Charles Steedman was headmaster of Williamstown Grammar School from 1870-76 and 1885-90. In 1870, under agreement with school trustees, Sir George Verdon and John Courtis, he leased the school under a seven-year lease, effectively saving it from closure. Steedman had previously been manager of Sandridge Baths and a champion swimmer of Victoria. His 1867 book, 'Manual of Swimming', was the first major technical contribution to the sport of speed swimming and water safety, for which Steedman was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2006. As headmaster of Williamstown Grammar, Steedman initiated a student produced school paper called 'The Schoolboy' (surviving editions can be accessed at the State Library of Victoria), added swimming lessons to the curriculum and opened enrolment to girls in 1885. The book contains nine illustration plates featuring line drawings of a human figure in the positions detailed by Steedman in his text. These drawings are attributed to O.R. Campbell. Oswald Rose Campbell is best known for his appointment (1876-1886) as drawing master of the School of Design, a department of the Public Library, Museums and National Gallery of Victoria. He taught (and famously disagreed with) the likes of celebrated Australian artists, Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin. O.R Campbell taught drawing and painting at Williamstown Grammar in the early 1870s.

The book holds historic significance for Westbourne Grammar School, having been written by a former headmaster and very important figure in the history of the school. It evokes our early history as an emerging grammar school with links to prominent athletes, artists and gentry of colonial Melbourne.

Blue cloth covered case-bound book, with debossed decorative scrollwork in each corner and in the centre of front cover, and gilt lettering on the spine. 270 numbered pages, nine illustration plates (one adjacent to title page, eight as end pages).

On title page, handwritten inscriptions in brown coloured ink. Possibly ‘Joshua Saggs Esq. / With the authors compliments’ and below, in different handwriting and darker ink, ‘To dear Flossie from Grandma 1901’.

williamstown, sandridge baths, swimming, colonial melbourne, art, williamstown grammar

The origin of this pennant is unknown. It is in excellent condition and is the only one of its kind in the heritage collection.

Navy blue triangular felt pennant with a sewn on yellow fabric and tabs along the left edge. The school logo (yellow and white) and the words 'Williamstown Grammar' are stencilled in yellow on the front.

strathmore grammar, school emblem

This altar cloth is one of a set of four of various sizes, embroidered and donated by a parent for the opening of the school's chapel. The chapel was completed in 1989 and officially dedicated 'in thanks for the work of J.R. Pascoe' in March 1990. Religious instruction has never formed part of the curriculum at Westbourne but Christian values have underpinned the school's identity since its very early days. Recognising the importance of spirituality to the broader life of a school, Principal John Pascoe set about building a small chapel at the Truganina campus. In 1988, Reverend George DuRink was appointed as inaugural chaplain, in time to advise on the chapel design, and remained at the school for more than twenty years. Reverend DuRink's friendly, inclusive approach to ministering, drawing largely on his extensive knowledge of philosophy and ethics, and welcoming the many faiths and cultures that came to the school from the growing surrounding community, set the tone for the spiritual dimension of education at Westbourne. An integral part of the fabric of the school, the chapel has been a place to gather for comfort and support during difficult times, a place for quiet reflection and at times a place for music and celebration.This altar cloth has historic significance as it is associated with the very beginning of the Westbourne chapel and was used in the chapel for many years.

A rectangular piece of evenweave fabric with a fringed edge and cross stitched with a blue border around the entire piece and a yellow and green Westbourne logo facing the short edge at one end.

In 1975 a School Council subcomittee was formed to select a new principal to instigate the development of secondary schooling at Williamstown Grammar. By 1977 the appointed principal, John Roberts Pascoe, had worked tirelessly assessing options in and around Williamstown and looking for support for the school's expansion plans. He found that support in the Werribee Council and Werribee community, which recognised the potential of an independent school for the expanding area. In 1977, based on demographic research and feasibility studies, fifty acres of land was purchased on Sayers Rd. at Truganina (then Werribee). This photograph shows that land, the site for the new secondary school for Williamstown Grammar, looking east at the corner of Sayers Rd & Marquands Rd, which would be a very different view today.

