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ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OF QUEENSLAND

JOURNAL

Volume XIV, No.l3 November 1992

Canon William Perry French Morris Founder of Churchie

by Ronald F.J. Wood

Clem Lack Memorial Oration Presented on Thursday, 26 March 1992

In January 1935 I was enrolled at the Church of England Grammar School East Brisbane and met Mr Morris the headmaster for the first time.

It was a day earlier than usual for enrolment and he was dressed in a long sleeved white shirt open at the neck, white trousers with a black belt and white sandshoes. It was as though he had been playing tennis, a game he did not much like. My father thought it a strange way to dress for a formal interview.

I was at the school from 1935 to 1938 before going on to the University. From 1952 to 1959 I conducted a general medical practice in Vulture Street, East Brisbane and when the school doctor was unwell acted in his place from 1955. During that time regular communications began with Patrick Vincent Osborne Fleming, Arthur Young and Harold Wade all of whom taught me at school. This continued for the rest of their lives.

John Crampton Andrews was the first boy on the school roll and my first meeting with him was on Thursday Island at the end of World War II when he was the Officer Commanding the Army Water Transport unit and I an Army Medical Officer. Neither of us knew of the other's connection with the school. For the last 30 years of his life, until he died in June 1990, we met several times a year and discussed the school on occasions.

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In 1957 Canon Morris, Miss Grace Campbell and Miss Bessie Campbell left Redcliffe where they had lived since their retirement from the school in 1946 and bought a house at 18 Sinclair Street, East Brisbane, that they named 'Triolet'. They chose me to be their medical adviser. In the next 18 months I made many visits to their home and was told many incidents by Canon Morris. If I had thought that 30 years later I would be speaking about him, I would have asked many more questions than I did.

Canon Morris' father William Edward was born in 1830 in the village of Leintwardine, Herefordshire, England. He migrated to AustraUa in 1853, joined the staff of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne in the following year, and retired as Registrar at the age of 79.

When his first wife died he married Clara Elizabeth French. Clara Elizabeth was the daughter of a deceased army officer and stepdaughter of Dean Cowper in Sydney.

William Edward and Clara Elizabeth had eleven children. They were

Mary Elizabeth (Stephen) born 1 March 1876 Edith Nina (Irwin) 31 August 1877 William Perry French Morris 21 October 1878 Agnes Isobel Morris 15 April 1880 Marcia Forster (Wade) 27 June 1881 Katie Cowper (Crotty) 20 November 1883 Gwynneth Elsie/Clara (Colles) 23 December 1885 Edward Fortescue Morris 10 September 1886 Basil Moorhouse Morris 19 December 1889 Arthur Langley Morris (Prince) 26 January 1891 Pauline Margaret Borlese Morris 25 January 1895

William Perry French Morris was born in Btighton, Victoria, on Trafalgar Day 1878, the anniversary of Nelson's famous sea victory over the French fleet in 1805 which was celebrated throughout the British Empire. He was baptised on 21st November and had six sisters before he had a brother, Edward who was eight years younger, then Basil and Arthur (Prince). The youngest child died when only a few months old.

Canon Morris was named William after his father. Perry after Bishop Perry the first Bishop of Melbourne, his godfather whom he never met, and French his mother's family name.

In the family the girls called him Will and the boys Bill. He signed his name as Will Morris. He later wrote, " I was kept in my place by six sisters and in my turn I kept in their places, three younger brothers."

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It was no ordinary family of the Victorian era. The girls did not sit at home doing their sewing and tatting. Mary went to the University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with First Class Honours in the Classics. Edith was interested in music and drama. Marcia started Science but married before completing her degree. Agnes and Katie trained as nursing sisters and Gwynneth was a very active athlete and physical education instructress.

In 1898 William Edward purchased a small girls' school of 17 pupils called Merton Hall and named Mary and Edith as the principals. By 1903 the numbers attending the school had increased to nearly 200 and the two co-principals went to England and other countries to look at education there. In the following year it became the Church of England Girls' Grammar School Melbourne. The Morris sisters were very keen on sport as part of the Ufe of a girls' school. Mary felt that sport did very much to quicken the mind, build up the constitution and discipline the character. It was the Morris sisters who introduced organised team games and the inter-school competition for girls.

Gwynneth, the youngest sister was sent to a school for physical education in England for two years. On her return she joined the school and introduced the short Swedish gym tunic to Melbourne instead of the much longer dresses previously used. Mary, Edith and Gwynneth all retired from the school when they married.

