Toowoomba Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding grammar school for boys, in East Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia.
Toowoomba Grammar was established in 1875, the third school to be established under the Grammar Schools Act 1860. It has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,169 students from Prep to Year 12, including 300 boarders from Years 5 to 12.
Some of the Toowoomba Grammar School buildings are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.
Contents
History
The school was founded in 1875 as a consequence of the Grammar Schools Act of 1860 passed by Queensland's first parliament. The original building was designed by Willoughby Powell. The foundation stone was laid on 5 August 1875; it was to be laid by the Governor of Queensland, William Cairns but due to his illness, Justice Charles Lilley performed the ceremony. A bottle (time capsule) was placed in a cavity in the stone containing two local newspapers, coins of the realm and a parchment commemorating the event and listing the names of the foundation trustees:
James Taylor, Member of the Queensland Legislative Council (treasurer)
S. G. Stephens (secretary)
G. H. Davenport
John Frederick McDougall, Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
William Graham, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Darling Downs
Edward Wilmot Pechey, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Aubigny
G. W. Elliott, P.M.
James Bubbered
the architect and contractor:
Willoughby Powell (architect)
John Garget (contractor)
and the aldermen of Toowoomba:
Robert Aland (mayor)
John Garget
James Campbell
Daniel Donavon
Affiliations
The school has been a member of the Great Public Schools' Association Inc (GPS) since 1920. It is also affiliated with the Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA), the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), and Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ).
Curriculum
The school uses the Queensland Curriculum throughout its education with the school broken down into two categories:
Junior School (Prep – Year 6)
Senior School (Year 7 – Year 12)
Students from Junior have set subjects which are decided upon by the class teacher whilst students who are in Year 7 and 8 move between classes and are exposed to various subject selections the school offers. During Year 9, a student can select three of their eight subjects as electives, while in Year 11, they are allowed to choose four electives and select their strands in their core subjects.
Houses
Taylor House – Taylor House was named in honour of the Hon. James Taylor, the first chairman of the board of trustees at the school. In the first colonial parliament, he represented the Western Downs in the Legislative Council and then later as Mayor of Toowoomba. He was well known for his contributions to the Benevolent Society and the hospital, as well as being the first president of the School of Arts and his promotion of the foundation of the Darling Downs Agriculture Society. As well as Active Development of the Clifford Park Race Way.
Prior to 1992, Taylor House was the boarding house for the year-nine students at the school, and in 2004 combined with Gibson House to form a combined day/boarding house. This boarding house is the smallest of the six currently on campus with plans for a new boarding house to be situated on the Parents and Friends' Oval, and the boarding house be renovated into the new "Engineering and Vocational Training Centre". The House's colour is black.
Boyce House – Boyce House takes its name from an old boy of the school, Mr Leslie Atherton George Boyce. Mr Boyce entered the school in 1911 as a Scholar of the State. In 1915 he entered the AIF and served in France, later to be wounded in 1917 and hence awarded the Military Cross for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of his platoon during an attack". On returning to Toowoomba, he became the chief executive officer of the Toowoomba Foundry, remaining as the Director until 1976.
Prior to 1992, Boyce House was home to Year 10 students and in 2004 along with the other houses was amalgamated with Henderson.
The boarding house exists next to the Margaret School entrance and is planned to be renovated into the "Culture Centre" focusing on all walks of artistic excellence on campus. With a new boarding house to be constructed alongside the new Taylor Boarding House. Within the boarding house it maintains four internal dormitories, these being Woodward, Fortescue, Robertson, and Clownes in Honour of famous Old Boys who gave their lives in the Great War and World War II. The house's Colour is Maroon.
Mackintosh House – Mackintosh House is the oldest of the schools houses, and is named after the school's inaugural headmaster, Mr John Mackintosh, who was appointed as headmaster in 1876. Born in Scotland in 1836, he excelled academically at Edinburgh University before sailing to Australia in 1861. He became immortalised at the school after he was killed when he was thrown from his horse while on a riding expedition to Helidon below the range.
Headmasters
1877–1879 John Mackintosh (died after being thrown from his horse)
1879 – F. R. Burkett (appointed but did not take up the position)
1879 – Mr Kingsmill (acting)
1879–1882 Mr Stephenson (dismissed)
1882–1888 Alfred Mortimer Nesbitt
1888–1890 Alexander Jenyns Boyd
1890–1900 Charles Corfe
1901–1910 William Alexander Purves
1910–1935 George Pitty Barbour
1936–1946 Henry Emmanuel Roberts
1947–1947 D.C. Griffiths
1947–1956 Robert Leslie Mills
1956–1961 Leonard Thomas (Len) Heenan
1962–1970 Charles Edward (Charlie) Olsen
1970–1991 Bill Dent
1992–2002 Hugh Rose
2003–2020 Peter B. Hauser
2021–present Dr John Kinniburgh
Notable alumni
Academia
Sidney William Jackson, naturalist and ornithologist
Eric Partridge, English language lexicographer
Culture and the arts
Bill Bolton MBE (1905–1973), philanthropist, Australian heritage collections
Harold Hopkins, film and TV actor
Barry Hunter, Anglican Diocese of Riverina
Alan Jones, radio broadcaster
Kyle Lindsay, Jazz artist
J. E. Macdonnell, fiction novelist
David Rowbotham, poet and journalist
Geoffrey Saba, classical pianist
Alfred Stephens (1865–1933), writer and literary critic
Military
Sir Harry Chauvel, World War I General
Cyril Clowes, World War II army Lieutenant General
Walter Coxen, World War I Major General
Cecil Foott, World War I army colonel
Sir Eric Woodward, military officer and Governor of New South Wales
Politics and public administration
Edwin Godsall, politician and Toowoomba mayor
Sir Littleton Groom, politician and former Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives
Sir Buri Kidu (1945–1994), first indigenous Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea
George Knowles, public servant and diplomat
Wellington Lee, Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne and pharmacist
Bruce Lehrmann, Former Liberal Party staffer proved on the balance of probabilities to have raped Brittany Higgins
Sandy McPhie, politician
Andrew Metcalfe, former public servant and policymaker
Clive Palmer, Mining magnate (attended for eight weeks, received a Track and Field Scholarship)
Sir Reginald Swartz, politician serving several decades
Sport
Will Brown, Supercars racing driver
Isaac Cooper, Australian Gold Medalist Swimmer – Tokyo 2020
Arthur Corfe, rugby union player for the Queensland Reds and Australian wallabies (1899)
Jordan Courtney-Perkins, Brisbane Roar defender
Matthew Denny, Olympic athlete
Jason Little, Rugby union player, one-time Australian captain
Martin Love, Australian cricketer
Benny Pike, Olympic athlete
Hunter Poon, first Chinese-Australian player of first-class cricket
Samson Ryan, AFL Footballer
Hamish Stewart, rugby union player for the Queensland Reds
Eli Adams, soccer player for the Newcastle Jets