Docco's Diary | 1955 at St Peter's College

1955 was the year when Adelaide Airport at its current site opened and the town of Elizabeth was officially proclaimed. Elizabeth was named after Queen Elizabeth II and was inaugurated by Sir Thomas Playford, Premier of South Australia.

In 1955, the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and colleagues was licensed in the US. Before the polio vaccine, the disease had been a major cause of disability in children. The polio vaccine was first registered in Australia in 1955, with routine vaccinations on the National Immunisation Program (NIP) starting in 1956. Polio remained a concern throughout 1955 at St Peter’s College. The School baths were open throughout the first term, but had to be closed in the third term on the advice of the School doctor. Polio epidemics occurred in Australia in 1929–30, 1934, 1937–38, 1946, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, and 1961. The worst outbreaks were between 1945 and 1954. Australia was to begin a national polio vaccination campaign in 1956, distributing millions of doses. The country was declared polio-free in 2000.

In his Speech Day address Headmaster Colin Gordon described 1955 as a tough year, but not a bad one. He talked about “a succession of illnesses among the staff and their families such as I never known in a school before”. Mr Nickolai, a Chemistry teacher in his second year at St Peter’s, contracted polio in the first term and was still in a wheelchair at the end of the year. He had to leave the School at the end of the year. The sudden death of Art teacher Mr Joseph Choate, well known for his etchings of school buildings, on 4th April 1955 in the School Infirmary was a shock to the school community. Second Master, Mr RE Cameron (who went on to teach at St Peter’s College for longer than any other teacher – nearly 48 years), was absent unwell for a considerable period.



Image: Headmaster's School Prefect Book - 1955 Prefect Signatures.

It was a time when the population of SA was expanding quickly. Headmaster Colin Gordon said that the number of boys due to enter secondary education would increase by 150% in the period 1946-1962. He said the population of SA was expected to increase from about 800,000 to 1.25 million over the next ten years. Mr Gordon also talked about the large number of applications by families for their sons to attend to St Peter’s College – many of whom he could not accept. He said “For some years, applications have exceeded vacancies at all stages of the School, but this excess is now reaching a degree which constitutes a major problem”.

 In 1955 we had 490 boys in the Senior School and 321 in the “Prep”. This total of 811 was, at the time, the highest we had ever had. There were 131 Senior School Boarders and 60 Prep boarders. This figure of 191 boarders was the highest since the peak of 202 in 1928. The Senior Boarders were in two Houses with about sixty-five boys in each House: School, and Wyatt and Allen. There were six dayboy Houses in the Senior School with about sixty boys in each House: Da Costa, Farrell, Hawkes, MacDermott, Short and Woodcock.

The Sir George Murray Shield (for school work) was won by Short House, with Woodcock second, and Da Costa third. The Tolley Cup for sport was won by Wyatt and Allen House, with Da Costa second. The Junior Cup was won by School and Short Houses from Da Costa.

Work began on the Memorial Cloisters and Memorial Arch on the Southern and Western sides of the Big Quad in 1955. They were completed during the first term of 1957. The service of dedication was on 5th May 1957. They were the gift of the Council of Governors and of some 1,400 Old Scholars and friends of the School, and are a memorial to the 204 sons of the School who lost their lives in the 1939-1945 War. They also commemorate the 178 Old Scholars who have fallen in other Wars. ‘Bogey Alley’, containing notice boards, on the E side of the Big School Room had to be demolished to make way for the War Memorial Cloisters and Memorial Arch.

Image: Bogey Alley

In the Prep (now Junior School), the Bickersteth Building was completed.


Image: Bickersteth Building, completed in 1955

In 1955 Ian BC Wilson (who was at St Peter’s College 1940-1950) became our twenty-eighth Old Scholar to become a Rhodes Scholar. He studied a Bachelor of Civil Law at Oxford University.

The Black Sunday bushfires were a series of bushfires that broke out across South Australia on 2 January 1955. Extreme morning temperatures coupled with strong north-westerly winds contributed to the breakout of numerous fires in Adelaide Hills, Jamestown, Waterloo, Kingston and Millicent. Most were caused by sparks from powerlines in the wind.

Around 1,000 Emergency Fire Service volunteers from 60 brigades were tasked to the fires, but were overwhelmed. At 10am, the EFS head office requested urgent public assistance. Around 2,500 citizens volunteered. The fires were contained by 9:30pm, thanks largely to a fortuitous change in the weather and widespread public assistance.

The fires resulted in two deaths, destroyed 40 homes and numerous other buildings, and caused more than A$4 million worth of property damage, most notably the destruction of the Governor's summer residence at Marble Hill. Governor Robert George, his family and staff were lucky to escape with their lives. The Premier, Sir Thomas Playford, also narrowly escaped death, sheltering with five other men in a patch of hoed earth near Cherryville. The burnt area was estimated at as much as 160,000 hectares (600 sq mi) stretching from One Tree Hill to Strathalbyn; however, other sources put the area at closer to 39,000 hectares (150 sq mi).

Later in the year several of our senior boys provided volunteer labour for victims of these bushfires.

