ALL Saints’ College’s 140th anniversary celebration culminated with a service in the historic chapel yesterday.
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The college has much to celebrate since it was founded in 1874 by the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst, according to head of college Dr Peter Miller.
All Saints’ College staff, students past and present, and parents gathered for a celebration at The Carrington on Saturday night, followed by yesterday’s service.
Dr Miller said yesterday’s display of historical items and photographs showcased some of the College’s long and proud history.
He said the College has undergone significant change since it was founded as an all boys’ school on its original Hope Street site, where Denison College stands today.
“It’s among the oldest in the country. It was the first Church of England school west of the ranges,” he said.
“It’s not a celebration of 140 years, but the first 140 years.”
The steady growth of the college meant that it became a co-educational school in 1977, when it amalgamated with Bathurst’s Marsden Anglican Girls’ School.
Among the College’s most famous ex-students are Australian journalist and historian C.W. Bean and Victoria Cross recipient Arthur Charles Hall.
During its long history, the College was temporarily closed in August 1919 following the end of World War I and fears of the Spanish Flu pandemic spreading to Australia.
Around this time, Dr Miller said, All Saints’ students were forced to sleep on open balconies in the fresh air to avoid the risk of contamination from the lethal disease.
In 1922, the need for a boys’ boarding school resulted in the purchase of Esrom House, along with 20 acres of adjoining land, to reopen the college in a new location.
Dr Miller has been at the “helm” of All Saints’ for the last six years, and said it is a great privilege.
“It’s a sense of stewardship and a sense of being a part of something,” he said. “I don’t think kids get that idea of being a part of something bigger than themselves.”