Newington College

Early history

The Rev. John Manton proposed that a collegiate institute, 'decidedly Wesleyan in character', be founded in Sydney and that the school 'be open to the sons of parents of all religious denominations'. On Thursday, 16 July 1863, the Wesleyan Collegiate Institute opened with 16 boys and a small number of theological students. As no suitable buildings were available in Sydney at the time, Newington House, the centrepiece of the 1,200-acre (4.9 km²) John Blaxland's estate at Silverwater, was leased.

Newington College, as the school soon became known, prospered during its time on the Parramatta River and in 1869 was the first Australian school to play rugby football (against the University of Sydney), and soon after was the first school in Australia to hold an athletics carnival. In 1869, the Newington College Cadet Corps was formally incorporated by the Governor of New South Wales, Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore. It is the second oldest corps in the Australian Army Cadets.

Expanding student numbers meant that more extensive premises closer to the city were required. A bequest by John Jones of land at Stanmore saw the College move to the newly fashionable inner-city suburbs. A grand stone edifice was designed by Thomas Rowe and has been described by architectural historian Morton Herman as 'an almost perfect example of scholastic Gothic Revival architecture'. Earth-moving work began on the site in 1876 and by May 1878 the building had reached first floor height. A public ceremony was held and six commemorative stones were laid. Amongst the six given the honour of laying the stones were Sir George Wigram Allen KCMG the philanthropist who was Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He had lent £12,000 for the new buildings at Stanmore and later endowed the Wigram Allen Scholarship for boys proceeding to matriculation. The formal opening of the new school building was by Sir George on 18 January 1881. By resolution of the College Council, the name Newington College was perpetuated on the new site. Seventy school and theological students migrated from Silverwater to Stanmore and Newington has remained there ever since.

A gymnasium was built in 1890, and a swimming pool was opened in 1894.

20th Century

Newington ceased its connection to theological training in 1914, when the Wesleyan Theological Institution moved to the newly founded Leigh College at Strathfield South. In 1921, a stone War Memorial, designed by Old Newingtonian William Hardy Wilson, was opened in memory of those old boys who had paid the supreme sacrifice in World War I. A separate preparatory school was opened in 1921, after a bequest by Sir Samuel McCaughey. It became known as Wyvern House in 1938, when a new building was opened by Old Newingtonian Sir Percival Halse Rogers.

In 1925, a rowing facility was built at Abbotsford, and in 1957 another preparatory school was founded on the North Shore – first at Killara, but now at Lindfield. Since the Second World War, the College buildings and facilities have expanded significantly.

During the Headmastership of Tony Rae, the Senior Block (1972) and Resources Centre Library (1975) were opened. A new Physical Education Centre was opened by Old Newingtonian Nick Farr-Jones AM, and a new boatshed at Abbotsford were two of the most important property additions. In 1998, while Michael Smee was Headmaster, Wyvern House moved to a separate campus in Cambridge Street, Stanmore. The former Wyvern House building was then renovated and renamed the Le Couteur Wing in memory of former Headmaster Philip Le Couteur. Le Couteur was re-renovated early in 2014 and visual arts classes now occupy the first floor with languages and learning enhancement classes held on level two.

21st Century

During 2006, the press reported on an industrial relations dispute at Newington in which then Headmaster David Scott planned to force staff to re-apply for their jobs in a restructure that would also reduce their holidays. Scott said that 'The action was taken after a comprehensive review of the school and had nothing to do with the federal government's Work Choices reforms' The Sydney Morning Herald reported that David Scott believed that the union was being mischievous 'at best', or using an 'outright and deliberate lie' in suggesting the restructure was linked to workplace legislation. Following a meeting between the Independent Education Union and Newington College, Scott agreed to not declare senior staff positions vacant and the school continued to negotiate collective arrangements covering salary and working conditions for staff.

