Scotch College

1930s

Congratulations to BOYD TYNER (’36) and his wife Gwen, who have been married for an incredible 70 years. Their 70th – or platinum – wedding anniversary was on 6 April, and on 15 April, Boyd and Gwen celebrated the big anniversary at Yarra Yarra Golf Club with family and friends. The couple met in the 1930s when they both worked at an insurance company; they became engaged in 1941 and married in 1942. Boyd and Gwen have two children, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

KEN BETHELL (’37) has written a book about his remarkable maternal grandfather, John Beswicke (1847-1925). Beswicke was a prolific architect, whose designs were mainly built before Australian Federation in 1901. His wide-ranging creations – most of which are still standing – include shire (now town) halls at Hawthorn, Malvern, Brighton, Essendon and Dandenong, as well as hotels, shops and factories throughout 19th and early 20th century Melbourne. Beswicke also designed more than a dozen mansion houses in Harcourt Street, Hawthorn, which now make up a significant streetscape of heritage registered Victorian houses. Professor Miles Lewis AM, Professor of Architecture at the University of Melbourne, launched Ken Bethell’s book on 22 March. Copies of the book can be obtained from Ken (9813 1307). It retails at $50, plus $10 postage and handling.

1940s

MANSON RUSSEL (’48) is a legendary figure at the Old Scotch Football Club, in the true sense of the word. Manson is a regular at OSFC matches, at training, and at Thursday evening team announcements, and among other jobs around the club, keeps accurate statistics of player milestones.

A champion player with Old Scotch from 1949 to 1962, Manson won the Victorian Football Association’s A section best and fairest award in 1950 and was captain-coach of the OSFC’s grand final teams in 1958 and 1959. He was OSFC’s delegate to the VAFA from 1949 to 1971, an executive member of the VAFA from 1963 to 1970, its chairman from 1970 to 1977, and president from 1978 to 1980. He has been a VAFA patron since 1984, as well as being a life member of the association. The Russel Burnes Cup, the football trophy played for by Scotch and Xavier, is partly named in honour of Manson. Bowls is now Manson’s game. He is chairman of the bowls section of the Riversdale Golf Club, and president of the Old Scotch Bowls Club. Manson received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for his contribution to sport.

1950s

Adventurer TONY (‘FIZZ’) PALMER (’54), sent Great Scot the story of an encounter he in the middle of the night, while sailing about 10 nautical miles off the Algerian coast. ‘Near 2am,’ he said, ‘I staggered from my bunk to find a sinister 30-foot black heavy duty commando-type rubber ducky attached to our stern, with six very serious-looking commando gentlemen in full war paint. One jumped aboard, and we went below for a chat. It turned out that he and his colleagues were chasing black marketers. Once they were gone, and with adrenaline still pulsing through my veins, I sat down and had a Bundy and Coke.

‘In June I am off backpacking in the path of Genghis Khan through Mongolia, and in July I will sail my yacht around Sicily and Malta before heading to Marseilles via Sardinia and Corsica. Next year, if still alive, I will collect my yacht from Marseilles and motor-sail the French and German canals with the mast on the deck, to exit in Denmark for winter yacht storage. I am currently checking out Greenland for a possible backpacking adventure in mid-July 2013.’

He is also forming a group of concerned people to create the concept of a ‘citizens’ referendum’, where people seeking election to government would be made aware that they would be held to account for their broken promises. Tony can be contacted on 0402 773 993 or by email at fizzpalmer@hotmail.com.

1960s

The Progress Leader newspaper reported that ROBERT LA NAUZE (’64) has written a book – Engineer to Marvellous Melbourne – about the engineer responsible for designing Melbourne’s sewerage system, William Thwaites, who died in 1907. Rob – an engineer himself – described Thwaites as ‘among Australia’s greatest engineering heroes’. He created a sewerage system so efficient that it remained unchanged for more than 60 years. Adding to the intrigue is that Thwaites is a distant relative of Rob’s wife. For more information: www.scholarly.info/book/ 9781921875267/

GEOFF WRAITH (‘68) and IAN BLANDFORD (‘68) recently attended a 40th year reunion of their Chemical Engineering course at the University of Melbourne. They have both worked internationally for industrial companies. Geoff has worked in various sales and marketing roles in the industrial raw materials field with Alcoa, Penrice Soda Ash and Victorian Chemicals. Ian has worked in a variety of production, technical and commercial roles in the plastics and petrochemicals industries with companies such as Marbon Chemicals, Huntsman and Polystyrene Australia, and he is currently with Orica. Ian also holds a MBA. Geoff and Ian both live in Melbourne.

