Scotch College

How Scotch Principals leave

Robert Lawson (in 1856) and Philip Roff (in 1981) left in the wake of disputes with the Church.

Colin Gilray (in 1953), Colin Healey (in 1975), and now Gordon Donaldson (in 2007) reached retiring age.
Richard Selby Smith (in 1964) resigned to take up another post – founding Professor of Education at Monash University.
Alexander Morrison (in 1903) and William Littlejohn (in 1933) died in office.

Making his mark

Dr Alan Robertson Gilchrist (’38) has a rocky beach and a line of snow-covered hills on Heard Island named after him.

Gilchrist Beach This rich red oceanic beach of sand, shingle and rock lies on the north coast of Heard Island, west of Compton Glacier. Alan Gilchrist was part of an expedition by the ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) to Heard Island in 1948. He was medical officer and also, in the absence of any biologists, maintained a detailed log on all biological species he encountered.

The Gilchrist Aiguilles This is a series of sharp, rocky peaks (aiguille derives from the Latin for needle) 2km to 3km long. A prominent cliff-top about 500m high is formed by erosion of volcanic rocks, while the lower part comprises rocky scree slopes.

On the 1952 ANARE expedition to Heard Island, Gilchrist climbed all over these aiguilles and voluntarily, using his own camera, tripod and film, carefully photographed them. The ANARE cartographer could for the first time make first-class contour maps of the aiguilles, and in gratitude named them after Gilchrist.

If this photography should sound easy, Great Scot in July 2002 told of how he often hung suspended in icy, silent crevices, and was once nearly struck by a bouncing boulder in a rock chute.

Dr Gilchrist would like all Old Boys to know that refills for the OSCA ballpoint pens are available from any Dean’s outlet.