Colour photograph of a cloudy sky and cleared land with a perspective line of telegraph poles extending from the right into the middle background.

campus, secondary, expansion

This reproduction photograph was donated at a major reunion in 2008, organised by students of the school from the 1950s. It pictures Mabel Molland and a young student at Monomeith, home to the school since 1956. Monomeith is a Victorian Heritage Register listed (VHR number H0452), italianate styled brick villa, built in 1887 for one of Williamstown’s most important identities, James Styles. Styles’ distinguished career in public life included membership of the Williamstown Council, a stint in state parliament as the Member for Williamstown (1894-1900) and, in 1901, election to the first commonwealth parliament as a senator. During the 1890s he was also a commissioner of both the Melbourne Harbour Trust and the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works and one of the trustees of the Williamstown Grammar School. The property comprises the residence designed by W Bennett Hall and built by James Styles in 1887 and the former migrant hostel buildings (now administration and classrooms), erected around 1951 by the then owner the Melbourne Harbour Trust, and intended to house migrant workers during the dredging of Port Phillip Bay. By the 1950s, the School had outgrown its home at Holy Trinity Hall and Mabel Molland reached out to Mr. Keith White, president of the Parent's Association and well-respected member of Williamstown Council for assistance. In 1956, following lengthy negotiations led by Mr. White, Monomeith was leased from the Melbourne Harbour Trust under a seven-year lease, which eventuated as a twenty-one year lease, followed by purchase of the property in 1972. Since then this historic building has come to be a much-loved symbol of the history of Westbourne Grammar School. This is a rare image of Mabel Molland at Monomeith, taken in the year prior to her retirement having taken over the school in 1914 and then set it on a path for the future as an incorporated company in the hands of a school council, with Mr Keith White as president, in 1956.

Black and white reproduction photograph of a a residence (Monomeith) with steps in the middle ground, leading up to a verandah with ornate ironwork. Mabel Molland stands on the steps and a young student can be seen on the verandah.

In search of regular sports competition, Westbourne joined a number of sporting associations, including the Ballarat Public Schools Association (BPSA). Participation in sports teams, often with Saturday morning fixtures requiring overnight billeting in various towns, became compulsory for all students in 1986. In 1997 Principal Geoffrey Ryan was involved in the foundation and implementation of a new Association of Co-educational Schools (ACS) that would streamline sports competition for Westbourne. Other foundation schools were Eltham College, Loyola College, St Leonards College and St Michael’s Grammar School. Based on principles of inclusiveness, equal sporting opportunities for boys and girls, participation, commitment and competitiveness, the major advantage of the new ACS competition was that ‘all fixtures will be completed after school during the week in time for students to catch late buses home’ (Geoffrey Ryan, Principal’s Newsletter, December 1997).

Felted wool cap in alternating black and yellow segments with a black peak and the letters 'B.P.S.A' appliqued on the front yellow segment.

sport, interschool sport, physical education

This original photograph is printed on Kodak photo postcard paper dating from 1908-1914. It belonged to the Anthony family who sent six children to Williamstown Grammar. The eldest, Queenie Anthony, commenced in 1908. In 1914, when the original building was gifted to the Education Department to establish Williamstown High School, Queenie and her siblings remained with Mabel Molland, moving to Holy Trinity Hall, to complete their primary school years. The teacher seated at the right is not Mabel Molland, who commenced in 1911. This is possibly Miss Molland's predecessor, Miss Towl. Research is underway to identify students in the photograph.

Black and white photograph of a group of students in four rows with Denis Gerity standing at the left and a woman seated at the right. A board is placed before the front row with the letter 'WGS'. The photograph is printed onto postcard stock branded Kodak Austral.

Handwritten inscriptions on the back include the word 'Anthony' three times (one in the top half, two in the bottom half) and a large smudge in the bottom right corner - all in light blue ink. Also possibly 'Old Grammar School Pupils of Mr. Gerity' and 'Mrs' in black ink. There is name and address inscribed in dark blue writing ink along the left edge. A number '14' in graphite in the stamp box and a further number '1' encircled and underlined in dark blue ink in the bottom right corner.

Principal John Pascoe stands behind Senator John L. Carrick as he speaks at the official opening of stage 1 building of the new campus at Truganina, February 1979. Classes began in temporary classrooms a year earlier and students reflected on the hive of activity while buildings went up around them in the 1978 yearbook, Literata: 'We still had to put up with the noise of the builders finishing the building' D.W 'There was hardly anything to be taught in...I thought it was disorganised, lonely and hectic' K.H. 'I do not know how the workers completed the school in such a short time' A. DiM. In a longer piece, past student and school captain, Fiona Kellett, wrote: 'Where once there were just paddocks, we now have a fine school, of which we are very proud. In the years to come this school will become bigger and everyone will see their dreams and hard work fulfilled'.

Black and white photograph of a group of people seated facing a stage. On the stage, four students stand to the left of a podium at which Senator John. L. Carrick is speaking.

This medal was donated by past student Cyril Brown in 2012. He received the award at Speech Night 1928 for attending school for three years without missing a day. This award was not given lightly. In 1926 Mabel Molland said in her Speech Night report, ‘Lorna Banks would have gained the gold medal for three years in succession had she not become ill one week before the school closed’. This medal has historic significance as a medal awarded to a past student and kept for 84 years. It is a rare example of the 3 Years Medal, without which we would not know the physical form of the award, mentioned in a number of Speech Night reports. The Westbourne Grammar Heritage Collection also contains an oral history interview with Mr. Brown which adds to the comparative significance of this item.