The current Headmaster is Dr. David Mulford, who was appointed to the position in 2009. In 2012, the Nesbit Wing, built prior to the college centenary in 1963 in honour of Robert H. Nesbitt, was refurbished and extended to encompass the Technology Centre. Between 2009 and 2012 Newington spent $78 million on capital works, which is reported to be more than any other school in NSW. $33.7 million was outlaid on infrastructure alone in 2012. In 2013 the College celebrated its Sesquicentenary with the opening of two new buildings honouring two former Headmasters – The Lawrence Pyke Science Centre and The Tony Rae Resources Centre Library. This development was awarded the Master Builders Association of New South Wales's Excellence in Construction Award and was funded by donations and parent fees. The $20 million award-winning facilities at the Stanmore campus cover over 1200 square metres and contain a library, a 250-seat lecture theatre, the new boarders' dining room, a cafeteria, and science labs. In November 2013, the PE Centre was renamed the Taylor Sports Centre in honour of Old Newingtonian cricket and rugby union international Johnny Taylor. The naming was performed by Old Newingtonian Olympic rower and coach Michael Morgan OAM.

On 18 July 2016, in commemoration of the sesquicentenary of Newington College's brother school Tupou College, the reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Tonga King Tupou VI and his wife Queen Consort Nanasipau'u visited Newington College in order to officially open the affectionately named 'Tupou College Centre'. In a statement, Newington College endorsed the long-standing links between itself and its brother school who both share the same founding father, the Rev. Dr. James Egan Moulton; “The new centre, which will house specialist teaching spaces, a new theatre and the College’s new health centre, has been named in recognition of the long and close historical links between the Newington College and the Kingdom of Tonga”. A number of plaques were personally unveiled by his majesty and lay mounted on a section of residual façade once forming the outer wall of the partially renovated Le Couteur Centre.

Gallery

Dixon Gates, Stanmore Road fence, Sevington tennis courts and Deputy Headmaster's residence.

Founders, the tower and Prescott Hall

College Council

The Newington College Council Act allows for the appointment of up to 24 members of the Council: nine clerical appointments; nine lay appointments; and six members nominated by the Old Newingtonians Union (ONU). In 2014 the following were members of the Council.

Presidents and Headmasters

From its founding in 1863 until 1900, Newington had a system of dual control with a President (who was an ordained minister) and a Headmaster. As an ordained minister, Charles Prescott assumed both roles on his appointment in 1900 and, on his retirement in 1931, the role of President was abolished.

Notable masters

The long service of masters at Newington College is recognised in a number of ways. In 1955 a marble commemorative plaque was set in the north-western wall of the Prescott Hall to commemorate the work of three very long serving staff members and their Head, with the inscription:

These masters are further recognised by the naming of the Buchanan Oval, Ben Jarvie Staff Common Room and Cortis Jones Lecture Theatre. Another long-serving master of the first half of the 20th Century was Colonel Albert Douglas Arthur (1889-1949). In 1951 the college library was housed in a new room and renamed the A.D. Arthur Memorial Library in his honour. The library moved into the Nesbitt Wing upon its completion and when it moved again into Prescott Hall an adjoining study room was named the A.D. Arthur Annex. Arthur's name has not been connected with the college library since the 1970s but his portrait in oils still hangs in the Ben Jarvie Common Room. In 2014, past masters Phil Davis OAM and Robert Buntine were honoured with rooms in the AJ Rae Resource and Library Centre being named after them. Davis is the college's third-longest serving master (1951–2000), after Cortis Jones and Jarvie, and Buntine was the Deputy Headmaster during the headship of Tony Rae.

Staff members notable in the wider community include the following:

In recent years staff members of Newington College have been honoured within the Order of Australia:

Leaders

Since 1898, the Senior Prefect has been the captain of the school. The first student to hold that position was Sandy Phillips. In 2012, the Senior Prefect was Michael Cameron, whose father, Bruce Cameron, was Senior Prefect in 1974 and grandfather, Doug Cameron, was Senior Prefect in 1946. As of September 2015 the role is held by Jack Jacobs. Since 1961 there has been a Deputy Senior Prefect and from 1991 it has been the custom to appoint two Deputies. A Senior Boarder Prefect has been appointed since 1932 when Philip Le Couteur, as Headmaster, instituted a House System. The Houses, eight in total, are led by a House Captain and a House Vice-Captain, or two. Until 1988, a select number of students were appointed as Prefect. Since that time, it has been the practice in Term 4 to offer all Year 11 boys the position of House Prefect and at the end of Year 12 to confirm as School Prefect all those judged to have discharged their duties in an exemplary manner. In 1950 and 1951, under the Headship of Mervyn Austin, Probationer Prefects were appointed and from 1953 until 1967 they were known as Sub-Prefects. That title was again used from 1983 until the current system of leaders was started in 1988. In one year only, 1971 during the Acting Headship of Owen Dudley, Monitors were appointed.

