The History of St Joseph's College Old Boys' Union

1. Introduction

As a person more at home in numeracy than in literacy, it came as somewhat of a surprise that I should be asked to carry out this project. In working at it I have been substantially helped by the NSW Cricket Association’s “Making the Grade” - a history of 100 years of Sydney Grade Cricket. As will be noted in the Chronology herewith, the start of grade cricket in 1892-94 was indirectly the cause of the Union coming into existence in 1898.

I stand guilty of plagiarism in relation to Bro. Michael Naughtin’s “A Century of Striving”. I do not apologise for this, as I consider it impossible for anyone to write of SJC’s past without reference to this excellent work – I do however express my deep gratitude to Br. Michael for supplying so much of the data which I have used.

The problem has been approached generally with the view of reporting the Union as such, rather than the people involved. It will be apparent therefore that sundry Old Boys who are important in their own right are ignored, whereas less important people in this regard are given full treatment because of their direct involvement in the development of the Union.

In presenting this work, I have two main hopes – firstly, that fellow Old Boys will get some pleasure from it, and secondly, that there is sufficient meat in the dish to encourage some other Old Boy – one more efficient with words – to build on it and produce a real history.

The typing involved in this project has been provided by Geoff Laing (1974), both, in several drafts, and in the final product. I acknowledge it as just another contribution from the Laing family – Stan (1946) and Michael (1984) with Geoff, who between them have supplied some 40 years of service to the Union, including a combined total of 14 years as Secretary.

My thanks are due to Jim Gleeson (1958) and Peter Scully (1971) for their careful reading of, and corrections tendered to, my manuscript. Any errors, however, must be to my account.

2. The Union – General

The basic objective for the Union as presented by Bro. Denis to the inaugural meeting of 14th March, 1898, was: "To promote the interests of SJC and to foster a spirit of unity and good fellowship among Old Boys"

As we enter 1998 – 100 years on – the objectives of the Union have expanded to the following:­

a) To promote the interests of SJC and the Old Boys thereof in every way,

b) To foster a spirit of union and good fellowship amongst the Old Boys of SJC,

c) To unite as far as possible the Old Boys with the present students of SJC

d) To inform the Old Boys of all SJC activities and to promote a bond of friendship with SJC authorities,

e) To support and assist all functions and activities of SJC

j) To hold re-unions and other functions,

g) To provide bursaries and other educational allowances to students and intending students of SJC

h) To foster among the Old Boys a greater spirit of pride in, and loyalty towards SJC so that by example and conduct in religious, civil and social matters, SJC may be kept in a pre-eminent position amongst the educational establishments of Australasia,

i) To foster among the students of SJC a spirit of affectionate respect for the Old Boys and to make available to present students willingly and gratuitously the advice of Old Boys gained from experience,

j) To support and promote the interests, ideals and activities of the Marist Order throughout the world,

k) To affiliate with, participate and support the activities of the Council of CPS Old Boys' Unions,

l) To purchase, take on lease or otherwise deal in real or personal property,

m) To raise money for any of the objects of the Union.

It will be appreciated that the difference between these two situations is really only one of degree – the later version lays out in detail some of the ways in which the basic objective of1898 can be achieved.

In progressing through this 100 year period there are two angles to be observed. The Union has achieved its present position in the two areas of observation.

Firstly, there have been a series of relationships – with Brothers, with boys, with parents, with other Schools and Colleges, etc.

Secondly, there have been various activities undertaken – some related to the relationship outlined, and some developed separately. These include social, sporting, bursaries, Cerise and Blue, etc.

The Chronology appearing in Appendix 1, intends to highlight the important dates of the Union’s development, but the specifics of the relationships and the activities will be the basis of this summary.

3. Relationships

a) The Union and the Brothers

The strength of Old Boys' Unions of Marist schools is so strong, e.g. - Marist Brothers Darlinghurst Old Boys were having annual dinners 15 years after the school closed – that I asked Bro. Michael Naughtin whether the Marist Brothers' Constitution contained some instruction in this matter. It does not, so it must be accepted that the formula presented by Bro. Denis, and his helpers, Bro. Edwin and. Bro. Wilbred, to the 1898 meeting was truly inspired.