Small gold medal featuring a shield inside a circle with a small ring at the top which attaches to the ring bail. The front of the shield has decorative engraving of letters 'WGS'. The reverse has engraved words, '3 Years/1928/C. Brown'. There are three hallmarks stamped below the engraved words on the reverse.

In 1914 the Williamstown Grammar School trustees transferred trust in the school grounds and donated the original school building to the Department of Education to establish a state government high school for Williamstown. This meant the dissolution of the Williamstown Grammar school board and the school's senior students either went on to other grammar schools around Melbourne or enrolled at Williamstown High School. Williamstown High School continues today and the original Williamstown Grammar School building is still in use in the school grounds at Pasco Street. This would have been the end of Williamstown Grammar if not for the highly respected young head of the junior school, Mabel Molland. At the Williamstown Grammar School Speech Night at the end of 1914, the Williamstown Chronicle (Saturday 26 December 1914) reports that management of the school has been taken over by Mabel Molland and that she addressed the assembly saying, 'acceding to the expressed wish of many, I decided to carry on the junior school, and wish to thank the parents for their hearty cooperation in my undertaking'. The reputation of Mabel Molland as a teacher of enormous ability and continuing support from the community would enable the school to survive through depression, war and troubled finances, to see the reinstatement of a school board in 1956, the reintroduction of secondary education in 1978 and a now thriving multi-campus independent P-12 school in Melbourne's west. This photograph is the earliest known image of Mabel Molland (standing in the the third row, second from the right) with her students. The group is pictured in the grounds of the Holy Trinity church hall on the corner of Aitken and Pasco Streets, Williamstown, which was home to the School from 1915 to 1956.

Black and white reproduction image on photographic paper of students in four rows with trees in the background, a board in the front row with the words Strathmore/Grammar School/Williamstown. Mabel Molland stands at the right and her sister, Mavis Molland, stands at the left.

holy trinity hall, strathmore grammar, whole school photograph

This was the uniform of junior girls from the 1960s until the new campus for secondary students began at Truganina in 1978. Shortly after the opening of the secondary campus a new dress, green in colour, was adopted for all girls. This summer uniform dress, donated by a past parent, was handmade and worn by a prep student in 1977. It is a rare example of the school dress from this period. Together with a dress pattern and a sample of the same fabric donated by another past parent, these items have historic significance and interpretive capacity. Current students enjoy learning about how different the provision of school uniforms was not so long ago, as Westbourne uniforms can now be ordered online.

Small belted dress in blue checked pattern with white collar and sleeve cuffs and three white buttons down the front.

This card was sent to a student of the school in the 1950s. It was donated to the heritage collection along with another personal letter from Principal Molland, sent to the student when she was away from school, ill with measles. The card demonstrates the personal attention that students received from Mabel Molland and has historic significance and interpretive capacity in understanding the kind of leader and educator that Mabel Molland was.

Small card with printed front, featuring a yellow circle in the centre with areas of red at the top and bottom. The image in the yellow circle consists of two birds on a lower tree branch and a further bird on an upper thin branch surrounded by blue flowers. Predominant colours are yellow, red, green and blue.

Inside the card there is a message to a student. The message is signed M.M. Molland.

The navy felt hat was part of the girls winter uniform and this example, in excellent condition, was donated by a past student who wore it in the 1970s.

Navy blue felt bowler style hat with ribbon hat band. The hat band is navy blue with a thin stripe of color (yellow, white, yellow) around the top of the band. There is a Williamstown Grammar School hat badge sewn onto the hat band at the side.

school uniform, williamstown grammar

The school badge was sewn onto the straw hat in summer and the navy blue felt hat in winter, making use of the voids in the badge to pass thread through. This badge shows the name Strathmore, which was added to the school name, officially Strathmore Williamstown Grammar, by Principal Mabel Molland in 1914. When the school name reverted to Williamstown Grammar the hat badge remained the same with the word Strathmore replaced by the word Williamstown. This badge was donated by a past student who wore it in the 1950s.

Oval shaped enamelled brass badge with a central white symbol representing a bishop's mitre above a blue banner with the school motto, AGE QUOD AGAS. The mitre and motto are surrounded by voids and encircled by a blue belt with words STRATHMORE GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

Makers Mark: WEBB MELB

strathmore grammar, mabel molland, uniforms

This torch was made for Westbourne Grammar School by the Williamstown Naval Dockyard to symbolise the relationship between the two campuses and to perpetuate the new campus at Truganina. The Williamstown campus at Monomeith had been leased since 1956 (and purchased in 1972) from the Melbourne Harbour Trust which had operated the Williamstown Naval Dockyard between 1924 and 1942. In 1978, when this torch was made for the school, the Dockyard was operated by the Royal Australian Navy. At the first assembly of the new campus in 1978 the torch was presented to the school by the Williamstown Naval Dockyard General Manager, Bob Fife. It was then passed, with flame, to every student and teacher present at the assembly. Reflecting on the occasion in the 1978 edition of the school yearbook, student Eileen Moffatt wrote, 'It was our first assembly and we were reminded that we were pioneers'. The torch symbolises the long association of the school with Williamstown's naval and shipping industry and community, and the continuing link between the historic Williamstown Grammar and the new in 1978, Westbourne campus. It demonstrates support for the growth of the school by the historically significant Williamstown Naval Dockyard which includes the Victorian Heritage Register listed Alfred Graving Dock (VHR number H0697).