Dux

The title of Dux of the College is awarded to the best academic student each year in the senior form. Since 1865 that has been the Upper Sixth, Sixth Form and now Year 12. The first Dux announced was Andrew Houison during the early years at Newington House. From 1881, the Dux received the Schofield Scholarship (after Mrs Schofield's donation of £1,000 to the College) and since 1924 the Halse Rogers Prize (which was endowed by the Rev William and Elizabeth Halse Rogers). In more recent years these have been awarded jointly as the Schofield and Halse Rogers Prizes. Winners names were from 1881 inscribed on boards in the Prescott Hall but since 1976 the board has been in the Centenary Hall. Duces of Newington have included: Cecil Purser shared with James Ramsay (1881); George Abbott (1882); Harry Wolstenholme (1885); Herbert Curlewis (1886); William Parker (1887); Frederick Pratt (1888); John Halliday (1889), when he was known as Charles Halliday; David Edwards (1890); Edwin Hall (1891); Ernest Warren (1892); Harold Curlewis (1893); Walter Woolnough (1894); George Harker (1895); Leslie Allen (1899); Percival Halse Rogers (1900); Lindsay Dey (1904); Carleton Allen shared with Rupert Hollaway (1905); Ronald Aston shared with Henry Darke (1916); William Morrow (1921); Walter Bryan Ward shared with Philip Harrison (1924); Keith Jones (1927); Talbot Duckmanton (1937); John Veevers (1947); John Turtle (1953); Bob Baxt (1955); John Pyke (1957); Warwick Cathro (1964); and Patrick Cook shared with David Emery and Philip Neal (1967). David Murray (1909) and Roxy Muir (1913) died during World War I. Harold Hunt was Dux in 1884 and his son, Harold Hunt, was Dux in 1920. The Thomas family have three generations of Duces of Newington: Noel Thomas (1930); Rod Thomas (1960); and Peter Thomas (1988).

Old Boys' Prize

The Old Boys' Prize is the most senior of the citizenship prizes awarded at Newington and is presented for scholarship, sportsmanship and moral qualities. Loyalty and leadership are equally weighed in this award. It was first awarded in 1904 and shared by Thomas Gale and Oliver Woodward. It has been awarded annually since then and recipients have included: Carleton Allen (1905); Bryan Ward (1924) shared with Jonathon Joyce; John Lawes (1925) shared with Richard Hay; Denis Cowper (1926) shared with Den Joyce; Bym Porter (1927) shared with Arthur Parton; George Wright (1935); Marshall Hatch (1950); Graham Colditz (1972); and Stephen Rae (1979). For four years in a row the prize was awarded to students who were to serve and die in World War I: David Murray (1910); Morven Nolan (1911); Clifford Holliday (1912); and Roxy Muir (1913). The Old Boys Prize was not awarded the following year (1914).

Campuses

Newington College is situated over three suburban campuses, located in Stanmore and Lindfield:

Secondary school

The secondary campus is located in Stanmore, in Sydney's inner-west. The student body consists of approximately 50 boarders and 1,700 day students from Years 7 to 12. Newington boarders come from country and city, interstate and overseas. Day students are drawn from all over the Sydney greater metropolitan area. The Newington College Senior Campus is considered to be one of the most efficient and intellectual schools in the Southern Hemisphere.

Wyvern House preparatory school

Newington has educated primary school (Kindergarten to Year 6) aged boys since 1863. In 1938 Wyvern House opened in a separate school building on the Stanmore campus and accepted its first students in 1939. Wyvern moved to new premises in Cambridge Street, Stanmore, a few minutes' walk from the secondary school, in 1998. It has approximately 480 students – all day students. There are two classes in each of Years K to 2, three classes in Years 3 to 4 and four classes in Years 5 to 6. The Head of Wyvern House is Ian Holden