It would seem that this one factor – that a strong bond with SJC should be maintained – has continued and been strengthened over the years. The machinery which achieved this is admirably summed up in the words of J. J. (jack) Carroll (1889) in farewelling Bro. Wilbred on his transfer from SJC in 1905:

“It is undoubtedly due to his strong personality and increasing activity, not only attending, at great inconvenience, all the Executive meetings in the city, but by his eloquent epistles to country ex-­students throughout the Commonwealth, that the Union today has its ranks solidly filled”.

These sentiments can no doubt be applied to Bro. Denis and Bro. Edwin, who, with Bro. Wilbred, between them filled the Joint secretary’s position in the Union from 1898 to 1931, and to others who have worked with the Union since then, both in official positions and informally.

Another formal connection with the Brothers has been in patronage of the Union. In 1914 the patrons were listed as the Archbishop of Sydney, the Bishop of Christchurch, the Brothers Provincial of Australia and New Zealand, and the Bro. Director at SJC For the years up to the mid 1930’s some combination of the occupants of these offices were listed as patrons – the records are somewhat lacking during the years that C & B formed part of the SJC annual. However, since WWII it seems that Bro. Director, or Headmaster, as now, has been the chosen patron.

Apart from these “official” positions in the Union, there have been significant contributions from other Brothers ho have engendered a loyalty and affection for SJC in the boys in residence, and although they have had no official posting in the Union, have lived to see these attributes mirrored in the Old Boys. Typical, but certainly not the only examples of such Brothers, are Bros. Claude McLaughlin, Emery Nash, “Jack” Emile Grogan; and others.

Additional to the foregoing, there seems to have been a Brother, officially as Editor, or part of an Editorial Committee, or unofficially as merely a helper, in the ongoing production of “Cerise & Blue”. Bros. Sebastian, Edwin, Louis, Wilbred, Basil, are names which occur from time to time in this regard in pre-WWII years, and, of course, in more recent times there have been Bros. James Gray, Anthony Boyd (1969) and currently Michael Naughtin.

b) The Union and the Current Students

There are two aspects in this relationship. Firstly there is the Union and the boys, and then there are individual Old Boys and the boys.

The Union aspect includes sporting fixtures – cricket matches between Old Boys and present Boys have been in le programme since Carl Morath (1884) first brought a team of Old Boys to play at SJC in 1884 – i.e. 14 years before the Union was founded. This fixture has continued to the present – it may have been missed in some oars, but it seems that these occasions only made it more important that the games were renewed again as Jon as practicable.

Rugby between the Old Boys and the present Boys has been much more spasmodic. The present arrangement, with the expansion of the number of GPS sports, is that cricket, basketball and tennis are organised for early in le year, and an “Old Rowers” day towards the end of the year.

The social side of this relationship began when SJC supporters – sometimes Old Boys, sometimes Parents g­athered to entertain a team winning a GPS competition. The earlier recorded occasions were in the mid 1920’s. However, since WWII the Union has taken it on itself to recognise the winners.

The Union has also been involved in the academic field at SJC with the provision of several annual prizes, and in assistance to the Boys in careers information.

Action by Old Boys individually as opposed to the Union includes unofficial sports coaching from people like Jack Beaton (1933), Maurice Whelan (1935) in rugby; Stan McCabe (1926) in cricket; Jim Carlton (1927), and Jim McCann (1957) in athletics.

In the academic side Old Boys have donated prizes and bursaries, and many have returned to SJC as teachers as Brothers, like Geoffrey Schwager (1963), Terrance Curley (1955), Anthony D’Arbon (1952) and Anthony Boyd (1969) and our current Headmaster – the first old Boy to hold this position – Ernest Houston (1956), - or as lay teachers, like Anthony Lantry (1957), Ron Moroney (1962), John reading (72), Mark Halstead (72) and many others.

A close family aspect of the individual contacts of Old Boys and present Boys has been the result of Old Boys having their sons, and grandsons attending SJC

c) The Union and Parents

Here again there are two areas of contact. The Parents and Friends Association, set up by Bro. Louis in the mid 1930’s, has always had an Old Boy connection, if only from the Old Boys on their committees. For many years there seemed to be an air of competition between these two bodies, but by the 1970’s the realisation hit that ley were each working for the same purpose, and the co-operation between the two groups is now exemplary. The Union now appoints a liaison Officer to strengthen dialogue with the Parents and Friends.