Copper plated torch comprising two parts, the torch with handle and a separate base. The torch features a Williamstown Grammar School badge soldered to the cup which contains the reservoir for fuel.

In the early days of the establishing the new secondary campus many of the school signs were handmade, often by staff member Frank Scambler, but also by dedicated parents and friends of the school. This sign is representative of the 'handmade' nature of school signage during the early establishment of the Westbourne Truganina campus.

Glass panel with the front painted with blue background and "WESTBOURNE" hand painted in yellow. A thin gold film has been adhered to the top and bottom edges. The reverse is spray painted in yellow and blue and a piece of masking tape containing inscriptions is adhered to the middle.

On the masking tape on the reverse, "AZURE/ BLUE/ 2 OFF.

A co-curricular activity offered by the school while Eileen Price was Principal was the Junior Red Cross Home Nursing course. Despite troubled finances and low enrolments, Eileen Price focused on modernising the curriculum, introducing for example, an Individual Maths Program (IMP) laboratory and expanding co-curricular activities to include excursions. The number of students pictured in this photograph amount to almost half the number of enrolled students in 1968.

Black and white photograph of a group of students in two rows. Some students wear the cape, badge and a head scarf of the Junior Red Cross.

This reproduction photograph was donated in 1986 during research for the first history of the school, 'The Westbourne and Williamstown Grammar Schools: A History of the First 120 Years (1867-1986)' by historian Joseph Johnson. It pictures female students in 1954. The students are pictured at Holy Trinity Hall which was situated behind the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Nelson Place, Williamstown. The hall was located on the corner of Aitken and Pasco Streets, Williamstown, and was home to the school for 41 years from 3 February 1915. In 2008, Holy Trinity Williamstown approached the school to take possession of and relocate the heritage listed building, so that the church could redevelop its property.The relocation of Holy Trinity Hall was an enormous task and very large commitment by Westbourne Grammar to its heritage. Considerations included cost, relocation logistics, architectural conservation, modern building codes and educational facility standards. In 2010, after more than two years of process between the Anglican Church and Westbourne Grammar, including approval from Heritage Victoria and assistance from the Labour government's Building the Education Revolution program, the Holy Trinity Hall was moved to the Truganina campus and once again became a site of gathering and learning for Westbourne Grammar students.

Black and white reproduction photograph. The image shows four rows of girls standing before a side wall of Holy Trinity Hall. A window is present behind the group of students and another window can be seen in the top right hand corner of the image.

On the verso, "1954 Girls" in black ink and "79" in a circle in blue ink.

The origin of this pennant is unknown. It is the only one of its kind in the heritage collection. A past student has suggested that it was possibly issued to students in the 1960s as a fundraiser.

Navy blue triangular felt pennant with the school logo (yellow and white) and the word 'Strathmore' painted (possibly stencilled) on the front in yellow paint.

This bell was used to begin and end recess and lunch breaks at Strathmore Williamstown Grammar School. It was introduced by Mabel Martha Molland, Principal (1914 - 1963) and was in use at the Williamstown campus until the installation of an electronic bell system in the early 2010s. It is known at the school as 'Miss Molland's Bell' and was featured in The Old School Tie exhibition at the Old Treasury Museum in 1999. The exhibition label for the bell read, 'This bell has been used to summon students to class for as long as anyone can remember, although it is reported that in Mr. Gerity's time (1897-1914) classes were "signalled by Gerity appearing at the door and waving an enormous white handkerchief the size of a bed sheet" (Reported in Johnson, J. 1987, The Westbourne and Williamstown Grammar Schools, pg. 37)'. The bell has historic significance as it originated with Mabel Molland, Principal (1914 - 1963), a very prominent figure in the history of the school and has been handled and used by countless students, assigned the coveted task of ringing the bell, over many years.

Brass bell with a turned wood handle. The are five parallel grooves near the top of the handle and two near the middle. The bell has two parallel grooves around the fluted sound rim. The clapper is attached, with a twisted piece of 1mm diameter single strand wire, to a d-ring inside the head of the bell.

mabel molland, strathmore grammar, school bell