Will Morris was the first boy enrolled in Wadhurst the new preparatory school of the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School in 1886 and progressed steadily. He went to the senior school at the age of 10 and matriculated in 1896. He represented the school at Australian Rules football in his last two years.

Morris won a Warden's Exhibition to Trinity College in Melbourne University in 1897 and graduated in 1900 as a Bachelor of Arts with an interest in the Classics.

At the end of one year five Trinity students studying hard for their yearly examinations formed a group. Will Morris as their leader would fine them some money for various breaches of the rules but he did not tell them what the rules were. After the examination the collected money was spent on beer.

Will had an interest in Theology. He had not yet decided to take Orders but wished to prepare for them at Ridley Hall, Cambridge the foundation of which was the greatest achievement of his godfather Bishop Perry in his retirement. He was there from July 1900 until he completed his training in August 1901. He gained First Class Honours in the Preliminary Theological examination.

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Despite advice from his father to hasten slowly he was ordained a deacon on 22nd December 1901 by the Bishop of London, Mandell Creighton, in St Paul's Cathedral. He had considerable doubts about some of the articles he had to agree to and these he expressed to the Bishop on the day before his ordination. The Bishop listened to him and said "Oh, Morris, we all have those doubts."

Two years before he died he told me that "the old man did not understand what I was talking about." He doubted if he should have been ordained. The Bishop died within a few days. Despite advice to go elsewhere he chose Whitechapel in the East End of London which has been described as the worst district in England.

WHITECHAPEL, MELBOURNE AND MARRIAGE

It was here that this idealistic 23 year-old, who wanted to do social work was appointed to the Church of St Mary Whitechapel East, whose staff consisted of a vicar and five assistant members of clergy. For the next 18 months he stayed at Whitechapel and later wrote, "...there I made so many friends amongst the most delightful, courageous people that it would be a shame to regret my decision, I made friends and I met a new kind of life."

By 1903 he was tiring of Whitechapel and the visit of his sisters Mary and Edith, to London in the first part of the year, increased his homesickness. He was ordained as a priest on 7th June, 1903, by the new Bishop of London, A.F. Winnington-Ingram in St Paul's Cathedral. He left for home soon after and was licensed as Assistant Curate at St James Melbourne on 13th September 1903.

While he was at Whitechapel, they were visited by the Bishop of Stepney, Gordon Cosmo Lang, later to be the Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury. Will Morris referred to him as "the 'Darling of the Mayfair Drawing Rooms'." The Bishop arrived by train and was met by Morris, a young curate, who did not offer to carry his case for him as a mark of disapproval.

Back in Melbourne, he joined the social life of his sisters and met Ethel Ida Remfry a science student friend of Marcia. He fell in love with her and she perhaps against her better judgement married him on 3rd January 1905. 'I\vo months later he was appointed the Incumbent of St Barnabas' South Melbourne, the land of the two-up schools. Because of the nature of the suburb he proposed a mission to wharf labourers because the hard drinking, hard gambling wharfies and their families were the majority of his parishioners.

His "sinners club" numbered 200. The Archbishop of Melbourne refused this proposal and Will Morris left his parish in 1907 to become a school master at Geelong Grammar. After two years, he took a

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similar position at St Peter's College, Adelaide, where he became known for his love of sport. While he was learning his duties as a schoolmaster, his wife Ethel Remfry Morris, supported by him completed her medical course at Melbourne in 1911.

Later that year on 10th September she was registered by the Medical Board of Queensland. The address was given as Lady Lamington Hospital Brisbane. Ethel had found no Church of England Boys' secondary school in Brisbane and Will came from Adelaide to start one.

BRISBANE — FIRST SCHOOL

When Morris came to Brisbane in 1912, there were good secondary schools, the grammar schools, throughout the State. The Southport School started by Rev. H.H. Dixon was associated with the Church of England but there was no AngUcan secondary school for boys in Brisbane. FoUowing many years behind other states, Queensland had estabUshed a University two years earlier.

The Crampton Andrews had a large house Ardencraig' at Toowong. Mrs Andrews and Ethel became friendly through their interest in art. It was there that WiU and Ethel proposed to set up their school in exchange for the tuition of the three Andrews boys.

The eldest son, John said Ethel was very beautiful. Once in a picture theatre about thirty years ago an actress appeared on the screen. John said to his wife, "There's Ethel Morris". I asked him who the actress was. He could not remember her name but said she had married a lot. I asked "Was it EUzabeth Taylor?" to which he repUed, "Yes that's the one." If Ethel was as beautiful as the young Elizabeth Taylor, she must have been very beautiful indeed.

