Founded in 1866, Wesley College turned 160 years old this year. It is worth pointing out that this is a long time ago.
The founders of the College were motivated by their faith, and by the sincere belief that education had the power to transform lives. They were Methodists and would have once been known as dissenters or non-conformists. This Methodist tradition is still within the DNA of the College. Each of the founders brought great gifts to the school.
Walter Powell made a fortune selling iron ware – pots, pans, shovels – to the miners during the Gold Rush of the 1850s that transformed Melbourne. He chose to use this fortune to endow two institutions of Melbourne that endure to this day. Both were named for John Wesley. The Wesley Methodist Church (now Uniting Church) in Lonsdale Street was the first. In a back room of this church, the idea of Wesley College was conceived.
If Walter Powell sparked the funding, Reverend Daniel Draper drove the building. Starting life as a carpenter, he entered the Ministry of the Methodist Church, moved to Australia and built churches wherever he was. He helped drive the fundraising and then the building of the College.
Our notable third founder is Reverend James Waugh, the first President of the College and the man who helped shepherd Wesley College during its uncertain first few decades.
They were joined in their endeavours by countless other women and men who devoted their time, their treasure and their endeavour to the establishment of Wesley College.
It is right and proper, therefore, that the College pause for a moment to express gratitude for the College that is. Over the past 160 years, there have been many triumphs and some tragedies. The College has succeeded in fulfilling the dreams of its founders and, at times, has failed. Schools are the most human of institutions, and attendant to that are human successes and failings.
Needless to say, the founders of Wesley College would not recognise the school it has become. Over such a long span of time, institutions must adapt or run the risk of disappearance. If the founders could see what they had wrought, I have no doubt that a coeducational school of some 3,400 students would astound them.
One of the things that would perhaps raise an impressive eyebrow would be the manner in which Founders’ Day is celebrated. It is my privilege as Principal to have attended all the celebrations this year. They have ranged from the raucous (those of you at the Founders’ Day Gala will know exactly what I mean) to the slightly surreal. I think particularly of the Founders’ Day assembly at the Glen Waverley Campus, where the entire official party were impersonated by mini versions of themselves. I suppose you had to be there!
I have also attended celebrations in New York City and London, which were filled with Old Wesley Collegians, past parents and future parents. Some of the above were travelling and some have made a life far from Melbourne but remain connected. I have, once again, been reminded of the importance, and extent, of community.
This brought to mind the words to the Founders’ Day Song, sadly not sung all that often nowadays, but once sung traditionally on Founders’ Day:
When grey North waters quiver,
And sun beats fiercely down,
You’ll find Collegians working
in almost every town
New York, Canton or ‘Frisco,
No matter where you roam –
You’ll meet Old Wesley students,
Ten thousand miles from home.
That was written 119 years ago, by L A Adamson and a student, Burnett Gray (OW1902). Perhaps there are some things that never change.
Nick Evans (OW1985)