Great Scot May 2020 Great Scot 159_MAY 2020_ONLINE_V3 | Page 23

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP: SCOTCH COLLEGE, EAST MELBOURNE IN 1922; GLEN
HOUSE; BOYS UNDER THE VERANDAH COLUMNS OF GLEN HOUSE; THE HILL, WITH
GLEN HOUSE AT RIGHT; THE ORIGINAL JUNIOR SCHOOL BUILDING AT HAWTHORN
example of heroism and self-sacrifice that had been set by Old Boys
who had done their duty in the Great War.
‘General Monash took this silver trowel and stepped forward
to the stone, which had been selected from stone of the East
Melbourne school. Deftly he laid the mortar. The stone swung into
place and, tapping it twice with the trowel, he declared it was well
and truly laid.
[The inscription on the stone reads, in part:]
“Scotch College new buildings This foundation stone of the
Memorial Hall erected by the Old Boys in Honour of those who
served in the War 1914-1919 was laid by Lieutenant General Sir
John Monash 5th March 1920 Their Name liveth for Evermore”
‘The Moderator offered a dedicatory prayer and the School Captain
stepped to the flagpole and for the first time in history the Scotch
flag was unfurled over the future site of the school at Hawthorn.’
This was the first time the boys of Hawthorn and East Melbourne
assembled as a single unit. The foundation stone and builders’ pegs
indicating the layout of the main school buildings were signs that the
days of East Melbourne were drawing to a close. The plans show
the architect’s vision for the Quadrangle and Memorial Hall with a
science block (now the Lithgow Centre) and a gymnasium (soon to
be reincarnated as the Keon-Cohen Dining Hall).
The Council and Principal were determined that the new Scotch
should be built as quickly as possible with the War Memorial Hall
as its central feature. The Principal longed for its spacious and
well-equipped classrooms and laboratories; the boys dreamed of
the playing fields and river at the School’s door.
Some boys about to leave Scotch had mixed feelings. Many Old
Boys loved the school at East Melbourne with its ivy-covered walls
and blue-grey stones. But now these time-worn buildings had grown
too small.
A school consists of more than historic buildings and glorious
traditions. Scotch does not rely on the beautiful buildings at
Hawthorn to prolong its famous name. The classrooms, the
boarding houses, the sports grounds would be new; the school
would be the same.
DEO PATRIAE LITTERIS
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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