The school was advertised in the Brisbane Courier of 15th January 1912.

St Magnus Hall Church Street Toowong

Day and Boarding school for Boys, opens February 8th Rev. W.P.F. Morris B.A. Headmaster

Telephone 14 Toowong

The opening of the school was postponed because of a tramway strike. When it did start there were only three boys, the Andrews. In March Doug Logan arrived at school from the bush. It was he who caUed Will Morris "The Boss" and the title suited him so weU it wiU live for ever.

At the end of 1912, the school had remained a private school and not prospered with only 13 boys. Ethel was to teach as well but the numbers were not large enough.

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In 1914 Ethel practised as a general practitioner in Longreach and Jundah and then left Queensland later practising in England. There were no children from the marriage. Both Patrick Fleming, quoting his mother, and John Andrews said Will Morris made inquiries about divorce about 1919. John said the Archbishop would not agree unless adultery was involved.

This is unlikely to have been more than an inquiry. What evidence there is suggests he led a life of celibacy after 1914. WiU Morris supported his wife from time to time. When she died in 1957, he told me she had died in London and about three months later showed me seven paintings from her estate which had arrived at 'Triolet'.

During this first year, Morris made three important friendships. First, Canon Jones encouraged the school from the beginning. It was he who introduced Will Morris to the Church in Queensland and gave him strong support. Second, Dr Ernest Sandford Jackson, a weU known surgeon and old Geelong Grammarian was his supporter and friend untU his death in 1938. Third, Miss Grace CampbeU joined the teaching staff of the school in 1913 and later became the bursar. She, her sister Miss Bessie CampbeU who joined the school at East Brisbane in 1917, and Canon Morris retired in 1946 to RedcUffe. Miss Grace died in 1957 just after the move to Triolet in East Brisbane.

It had always been the aim of Will Morris for the school to become a church school. At the end of 1912, Archbishop St Clair Donaldson, keen on education, offered him a school at St John's Cathedral to be know as the Cathedral school. He was to undertake the education of Cathedral Choir boys for a stipend of £150 per annum as a "Mission Chaplain" but boys from 7 to 14 years only were to be admitted. School rooms were to be provided by the Cathedral and shared with St John's School.

Late in the following year the Archbishop called together a committee with the view to establishing a Brisbane Church secondary school in place of the Cathedral school.

In 1915 the school acquired the goodwill and property of the Bowen House Preparatory School from its headmaster, Mr Knox Carson. This doubled the numbers and restored a boarding house to the school.

At the beginning of 1916, 100 boys, including 11 boarders, were enrolled and the school rented one of the Cathedral houses as well. The boarding house "Hurlton" was on the river at Chelmer. The school accommodation was cramped and the sporting facilities poor. In a letter to the Archbishop dated 10 February 1916, Morris wrote "...I think that the end of the year would be a suitable, if not necessary, time for a step forward. We should have, I feel sure, a school building

535 into which we could go; capable of accommodating 200 boys, including 30 boarders. It should be, I think, not more than 3 miles from the city and should have if possible 15 acres of land and be situated on or near the river."

The school council began to look for a home for the school. By the end of the year, none had been found. Merthyr, the New Farm home of Sir Samuel Griffith, Chief Justice of Australia, was too small and too expensive and Dovercourt at Toowong was not suitable.

Canon William Perry French Morris I878-I960

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Finally their agent Waverley Cameron proposed he make available for purchase some 26 acres of his property and 3 acres of the property of his neighbour, Frank Melton, situated at East Brisbane between Oaklands Parade and Norman Creek. There was ample area for erection of necessary buildings on an elevated site and a large level area with water frontages eminently suited for recreation purposes.

A HOME FOR THE SCHOOL

This was accepted and the Archbishop raised £4000 in donations from citizens of Queensland for the purchase. After Dr E.S. Jackson's view of health and the importance of fresh air had been heard, plans for a new school house were approved by the Council in June. A little of the rainforest was carved out so that the Foundation Stone could be laid by the Governor Sir Hamilton Goold Adams on 10 October 1917 and the main school moved into the nearly completed new buUding, in January 1918.

This was built of brick and had open dormitories, wide verandahs, faced north to obtain the prevailing breeze and could accommodate 50 boarders. The boarders slept in the open dormitories with the windows wide open or on the verandahs on iron beds with horsehair mattresses, sheets and a few blankets. The boys had cold showers. It was a number of years before a chip heater was obtained for the footballers and rowers to have a warm shower on Saturday nights. Gordonstoun School in Scotland had a similar spartan existence but the weather was colder. It opened in 1934.