The second group in this area is the Union Ladies Auxiliary. The origins of this Auxiliary are obscure but it seems likely that it began as a collection of Old Boys' wives and lady friends who assisted in organising Union functions – e.g. balls, garden parties, etc. For many years, the President of the Auxiliary was the wife of the President of the Union.

d) The Union and Outside Groups

The main connection in this area is the Council of GPS Old Boys' Union, where the Union has membership and appoints a delegate to the Council as its representative.

e) Relationships – Summary

The four entities referred to in this section – Parents, Boys, Brothers (and lay teachers) and Old Boys and the interactions between them contribute significantly to that indefinable “something” encompassed by the term “Spirit of SJC”. It is not difficult to describe this trait, but it defies efforts to define it.

4. Activities

a) Finances

The total financial strength of the Union has increased over the past 30 years from $53,000 at 1 July, 1969 to over $1,500,000 at 31 December, 1997 (rising to over $2,000,000 by 2005). It is appropriate, therefore, to outline the Union’s policies which have contributed to this result.

In short these policies are: ­

(i) Life Membership subscriptions are treated as Capital, and form the Capital Account of the General Fund. As Capital, Life Membership subscriptions remain in the Capital Account permanently – even after the death of the member.

(iii) The funds of the Union are divided into the General' Fund, which covers all administrative expenses ­including those applying to the other funds (Bursary and Scholarship) - production of Cerise & Blue, provision of prizes, etc. All earnings in the Bursary-Scholarship Funds are applied to the purpose of these funds.

(iv) All donations to the Union, unless specifically given for revenue items, are treated as Capital and applied to the fund nominated. General donations are allocated mainly to the Bursary Fund, but if the donor was a pupil of Bro. Liguori then the Liguori Scholarship Fund is the recipient.

It is apparent that the adoption of these policies, while they ensure the proper handling of the Union’s funds, does not explain the amazing growth. There are several major factors involved: ­

(i)The excessive inflation through most of this period led to quite extravagant interest rates, which allowed the Union to earn excess returns. This is evident from the earning rate on funds at 31 December, 1997, of over 8.5 percent per annum, when the long term bond rate was less than 6 per cent.

(ii) The accelerated growth in Life Members since 1985 when the SJC Council agreed to allow the Union to invited parents to make their sons Life Members as they reach the end of their stay at SJC Approximately two-thirds of each class has accepted the invitation.

(iii)From this same period, agreement was reached between the P & F, SJC and the Union, that all SJC souvenirs would be sold by the Union, and any surplus achieved allocated to the Bursary Fund.

(iv) The “Weight Shed” - later christened “JACKS” - contributed any profits to the Bursary Fund.

(v) The Ladies Auxiliary, for most of this period donated, whatever funds they raised, to the Union Bursary Fund.

(vi) Several significant donations have been received, as well as very many smaller ones. Some Old Boys add a donation to their annual subscription each year.

(vii) Reference to Appendix lll will show the increases in Annual and Life Membership subscriptions, which have been adopted to meet the inflationary pressures. The growth referred to in para (ii) above, applied to the data in this Appendix, and explains the growth in Life Member – General Capital – Account of over $700,000 in the period since 1970.

(viii) The foregoing data refers to the increases in the Union’s Capital funds. These, of course, being invested at the inflated interest rates available, have added to the growth of Income. This latter is further increased by the Annual subscriptions as listed in Appendix 111. The number of Annual members has not increased in line with the number of Boys leaving SJC, but, to a significant degree this can be explained by the growth in Life Members.

b) "Cerise & Blue"

This activity, which provides a quarterly journal of Union projects, SJC doings, and a large section of personal pars, and obituaries, of Old Boys, is probably the most admired function of the Union. It is not a cheap programme – almost half the Union’s revenue income is expended on it. To allow for this, half of each Annual Subscription, plus an equivalent amount form the interest earnings of General Capital to cover Life Members is located to this project.

To reach the current position, much toil and effort has been expended over the years since 1906, when the first issue of “Cerise & Blue” was published – at 10 cents per copy for an annual production. The first Editor was P.H. (Phil) Louis (1894), assisted by BJ. (Bernard) Grogan (1856) and EJ. Brady (the well known Australian poet­ is not an Old boy, but was a great friend of Bro. Wilbred). Phil Louis, with a varying group of assistants, was to continue in this position until 1929.

