Great Scot September 2018 Gt Scot_154_September_online | Page 58

Property
‘Siberia’ comes in from the cold
THE NEW ISABELLA
LAWSON LODGE IS A
NEW HOME FOR THE
DEAN OF BOARDING
58
A cold building, known without affection by all on the Hill
as ‘Siberia’ — the Dean of Boarding’s residence — has been
completely renovated and renamed Isabella Lawson Lodge,
in honour of the wife of Scotch’s inaugural Principal, Robert
Lawson.
The Lawsons, the original staff members of the Melbourne
Academy/Scotch College, received boarders initially at
their home in Stephen Street (now Exhibition Street), and
then subsequently at the School’s early Spring Street and
Lansdowne Street campuses.
By all accounts a handsome, accomplished and rather
formidable woman, Isabella Lawson — known as ‘Tommy’ to
the boys — was Scotch’s first female teacher. Isabella not only
ran the boarding house of 30 to 40 boys, but also managed
to provide well for her charges in the Gold Rush era, when
provisions were both costly and scarce. While she apparently
maintained discipline with ‘a piece of whalebone extracted
from a pair of stays’, she was also known to be kind and
compassionate in her dealings with the boys.
In its refurbishment, the existing residence was completely
gutted internally, walls were demolished and a new steel
support structure was installed. French doors in the turret
were replaced with a new fixed window; new flooring, tiling,
joinery and bathroom fit-outs were all undertaken.
A new extension was added, with the ground floor
comprising a new informal living and modern kitchen area
leading to a spacious deck, while upstairs now features a
master bedroom, en suite and guest apartment.
Clearly, the term ‘Siberia’ is thankfully no longer the
appropriate epithet to describe the accommodation provided
for the Dean of Boarding and his family. The revamped and
renamed Isabella Lawson Lodge is a more apt reflection of
the role and requirements needed by the Dean of Boarding
in the 21st century oversight of the welfare of the 160 Scotch
boarders in his care — and it simultaneously honours the
place of Isabella Lawson in the School’s history.
PATTY WALLACE-SMITH — DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
with BILL SCIARRETTA — PROPERTY MANAGER and
PAUL MISHURA — ARCHIVIST
Great Scot Number 154 – September 2018