A Y.M.C.A. hut was re-located at East Brisbane for classrooms and a science laboratory. The Club Hut as it was called remained for 50 years. In the main building, the Headmaster's study was in the north east corner of the ground floor and his bedroom above. From these he could see all the school property. People told him the school was too far out of town but he had no doubts.

The two decades after the outbreak of World War I were periods of consolidation and expansion. In 1922 the Melton property south of the school, containing a big house 'RoUo', was purchased and the Preparatory School was transferred there from the Cathedral. The Cameron property with the house 'Palmyra' north of the school was bought in 1925. The school now had 52 acres with 12 acres across Norman Creek. The Preparatory School moved from 'RoUo' to 'Palmyra' leaving 'RoUo' for the main school. There were 180 boys at the school in 1925 and it was claimed there were three boys to the acre.

Cows grazed on parts of the property for milk and fowls were kept for eggs. So the school was also a farm in part. The boys were not

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allowed to walk outside without shoes because of the possibUity of contracting hookworm and tetanus.

The School numbers increased despite the Depression of the 1930s.

Year

1918

1924

1930

1935

1937

1940

1946

Total

146 166 275 345 400 481 637

Boarders

26 76 108 141 150 156 150

Prep. Sc

58 62 74 73 83 91 166

To cope with this increase a building programme was started in the 1920s. There were great improvements to the grounds. New classrooms were built and a swimming pool for beginners. The Canon Jones Memorial Chapel was completed in 1925.

In the 1930s, the buUding programme accelerated. Among the new buildings was the Darnell Library (1934), the beginning of Magnus HaU (1935) and the Jackson Science HaU in 1938. Canon Morris referred to the Chapel, the Library and the Science Hall as the three sisters. With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 buUding was halted because all materials were required for war work. As the numbers at the school increased more classrooms were made in the Club Hut, RoUo, Palmyra on the verandah and in common rooms.

In the first ten years few masters stayed for long. With the estabUshment of the school on a permanent site, masters began to join the staff most of whom were to spend aU their working lives there. They were some good teachers and some were exceUent. They included Robert G. Lanskey and Patrick V.O. Fleming in 1922, E.W. Jones in 1924, H.W. Jones in 1925, Dr K.A. McKenzie in 1926, H.K. Wade in 1930, A.W. Young in 1931, Rev. CT. Debenham in 1934 and Rev. M. Pay in 1935. Four were recruited in 1936, H. Coppock, J.A. Thompson, J.A. Hunt and P.F. Calow.

All masters were called 'Sir'. Even the few women teachers were called 'Sir' in the classroom and referred to as 'Ma' outside.

Morris had no interest in wealth for himself. He always took a salary about the same as one of his senior masters. In 1946 his income was increased to £600 a year. His successor, Mr Harry Roberts, whom he chose, was paid twice that amount with board and residence in the following year.

When he retired he would not accept the pension offered by the School Council because it was too high. He said the School could

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not afford it even though the School was free of debt in 1946. In 1954, he relented and his pension was increased from £260 to £400 a year.

DiscipUne was strict but just. There were various grades. For school work not done well enough, a detention for half an hour or an hour after school was not uncommon. For worse offenders, a Saturday morning detention of three hours was hated by the boys. For minor disciplinary breeches, writing six pages of a copy book was usual.

When the school was first established much of the low lying land was covered with sida retusa — a fibrous plant. Pulling these out was a punishment and helped clear the land. To puU out 100 of these was not such a punishment when the ground was moist but very hard work when it was dry.

When these were presented to the headmaster or to a prefect, he usually bent them or cut them. If this was not done they could be used again by another boy and they acquired a commercial value of 3 pence a hundred. The worse disciplinary breech was punished with a caning from one to six strokes, depending on the severity, by the headmaster or the prefects.

To Canon Morris, caning was as important a part of school discipline in 1946 as it was in 1918. There was never any vindictiveness. In the last five years as headmaster, he had difficulty in getting about and in the absence of most of his young masters, his task was made so much harder.

Everybody who went to the school knew there were certain rules that must be obeyed such as what part of the school grounds could be visited and at what time. The headmaster called these The Rules of the School. Periodically when he came across something of which he did not approve of he would say this was against tlie Rules of the School. They seemed to be made up on the spot. No one ever saw them written down and I was amazed to find some of them recorded in CoUn (Dan) Mowatt's book "The Old Sarge". When Canon Morris told me the story of his fining the TYinity College students for breaking the rules and not telling them what the rules were, I immediately thought of the Rules of the School.

