexander Ross ( Ross ) Montgomery ( born 16.5.1893 , SC 1907-10 , died 23.7.1970 ) was a member of the Knox School Council from 1953 to 1970 . A civil engineer and Managing Director of A . R . C . Engineering Pty Ltd , Ross was a generous school benefactor . He gave Knox the Montgomery building , Gilmore House , and various smaller gifts including the bronze doors that grace Knox ’ s chapel . Meanwhile , he did not forget his old school , giving Scotch £ 100,000 for the Junior School ’ s J . Ross Montgomery Building , which was dedicated on 4 October 1963 .
Beyond these Scotch boys who made significant contributions to the establishment and growth of Knox from 28 boys to 3000 students , there are numerous other common connections . Of teachers who have taught at both schools , Roy Sutherland Smith ( born 1.1.1903 , died 28.3.1983 ) stands out for his long service at Knox from the 1930s until the 1970s , having previously taught Music in Scotch ’ s Junior School ( 1920-29 ).
Albeit likely an incomplete list , 67 Knox boys who have moved to Victoria have come to Scotch and 24 have left Scotch to attend Knox , four of those boys having come from and then returned to Knox . At least four Old Knox Grammarians have sent seven sons to Scotch , and Scotch blood is known to fuel more than a few Knox boys .
Notable among shared Old Boys are Allan Cansdell Cover ( born 13.7.1919 , KGS 1930-33 , SC 1934-36 , died 13.9.2019 ), a centenarian who helped Knox with its own approaching centenary . A notable potter and teacher was Ivan Junior McMeekin OAM ( born 15.9.1919 , SC 1928-30 , KGS 1936-37 , died 28 May 1993 ), and shared victims of World War II are Hugh Robert Hector Ross ( born 15.6.1902 , KGS 1931-32 , SC 1933-37 , killed 17.12.1943 ) and John Harrison Gillespie ( born 15.8.1924 , SC 1937-38 , KGS 1939-41 , killed 7.10.1944 ).
Scotch boys ’ interest , service , commitment and philanthropy to education are well captured by the Old Boys who helped establish and grow a school much like their own - in Wahroonga .
Happy birthday , Knox !
ABOVE : KNOX GRAMMAR SCHOOL LOGO WITH THE CROSS OF ST ANDREW AND SCOTTISH THISTLE .
ABOVE , LEFT : BRYAN FULLER , KC . RIGHT : GEORGE GILLESPIE IN 1930 .
ABOVE , LEFT : NEIL HARCOURT MACNEIL MC . MIDDLE : ALAN MAY MURDOCH MC . RIGHT : JOHN ALEXANDER ROSS ( ROSS ) MONTGOMERY .
www . scotch . vic . edu . au Great Scot 107