Many prominent Old Boys were to be listed in Cerise and Blue over the years – many as part of the Editorial staff e.g. C. J. (Cyril) Fallon (1905), J.T. (Jack) Corless (1898), C. (Charles) Riley (1904), T.R. (Torn) Hogan (1892) under the title “Battleaxe”, F. (Frank) Marien (1909), E. (Eugene) Gorman (1909), and others; as well as these, contributors, e.g. C.F. (Charles) de Monchaux (1916) ,J.L (Jim) Birch (1907), AP. (Ambrose) Bymes (1902), .S. (Eric) Miller (1916) and others.

Another group which has been strong in supporting Cerise & Blue, both as Editors and as contributors, has been the Brothers.

Cerise & Blue has had its ups and downs through it history. The production of a separate annual issue was maintained from inception in 1906 through to 1930. This success was, no doubt, in no small measure due to le fact that Phil Louis (1894) remained as Editor, or as part of the Editorial committee, throughout this period. For the next period, until after WWII, Cerise & Blue remained an annual, but appeared only as part of the SJC Annual magazine. In 1949, Bill Fogarty (1922) was elected President of the Union and it was his drive which resulted in C & B again being produced as a separate publication. It took the form of firstly, a fortnightly newsletter, then a monthly, then a two monthly issue, before eventually settling in 1967 into the quarterly journal, which we have today. J.P. (Jack) Vale (1928) was the main stay of the C & B renewal.

There is a significant change in the current format of the C & B compared to the pre-1930 model. The Literary and Debating Club, founded about 1896, held weekly meetings, and, while there are no reports of the Union being involved in Debating against outside teams, many Old Boys were prominent in the various Parish Debating Clubs. The Literary side of the Club provided many fine articles both in SJC Annuals and in C & B. These types of input are absent from today’s C & B, where the emphasis is more on people than on literary expertise.

c) Bursary and Scholarship

Over the 100 years of its existence the Union has been involved in four areas of financial assistance to pupils at SJC.

(i) Union Bursary Fund

First and foremost has been the Union Bursary Fund, which was inaugurated in 1916, but which sponsored its first Bursar in 1925. Since then there has been some controversy as to whether donations to the Fund were Capital or Income. The Union has, from time to time, paid extra funds as bursaries when the Bursary Fund had insufficient income.

These bursaries are available only to sons of Old Boys. There can be confusion at times when pupils receive an “Old Boys” bursary, but are not sons of Old Boys. These cases are fairly numerous, and are probably even more numerous than are publicised. The earliest report of such a bursary was donated in 1910 by William Parker (1891) and Jack Kissane (1895), solicitors in partnership in Casino, then Arthur Liddy (1899) in the year of his Presidency of the Union in 1931; and later, on more than one occasion, Vin Bymes (1904) in the 1930’s. Additionally, in 1925, coincident with the initial Union Bursar, an Old Boy who came to SJC on a state bursary from Marist Brothers, Kogarah, made an anonymous gift of a bursary for 5 years at SJC; and another Old Boy, who had no sons of his own, anonymously sponsored his two Godsons in the 1940 to 1960 period.

The early bursaries are listed as being valued at 50 pounds per year (100 dollars). Following the financial woes of the Wyndham Scheme, and the mad inflation of the 1950’s and 1960’s, the standard bursary today is based on the Parent, SJC, and the Union fund paying one third each; however bursaries are allotted on a means test so some parents may pay more. In 1998 there are 12 students receiving aid from the Union Fund, at a total cost to the Fund of some $45,000. (Note: in 2002, this ratio was adjusted to the family supporting fifty percent, with the College and the OBU supporting twenty five percent each.)

Over the past 20 or so years, the identity of bursars is held to be confidential, so that unless parents tell their sons that the Union helped them through SJC, they may never know. This was not always the case, as some of the very early recipients were named.

(ii) Brother Liguori Jubilee Scholarship Fund

This Scholarship was requested by Bro. Liguori when Dr. Ted Spark (Hons in maths, 1923) and John Abercrombie (1st in state in maths, 1927) told him that they were working on some recognition of his mathematics contribution to SJC over the 25 years – 1922-1946 for which he had taught this subject so successfully.