Boys were always known by their surnames. Christian names were never used. When there was more than one boy of the same name they were known as Primus, Secundus, Tertius. There was once a Decimus. For someone who dealt with hundreds of adolescent boys, he had an unusual dislike — noise. Paul Moni (1935-38) was caned six times on his first day at school for whistling in the locker room. Every boy learnt quickly not to do that.

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THE BOSS

In his late fifties, Canon Morris stood about 5 feet 9 inches of slim build and square shouldered. He walked in a slightly stiff way and in a jerky fashion, when he hurried. His hair which had been long in his youth was more closely cut and a little grey. His nose was long and slender with a bump on it and a rounded tip. The ears were big and close to the head.

His chin was firm and mouth straight. He always dressed in dark two piece suits. No subscriber to fashion, these were never double breasted. His shirt was white with a detachable collar and the tie was black.

Archbishop Wand made him an Honorary Canon of St John's Cathedral in 1935 and only after this did he wear a clerical collar. His hat was grey and the hat band black. There was the conventional dent in it and the brim was down in the front and up at the back.

His voice was slightly husky but clear with no accent, either Australian or EngUsh. He read very well. His writing was neat and legible and remained so. He always used a steel nib to write and never a fountain pen. He was a man without vanity.

As the school grew he taught only one subject, Latin, but he did take other classes for a period a week for scripture. When he entered the class room the boys would be quiet and stand. He always sat on a wooden chair in front of the class and tilted it backwards on its back legs and it stayed that way for most of the class as he discussed any topic he wished. Sometimes it was religion but it was mostly some general subject.

On one occasion he read to the boys about the Communists in China. He never lost his boyhood love of adventure and adventurers. In 1937, he told his class about a book "Don Roberto" written by R.B. Cunningham Grahame and his adventures in South America. When the school was divided into houses the names of two modern adventurers, Nansen and GrenfeU, were used. The others were Magnus and Kingsley.

He loved the poetry of Browning and spoke of it at times. He wrote some verse himself and this was pubUshed in his retirement under the title Havenhome and other verses. He admired Charles Kingsley and his writings. Kingsley had been described as a muscular Christian and Morris can be described in the same way.

Canon Morris never interfered wjth the way a subject was taught by his masters. They nearly all helped with out of school activities e.g. coaching football, cricket, swimming or rowing, though there was no compulsion to do this.

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Subjects offered by the school were the languages, English, French, Latin with some Greek and later German, mathematics, history, geography, economics, physics and chemistry with bookkeeping and shorthand at times. These were the usual subjects taken for the Junior and Senior Public examinations. He was critical of the State Scholarship examination and thought the time in secondary school was too short. As the School became larger, the academic achievements of the boys both in public examinations and at universities were very impressive.

Canon Morris strongly believed that games were an important part of school life. There were six main sports, cricket, rugby union, athletics, swimming, rowing and tennis. Professional coaches were not admitted at the school and the masters did all of the coaching.

Cricket was a very important summer sport. Every boy learnt to play cricket in the backyard at home or in an adjacent paddock. At the school, the cricket oval was one of the first areas completed at East Brisbane. The turf wicket was first class and visiting international teams often practised there. Although it was not compulsory all boys were encouraged to play, particularly after the House system was introduced in 1935.

Rugby union was a game Morris admired even more than Australian rules which he had played at Melbourne Grammar and refereed at Geelong. He believed it to be the best game for school boys. It is a team game and everyone in the team had to perform with the other members. He did not encourage boys to play football for more than two years after leaving school. To him football was a sport and not a way of life.

Athletics were encouraged. Morris admired stamina and long distance running was his favourite. Sprinters were recognised but it was the long distance runners who were mostly appointed Captain of Athletics. All boys will remember his call to runners to "finish hard" at school meetings. He applauded the winner but he also clapped home the boy coming last.

Every boy soon learnt that lying on the ground or worse still, flinging oneself on the ground after a race was frowned on. Daniel Hart (1933-37) remembered this happening on one occasion. The headmaster hurried over to the boy. A lady among the spectators pointed out to her friend that the kind headmaster has gone over to see that the boy was all right. In reality, the headmaster was touching him in the ribs with his boot and saying "Get up, boy. We don't have dramatics here."

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Rowers and athletes wore short sleeved singlets. When asked if there was any thought of changing these to singlets without sleeves, the Headmaster replied, "We at the Church of England Grammar School do not believe in exposing our armpits."

