Scotch College

Learning more about Robert Lawson

WORDS: Mr David Baillieu

This book is the second in a related trilogy of biographies; the first and third books remain unpublished. The first, In Simple Trust, a biography of George Knox, is the story of Robert Lawson’s immediate predecessor at Chalmers School. The third, Into the Rushing Darkness, is a double biography, much of which is set on the decks of Brunel’s SS Great Britain, the ship that Robert Lawson travelled on. It tells of the interwoven lives of Captain John Gray and his successor, Captain Charles Chapman, both of whom were involved in Robert Lawson’s fate.

Until the publication of Hills of Home, much of Robert Lawson’s biographical detail has been blurred, guessed at, or is simply missing from the Scotch College histories. His two predecessors at Chalmers School, George McMaster and George Knox, both of whom were appointed by the Reverend James Forbes, were unknown.

The result of painstaking research over many years, this book reveals for the first time the tragic drama behind these gaps.

The price of the book is yet to be finalised, but is expected be in the region of $70.

David Baillieu taught at Scotch from 1972–2003 and is the father of Charles (’89) and William (’92). GS