Lindfield preparatory school

The Newington College Preparatory School was established initially at Killara (1957) and later at Lindfield (1967), in response to requests from Old Newingtonians that a preparatory school be established on the North Shore of Sydney. The Head of Newington College, Lindfield, is Mr Ben Barrington-Higgs. It is a single-stream school, with approximately 160 students from Kindergarten to Year 6 and is set in a bushland location where the Students are constantly in touch with nature. The school features a basketball/tennis court, climbing gym areas, swimming pool and connects to the bush trails of Swain Gardens. Each classroom includes effective information communication technology tools. Classrooms have dedicated computer and wet areas, and bag storage areas. There are special facilities for music, art and French. A tuckshop operates three days a week. The campus has just undergone a major redevelopment of classrooms and the addition of a new hall, library and visual arts room. Students in Years 3–6 compete in the Independent Primary School Heads of Australia (IPSHA) Competition held on Saturday mornings. Every student competes in a summer (basketball or cricket) or winter sport (rugby or soccer). Newington's preparatory schools combine for annual carnivals in swimming, athletics and cross country.

Gallery

Glasson Pavilion and Old Chapel Drama Centre

War Memorials

The grounds and buildings of Newington College contain numerous war memorials:

Classrooms and science building

Work began in October 1952 on the War Memorial Classroom Block and the Old Boy benefactor W.R. Glasson unveiled the foundation stone. In June 1953 the building was opened by Colonel Thomas Millner MC VD. The War Memorial Science Building was opened in July 1955 by Sir Iven Mackay KBE CMG DSO VD when he unveiled a stone memorial wall with the following inscription:

Johnson Oval

Gunner Jack Johnson, an Old Newingtonian, died of wounds on a Belgian battlefield in 1917 and in his memory, his parents, Frank and Sarah Johnson, provided £1,100 for the college to level part of the existing playing fields. This provided a Rugby Union ground of full size, and was named the Johnson Oval. At the corners brick retaining walls, to a design by Arthur Anderson, protected the steep banks.

Eight other memorials at Newington are recorded on the New South Wales Government's Register of War Memorials in New South Wales.

Memorial to the Dead 1914-1918

The sandstone Memorial to the Dead was designed by the Old Newingtonian architect William Hardy Wilson and is now sited between the Centenary Hall and the Chapel. It was originally placed in a grove of trees to the north of the Founders Wing but was moved to its present location in the early 1960s to make way for the construction of the Centenary Hall which was opened in 1963. The memorial comprises a semi-circular wall and seat, with pillars surmounted by white stone urns at either end and a column with a sundial stands at the centre. The inscription on the wall reads:

1914 – To Our Beloved Dead – 1918

and the inscription on the sundial reads:

Time dims not their sacrifice.

The memorial was dedicated on 11 May 1922 by the Governor General of Australia and the Old Newingtonian poet Leslie Holdsworth Allen wrote a poem, To our beloved dead, in memory of the occasion.

Gallipoli Lone Pine Memorial

Commemorating Prisoners of War during World War I, this tree comes from a seedling propagated from a pine cone brought home from Gallipoli by an Australian soldier. The tree stands in a triangular area of grass formed by the merging of the Cowlishaw Drive and the War Memorial Drive. A bronze commemorative plaque on a stone plinth has the following inscription:

The Gallipoli Lone Pine – During the 1914–1918 Great War, Australian and New Zealand forces landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 to attack Turkish forces. Eight months later they withdrew. One significant battle occurred on the ridge where a lone pine stood. ANZAC forces finally occupied the Turkish position, but with the tragic loss of 2,227 men. Turkish losses were around 5,000. During the withdrawal from ANZAC Cove, an Australian soldier picked up a pine cone and brought it home, where the seeds were propagated. Since 1933, when the pines became of good size and yielded more seedlings, Legacy arranged for pine trees to be distributed to schools and interested groups to help keep the memory of the Gallipoli Lone Pine alive.

Chapel Memorial Tablets

Twenty four brass plaques were hung in Prescott Hall as memorials to individual Old Newingtonians who died during World War I. Further plaques were added after World War II but they were all removed when the hall was renovated in 1979. They were then placed on the first floor balcony of the War Memorial Classroom Block. They were later placed in the archives collection. In 1995 they were restored and repositioned in the chapel's glass ambulatory overlooking the 1914–1918 Memorial to the Dead. Included amongst these plaques is one in memory of William Tasker (15 October 1891 – 9 August 1918) who was a World War I soldier who had been a national representative rugby union player making six Test appearances for the Wallabies.

