Great Scot - The Scotch Family Magazine - Issue 150 April 2017 GS150-ONLINE Version_FA | Page 81

Scotch
boarders at
opposite
ends of
history
A Year 7 boy in his first year at Scotch has
as secretary of the Sale Turf Club and the Sale
connections with the school potentially stretching
back to the first decade of Scotch’s history.
Jay Antonie, an Arthur Robinson House
boarder who comes from Metung in eastern
Victoria, is the great-great-great-nephew of
Alexander Allan McMillan (born 7 December
1844, died 12 May 1925), said to have started
at Scotch in its first year, 1851; and also of
Alexander’s brother, Ewen Duncan McMillan
(born 21 October 1847, died 26 November 1891),
who definitely attended Scotch from 1864 to
1865. Both were born in New Brunswick, Canada
and came to Australia in 1853.
James Swanson Tait (SC 1905-06), who lived
in Sale, ‘discovered’ Alex McMillan there in 1914.
Scotch’s enrolment records predating Principal
Alexander Morrison’s arrival on 3 August 1857
were missing when he came to Scotch, and apart
from prize lists and other rare contemporaneous
records, there is no way of knowing who Agricultural Society, and he was Avon Shire’s
dair y inspector, a fundraiser for local projects, and
a good horse rider who won local prizes.
Alex was considered one of the best judges
of horses in the district. He would ride to
Melbourne’s Newmarket cattle yards with horses
and cattle, taking four to five days one way. A
flirtation with gold mining was less successful.
Alex returned to Strathavon, later selling it, and
moving into Sale, where he died, unmarried.
By the time Ewen McMillan started at Scotch
in 1864, the school had moved to Eastern Hill in
Melbourne, where it remained until the end of
1925. Boarders no longer lived in the Principal’s
house, but instead had their own part of the
school, which continued to improve with the
additional of further buildings. Ewen’s life was
short, and little is known of him. He married Emily
Harvey in 1887 and died childless at Windsor four
years later.
attended Scotch from 1851 until mid-1857.
Alex made his Scotch (or Melbourne
Academy, as it then was) history known to Tait,
evidently stating that he was here from 1851 to
1852. Note, however, that the McMillans arrived
in Australia in 1853, making his claim a little more
than shaky. The number of men who said they
were at Scotch in its foundation year, 1851, is
similar to the number who now say they attended
the tied Test in 1960. It is possible, however, that
Alex did attend Scotch, sometime in the 1850s,
before Morrison’s arrival. As Alex came from
Stratford, it is likely he was a boarder, like his
great great-great-great-nephew Jay.
Alex McMillan returned to Stratford as
a farmer, grazier and manager of the family
property, Strathavon. He was active in the district Jay Antonie is enjoying Scotch life. His
favourite subject is English, and he appreciates
the study support provided by boarding house
staff. He has also found that supervised prep
on the Hill is a good way to concentrate on
his homework and get it done. He enjoyed
representing Arthur Robinson House against
School and McMeckan Houses in the
Wedderburn Cup, and he played volleyball in
Term 1 this term.
Jay has facilities and activities the likes of
which his great-great-great-uncles could not
have imagined in their wildest dreams, giving him
opportunities they never enjoyed.
The 25 oldest
known living
Old Boys
1. Donald Hamilton McLeod, b. 19 August 1915. Aged 101
2. William Morgan, b. 23 October 1915. Captain 1935. Aged 101
3. Harold Knights (Hal) Oxley, b. 22 November 1916. Aged 100
4. Sir Cyrus Lenox Simson Hewitt OBE, b. 7 May 1917
5. Arthur Henry Chesterman Atkins DFC, b. 5 August 1917
6. Dr Herbert Culvenor Purton, b. 21 November 1917
7. Sidney Pascoe Birch, b. 8 February 1918
8. Cuthbert Beresford Barry, b. 7 April 1918
9. John Morton Parker, b. 24 July 1918
10. John Henry Asher, b. 13 September 1918
11. John McKenzie Hilliard, b. 15 September 1918
12. Daniel Glasser, b. 28 September 1918
13. Reginald Llewellyn Stanley, b. 6 November 1918
14. Kenneth Sutherland Budge, b. 29 March 1919
15. Thomas Henry Iser, b. 20 April 1919
16. Bruce McInnes Plowman, b. 9 May 1919
17. Lionel Liddell Smith, b. 13 May 1919
18. Joshua John Pitt, b. 31 May 1919
19. Allen Cansdell Cover b. 13 July 1919
20. Charles Otto Malmgren, b. 14 August 1919
21. Alexander Marshall, b. 18 September 1919
22. Donald Neil Hewson, b. 28 October 1919
23. Malcolm Robertson Riddle, b. 18 December 1919
24. Russell Stanley Garnsworthy, b. 29 December 1919
25. James Moore Allard, b. 12 February 1920
The youngest boy is Louis Zhi Yi Ting, b. 16 April 2012
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
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