Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition

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The Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition is an annual competition in impromptu public speaking between representatives of each of the Great Public Schools (GPS) and Combined Associated Schools (CAS) in New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1935, in honour of Lawrence Campbell, a famous teacher of elocution in various schools in Sydney, New South Wales, in the early twentieth century.

Contents

[edit] Format

Each candidate is required to give a speech of eight minutes length of one of three topics given to him or her either 10 or 15 minutes beforehand. In this competition, the emphasis is on oratory, and so the manner of delivery counts at least equally with the content of the speech. The emphasis is on giving a speech that combines humour with pathos, dramatic elements with more conversational moments, serious commentary with light-hearted asides, quotations drawn from a variety of sources, but all around a common thread based on the chosen topic, and showing the style of the candidate. Accordingly, the style of speech is very different from many other public speaking competitions in which candidates research and prepare speeches of their own in advance, often on questions of current affairs or public policy.

[edit] Participating Schools

Crest School Location Enrollment Founded Denomination Day/Boarding School Colors
Barker College Hornsby 2000 1890 Anglican Day & Boarding Red & Blue
Cranbrook School Bellevue Hill 1000 1918 Anglican Day & Boarding Red, White & Blue
Knox Grammar School Wahroonga 1850 1924 Uniting Church Day & Boarding Black & Blue
Newington College Stanmore 1600 1863 Uniting Church Day & Boarding Black & White
St Aloysius' College Milsons Point 1200 1879 Catholic Day Blue & Gold
St Ignatius' College Lane Cove 1569 1880 Roman Catholic Day & Boarding Blue & White
St Joseph's College Hunters Hill 1000 1881 Roman Catholic Day & Boarding Cerise & Blue
Sydney Boys High School Moore Park 1140 1883 N/A Day Chocolate Brown &
Sky Blue
Sydney Church of England Grammar School North Sydney 1300 1889 Anglican Day & Boarding Navy Blue & White
Sydney Grammar School Darlinghurst 1109 1854 Non-denominational Day Black & Gold
The Armidale School Armidale 800 1894 Anglican Day & Boarding Navy Blue & Straw
The King's School Parramatta 1400 1831 Anglican Day & Boarding White & Sky Blue
The Scots College Bellevue Hill 1600 1893 Presbyterian Day & Boarding Gold & Blue
Trinity Grammar School Summer Hill 1700 1913 Anglican Day & Boarding Green, White & Grey
Waverley College Waverley 1430 1903 Catholic Day Royal Blue & Gold

Each school is represented by one speaker. Saint Ignatius’ College has the most distinguished history, with 24 winning candidates in the competition's history. In recent years, Sydney Grammar, Scots, Barker College and Newington have been the most successful schools. Waverley College and The Armidale School have never fielded a winning candidate.

[edit] Topics

Because of the emphasis on oratory, the topics usually admit of wide latitude for the candidates to be creative. Often, quotations from literature, public figures, and popular culture are chosen as topics, along with proverbs or even single words. Past topics include:

  • Assume a virtue if ye have it not
  • One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name
  • I must follow them, for I am their leader
  • He thinks too much – such men are dangerous
  • Because it was there
  • If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

[edit] Famous past winners

The Lawrence Campbell oratory competition has many distinguished previous winners, particularly in the areas of law, politics, and the arts. Famous past winners include:

  • Nick Enright (Playwright)
  • Charles Firth (Comedian and television personality from The Chaser team)
  • Murray Gleeson (Chief Justice of Australia)
  • Nick Greiner (Former Premier of NSW)
  • John Hamilton (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
  • Clifton Hoeben (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)
  • Jonathan Howard
  • Mungo MacCallum (Journalist and member of the Wentworth squatocracy)
  • Andrew O'Keefe (Comedian and television presenter)
  • Adam Spencer (ABC-TV and Radio presenter)
  • Malcolm Turnbull (Liberal MP and leader of the Australian Republican Movement)
  • Lloyd Waddy (Monarchist)
  • Anthony Whealy (Judge of the Supreme Court of NSW)

[edit] Controversies

There have been many controversies in the history of the competition. These usually arise out of allegations of plagiarism and the use of prepared material in the speech. In 2003, the winning candidate from Barker College voluntarily renounced the trophy after allegations of cheating were made against him, to avoid any prejudice against future competitors from the school.