We raised a sum of money to contribute to the New South Wales Flood Relief Appear after severe flooding in The Hunter Valley, New South Wales, which occurred in February 1955 as a result of heavy rainfall, with more than 250 mm recorded between Nevertire and Dunedoo. The damage was widespread across the Hunter Valley, with more than 40,000 people evacuated from more than 40 towns. Fifteen thousand residents were evacuated from the Singleton and Maitland regions, 5200 homes were flooded and 58 homes were destroyed or washed away. The Castlereagh River reached a record height, while at Gilgrandra, one third of the buildings were damaged and a hole torn in the main street was later found to contain two large semi-trailers. The Namoi and Gwydir Valleys were devastated and Narrabri was completely isolated. Water up to 3 m deep covered some streets and approximately 1000 homes sustained water damage.  24 deaths were recorded as a result of the flood.

One of the highlights of the year was the “Mission Fete”, which took place on Saturday October 15. Boys, staff and old scholars combined to make this a successful occasion and £9710 (an enormous sum in 1955) was raised for the welfare work of the Mission at Moore Street in the city of Adelaide. There was a “Mission Fete Competition” between the Houses. Farrell House raised £1720, School House raised £1232 and Short House raised $1136. Money was also raised on the day from a range of stalls and sideshows.

We were honoured by a visit from the Governor-General of Australia, Field Marshall Sir William Slim. His Excellency inspected a guard of honour, composed of our senior cadets, and then addressed a gathering of senior pupils from several Adelaide School in Memorial Hall.

In May 1955 the Exploration Society made a trip to the Grampians, Victoria, for a week’s camping and walking. The party’s arrival in the Grampians coincided with wintry weather, and a bivouac at over 3,000 feet in wind, rain and snow near Mt Rosea provided a good test of their ability to conserve warmth! Later in the year the Exploration Society travelled to the North of the state. Leigh Creek coalfield was visited, Mt Serle and McKinlay Bluff were climbed and the partially flooded Lake Frome was explored.

In the May holidays Dr Wiener, accompanied PJ Read, CR Lee, IA Shearer, BM Debelle, PG Carney and GW Harris made a political study tour to Canberra. In the September holidays, Dr Wiener led a party of seven Leaving Honours boys to the Roper River Mission Station in the Northern Territory. Seventeen Lower Sixth Science boys made a visit to Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla, led by Mr PL Day. They visited the Port Pirie lead smelters, lead and silver refineries, and blast furnaces.

A feature of 1955 at St Peter’s College, was the large numbers of Societies boys could join. These included: Senior Literary, Junior Literary, Debating, Science, Chess, Music, Automotive, Current Affairs, and Philatelic Societies.

1955 was a good year for sport.

We won the Intercollegiate Tennis, held at Memorial Drive, by 13 rubbers to 2.

In Rowing, at the Head of River Regatta on the Torrens, we defeated PAC in a heat by ½ length giving us the Blackmore Shield for the ninth time in ten years. In the final we defeated Scotch College by a canvas.

In the School Athletic Sports, outstanding performances were achieved by the Captain and Vice-Captain, EM Sherwin and JC Irwin: their High Jump and Shot-Put respectively were the best ever recorded by schoolboys in the State. Records fell also to Sherwin in the Low Hurdles and IG Beck in the Senior Cross-Country. Sherwin was an easy winner of the College Championship with 28 points, and the joint runners-up were IG Beck and AS Hanson with 11 points each.

In the Intercollegiate Athletics Meeting, held on Adelaide Oval, PAC defeated us 101 points to 67.

In Football our results were mixed. Our First XVIII lost to PAC and Melbourne Grammar School, but defeated Wesley College, Rostrevor and Sacred Heart College.

In the Intercollegiate Cricket match, we made 9 for 538 declared in our first innings after an outstanding opening partnership by Irwin (101) and Moorhouse (135). PAC made scores of 288 and 317. There was not enough time for us to score the 68 runs we needed in 18 minutes in the final innings so the match was drawn. The report on the game in the School Magazine says: “The high standard of the batting, the excellent catches that were taken, and the fine spirit in which the game was played all deserve special mention”.

In the swimming sports, in the Senior events DA McEwin was outstanding, winning the Open Cup and the Sir Howard Lloyd Medal. NN Birks won the runner's-up cup.

We hope that many from the 1955 Leavers cohort will return for their 70 year reunion on Thursday March 6 2025. They will enjoy the reunion. If they have not been back for a few years, they will find a school experiencing record enrolments, with many new facilities, which they may like to see, and with the grounds looking more beautiful than ever.

Researched and written by David Docwra
David Docwra retired from St Peter’s College in December 2015 after 37 years’ service and is fondly remembered by many as a dedicated teacher, a committed coach of squash, cricket and soccer, and most especially as a passionate Head of Hawkes House for 21 years. David remains connected to St Peter’s College and regularly provides historical articles for the St Peter’s Old Collegians’ newsletters. In 2023 David was made an Honorary Member of the St Peter’s Old Collegians’ Association.