Docco's Diary | 1965 at St Peter's College

In his Speech Day report, Headmaster, Reverend JSC Miller, described 1965 as “a particularly happy year”. He thanked all members of staff for the way they had adapted to the administrative changes associated with the increasing numbers of boys and new buildings. He also said: “The organization on the boys’ side has been remarkably efficient, and for this and in so many other ways we owe so much to the wise, firm and understanding leadership of Christopher Macklin as Captain of the School”.

1965 was a time of economic confidence in Australia. The Australian economy was experiencing a period of strong growth, characterized by high levels of domestic spending across all sectors, a tight labour market, rising imports, and increasing costs and prices. We were experiencing a "boom" with some inflationary pressures.

This mood of confidence was reflected in the record number of enrolments at St Peter’s College. The number of boys in the Senior School had jumped from 564 in 1961 to 701 in 1965. This justified the decision to create two new dayboy houses (Howard and Young) in 1963.

For the first time there were more than 1,000 boys in the School. We had 513 Senior School Dayboys and 188 Senior School Boarders. There were 260 ‘Prep’ and Palm House Dayboys and 55 ‘Prep’ Boarders. This made 1016 boys in the School.

Boys in the Senior School were in one of three boarding houses: Athelney, School, or Wyatt and Allen or in one of eight Day Houses: Short, Hawkes, Da Costa, Farrell, Woodcock, MacDermott, Howard or Young. There were approximately 65 boys in each of eight dayboy Houses and 60 boys in each of three boarding Houses.

Howard House and Young House (founded in 1963) were in their third year of existence and were beginning to make their presence felt in House competition.

We had never had as many as 243 boarders before. The Hill Wing of Athelney House was officially opened on Saturday 6th February 1965 to provide accommodation for some of the huge numbers of boarders. Athelney House became a third boarding house. The Hill Wing was named after the Acting Headmaster of the 1930s and 1940s - Colonel John Hill. The Hill Wing contained dormitories, studies and changing rooms for boarders.
 

In recent years the Hill Wing has become a most impressive Music centre.

Increasing enrolments around 1965 required more classrooms and the Gordon Building, named after the ninth Headmaster Colin Gordon, was officially opened on Wednesday 10th February. A sculpture of St Peter, which shows him carrying his inverted cross and the keys of the kingdom of heaven, was made by South Australian sculptor John Dowie. The sculpture hangs on the upper third of the building's West wall. A series of four enamelled panels by Mr V Ostoja-Kotkowski, depicting the major events in St Peter's life, are placed around the building. Most boys had their first year in the Senior School in this Building. In addition to twelve classrooms, there was, on the lower level, the Evans Theatre (named after AEH Evans who was Secretary of the Council for 47 years from 1898-1945 and also Secretary of the Old Collegians Association from 1900-1923), which could seat 270 people. This was used for showing films and minor dramatic performances. There was also an “Arts Centre”, the size of two classrooms. At the end of the year there was an Art Exhibition in this Arts Centre and visitors to the School enjoyed looking at the wide range of achievements — in oils, water colours and drawings, as well as in ceramics, mosaics, soap-stone-carving and vitreous enamel.


 

The Boys’ Mission committee was again active in 1965, money being raised by means of four lunch-time concerts, an extremely popular long-driving golf competition, the “Popular Parade” and a coin-drive on Sports Day.

In 1965, Shaun Disney became our thirty-second old scholar to become a Rhodes Scholar. He went on to study Mathematics at Brasenose College, Oxford. He had left in 1960, and had been Vice-Captain of the School. In 1970, his younger brother, Julian Disney, also a Vice-Captain of School, was to become the 33rd Rhodes Scholar from St Peter’s College. He went on to study Law at University College, Oxford.

MacDermott House won the Sir George Murray Shield (for school work) for the eighth year in a row. They were to go on to win it eleven years in a row: 1958-1968.

On 28th March 1965 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Michael Ramsay, visited the School. The Captain of the School led a large group of boarders in cheering him as he left the grounds. Leaving Honours forms went to the Cathedral to hear him preach on the following evening.

Rev. Howell Witt, who, for eleven years, had worked tirelessly at our School Mission at Elizabeth, was presented with a Pastoral Staff made by boys of the School for his use as Bishop of North Western Australia.

The School presented Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” on July 1, 2 and 3 in the Memorial Hall, the fourth of a series of Shakespeare plays in consecutive years and the most impressive of the four. Over one hundred boys were directly involved in the production. The cast and the School showed their appreciation of the skilful and patient and understanding producers, Mr. C. L. Reynolds and Mr. P. J. Parsons, and to a vast army of helpers, for a production that measured up to the highest standards in school productions.

1965 was the first full year the Art Club had in the Art Centre at the Gordon Building. The glass partitions, which made for easy supervision, and the excellent equipment, which allowed a wide variety of activities, made the new centre a success.

Wyatt and Allen won the Inter-House Music Competition with Da Costa second, Hawkes third, and School fourth.

The Dux of the School in 1965 was RJ Aust (MacDermott House).

There were a large number of societies that boys could join. These included: Astronomical, Senior Science, Junior Science, Film, Rural Youth, Music, Debating, Senior Literary, Junior Literary, Field Naturalist and Exploration, Chess, and Automotive Societies.

There were a number of holiday trips that were much enjoyed by the boys involved. These included an expedition to the Nullarbor Plain, a Scout venture to Glen Helen, north of Alice Springs, a Cadet Camp at Port Augusta, and Scout Camps in different parts of the State.