Originally, the Scholarship was to provide a repeat LC year to a student who might be expected to improve his levels in such a repeat effort. The first recipient was RJ. (Bob) McTaggart (1948), who went on to become a chemical engineer.

The advent of the Wyndham Scheme, involving an extra year of high school, forced the scheme into recess for a couple of years.

The present arrangement was introduced by the SJC Council – it allows for the granting of a two year scholarship to a student – not necessarily already at SJC – chosen by public exam. There can therefore be two Liguori Scholars at SJC in anyone year.

Currently, the Union, which seems to have inherited the administration of this fund in the late 1950’s, has been able to amass sufficient capital in this fund to almost meet the fees of one student. There will be an opportunity here for the second 100 years of the Union to continue the good work, and raise the funds necessary to meet the full cost of this scholarship to SJC.

(iii) Frank McLean Memorial Scholarship

Frank McLean (1944) was President of the Union and of the ULVA (original body which has become the Australian Hotels Association) at the time of his death. This scholarship was set up with a donation from the ULVA, made at this time. This was an open scholarship – there was no definition of its purpose – and was awarded by the Headmaster at the time.

Unfortunately this lack of purpose made difficult the administration of the scholarship and as a result, the efforts of the Union in fund raising allowed this cause to run a poor third behind the Bursary and Liguori Funds.

Eventually, with this outlook, and the raging inflation of the 1950’s and 1960’s, the amount available for the scholarship became relatively small and, in effect rather an insult to Frank McLean. In 1994, with agreement from the AHA, and the McLean family, this scholarship was terminated, and the funds absorbed into the Bursary Fund.

(iv) Winifred Northcott Memorial Prize

J.H. (John) Northcott (1943) died in 1996, and in his will he left a legacy to provide at SJC a memorial to his mother, as a token of his gratitude for the hardships she endured in giving him the benefits of an SJC education.

The prize will be awarded to the top English student in Year 12. This practice is seen as most appropriate for two reasons:

• it will continue to recognise his mothers name in the regular on-going practices at SJC and English was Johns favourite subject; he enjoyed playing with words.

The inaugural grant of this prize was made in 1997 to J.A. (Joseph) Collins (1997).

(v)Other

The Union administers several other prize categories – some are provided by the Union, e.g. Bro. Angelus Memorial Prize for Geology; and some are administered by the Union from funds donated to the Union for the purpose – e.g. the Bro. Henry Awards for the best back, and the best forward in the 1st XV – donated by M.J. (Maurice) Whelan (1935).

d) Social Activities

From it’s earliest days the Union has maintained a record of holding social activities aimed at sponsoring and improving the good fellowship among its members.

(i) The first Union Annual Ball was held at the Paddington Town Hall in 1904. This activity continued through the years – 1,350 people attended the Trocadero in 1936 – until well after WWII when it merged with the Ball/Dinner Dance conducted by the P & F.

(ii) The other popular function in these early times was the “Smoke Concert”. The modern description would be cocktail party where guests supplied their own entertainment. One name which appears steadily among such entertainers was Jack Roff (1910) who was always willing to supply a song or two, and was much appreciated by his fellows. Jack still has a claim to fame in 1998 – he is the great grandfather of Wallaby winger, Joe Roff.

(iii) The other “major” activity of the Union currently was originally an event where the Headmaster at SJC entertained the Old Boys. It was originated by Bro. Denis in the October of1898 – 7 months after the birth of the Union. It continued as a highlight of the Union’s year – eventually becoming the occasion of the Union’s AGM, and also the annual Requiem Mass for deceased Old Boys – being scheduled for many years on the first Sunday in November.

When the Wyndham Scheme made it difficult to continue this arrangement, the introduction of the Union entertaining Brothers who had taught at SJC became the replacement. There had no doubt been dinners of this ilk previously, but generally only to celebrate a jubilee, or the departure from SJC, of some Brother who was “Special” to the Union. '

This function is now the Annual reunion of the SJC Old Boys, and the Brothers who have taught at SJC are invited as guests.

(iv) The earliest report of a team being entertained at the end of its season is of the 1926 1st XV – the team was treated to a dinner and theatre by William Ovens (1st XV, 1894). His two sons also made the 1st XV – William in 1925, and Augustine in 1926. Strangely, the 1926 team were runners-up in the GPS competition.