1970s

From 1977 to 1986 SIMON BALDERSTONE (’71) worked at The Age as a journalist, while at the same time he was a part-time trekking guide. He was a member of the first Australian Everest Expedition in 1984. Simon became a freelance journalist and author, and then a senior ministerial adviser (1987 to 1990) and a senior adviser to Prime Ministers Hawke and Keating (1990 to 1995). He then worked at the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games from 1995 to 2000, becoming a general manager. Simon is a founding director at Ways and Means Consultancy Pty Ltd, and is founding chairman of the Australian Himalayan Foundation (www.australianhimalayanfoundation.org.au). In 2007 he was honoured with a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) award for service to environmental protection and Indigenous affairs, to the Olympic movement, and to the community through organisations providing health, education, cultural and development assistance services. Simon lives in Manly, NSW, with his partner Jenny Hunter, and has a 20-year-old son. He is still a keen runner, and is a severe emotional investor in the Geelong Football Club.

Simon Balderstone

1980s

CHRIS JACKSON (’85) was married in October 2011, and still working industriously in private anaesthetic practice in Brisbane, and also working part-time in Adelaide. Twice-monthly trips to Adelaide to spend time with his sons Alex (13), Rohan (11) and Dominic (9) remain a central part of Chris’ busy life.

On 28 May 2011, JAMES TAYLOR (’85) and his wife Susan welcomed a son, Andrew James Stewart, a brother for Ariana, and a grandson for GORDON TAYLOR (’58). James and Susan own a property at Framlingham, north-east of Warrnambool.

After more than four years in England, SIMON MORRISON (’86), his wife and two daughters are now back in Australia. ‘With the pound at $1.50 (down almost 40 per cent), the Ashes, rugby and almost every other sporting trophy Australia ever held lost to the Brits, we decided it was time to come home,’ Simon told Great Scot, ‘but our last four years in the UK exceeded our expectations in every way’. While based in England, the family travelled extensively in the UK and Europe and also visited Egypt and the USA.

Simon, who went with his family to England in 2007 to work with Honeywell UK, has now taken up a position in Melbourne with Honeywell’s UOP, a leading international supplier and licensor for the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical and manufacturing industries. Simon is Honeywell’s first Australian-based employee charged with developing the company’s gas processing business.

MICHAEL WILLIAMS (’89) is working for the Westpac Bank in Singapore.

1990s

NICK CHAN (’91) is an award-winning partner in a global law firm which employs 1,300 lawyers in 36 offices in 17 countries. Nick was a candidate in a poll last December to be on the election committee of the chief executive, to govern Hong Kong for the next five years. Although Nick was unsuccessful as an independent candidate in the election, running against well-established political parties, he says he has gained and reconnected with a lot of friends and helped to fight for civil rights, universal suffrage and judicial independence. After leaving Scotch, Nick gained Law and Science degrees at the University of Melbourne. He has worked in London and in-house at Cisco and AT&T. Currently his practice is focused on assisting sovereign funds, private equity firms and venture capital firms to make investments in more than 22 countries around the world, particularly in the internet, bio-tech, nanotech, energy and high-tech areas. He serves as honorary legal adviser for 11 non-government organisations, and also serves pro bono in several public offices. Nick’s corporate profile appears at www.SSD.com/NChan.

CAMERON STEWART (’92) and his wife Jo welcomed a son, Sam, born in Sydney on 8 June 2011.

After studying Engineering and Science at Melbourne University, ALEX SANDERSON (’93) travelled for a year and ended up in Paris in 1999, where he lives today with his wife Geraldine and three children. In 2009 Alex formed a company called Greenshift, specialising in environmentally friendly internet hosting. Geraldine and Alex recently purchased a plot of forest near Chartres where they plan to experiment with new building techniques to construct a passive house.

Below: Not a bad production line! Twelve members of the CLASS OF 1994 got together in a park recently with their 21 progeny, no doubt including plenty of future Scotch Collegians.

TIM PRITCHARD (’94) and his wife Georgie have welcomed a daughter, Annabel Louise Jensz, born on 25 February 2012.

CHARLES SANDERSON (’97) began his tertiary studies at Monash University in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design. After spending some time in the Monash University Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (F-SAE) team and realising his strengths lay more in automotive engineering, he transferred to RMIT to focus on the automotive field. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering (Automotive) at RMIT, and then worked at Robert Bosch Australia in system development for the company’s electronic stability program (ESO) for several years. In 2011, Charles was selected to join McLaren Automotive, UK, in hybrid system development for future projects, in particular the new supercar to be released in 2015.

GREG WIGGILL (‘97) and Jane have welcomed a son, Henry Edward Newton, born on 10 March 2012, a brother to Alice and nephew to DAVID FITTER (‘94) and CAMERON FITTER (‘00).

