From the Archives Podcast: Recent Episodes
Haileybury Archives Department
In this episode, we acknowledge the work of Keith White and his enduring contribution to Heritage and Archives. This extended episode features segments on the research underpinning our new Football lists, documenting every Haileybury boy playing firsts football since the School's inception, the digitisation of our photographic collection, volunteer Trevor Jones' reminiscences of dance classes at Castlefield and a rarely played historical recording of Campbell McComas introduced by Archives volunteer, Gordon Hawley.
Academic writer and researcher, Dr Andrew Viney, speaks with Chief Archivist, Matthew Wootton, about his research on the early life of Haileybury's founder, Charles Henry Rendall. Dr Viney's forthcoming book on Rendall will reveal new insights into the life and times of the renowned educationalist.
This month is a special edition which highlights the important role that women have played in Haileybury's history.
We have two short pieces from Dayna Schinz, the first captain of Haileybury Girls College in 2007 and now a member of the Brighton staff. Then we hear a reading of reminiscences from Elsie Simpson, the school’s first librarian and the only female member of staff in the senior school in the 50s until Mrs Wells joined the staff in 1961.
Mary Black, younger daughter of Haileybury’s fourth headmaster Sholto Black sends a message of support to the girls in 2014 for a special assembly to mark five years since girls joined the Senior School. We also feature five short biopics of important female members of staff from a series entitled Haileybury Treasures produced by Bill Waters and Matthew Wootton from the Archives team.
This month we pay tribute to the Rev Jim Stevens, much loved member of staff, who passed away on September 1 in his 80th year. We begin with a short tribute from Bill Waters who was a colleague of Jim’s. This is followed by an extract from Jim’s inauguration in 1989 and finally the eulogy from his funeral held in the Bradshaw Chapel on 22 September. Due to the Covid 19 restrictions this was streamed live and on demand and has been viewed currently by over 1100 people.
To close the episode, we include a short interview produced by chief archivist Matthew Wootton with OHA Data Coordinator Kylie Phillips about her amazing Haileybury family.
This month we feature a Founder’s Day address given in 2004 by Justice Lex Lasry from the class of 1966.
Lex, the inaugural winner of the OHA Medal, is currently a reserve judge in the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria, having been appointed to the bench in 2007. Prior to this, Lex acted as defence counsel in several high-profile criminal cases in Australia and overseas, including the case of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, two of the nine Australians convicted of drug trafficking in Bali.
In 2007, he was awarded the Law Council of Australia's inaugural President's Medal for his pro bono representation of convicted drug trafficker, Van Nguyen in 2005, and for his outstanding work as Independent Legal Observer for Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks in 2004 and 2005.
Outside of his heavy workload, Lex plays in his own rock band, The Lex Pistols, and he has raced Porsche cars for many years. In this address Lex talks about life at Haileybury in the 1960s before talking about human rights in the world of today.
Firstly, Bill Waters gives his mid-year report on the projects that he and his Archives team have been working on. This is followed by an address given in 2001 by Simon Molesworth QC from the class of 1971. Simon has had an outstanding career, not only in the law, but in heritage preservation, particularly with the National Trust. And to close, a musical item from the Show Band performing at speech night 1987 with the Glenn Miller classic In the Mood.
This month we feature two items. The first, a timely series of interviews recorded last month by Chief Archivist Matthew Wootton where he talks to senior members of the staff about the early impact on the school of the Coronavirus pandemic. The second piece is from a 1983 Speech Night address by Australia’s newly successful America’s Cup captain John Bertrand, a Haileybury parent, in which he talks about the value of teamwork.
This special ‘Lift up your Hearts ‘ episode opens with a timely message from OHA Alumni Director, Russell Davidson.
This is followed by a reading of a letter written in 1942 from the Middle East by an old Haileyburian to his former headmaster Sidney Dickinson, in which he raises the possibilities of a more just world order arising from times of terrible conflict.
On a lighter note, the next item is an amusing tribute to Michael Aikman in 1998 by Major General Sir Harrison Clive. The episode wraps with a stirring rendition of Waltzing Matilda from our archives, recorded 50 years ago.
This episode features an address given to the senior school assembly in 2000 by one of Haileybury’s most outstanding sportsmen, Andrew Langford Jones (OH '67). The address is introduced by Jim Brown and closed by Robert Pargetter. The episode begins with an extract from an interview recorded in 2004 with Jim Brown interviewing another Haileybury legend Brian Clark, where Brian talks about the unusual circumstances which brought him to Haileybury in the first place.
This episode features the Founder’s Day address delivered in inimitable style by 2019 OHA Medal winner, Bob Sedergreen (OH '60).
But first up we have an edited extract from a presentation prepared by the family of Haileybury’s fourth headmaster Sholto Black to mark the opening in 2005 of the Sholto Black Vicinage at Keysborough named in his honour. The narrator is Sholto’s granddaughter talking to Sholto’s daughters Mary and Nan who reminisce fondly about their time as young girls at the school.
This episode features Robert Pargetter’s first Founders Day speech in 1999. Chief Archivist Matthew Wootton reports on a highly successful new staff induction in which 75 new members of staff were welcomed to the Haileybury Archives and Gordon Hawley introduces a powerful choral item from our music archives.
This episode begins with a short tribute to our oldest living Haileyburian William Buckland (OH '40) which was recorded at the recent Clark Club luncheon in October. William could not attend the function due to ill health.
We then feature an interview Chief Archivist Matthew Wootton recorded recently with Gary Maclean who has just completed thirty years as School Marshall, a position which the first School Marshall, Barney Potter, occupied for twenty years from 1969.