The continuation of this practice seems to have been left to various parents until some time after WWII, when the Union accepted the chore, and developed a standard approach – any team winning a GPS competition was to receive a dinner provided by the Union and such supporters – old boys and Parents and friends – who might attend. With the addition of tennis, basketball, soccer and cross country running to the GPS program, it became obvious that some adjustments were required to this standard.

The practice since 1990 is that two “Celebration” dinners are held each year – one for Summer activities – cricket, tennis, rowing, basketball and athletics; the other for Winter – rugby, soccer and cross country running.

A new format was also initiated – even though a team might not win its competition the captain, and any member selected in the combined GPS team or wins an event at the GPS Athletics Carnival is invited to the dinner. Additionally, it was recognised that SJC also had people of excellent in the academic, and debating fields. The top HSC students from the latest exam are invited to the Summer dinner, and the Debating team is treated as the sporting teams for the Winter dinner.

The other major innovation to this new format is that ladies – to date mostly mothers and sisters – are welcome at the celebrations. (Sadly, since 1999, these dinners are no longer held.)

(v) In 1971, J.E. (Jack) Whitehurst (1937) had a brilliant idea at the Park on the occasion of the rugby match with Newington College. He had noticed that at the conclusion of such matches the Old Boys present scattered to the various “watering holes” of their choice – why not encourage them to stay at the Park, and thus improve the camaraderie of different ages, and promote fellowship between SJC Old Boys and Parents and Old Boys with other schools and colleges.

Thus was born “The Weight Shed”. Jack arranged a supply of beer from some Old Boy publicans, chilled it in garbage cans full of ice, and sold it to cover costs. Old Boy publicans who participated in this scheme included A.H. (Arthur) Laundy (1959), J.L. (Lester) Sweeting (1965), A. (Andy) Whelan (1936), M.R. (Michael) Bassett (1965) and W.M. (Bill) Waugh (1960). A.H. (Alan) Crossley (1949) supplied ice for many years.

The Weight Shed – a smallish building at the south-west corner of No. 1 field at the Park – was originally Second Divisions dressing shed, then it progressed to a weight lifting exercise centre – now located at the John Healy Centre at the College – before becoming the centre of friendship at SJC home rugby games.

The growth of the centre was such that J.S. (Jack) Nicol (1935), Treasurer of the Union was enticed into helping with the money side of the operation. He was soon involved as a full assistant. Bro. Emile Grogan (“Jack”) was the next recruit – no one seems to know just how he became involved, but he was a great PR man, especially with the younger fraternity.

In the material sense, the first improvement was the removal of the remaining weight paraphernalia, then the installation of a sink with water supply, electricity to supply the refrigerator – a delicatessen display unit, donated by Bill Cramsie father of Paul (1973), and transported from Melbourne at the account of J.F. (Peter) Bourke (1932).

Things were going swimmingly with this arrangement, until the refrigerator gave up – it was so old that the current flock of engineers did not know how to fix it. Disaster was avoided by the generosity of an anonymous group – it may have been only one – of Old Boys who donated the beautiful 3 door refrigerator currently installed.

In 1991 – the 20th birthday of the operation – at the suggestion of N.K. (Nigel) Watts (1937) - the Weight Shed became “JACKS” - christened at a special liturgy by Fr. E.J. (Ted) Jordan (1922), and with a new name plate provided by B.H. (Bryan) Sidgreaves (1956) - in honour of the three founders – Whitehurst, Nicol and Bro. Emile. In 1993, it was brought home rather drastically to Messrs. Whitehurst and Nicol, that to continue JACKS, it had to be licensed. After investigation by the Police at Gladesville, the said Whitehurst and Nicol received a severe reprimand, and since 1994 JACKS has held a liquor licence.

While fundraising has been a secondary consideration at JACKS, between 1971 and 1997, some $30,000 has been credited to the Union Bursary Fund from this source.

e) Careers Advice to Current Students

An important Task volunteered by the Union to the boys a! SJC is careers advice. The present format for this project was originally designed by A.T. (Tony) Lantry (1957) during his years as Secretary of the Union. Basically is in two parts - .