1965 was a good year for sport.

In swimming the Open Cup was won by RP Sach with 37 pts. The Runner-up was JR Goodhart, 31 pts. The Junior House Cup was won by Athelney House 63 points, followed by School 56, Wyatt and Allen 51. The Senior House Cup was won by MacDermott House 66, followed by Hawkes 59, Howard 44.

It was a successful year for tennis. Although the First VI lost the Intercollegiate match to PAC, the team won 12 of their other 13 matches. Across all tennis teams, we won 79 of the 91 matches which we played.

It was an outstanding year for rowing. The First VIII defeated Pulteney in the time of two minutes fifty seconds, having led all the way, to win the 1965 Head of the River.

In Athletics, Sports Day was held in perfect weather conditions. The House competition was keen and the standard of competition was high in most events. Wyatt and Allen showed their superiority in the Standard Sports and earned a well-deserved double in taking out the Senior House Cup from Farrell and the Junior from MacDermott. Of the individual competitors, BE Kemp was in top form to win all five events he ran in. He won the College Cup for the Open Champion comfortably from CU Macklin, who won three field events. DR Looker proved unbeatable in the distance events by winning the mile and 880 yards. GM Mayo, last year’s high jump winner, jumped against doctor’s orders to win with 5 feet 9 inches.

In the Combined Schools’ Sports we were third behind Rostrevor and PAC.

 

In squash, for the first time, the School entered a team in A grade schoolboy competition. The teams we played varied from State junior champions to players of our own standard, but we gained valuable experience from the season and, after a late revival, finished fourth in a field of six.

In cross-country running, eighteen boys chose cross-country as their winter sport, and DLG Williams was again appointed captain. The keener members of the group soon began covering respectable distances, and before long several had run the full circuit of Adelaide, about nine miles. Later Skye Hill, a rise of seven hundred feet in little over a mile, was introduced for variety’s sake. One rueful participant claimed that it was quicker to walk!

RESULTS in cross-country running were:
Inter-House Competition — Senior:
1. School House          45 points
2. Short                        70 points
3. Athelney                   72 points

Senior placings
1. MS Blackburn (Short)                          17 mins. 36 secs.
2. DLG Williams (Farrell)                          17 mins. 39 secs.
3. PB Portus (Athelney)                            18 mins. 25 secs.
4. IP Macdonald (School)                         18 mins. 29 secs.
5. TM Newland (Wyatt and Allen)             18 mins. 34 secs.
6. GT Brookman (Farrell)                          18 mins. 40 secs.

Inter-House Competition — Junior:
1. Woodcock House        42 points
2. Wyatt and Allen           75 points
3. Hawkes                        76 points

Junior Placings:
1. IA McFarlane (Wyatt and Allen) 12 mins. 21 secs.
2. DJ Carter (Howard)                               12 mins. 25 secs.
3. CL Horsfall (Short)                                12 mins. 54 secs.
4. GW Burge (School)                               12 mins. 54 secs.
5. JB Ford (Woodcock)                             13 mins. 12 secs.
6. BT Martin (Wyatt and Allen)                  13 mins. 25 secs.

In basketball, 1965 was the best season for some years, with the First Team playing near brilliant basketball at times, and the Seconds making excellent progress. The Firsts, competing in Grade A2, won eight of their nine minor round matches to finish second. The margin of their victories is illustrated by the aggregate of 412-202 in favour, while the one loss sustained was to PAC by two points. In this game, with Hann and Whittle absent, the increased pressure and tighter umpiring of the finals led to the two best rebounders in the team being fouled off, and the team played the last few minutes one short, eventually going down by 25-23 points. The performance of the Seconds in Grade B2 was also highly satisfactory. Their seven wins and two defeats, with a total of 232-105, enabled them to finish second. In House Basketball, there was only one competition with no age limits. The standard was higher than usual, with tight, well-drilled defences, and four very good teams — Farrell, Young, Hawkes, Howard — contesting the semi-finals. Farrell, probably the strongest House side ever, retained the Freney Cup with a 17-6 victory over Young in the Final.

In football we had 590 boys playing in the senior part of the School. Sixteen or more teams were fielded each week, allowing nearly four hundred boys to take part regularly. The First XVIII lost the Intercollegiate game narrowly 47 points to 57. The best performance was probably the win against Sacred Heart who had defeated PAC and Pulteney in the previous weeks.

It was a good year for cricket. The 1965 magazine commented: “The number of runs scored per innings by most teams was higher than for some years, and though the bowling strength was below average the number of victories gained was well up to standard. One more team (Under 16C) was formed during the year, and a “new look” 3rd XI established in third term quickly developed a spirit which one hopes will be maintained in the future. Interest in the game is high. Far more boys than usual intend to continue their cricket through the holidays, and the standard of cricket in House matches indicates that the majority of players have a good deal of cricket sense”.

In the Intercollegiate match we came up against a PAC side that contained two opening batsmen that were to go on to play for Australia – Ashley Woodcock and Greg Chappell. In the second innings they had a partnership for the first wicket of 107. Greg Chappell took six wickets in the second innings. In a tight game, the result was a draw with St Peter’s needing 45 to win with five second innings wickets in hand.

Old scholars here in 1965 may also remember that for two terms the school was entertained by the antics of a most sociable brown boxer dog, Brutus, until he was arrested for biting the Chaplain.

We hope that many of those who left in 1965 will return for their 60-year milestone reunion on Wednesday 8th October 2025. They will enjoy the reunion. They will meet friends they have not seen for a long period of time. 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.