The Hermitage (Australia)

Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School, The Hermitage was founded in 1906.[4][5][6] It was first proposed in a meeting between the Archbishop of Melbourne, Henry Lowther Clarke, and the Head Master of Geelong Church of England Grammar School, L.H. Lindon and opened with Sidney Austin as first Chairman Council and Elsie Morres[7] as first Headmistress.

Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School
The Hermitage
The school badge and motto - Esse quam videri
Location
Map

Coordinates38°8′58″S 144°20′45″E / 38.14944°S 144.34583°E / -38.14944; 144.34583
Information
MottoLatin: Esse quam videri
Religious affiliation(s)Anglican
Established14 February 1906 (1906-02-14)[1][2][3]
Closed1976

The Hermitage, a mansion in Newtown built for the Armytage family, was bought for £6,000 with the same amount being spent on wiring and furnishing the building and constructing an assembly hall.[8][9] The school advanced the education of girls in Australia in many ways including being the first girls' school to have a uniform and to have compulsory team sports. The curriculum combined academic subjects, crafts, and home economics, aiming to provide both what Miss Morres thought of as a serious education as given to boys and those things the families expected their girls to learn to be good wives.

In 1970, Krome House, the new middle school, was opened in Highton and in 1973 the rest of the school moved to the site. In 1976 C.E.G.G.S. "The Hermitage" amalgamated with Geelong Church of England Grammar School and Clyde School, which continue to-day as Geelong Grammar School.

Headmistresses edit

  • Miss Elsie Morres (1906–1933)
  • Miss Anne Peterson (1933–1942)
  • Miss Victoria Krome (1942–1962)
  • Mrs F.L. Coggin (1962–1968)
  • Miss Elizabeth Britten (1968–1975)

Houses edit

Mottoes in brackets

  • Austin (Honour above honours)
  • Morres (The chain is as strong as its weakest link)
  • School (Play up, play up, and play the game)
  • Volum (Non sibi, sed toti) Not for self, but for all

Coo-ee School Journal edit

Journal of The Hermitage published from 1910 until the school's amalgamation with Geelong Grammar School and Clyde School in 1976. Its title is shared with the school song, also Coo-ee.

References edit

  1. ^ "News of the Day". The Age. No. 15891. Victoria, Australia. 14 February 1906. p. 6. Retrieved 8 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia., ...The Church of England Girls' High School, Geelong, will be formally opened this after-noon by Lady Wrixon. The school consists of the well known residential property The Hermitage;...and is surrounded by five acres of land...For the opening term a large number of scholars have been enrolled, and the school is under the direction of Elsie Morres, M.A. who has been appointed principal...The local clergy will be present, and the diocese of Melbourne will be represented by Dean Vance and Archdeacon Hindley....
  2. ^ "Church of England Extension. New Grammar School at Geelong". Leader. No. 2590. Victoria, Australia. 26 August 1905. p. 26. Retrieved 8 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia., ...Arrangements have been made by the authorities of the Anglican Church to purchase The Hermitage, Geelong, for the purpose ,of a Church of England Grammar school for girls...the school will be opened at the beginning of the year...
  3. ^ "Girls High School. Openning Cermemony". Geelong Advertiser. No. 18, 369. Victoria, Australia. 15 February 1906. p. 4. Retrieved 8 December 2018 – via National Library of Australia. ,...The opening proceedings connected with the Church of England Girls' High School, Geelong, took place at the Hermitage yesterday...
  4. ^ Southall, Ivan (1956), The story of The Hermitage : the first fifty years of the Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School, Cheshire, retrieved 8 December 2018
  5. ^ Guile, Melanie (2014), Paton, Catherine (ed.), Proud to be women : a history of the Hermitage : Church of England Girls' Grammar School, Geelong 1906 -1975, Introduction by Griffiths, Deidre, [Corio, Victoria] The Hermitage Old Girls' Association Incorporated, ISBN 978-0-646-92039-9
  6. ^ Geelong Church of England Girls' Grammar School (1909), The Church of England Girls' High School, The Hermitage, Geelong, Church of England Girls' High School, retrieved 8 December 2018
  7. ^ Biography - Elsie Frances Morres Australian Dictionary of Biography
  8. ^ Fox, C (1940), The old Hermitage now the Church of England Girls Grammar School, at Newtown, Geelong, retrieved 8 December 2018
  9. ^ Pratt, Charles Daniel; Airspy (1936), [The Hermitage, Church of England Girl's Grammar School, Pakington Street, Newtown, Geelong], retrieved 8 December 2018