Part 1 caters for Year11 students, and takes the firm of talks by people in a variety of vocations which have been requested by the students – the general approach to choosing a career is also included fir those who have yet to make up their minds.

Part 2 caters fir Year 12 students, and takes the firm of groups of students visiting the work places of those careers in which they have an interest.

The extent of this activity may be gauged from the fact that, for Year 11, speakers attend on two nights – which lows some students to attend a different subject each night – and in total some 40-50 speakers make themselves available each year.

For Year 12, the Boys have had a further year to think about careers, so their attention is more focused. However, is not unusual for some Boys to visit more than one centre, and up to 50 or 60 places may be visited by individuals, or groups of 5 or 6. It is important to realise that for a Boy to find, from this visiting, that a particular career is not for him, makes this visit a success – to find the right career is good – to dodge the wrong one is just as good.

f) Souvenirs

With the Union taking over the total SJC Souvenir sales in 1984, the right man for the job was available. E.J. (Ted) Ingall (1947) put his retailing experience to work, and with a solid committee to help him he soon had this project a going concern. The measure of his success can be equated to the additions from this source to the Union Bursary Fund – in excess of$150,000 to date.

g) Sports

Sporting activities of the Union, apart from the contests with the Boys at SJC, fall into two categories. Firstly, there are the sponsorships of teams organised by the Young Old Boys. As might be expected, these are an “on and off” proposition, depending on the energy and organising ability of a dedicated few. Over the years one or two teams have been selected in rugby and/or cricket. Currently there are two cricket teams playing in the Gordon District junior Competition.

For the Union as a unit, the two areas of consistent involvement are lawn bowls – the Union competes in the GPS Old Boys' competition – the present convenor is J.T. (John) Dorahy (1952), and he is always looking for extra players – which has been operating for many years; and golf.

Golf has been popular since the 1930’s when a strong Union group were playing 6 and 7 times per year. The “Joe Gordon” Cup dates from this period. Joe (1911), Mine Host at the West Ryde Hotel at the time, presented the Cup for the Union Champion in 1934. It was contested until 1937, at which date the custodian of the Cup forgot to collect it after the game, and it was lost.

In 1969, there happened to be an Old Boy working at Killara (or was it Pymble) Club, and in cleaning out a store room he found the Joe Gordon Cup. Since 1970 it has been inscribed with the leading SJC player at the Union’s October golf day – now the annual match with St. Ignatius College Old Boys.

Bro. Justin Hawthorne, a very popular man at SJC, and an enthusiastic coach of athletics, died in 1972, and in his memory the Union provided a cup to be the subject of competition at the April Golf Day.

The Union is also represented each year at the GPS Golf Day which has been promoted by the Manly Golf Club in August. This competition is open to players from any GPS, not only NSW, and has been played for some 60 years. E.S. (Eric) Thomas (1929) played in the first year, and again, after returning from many years overseas, in the 50th year.

Over the years many combinations of golf days, dinners, Annual Meetings, Brothers' Dinners, etc have been the subjects of experiment, and the current scheme of having golf days separate, with golf during the day and a meal to following seems to be working well.

h) Administration

The administration of the Union is carried out by a Committee of:
- a Patron – Bro. Headmaster of SJC,
- a President,
- 6 Vice-Presidents,
- a Secretary,
- a Treasurer,
- an Editor, and
- 15 members.

The commitment of Committee members is indicated by an average attendance at meetings over 60 per cent. There are 9 monthly meetings held in the year – January is missed due to being in the major holiday part of the year – March is currently the month of the Annual General Meeting – and November has become the month when le committee entertain their ladies, and various people at SJC, as a thank you for their support during the year.

Appendix 4 shows the Agenda for a monthly Committee meeting. It will be noted that there is a report each month from a sub-committee which is responsible for action in the “Activity” areas discussed above. All members of the Committee area involved in at least one of these sub-committees – it is truly a working committee.

5. Conclusion

In closing this work I trust that I have portrayed the Union as it deserves – i.e. a worthy monument to the men tho have toiled to serve it over this period.

Further, it is hoped that people who have received their education at SJC will recognise that the Union has a proud record, a notable status in social and religious areas of our nation, and that it is 'truly worthy of their support.

However, let it not be thought that the task is complete. Remember always that as SJC Alumni we have the duty: "STRIVE FOR BETTER THINGS"