NICHOLAS WILLIAMS (’97) is working for BHP Billiton in Santiago, Chile.

‘I love being able to walk through the Quad and you know every boy, every teacher, everyone’s name ... even if you don’t teach them.’ Almost any Scotch teacher could no doubt say that about Scotch, but in this case the quote comes from JAMES GERSTMAN (’98), and the ‘Quad’ is the Quad at Brighton Grammar School, where James is a physical education and health teacher. In the same BGS publication as the quote above appeared, James described himself as ‘adventure traveller, boundary pusher, keen cyclist, ‘80s music tragic and Year 9 mentor’. He received the BGS teacher of the year award in 2011. James was formerly an excellent key forward with Old Scotch Football Club.

About four and a half years ago, AusAID placed HENRY FENNER (’99) in Vientiane, Laos, as a youth ambassador, under a scheme where young graduates are placed as a form of aid for development, especially in third world countries. Henry worked with a small non-government organisation in the travel industry for the 12 months of his posting. He loved the Laotian people and the way of life, and when a job came his way as manager of the Exotissimo Travel branch in Luang Prabang (a very beautiful world heritage site) he grasped the opportunity to stay in Laos. About two years ago Henry was offered a job as general manager – Laos of the same company, involving a move back to Vientiane. In the meantime he married Koot, who is from Luang Prabang, and the couple now have a small daughter, Frances.

Macquarie University recently awarded PAUL MASON (‘99) a PhD in Anthropology. Paul’s research involved extensive fieldwork in Indonesia and Brazil, plus archival research at the University of Leiden in Holland, all of which required him to acquire a sound working knowledge of Indonesian, Portuguese and Dutch. The essence of his thesis surrounded the relationship between the brain and culture, and included pioneering research in the field of neuroanthropology. He studied non-verbal human expression in the martial arts of Pencak Silat (Indonesia) and Capoeira (Brazil) with a special focus on both skill acquisition and human potential. Since moving to Sydney, Paul has taught various subjects including human evolution, anthropology, dance, world music and psychology.

2000s

ROBERT SANDERSON (’00) began his studies at Monash University in Commerce Law, but before competing Commerce/Law he transferred to Melbourne University to follow his passion in psychology. After graduating in Behavioural and Organisational Psychology, Robert began a career as an organisational psychologist. His career has seen him work in the change management and organisational development space with Fosters, Hays and Lee Hecht Harrison. Currently Robert is working for OAMPS (a member of the Wesfarmers group) as head of organisational development. He is still a keen mountain biker, and is also currently training for the Melbourne Marathon.

ANTHONY FRANKLIN (’03) married Hayley Porter in 2008. Their daughter Lila Rose was born on 26 January 2010 and son Joshua James was born on 15 September 2011.

JAMES HILLIS (’03) graduated in Medicine at the University of Melbourne, and is now in the first year of a three-year PhD research project at Oxford University. His aim is to become an academic neurologist, working in a clinic as well as continuing his research.

After graduating in Law and Arts from the University of Melbourne, CAMERON SIM (’03) went to the United Kingdom to further his career in corporate law, and has been working for law firm, Linklaters. Like James Hillis, Cameron is also at Oxford, studying for a Bachelor of Civil Law degree. After his one-year course at Oxford he plans to return to London to practise law before ultimately returning to Australia.

A group of four young adventurers, including TOM DENNER (’05) and TOM UNKLES (’05), set off in March on a year-long odyssey which will take them from Melbourne to Scotland, driving a 1993 Toyota 4Runner – a journey of some 46,000km. After the Australian leg of the journey, the group will have the car shipped to South-East Asia, and will travel on through Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United Kingdom, before arriving in Scotland.

HENRY LIM (’06) and ALLAN TANG (’06) recently visited Scotch. Henry recently graduated from Melbourne University with a Bachelor of Science degree (Chemistry). He is hoping to complete his Masters in Germany. Allan is currently in the fourth year of a Bachelor of Physical and Outdoor Education degree at La Trobe University in Bendigo.

HARRY LEE (’09) is taking a gap year after completing two years of Medicine. Harry recently won the interactive content and gaming category of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Australia (SOYA) awards. Harry describes himself as ‘passionate about play, puzzles, and people’. During his gap year he is creating digital and physical games that ‘tell stories, improve the world, and inspire happiness. Currently taking a year off from my university studies to make all kinds of awesome!’

JAMES KIM (’10) has been accepted by the Julliard School in New York. His composition teacher will be the distinguished American composer, Samuel Adler. James will join MAX FOSTER (’09), who is currently in his second year at Julliard.