Scotch College

New Scotch History at the printer

Deepening Roar', the new history of Scotch by Dr Jim Mitchell, will be at the printer as you read this, and will be available in October.

Now is your last chance to order a copy at the special (10% off) pre-publication price.

To secure your copy of this fascinating and highly readable book, use the order form on this page of Great Scot. Be a canny Scot - buy before the price goes up!

To show you that this book tackles the controversial issues in Scotch's history head on, here are some excerpts from the chapter 'Schism'.

'In 1977 Scotch was reminded that it did not control its own destiny. It found, too, that its increased sense of itself as a community of people counted for nothing in the eyes of the Presbyterian Church, which insisted that Scotch be treated merely as property for the purposes of an Act of Parliament for church union. It was a bitter pill to swallow, and Scotch gagged and spluttered….

On 3 May 1977, as the Presbyterians split in two, the Property Commission of the Presbyterian Church in Australia gave the school to the smaller and more conservative group of Presbyterians that emerged from the split. Scotch had no say in this decision.

It was handed over like a sack of potatoes, Roff told a staff meeting, without consulting the school….

One of the continuing Presbyterians' appointees (to the Property Commission) was Maxwell Bradshaw… Bradshaw did what all Scotch boys are encouraged to do; he had a goal (to keep Scotch Presbyterian), and he pursued it with all his might and intelligence….

To challenge the Property Commission's decision, proceedings needed to be brought by a body corporate. Scotch was not incorporated, but OSCA was… and at a Special Meeting on 14 June 1977 it unanimously seized the honour of defending the school.'