Swimming as good exercise and pleasant recreation was encouraged from the early days at Toowong. Later at East Brisbane, a gravitational pool was built and boys were taught to swim there. At full tide Norman Creek was nearly 50 yards across and the various swimming tests were carried out there until the larger swimming pool was built.

These tests carried points in the house championship. The Viking was across the creek and back, a distance of nearly 100 yards. The River King was four times across and back. Once a year the Pocket King, a swim around the pocket of more than a mile, was held. Swimming was taught to save one's own life and life saving to save other people's lives. Few boys left school unable to swim. The school was represented in the G.P.S. Sports by many fine swimmers.

Canon Morris had rowed at Cambridge on the 'Cam' which was little wider than the Norman Creek at high tide. Rowing had become very popular there at the latter part of the 19th Century. In his early days in Brisbane, he rowed at the Toowong Rowing Club and with Dr Jackson on the Brisbane River. The boat shed was a very early building at East Brisbane. It was then said that at Churchie, if you rowed and did Latin, you could do no wrong.

In the 1930s the G.P.S. rowing regatta "the Head of the River" was held in the Milton Reach of the Brisbane River in fours. Canon Morris once told me that for some weeks before one race the C.E.G.S. first four and second four had raced. The second four won each time and became the first four. At the Head of the River, Mr P.M. Hamilton (Headmaster of the Brisbane Boys' College) came up to him and said "Morris, is it true what I have heard?" "It depends on what you have heard." "That you changed the crew of the second four for the first four". "Yes, they raced three times and the second crew won each time". "But, Morris" said Hamilton "What did the parents say.?"

Morris did not understand this at all. Parents were invited to the School on a few occasions a year. Once they had put their boys there, particularly the boarders, they became the responsibiUty of the school and the headmaster in particular. The decisions of school had nothing to do with the parents.

Miss Bessie Campbell told me a grazier from Western Queensland had come to Brisbane to see his wool sold and received a better price than expected. He celebrated a little and about 5 p.m. rang the school to see if his two boarding sons could come to dinner with him. Miss

542

Grace took the call and said she would ask the Head. The answer came back "No". The grazier became rather excited. When he calmed down he said, "I sent my boys to the School to get some discipUne and that is what they are getting."

Tennis was accepted as being a minor sport but the tennis courts were established very early and many boys and masters played there. There is a picture of the "Boss" playing but it was certainly not his favourite sport for growing boys.

EVERSLEY

In 1937 the school purchased a block of land about 320 acres in Kingston and Waterford as grazing and firewood country. It was named 'Eversley' after Charles Kingsley's parish in Hampshire.

It had an excellent swimming hole and a comfortable cottage suitable for day visits and for school camps. The boys and the Headmaster, when he was able, enjoyed them greatly.

One Saturday in 1938 I was one of five boys who spent an enjoyable day at the farm with the Headmaster who loved the bush and wearing old clothes. We were driven from the school in the school truck by Wally Coates the caretaker. Canon Morris never learnt to drive a car.

World War II curtailed the use of the farm and some of the timber was cut to make way for an American airfield. Later the cottage was destroyed by fire.

In the Headmaster's last report to the School Council in 1946 he said 'Eversley' could be developed in the years of peace though neglected in the years of war. At least a cottage should be built there for weekend and Saturday parties. Some day perhaps, in the distant future, a section of the school might be transferred there. This proposal was similar to that for the establishment of 'Timbertops' as a branch of Geelong Grammar School in 1951 by its then headmaster Dr J.R. Darling. The School Council however had different plans and 'Eversley' was sold in 1954.

THE ENGLISH INFLUENCE

Sir James Darling has written to me and said that there were two types of Nineteenth Century headmaster, those following Arnold and those following Thring.

Arnold was the headmaster of Rugby School in England from 1828-1841. He changed Rugby from a place where the classics and a amount of general knowledge were learnt to a place where the intellectual and the moral life harmoniously blended as a training place for Christian gentlemen. Arnoldianism was followed throughout the English speaking world.

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Thring became headmaster of a school Uppingham from 1853-1887. His attitude to school was more liberal than Arnolds'. The book Learning to Lead, a history of girls and boys corporate schools in Australia, said Arnold had established a prefect system, expelled hopeless scholars and reprobates, established a chapel with the headmaster as chaplain, and established houses for boarders under the managements of the teaching staff, an Old Boys Association and houses for day boys for sports.

The school sporting activities were important as well as the Cadet Corps. School identity with uniforms, school colours, a crest and motto, a school magazine and song were also a part of the Arnold plan. Finally cultural enrichment included voluntary clubs, school mission and some form of social service.