War Memorial Driveway

In 1936 the War Memorial Drive was planted with 75 poplars, each with a cross at the foot and a plaque honouring individual Old Newingtonians who died during World War II. The trees were replaced by a new avenue of trees in 1966 and the plaques were replaced by a tablet on a plinth with the inscription:

Lest We Forget – This plaque was dedicated on 24 September 1966, to mark the planting of trees alongside the War Memorial Drive by the Old Newingtonians' Union to restore those originally planted by the Union on 29 February 1936. By this act Old Newingtonians remember those Old Boys who gave their lives in the service of God, King and Country, and whose names are recorded on the War Memorial of the School.

Fifty of the original plaques remain in the archives collection. In 1979 the War Memorial Drive was realigned and replanted and the 1966 plinth was moved to the Millner Gates end of the drive.

Boer War Honour Roll

A bronze tablet recording the names of 44 Old Newingtonians who served in the Boer War hangs in Prescott Hall in the Founders Wing. It is set in a Gothic frame of columns with a plinth and cornice. The inscription reads:

Floreat Newingtonia – Erected by Old Boys of Newington College in honour of Newingtonians who fought for the Empire in South Africa 1899-1902.

The Memorial was designed by Old Newingtonian architects Henry Budden and William Hardy Wilson and was dedicated on 15 December 1903.

World War I Honour Roll

Over six hundred Old Newingtonians enlisted during World War I and the loss of life was appalling. By war's end, 109 Old Boys had died for God, King and Country. Prior to 1920 the walls of the vestibule at the entrance to the Founders Wing had been hung with sporting teams photographs. In 1921 this space was transformed by the installation of white marble tablets, encased in Queensland maple, upon which were inscribed the names of Old Boys who had served. Those who had made the supreme sacrifice are listed on the central panels below the words:

These Nobly Strining, Nobly Fell.

With a black and white marble floor and stained glass door panels this space takes on the feel of a small chapel.

World War II Honour Roll

A wall of brass and enamel panels in the Centenary Hall foyer records the names of the 814 Old Newingtonians who served in Australia's armed forces in World War II. The inscription reads:

Honour Roll of Old Newingtonians World War II 1939-1945.

This honour roll was dedicated on Anzac Day 2009 by Old Newingtonian Major General Sandy Pearson AO DSO OBE MC and replaces a roll in the same position that was unveiled by Sir William Morrow DSO ED in 1966.

Post-World War II Honour Roll

This wooden honour board records the names of 45 Old Newingtonians who served in Australia's armed forces in conflicts post-World War II and is on the southern wall of the Centenary Hall foyer. It is inscribed:

In every generation good men must defend what they believe to be right and Newington remembers with pride her sons who served their sovereign and country in the cause of liberty in international conflicts from 1948 to 1973.

It commemorates service in the Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Malaysian-Indonesian Confrontation and Vietnam War.

War memorial prizes

The following are presented in honour of Old Newingtoninans who made the supreme sacrifice:

Curriculum

The school teaches the core curriculum outlined by the NSW Board of Studies (BOS) between Kindergarten and Year 8. In addition to this curriculum, the students study one major language other than English. From Years 9 to 12, students adhere to the Board of Studies curriculum standards that all NSW schools follow.

Newington became an IB World School in May 2007, and from 2008 has offered the International Baccalaureate (IB) to Year 11 students, as an alternative to the Higher School Certificate (HSC).

Higher School Certificate results

Newington College ranked 73rd in New South Wales Higher School Certificate results in 2013, as measured by 'percentage of exams sat that achieved a 'DA' (Distinguished Achievement)' score, with 20% of students meeting the criteria.

