A Tribute to Shore

Sydney Church of England Grammar School, North Sydney: “Shore”

Sydney Church of England Grammar School, widely known as “Shore” from its early days, was founded in 1888, its first students, an enrolment of 24 boys, commencing on the first school day of the new establishment on 16th July 1889. The school had been formally and officially opened on its North Shore site on 4th May by the Governor of New South Wales, Lord Carrington. As historian Professor Geoffrey Sherington describes this event in his comprehensive history of the school, the opening ceremony was attended by the bishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia, together with the bishops of Goulburn, Bathurst, Riverina and Brisbane

1880's Holtermann's Tower 480

 Sydney Church of England Grammar School, widely known as “Shore” from its early days, was founded in 1888, its first students, an enrolment of 24 boys, commencing on the first school day of the new establishment on 16th July 1889. The school had been formally and officially opened on its North Shore site on 4th May by the Governor of New South Wales, Lord Carrington. As historian Professor Geoffrey Sherington describes this event in his comprehensive history of the school, the opening ceremony was attended by the bishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia, together with the bishops of Goulburn, Bathurst, Riverina and Brisbane. The foundation Headmaster was Mr. E. I. Robson, a graduate of Cambridge and Melbourne Universities and tutor at Ormond College, Melbourne. He held this position until 1900, when C. H. Hodges, formerly Headmaster of Townsville Grammar School, was appointed as Robson’s replacement. Following Hodges was W. A. Purves 1910-1922, L. C. Robson 1923-1958 and B. H. Travers 1959-1894. E. R. Holme in his 1951 history of the school refers to the Bishop of Sydney, Alfred Barry as being “The Founder” of the School, owing to his great belief in fostering secondary education for boys. However, credit as founders is also due to the first Council of the school under the Presidency of Bishop Barry, which negotiated the purchase of the site for the school by the Diocese of Sydney in 1888. This Council comprised six clergy including Archdeacons W. J. Gunther and R. L. King, and six lay members, including Hon. Edward Knox, Mr. T. A. Dibbs, Judge Wilkinson and Professor T. T. Gurney.

The site chosen for the new school was the former Holtermann Estate, an elevated location in North Sydney which had the advantage of considerable open space in addition to a fine building, a private residence, which could be well adapted to the functions of a school. The tower of the building, known as Holtermann’s Tower had a commanding view over the Harbour. At that time the North Sydney district was becoming a favoured location for the residences of a rapidly expanding class of business and professional families following the decision to link North Sydney with Hornsby by suburban rail. Over the decades additions to the original site buildings were constructed as the enrolments increased to 124 students, of which 38 were boarders by 1894. The first expansion included a two story classroom block, the dining hall, additional studies, and later, the War Memorial Library, science laboratories and auditorium. The foundation stone of the Chapel was laid on the 4th May 1914, with the first service in Chapel being held 13 May 1915. A Preparatory School, taking in both day boys and boarders opened in 1926. This junior boarding house was later named Purves House after the third Headmaster. There are four boarding houses in the school, School House, Barry House, Hodge House and Robson House.

The aims of the school as cited in the school’s website (www.shore.nsw.edu.au/shore.html) are elaborated as follows:

“To equip boys to participate in the wider community through a broad and well rounded education of the highest standard:

• With a Christian perspective of the world in which they live
• As responsible citizens
• With academic achievements commensurate with their ability
• With a knowledge of themselves, how they should live and how to relate to others
  With a questioning mind and a continuing desire to learn”

The Motto of the school on the shield of the school’s coat of arms is:
“Vitai Lampada Tradunt”
which translated is “They hand on the torch of life.” The coat of arms of the school was granted by the College of Heralds in London in 1932. The name “Shore’ is widely used and recognized in the community, although it was not the official name of the school. Holme, in his 1951 history of the school explains,

“It was the boys themselves who invented “Shore” in the earliest days of the school when, already, on the river particularly, they had occasion to cheer their representatives in traditional sports, required a short name for that purpose.”

The school owns 20 hectares of bush land at Linden in the Blue Mountains which is used as a base for bush walking, climbing and outdoor education. Rowing has been part of the school’s tradition since the 1890s.

Among the many notable features of “Shore” is its extensive and comprehensive School Archives which contains a wealth of historical records, photographs, souvenirs and memorabilia. Also being developed by the School Archives as a special project is a research collection of material on the Old Boys of the school and their families. The School Archives is housed in the Bob Gowing Museum on the ground floor of the Benefactors’ Building.

Currently the school’s enrolment is over 1000 students, 200 of whom are boarders, and 180 are enrolled in the Prep. School. A notable characteristic of the enrolment pattern over the decades has been the significant percentage of students coming from outside the Sydney area, particularly during the first four decades of the school when approximately a quarter of the enrolments were from country NSW districts. This trend persisted into the 1970s. During the last half century three important histories of the school have been written, the first by E. R. Holme, “Shore”; The Sydney Church of England Grammar School, The Foundation and First Headmastership, in 1951. In 1983 Geoffrey Sherington wrote a most comprehensive history titled, Shore: A History of Sydney Church of England Grammar School, which contains extensive statistical appendices and name lists. This was followed in 1988 by Peter Taylor’s A Celebration of Shore.

1928 Head of the River

Sherington, Geoffrey, Shore: A History of Sydney Church of England Grammar School, Allen & Unwin/ Sydney Church of England Grammar School, Sydney 1983.
Holme, E. R. “Shore”; The Sydney Church of England Grammar School, The Foundation and First Headmastership. Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1951.
Holme, E. R. op. cit., p. 55.

The ANME is very grateful to Dr Geoffrey Burkhardt for this summary and to Mrs Welwyn Petersen (Archivist of the Shore School) and Mr Andrew Warden ( Member of the Shore Archives Committee) for making this special feature possible.