Morris foUowed most of Arnold's teaching as did most headmasters in AustraUa. There were some differences. There never was a school song and this was probably because Canon Morris was tone defective. The great area missing was cultural activities. Apart from a debating society and camera club, there was little, music, art or drama.

No form of social service was undertaken by the school. However on Fridays, a collection known as the Friday Fund was taken up in chapel and donations from it were made to charitable causes. The only hymn long enough to last for the whole of the collection was "Onward Christian Soldiers" and this was sung every Friday. It was not long before the boys knew all the verses off by heart and these were sung with great gusto.

From the beginning in 1931 until his retirement Canon Morris was a member of the Headmasters' Conference of which Dr J.R. (now Sir James) Darling was one of the founders. Our Proper Concerns by J. Wilson Hogg, a history of the conference says at the second meeting in 1933, the matter of sex education was discussed and it was decided that biology including some study of human physiology should be an ordinary school subject. Sex was never discussed or taught at Churchie in Morris' day and it is doubtful if it was in other Queensland boys' schools.

At the Conference in 1939 Morris stated, "I have a fundamental question. What is the reason for the continued existence of our schools (i.e. Independent schools) — traditions, social distinctions; or superiority of the staff, or the fact that the boys may get good positions?"

He ended by saying that with the great increase in secondary education provided by governments, the sole difference in kind between Independent and State schools was the matter of Christian education.

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At the 1943 meeting of the Conference Canon Morris proposed a "Charter" which was adopted. The first two clauses were i. The first object of church schools is the training of character on the foundation of the Christian faith, ii. The second object is to train boys for their life's work and to encourage them to regard that work as a vocation in the service of God and the community.

In a letter, Sir James Darling said Morris was first a priest and secondly a schoolmaster, and considering the discussion of the Conference it would be hard to dispute this, but the boys would disagree with this assessment. Every school day began with a chapel service of 15 minutes with a hymn, the reading of a lesson and prayers. The boarders had a service on Sunday which was compulsory and a voluntary communion service.

Religion was rarely mentioned at other times. This apparent paradox seems to be explained by his speech at the opening of the Canon Jones Memorial Chapel in 1925 in which he said that "...The chapel must not be thought of as a barracks where the cadets of the church were drUled in doctrine..." He believed the school was a Christian Community with Christian values and the boys did not need to have further religion hammered into them every day.

Canon Morris was a reUgious man. He was brought up in a reUgious family and he was a great admirer of Jesus. When his ideal to do social work was denied him, he chose school mastering. His friend Dr E.S. Jackson once wrote of him as having 'missionary zeal', but he was very tolerant of other people's views.

Perhaps this reflects his time in Whitechapel. Dr Keith Rayner, the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Primate of Australia, was a boy at the school from 1943-46 and in a letter he stated, "My own assessment of Canon Morris is that he could best be described as 'broad church'. Theologically he would have been fairly liberal in outlook without great emphasis on dogmatic reUgion, but in styles of worship he would have been in favour of simplicity and lack of ceremonial."

WAR AND RETIREMENT YEARS

The War years were very difficult for Morris personally and, for the school. His general health began to deteriorate in the early 1940s. He developed arthritis of his left hip. The first sign was when a member of his family told him he was not sitting straight on a horse. In 1942, this became worse and he was hospitalised missing Speech Day.

Crutches were used for the rest of his life. In 1945, he fractured his right leg in a fall down some stairs and wore a walking calliper. His niece, Mrs Joan Stewart, recalled Canon Morris visiting Leintwardine, the family country home at Upper Beaconsfield, where

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he was always welcome after World War II. He had to swallow a stomach tube to remove excess fluid. This was caused by a partial obstruction due to a duodenal ulcer which first developed in the early 1940s and was a major contribution to his death.

His illness was aggravated by the difficulties during the war years. He was a war casualty in the same way as were other older civilians who had to shoulder a much heavier load. During the War, twelve of his masters enUsted in the forces and were replaced by older teachers both male and female. While these were competent, the authority of the young masters outside of school hours was missed.

Obtaining domestic staff was almost impossible. The boys took over many of the domestic duties as well as gardening. The school was very lucky to have Colin (Dan) Mowatt, a World War I veteran as School Sergeant who helped greatly towards the smooth running of the school.

Canon Morris, Miss Grace and Miss Bessie retired to 'Havenhome' at Redcliffe at the end of 1946. He was 68. The Boss read and played croquet and looked forward to visits from his old friends. His health remained indifferent. He attended School functions whenever possible.

He gave up being an external examiner for clerical students which he held from 1936-1946. In 1955 The Queen honoured Canon Morris by creating him an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 1957, they moved to 'Triolet' in East Brisbane. Miss Grace died soon after and Miss Bessie had a period of iU health. The Boss stiU had a great interest in the School. He saw the original plans for the Hall which now bears his name and pointed out they did not fit in with the architecture of the other buildings. Some changes were made to the plans. He discussed with me a plan for 'Triolet' the house in Sinclair Street to be left to the school to start a preparatory school as there was not enough room in Oaklands Parade. It was mentioned in his will but nothing came of it.

I left East Brisbane in February 1959 to do post graduate work in Melbourne. Late that year on a visit to Brisbane, I called at the house, knocked on the back door and was invited to enter. Canon Morris was sitting on a high stool in the kitchen drying the dishes. We chatted briefly and I left never to see him again.

He died at St Martin's Hospital on 21st May 1960 aged 81. The cause of death was broncho-pneumonia, pyloric obstruction and chronic duodenal ulceration. His funeral service was held at the School Chapel on 24th May with due Church and Cadet Corps ceremony. The cortege moved around the flat and along Oaklands Parade lined by the boys of the School on the way to Mt Thompson where he was cremated. The ashes are in the School Chapel near the altar.

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Canon Morris' achievement of starting a school in 1912, remaining its headmaster for 35 years and leaving with the number of boys on the roll at 650 — 150 in the Preparatory School and 500 in the Main School — was indeed splendid.

In 1946 the Brisbane Boys' College had about 250 boys and the Brisbane Grammar School with no preparatory school had about 360 boys. This growth happened during the period in which there were two world wars and a major economic depression. Surely a remarkable story of success. What caused this success?

Certainly it was a Church of England school and the Church of England had more members in the community than any other church but many of the boys were not Anglicans. There was not another Protestant boys' secondary school in the region but many boys came from the other side of Brisbane. The school had magnificent grounds but other schools had good grounds. The school had very fine teaching staff but so did others. The school had sporting and scholastic successes but it was not alone in this. The school fees were not high but they were higher than other schools. The C.E.G.S boys were considered by the outside community to be polite with good manners. These fine attributes were mainly taught at home, although reinforced at school. The headmaster was known in the general community but he had no high profile there.

So what caused this success? Whatever way it is looked at, the answer must always be Canon Morris. The school had the advantage of being under the direction of one man with a clear view of where he was going. His period as headmaster has been described in various ways including guided democracy, benevolent dictatorship and autocracy. Whatever description one might like to use, there can be no doubt that nothing occurred at the school of which he as not aware or which he did not originate.

To start with nothing and six years later to have land suitable for a large school and a school building on it and more than 100 boys was a great achievement in itself. For the whole of the 35 years and later he was the driving force. He knew what he wanted and what he wanted he got.

The remarkable growl;h in the school in the 1930s, both in buUdings and in numbers was due to him. He was always two or three buildings ahead. During most of the Depression years, the school grew and the Headmaster rarely left it except at holiday time. He visited all parts of the grounds regularly, at first on foot and later on his mare "Kitty" accompanied by his dog "Buff", a present from Mr and Mrs J.A. Hunt.

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The boys held him in awe and respected him. For them he was the Boss. Any boy who attended the school in his time was influenced by him.

He had help. The Archbishops aU supported him. The School Council remained loyal to him and the Council members were his friends and were often the school's spokesmen in the Synod. But Morris was the man who made it all happen. Like the captain of a ship, the headmaster of any school has a lonely job. Although he can have all the advice in the world, he was the one who had to make the day to day decisions. If they were wrong, he took the blame. Morris was quite willing to make the decisions. Miss Grace Campbell, an old friend and bursar of the School had a very strong character and helped him with those decisions.

Very few people knew of him outside Queensland and yet in Queensland many thousands knew him through his boys who admired him greatly and often spoke of him. It was a pleasure for them to see him. He had a remarkable influence on their lives.

He had taught them the meaning of the word loyalty, the importance of having a good character, of having a well trained and cultured mind and of aiming at leadership and initiative. Some of these had been taught in the home but strongly reinforced at school and in the Chapel. Canon Morris had all these attributes and gave real leadership. He would have been proud that so many of his Old Boys have followed his example.

How can we assess this man? What has he left behind him? He has left the school. Since his day it has gone from strength to strength. It is a great school. This great school could have been founded only by a great man and the Boss, WiUiam Perry French Morris was a great man.