December 3, 2010
Laptops and electronic white boards may have replaced the original ink wells and wooden desks at Scotch College in Torrens Park, but the school’s vision and core values to “search for knowledge, understand people and respect the divine” remain as strong today.
The rich history of the college has now been formally celebrated and chronicled in a newly published book titled Ninety Years at Torrens Park: The Scotch College Story.
Co-written by former teachers and Heads of History Peter Read and Alex Pouw-Bray, the limited edition book has been a labour of love by its authors.
Scotch College principal Tim Oughton paid tribute to the tireless efforts of the authors who started work on the 376-page book in the early 1990s.n
“The book is symbolic of all that is Scotch and details the major undertakings over the years that have made Scotch what it is today,” said Mr Oughton.
“There is something here for old collegians of every decade, for parents and current students, and for everybody with an interest in things historical and educational.”
Published by Wakefield Press in both leather-bound and hard copy format, Ninety Years at Torrens Park: The Scotch College Story outlines the origins of the college, from initial efforts to set up the school in the early 1900s through to work during World War I of a core group of Adelaide Presbyterians including lawyers and leaders of industry who strove to establish the college as a tribute to war veterans.
After much planning and organisation, Scotch College was officially incorporated in 1922 at which point it moved into its leafy Torrens Park grounds which were once owned by prominent local philanthropist Robert Barr Smith.
The book also includes many fascinating stories from tales of the “heroic” Norman Gratton, the first headmaster at Scotch, to agents of change such as Philip Roff, the headmaster who introduced co-education.
Ninety Years at Torrens Park: The Scotch College Story can be ordered online at www.scotch.sa.edu.au or purchased direct from the College. The jacketed hard cover version is available for $80 while the leather-bound version is available for $150.
About the authors
Peter Read studied modern history at Oxford University and taught at various schools in Kenya and the United Kingdom before joining the teaching staff at Scotch College in 1967. He was Housemaster of Anderson for 11 years and the editor of Scotch College Magazine (now Cluaran) and Scotch Reports. A former Head of the school’s History Department, Peter was appointed Head of the Boarding House in 1983 and lived and worked with the boarding fraternity until his retirement in 1993.
Alex Pouw-Bray has a Masters degree from the University of Washington in Seattle and a PhD from Flinders University. He has taught in Western Australia, Canada and South Australia and was Head of History at Scotch College from 1990-2009.
Further information: Please contact Scotch College Libby Blake or Jenny Stratfold on 8274 4305
Issued by Hughes Public Relations: Please contact Kieran Hall on 0422 147 151 or kieran@hughespr.com.au