Co-curriculum

Newington students may participate in the following co-curricular activities:

The Newingtonian

The school annual of Newington College is called The Newingtonian and dates to the early 1880s. Three hand-written news sheets with the title The Newingtonian we're circulated in 1883 but the first printed issue of the magazine was published in June 1884. The aim of its founding editors was ‘...to place on record the simple annals of boyhood’. A quotation from the Latin poet Horace — Memor Puertiæ, translated as ‘remembering boyhood’ — served as The Newingtonian's motto until 1951. This briefly reappeared on the 1971 issues. The magazine was initially published as a quarterly, with an index for every twelve issues. From 1919 until 1940 The Newingtonian appeared three times a year and then was published twice a year until1972 when it first appeared as an annual. The size changed to its present format in 1971. From its early days the magazine was setting the agenda for change in the college and upon the arrival of James Egan Moulton as President an 1894 issue called for a school song. The first photograph appeared in 1896 of the Rugby Union1st XV and the magazine has been in full colour since the 1980s. As with other traditional school magazines, The Newingtonian has carried reports of major events, of academic and sporting achievement, of co-curricular activities and of many other aspects of the school's day-to-day life. Even before the founding of the Old Newingtonians’ Union in 1895, the magazine has profiled the achievements of alumni. During the South African and World Wars records of Old Newingtonians armed service were published. Between 1995 and 2000 a separate publication of the same format known as The Old Newingtonian was published by the college.

Alumni

Alumnus of Newington College are known as 'Old Newingtonians' and may elect to join the school's alumni association, the Old Newingtonians' Union. The Union was founded in 1895, with the Newington College President, Rev Dr James Egan Moulton, as its inaugural President and Sir Thomas Bavin as Secretary. The aims of the ONU, as stated in its constitution, are to:

"strengthen the bonds between Old Newingtonians and between Old Newingtonians and the College; foster and develop active participation in, and support of, the affairs of the College and of the Union; support and promote the Newington Foundation and the Old Newingtonians' Union Centennial Trust; organise and carry out social functions in pursuance of the objects of the Union; promote the interests and welfare of the College in all its aspects; commemorate those Old Newingtonians who have given their lives in the service of their country; and provide club facilities for members of the Union either solely or in conjunction with other clubs, unions or associations of ex-students of other schools".

The school's bi-annual publication Newington News is sent to all old boys whose current addresses are known to the Union. The Union previously published directories of Old Newingtonians at five yearly intervals but that publication has been superseded by an on-line directory.

Affiliated organisations of the Union are: Wyvern Cricket Club, playing in the Sydney Suburban Competition; Lodge Wyvern, a Masonic Lodge; and The 70 Club, a luncheon club for senior Old boys. The Old Newingtonians' Union is a member of the GPS Old Boys Unions' Council.

Presidents of the Union are now normally elected for three one-year terms and are supported by a council. The council is made up of a treasurer, a secretary and assistant, councillors, metropolitan vice-presidents, regional vice-presidents and past presidents. During the Centenary of Newington College Sir Keith Jones was President of the Union (1963 & 1964) and in the Centenary year of the Union His Honour Judge Fred Kirkham was President (1995 & 1996). The immediate past Chairman of Newington College Council, The Hon. Justice Angus Talbot, has also served as President (1997 & 1998). Other notable Presidents of the union include: The Hon. Samuel Moore MLA (1896, 1898, 1904 & 1916); Arthur Lucas (1897); Dr Cecil Purser (1899); Dr George Abbott (1901); The Hon. William Robson MLC (1902 & 1905); William Horner Fletcher (1903); Percy Colquhoun MLA (1918 & 1919); Henry Budden CBE (1920); Lt Col Alfred Warden VD (1923 & 1924); Carl Glasgow MLA (1929 & 1930); Col Tom Millner MC VD (1937, 1938, 1945 & 1946); Garth Barraclough OBE (1948 & 1949); The Hon. Richard Thompson MLC (1952 & 1954); Alex Rigby AM ED (1959 & 1960); and Dr Roger Davidson (1972 & 1973).

The current President is Alex Baykitch AM (Class of 1982). Baykitch is a lawyer and partner with King and Wood Mallesons in Sydney. He works in the area of cross border litigation and international arbitration primarily involving disputes in the resources and oil and gas sectors in relation to construction, engineering and infrastructure projects. He is currently President of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. In the 2017 Australia Day Honours list he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the General Division.

Old Newingtonians

For notable Old Newingtonians see:

ADB biographies

The following are links to Old Newingtonians who have biographies in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online:

Imperial and Australian honours

The following Old Newingtonians have been awarded Imperial and Australian honours: