Launceston Church Grammar School
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| Launceston Church Grammar School | |
 |
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| Nisi Dominus Frustra | |
| (Unless the Lord is with us, our labor is vain.) | |
| Established | 1846 |
| School type | Independent |
| Headmaster | Stephen Norris |
| Location | Launceston, TAS, Australia |
| Colors | Blue, Black and White |
| Homepage | www.lcgs.tas.edu.au |
Launceston Church Grammar School is a co-educational private school in Launceston, Tasmania, for years kindergarten through to Year 12. Although founded in 1846, the present school was formed in 1981 from the amalgamation of the boys' Launceston Grammar School and girls' Broadland House, Church of England Girls' Grammar School. The school celebrated its 160th birthday on 25th June 2006 and retains its longevity, being one of the longest continuously running schools in Australia.
[edit] History
Launceston Church Grammar School was founded on the 15th June, 1846 and the Reverend Henry Plow-Kane was chosen as its founding Headmaster. The School began in temporary premises on the South-East corner of George and Elizabeth Streets in launceston, but soon after commenced building on the site immediately behind St. John's Church.
So began an enduring and close relationship between St. John's Church and the Launceston Church Grammar School. This relationship did have one hiccup in 1872 when St. John's took back the land used as a cricket field in order to build the Rectory.
On the day after Grammar opened its doors, 24 boys of varying ages were enrolled and Launceston was described as "a small town with a population of about 8000 people and the town was little more than a scattered village." In 1848 the Visitor, the first Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, Francis Russell Nixon, came to the School and a soiree was held in his honour. The current Bishop of Tasmania continues this tradition as our Visitor and comes annually to our School.
The School continued to grow in the ensuing years and in 1896, celebrated its 50th year under the Headmasters Wilkinson and Gillett with a Jubilee Service at St. John's and a grand ceremony in the Albert Hall.
By 1920 the School had outgrown its site and in 1923 its ninth Headmaster, The Reverend John Walter Bethune, presided over the only major move in the School's History when it relocated from Elizabeth Street to a new 25 acre site on Stephensons' Farm in Mowbray - purchased for 2,000 pounds.
The School community suffered deeply during the war years as students served their country, many making the ultimate sacrifice. Headmaster Capt. N. Roff was amongst those killed in World War II action.
The next major milestone for the School was its Centenary in 1946 under Headmaster Vernon-Jones. Although the School by now had built its own Chapel, our History records that "The final Centenary celebration was a church service held in the original church which School members attended, and two hundred present scholars and two hundred and fifty Old Boys lined up outside the old School in Elizabeth Street and marched to St. John's Church, as Grammar boys had done for so many years." This was an emotional occasion for many Old Boys as they relived their youth, and the Bishop gave an inspiring address to the congregation of a thousand, telling them they must develop international fellowship.
The past 50 years have brought further major milestones for the School. One was the move to co-education in 1972. Although 100 years before, in 1872, two girls Edith Savigny and Mary Archer both attended Grammar for several years. In 1899, the enrolment was recorded as 150 boys and one girl- Joyce Wilkinson. In 1921, Charlie Irvine, daughter of the Matron, Mrs. Irvine, also attended the School.
In 1981 Grammar amalgamated with the Broadland House, Church of England Girls' Grammar School. Broadland House is honoured with a memorial window in St. John's Church.
This amalgamation, although a shift from Grammar's past heritage as a school for boys, provided a strong foundation for the future chapters of the School's History.