Often, the candidate is given the benefit of any doubt, if only because candidates train intensively for the competition and must necessarily think of themes, quotations, and one-liners that may emerge in the speech the candidate later gives at the competition. However, the wholesale repetition of prepared material is strongly discouraged, and with enough proof, a winner may be stripped of the title if wholesale preparation is shown.

[edit] Previous winners and runners-up

Year Winner School Runner-Up School
1935 RF Hughes St Ignatius'
1936 DF Cummings St. Ignatius'
1937 WB Pritchard Shore
1938 WB Pritchard Shore
1939 RW Bowie Sydney Grammar
1940 RW Bowie Sydney Grammar
1941 FA Jensen Sydney Grammar
1942 Not held (Death of Lawrence Campbell)
1943 AC Gould St Ignatius'
1944 P Clyne Sydney Boys High
1945 AE Melville Shore
1946 HH Jamieson Shore
1947 AM Gallagher
W Glen-Doepel		 St Joseph's
Sydney Boys High aeq
1948 B Beveridge Sydney Boys High
1949 AD Robb
AD Dingle		 Sydney Boys High
Knox aeq
1950 GJ Woodburne Sydney Boys High
1951 DH Lance Sydney Grammar
1952 JM Bennett Shore
1953 A. Murray Gleeson St Joseph's
1954 M Halstead St Aloysius'
1955 A. Murray Gleeson St Joseph's
1956 JP Hamilton Sydney Boys High
1957 LD Waddy King's
1958 MW MacCallum Cranbrook
1959 AG Whealy St Ignatius'
1960 BP Jones St Ignatius'
1961 B Hudson Newington
1952 Gerard C Windsor St Ignatius'
1953 Nick F Greiner St Ignatius'
1964 Clifton R Hoeben St Ignatius'
1965 CG McDonald St. Ignatius'
1966 Nick P Enright St Ignatius'
1967 JS Eyers St Ignatius'
1968 PA Boyle St Ignatius'
1969 WJ Kavanagh St Ignatius'
1970 L Olson Sydney Grammar
1971 JD Scahill St Ignatius'
1972 Malcolm D Turnbull Sydney Grammar
1973 P Green Newington
1974 AC Byrnes St Ignatius'
1975 JJ McInerny St Ignatius'
1976 RR Harper Sydney Grammar
1977 S Marks St Ignatius'
1978 DI McMahon Shore
1979 M Bonnell Trinity
1980 GC Mangan St Ignatius'
1981 CM Kelly Sydney Grammar
1982 B Meaher St Ignatius'
1983 M Swivel Sydney Boys High
1984 J Rice St Aloysius'
1985 S Nixon Sydney Grammar
1986 Adam Spencer St Aloysius'
1987 A McKenna St Aloysius'
1988 Andrew O'Keefe St Ignatius'
1989 B Franklin Cranbrook
1990 JN Greiner St Ignatius'
1991 M Wood Trinity
1992 A Fitzsimons Knox
1993 Charles Firth Sydney Grammar
1994 Mark Walsh St Ignatius'
1995 David Yeo Sydney Grammar
1996 Peter Phillips Newington
1997 Gareth Tilley Sydney Boys High
1998 Jeremy Bell Trinity
1999 Anthony Jones Scots
2000 Anthony Jones Scots
2001 Jeremy Raper Sydney Grammar
2002 Jeremy Raper Sydney Grammar
2003 No Award No Award
2004 Mark Longhurst Newington Adam Mahoney Barker College
2005 Patrick Bateman Sydney Grammar Hayden Guthrie Barker College
2006 Vikram Joshi Sydney Grammar Nathaniel Ware Barker College
2007 Edward Miller Newington Vikram Joshi Sydney Grammar
2008 Joseph Ware Barker College William Harris Scots
v • d • e
Members of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales, Australia
v • d • e
Members of the Combined Associated Schools, of New South Wales, Australia