The act of generosity that transformed our Jubilee

Former Old Melburnian President Edwin Currie (OM 1881) is remembered in the 1939 Melburnian as a “generous and unselfish” man who “stood for all that is best in the School tradition”. During his time as President more than 100 years ago, this generosity of spirit would change the fabric of our School.

A family history of excellence

The son of pioneering sheep farmer John Lang Currie, Edwin Currie took over his father’s property, the 30,000-acre Gala Estate, some years after graduating. He eventually became known as one of the most experienced pastoralists in Victoria, serving as President of the Sheep Breeders Association, and continuing to enter his flock into competition right up until his death in 1938.

Currie was also committed to his community more broadly, serving as the first president of the Victorian Country Cricket League, a long-time member of the Melbourne Cricket Club committee, and as President of the Old Melburnians in both 1911 and 1912. It was through the Old Melburnians that Currie would contribute a lasting gift to Melbourne Grammar School.

Making a much-needed jubilee gift

In 1908, Melbourne Grammar’s Jubilee (50-year anniversary) provided an opportunity for the School community to come together to celebrate the past and also look towards the School’s next phase.

In recognition of the milestone, the Old Melburnians Council established The Old Melburnians Fund as a mechanism for Old Melburnians to support various improvements to buildings and grounds. It complemented the School’s own Jubilee Fund.

“We trust that the result of the two [funds] will be that so far as our School is concerned, the boys of today, and of the future, will have advantages equal to those enjoyed at any school, whether in the Old World or here,” reported the 1907 Melburnian.

One of the projects which the Old Melburnians were keen to fund was the building of a “Jubilee Wing” – a bluestone building facing the chapel square which is still used by today’s students and staff.

Having already made a sizeable donation to The Old Melburnians Fund at the onset, Currie was only too willing to step in when The Old Melburnians Fund ultimately encountered a shortfall of £250 – around $20,000 in today’s currency – from the amount needed for the final stages of the building of the Jubilee Wing.

The 1912 Melburnian states that, as The Old Melburnian President, Currie was “desirous of making some gift to the School to mark his year of office, and [although the School was willing to meet the shortfall,] he was also anxious that the building should be entirely provided by Old Melburnians.”

To commemorate this gift, the President of the School Council, Archbishop Clarke presented Edwin Currie with an engraved silver trowel as both a memento and for him to use when knocking the foundation stone of the new Jubilee Wing into place at the laying of the foundation stone ceremony on 13 April 1912.

This trowel was kept in the Currie family until last year, when it was gifted back to the School by two of Currie’s great-grandsons, Alan Street (OM 1973) and Philip Street (OM 1973). It is now a treasured item within the School Archives.