This episode celebrates the tenth annual Brian Weary Clark Club, starting with Alumni Director Russell Davidson kicking off the very first Clark Club in 2010. Russell then introduces a most prominent Old Haileyburian, Robin Fildes, to deliver the annual Brian Clark Oration.
Keith White has a chat to Glen Garden, a valued member of the Archives team about his interesting connection to Robert Pargetter and his role in consolidating and promoting the Student Archives Club.
Then we showcase the students’ first contribution to our From the Archives podcasts an interview with Berwick founding principal John Twist.
We follow this with an address at Founders Day 1987 by Brian Ennis celebrating the unveiling of the portrait of former vice principal Ivor McGregor.
This episode features a 1992 Assembly address by Alan Ross (OH '62) reminiscing about the change from the AGS to the APS.
Then some music from the Red Onions jazz band featuring old Haileyburians Brett Iggulden and Allan Browne.
This is followed by a story about Allan from the 125 Tales publication and a short interview with the man himself.
This episode features a Founder’s Day address from 2006 by notable alumni Prof Rod Home who was dux of the school in his final year 1954 and Captain of the School in 1955.
Then Keith White interviews our a new Chief Archivist Matthew Wootton. Gordon Hawley closes the episode by introducing a 1997 recording of the Haileybury Pipes and Drums accompanied by the school orchestra in the Hamer Hall playing Highland Cathedral.
Keith has a chat with Head of Haileybury Heritage and Archives, Bill Waters, who also poses his regular quiz question.
This is followed by an interview with Graham Dickinson, grandson of Haileybury’s third headmaster, Sydney Dickinson, underlining the critical contribution the Dickinson family made to the survival of the school through the Great Depression and the start of World War II.
On a lighter note, audio archivist Gordon Hawley introduces an impressive piano piece, performed over 50 years ago by Kim Bastin (OH '65), one of our archival colleagues.
And finally, a portent for the future, from a 1994 address to the Senior School by a most interesting guest speaker, Robert Pargetter.
Chief Archivist, Matthew Wootton, talks to long-time Archives volunteer Trevor Jones (OH '63) about an interesting piece of audio that came into our collection and also about how Trevor came to Archives in the first place.
Then we hear the audio piece, Prime Minister Robert Menzies, opening the Keysborough School in 1963.
Haileybury’s fourth headmaster Sholto Black was often compared to Menzies in his speechmaking so we play a short extract for you to judge. The episode closes with some vox pop reminiscences at an OHA function for Mornington Peninsula OH's at St Andrews near Gunnamatta.
This episode is the second of a two-part series celebrating the life of former deputy principal John Neal who passed away in March 2019.
This episode features two edited audio extracts recorded in 1997, the year John retired. The first, from a dinner held to honour John and his wife Joan, is a toast proposed by principal Michael Aikman.
Our second extract is fittingly from the man himself, John Neal speaking at Founders Day in 1997 in his last days as Deputy Principal.
This episode is the first of a two-part tribute to the late John Neal who passed away in March 2019.
John was a leading teacher and administrator at Haileybury for 40 years, beginning in 1957 at the Brighton campus, where he taught Maths and Science. He was appointed School Vice Principal in 1983, a role he held for 14 years, until his retirement in 1996. As a tribute to John we feature an address he delivered on Founders Day 1989 in the Aikman Hall.
In this episode, Gordon Hawley presents the oldest item from our audio archives - a farewell speech from Sholto Black originally recorded on a 78 rpm disc in 1953.
Then we continue the fourth part of a 2012 interview with Jim Brown. In this extract Jim talks to Bill Waters about the six initiatives of Robert Pargetter's sweeping reforms in the early 2000s and some of the outcomes.
And to conclude, a witty tribute to the school sung by Scott Edgar (OH 1990) at the school’s 120th Ball in 2012.
In this episode, Keith talks to audio archives volunteer Gordon Hawley (OH '65) about school songs, past and present, with a sample of the latter.
This is followed by a continuation of an interview by Bill Waters with the late Jim Brown, this time with Jim's first-hand account about the appointment of Robert Pargetter and the rather tumultuous start to his period as principal.
Finally we have an interview with Don Thomson (OH '56) who was instrumental, may the pun be pardoned, in the formation of the Drum Band which eventually led to the formation of the now legendary Haileybury Pipes and Drums.
In this episode Keith introduces the second extract from a 2012 interview with Haileybury legend the late Jim Brown talking to Bill Waters about the last decade of the Aikman years, the 1990s. An introduction by audio archivist Gordon Hawley then leads into a stirring 1994 Founders Day address by recently retired ABC news reader Ian Henderson (OH '70).
There's a quiz question from Bill Waters and feedback from episode one.
After an interview with sound archivist Gordon Hawley, we present Sir Ben Dickinson, speaking in December 1981 at Speech Night in the Dallas Brooks Hall. This was the momentous year that Haileybury first won the APS athletics competition. Sir Ben is introduced, at some length, by the then Council Chairman Bill Butterss.
The next segment is taken from an interview by Bill Waters, Head of Haileybury Heritage and Archives, with Jim Brown in 2012. Jim passed away in August 2018 after 65 years outstanding involvement with the school as a student, teacher and administrator. In this extract Jim talks about the first decade of the Aikman years, from the mid 70s to the mid 80’s. To close we have the opening song from the 1959 production of the Pirates of Penzance.
The opening in 1956 of the Memorial Hall, now the Dickinson Hall, made it possible to stage large musical productions for the first time as the school swelled in size. Pirates was the first of these and the first step in establishing the outstanding Music/Drama tradition which the school celebrates today.