Docco's Diary | Three Long Serving Teachers

1. Mr RE Cameron. 1912 to October 1959. Nearly 48 years’ service.

Mr Ewen Cameron was on the staff for nearly 48 years from February 1912 to October 1959.

Old scholars who were here before 1959 will remember Mr RE Cameron who was appointed to the teaching staff in February 1912 at the age of 21. Some old scholars may have been taught by him.

He died when he was still teaching at the School in October 1959.

He was Housemaster of Short House for 35 years: 1924-1958.

The RE Cameron Prizes for boys in Short House are named after him.

The 1959 school magazine records:

“When Mr. Cameron died this year on the evening of October 3, it was as if the School’s hold on the past was weakened, for during his forty-eight years on the Staff he had become an institution in his own right. He was at the time of his death, a clear generation older in service than any other master, he had served longer than any previous master in the history of the School, and he was the last living link of the Staff with the period before the First World War. He had, as it were, outlived three Headmasters — Canon Girdlestone, Mr. Bickersteth and Mr. Pentreath, and he had seen a fourth well launched.

Ewen Cameron was not only a most competent teacher, he was also a man, whose influence upon his colleagues and the boys of this School, rested upon his character — which was that of a gentleman, a scholar, and a Christian. No one, who studied under him, can ever forget the debt they owe him, and must remember him all their days with an affectionate gratitude.”

The Headmaster of Prince Alfred College in 1959, Mr Dunning, wrote as follows: “I know that I and the members of my staff who knew him will long treasure the memory of a man who seemed to me to be in every way a great schoolmaster — the type of man who does more than anyone else to make our schools what they are.”

The Headmaster of St Peter’s College in 1959, Mr Gordon said: “ Mr. Cameron was held in respect and affection to a degree given to few men. In his quiet and unassuming way he was a man of deep convictions and great kindliness, an outstanding teacher, particularly in English, and a schoolmaster whose wisdom and devotion made him an ornament to his profession”.
 

2. Mr FH Schubert 1937-1979. 43 years’ service.

Quoting from his obituary in the 2002 magazine

“Mr Schubert was 43 years at the School: 20 years as an assistant master, 23 years as Second Master (the older equivalent of Deputy Headmaster) and, during this time, as Acting Headmaster on six occasions. After retirement he worked a further 22 years as part-time School Historian.

Yet it is not time but quality which is the measure of his service. Everything he did had the mark of perceptive thoroughness, with excellence being his only acceptable standard. His reputation as a classroom teacher of English and German was legendary and his examination results remarkable. Between 1963 and 1969, St Peter's College gained at least one Tennyson Medal each year and twice in that time the School gained first and second places in English. In German, his record of prize winners was equally impressive. His teaching was distinguished by the thoroughness of its preparation and the phenomenal breadth of its learning, with its hallmark being the intensity of his personal commitment to literature. Such scholarship in teachers was rare in those days and even rarer today.


Image: School Prefects,1959

As Deputy and Acting Headmaster, his efficiency, integrity, compassion and unassuming leadership meant so much to both students and staff. His wonderful sense of perception, wisdom and humour enabled him to put any problem, no matter how complex, into balanced focus. People felt better after talking to him.

It is best left to one of his students to sum up this unique man. The student said: “You know, the thing that strikes me most about Mr Schubert is his great wisdom. There is hardly a serious topic on which he does not have some serious comment to make, and when he does comment, it is always so completely thoughtful and completely sensible.” And then he added: “And often so unexpected!” ”

3. Mr WJ Ferguson. 1923-1964. 42 years’ service.

Mr Wilfred J Ferguson was on the staff from 1923-1964. 42 years.

Quoting from the 1964 magazine: “Mr. W. J. Ferguson has served this school as a teacher of Mathematics, a Housemaster, and as an outstanding rowing coach most faithfully and cheerfully for forty-two years. He has taught mainly Mathematics in the Middle and Lower School. He has been particularly successful at introducing the subject to first-year boys, and most of our best mathematicians over the last twenty years started their careers with him. Methodical and painstaking in the classroom, he maintained good discipline easily and insisted on neat and orderly work. A practical man, he liked to introduce a practical flavour into his lessons, and his examination papers usually contained questions on the cost of painting walls and laying cement paths. After assisting Mr. J. H. Hill with the rowing for nine years, he took charge from 1944 to 1960 and during this time the First Eights, with his coaching, were defeated only three times for the Head-of-the-River. It was said of him that he could fashion a winning eight from anything provided it was willing. In 1960 the School purchased a new Four and it was named in his honour.


Image: 1958 Intercollegiate Rowing Crews

Mr. Ferguson was Housemaster of Farrell House from the beginning of 1947 to the end of the first term of 1959. During this time Farrell House won the George Murray Shield twice and either won or was equal first three times for the Tolley Cup. He was Acting Second Master on two occasions — in 1952 and for two terms in 1960."

As a tribute to the memory of W. J. Ferguson, the Rowing Club named its new Eight in his honour at a ceremony on 17th March, 1990.

Image: 1970 School Magazine, L-R Mr W.J. Ferguson, Mr L.A.G Symons, Mr T.W. Wall, Mr K.R. Fowler, Mr G.K. Kirke.

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.