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Prince Alfred College

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Coordinates: 34°55′21″S 138°37′9″E / 34.92250°S 138.61917°E / -34.92250; 138.61917
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Prince Alfred College
Front oval and main building
Address
Map
23 Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town

Adelaide, South Australia
,
SA 5067
Coordinates34°55′21″S 138°37′9″E / 34.92250°S 138.61917°E / -34.92250; 138.61917
Information
Other namePAC, Princes, the Reds
TypeBoys
Independent/Private
Day & boarding
MottoLatin: Fac Fortia Et Patere
(Do Brave Deeds and Endure)
Religious affiliation(s)United Church (1977-)
Methodist Church of Australasia (1902-1977)
Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain) (1867-1902)
Established1867; 158 years ago (1867)
FounderT. G. Waterhouse
Chair of CouncilMr David Sanders
HeadmasterMr David Roberts
GenderBoys
Age range5–18
Capacity1,420
Area24.24 acres
Houses4
Colour(s)Maroon & White
  
SongPrince Alfred College Song
Princes Men
The School Hymn[1]
NewspaperPrinces Record
YearbookThe Chronicle
School fees$ 28,800
AffiliationsSports Association for Adelaide Schools
AlumniOld boys or Old Reds
Websitepac.edu.au
The Main Building from the preparatory school road, 2022.

Prince Alfred College is a private, independent, day and boarding school for boys, located on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town, near the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. One of the most expensive and oldest private schools in the state, it has educated Rhodes Scholars, leaders of industry and finance, senior public servants, politicians, explorers and sportsmen. The school has maintained a large, worldwide alumni network, called the Old Collegians' Association (PAOCA), since 1878.

There is presently an enrolment of some 1,420 students from Reception to Year 12 (ages 5 to 18), Prince Alfred College launched its own Early Learning Centre in 1999 with a current enrolment of 260 co-educational students.

As a school with Methodist roots, it has maintained a strong connection throughout its history to the dual ideals of "muscular Christianity and the Christian gentlemen", consciously seeking to shape the next generation of men through physical and intellectual discipline.[2] The school has a strong sporting culture and undertakes numerous outdoor programs. There is a historic sporting rivalry between the school and nearby St Peter's College, which has religious and intra-class origins.[3]

History

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The school has been the subject of two histories, one written by J. F. Ward (1883–1954) and one by Ronald Malcolm Gibbs (1938-2015).

1854 to 1945

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A lithograph of the completed main building with its wings.

First conceived in 1854, the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain) in South Australia voted to create a school 'for the education of our sons' in 1867, at what is now called Old Methodist Meeting Hall on Pirie Street.[4] The land in the suburb of Kent Town had been secured earlier at the sum of £2,750 with enough capital (£6,00) to build the first part of the main building. The creation of a Methodist school followed other successful attempts in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The new school was primarily intended to educate children of wealthy businessmen and farmers with a view to create future civic leaders steeped in 'large and liberal culture'.[5] At the time, Methodism accounted for an quarter of the colony's population, partly because of the influx of Cornish miners.[6]

T. G. Waterhouse and the Rev. John Watsford persuaded the Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly, to ask Prince Alfred, then Duke of Edinburgh, to lay the foundation stone at the new school during his tour of the Australian colonies.[7] In September it was announced that Alfred would lay the stone and that the new school would be the 'Alfred College'.[8] The stone was laid on 5 November 1867 at 2pm.

The only female student to attend the school was Lilian Staple Mead, daughter of Baptist minister Silas Mead, in 1883–1884, in order to matriculate and enter University at a time when few schools were available for girls to do so.[9][10][11]

1945 to 1999

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The school has attracted many royal visitors since its foundation, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1954. In the 1970s, the Prince Alfred College Foundation was created under the direction of businessman, W. Geoffrey Gerard.[12] Its first project was the Scotts Creek outdoor campus located at Mannum in country South Australia, before developments at the preparatory school, gymnasium and boarding house. The Foundation quickly became the financial arm of the school responsible for many major redevelopments.

The Methodist Church of Australasia amalgamated with other Protestant churches in 1977 to form the Uniting Church in Australia, which the school is now affiliated with.

2000 to present

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At one time, Princes was the only college in Adelaide to offer the IB Diploma at all three stages; the PYP and MYP are compulsory units of work for Preparatory and Middle school students, enabling its students to continue to complete the Diploma in year 11 and 12, or to be recognised nationally with the SACE.[13][14][15]

On Wednesday 18 April 2018, Elizabeth II's son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, visited Prince Alfred College, and participated in an unveiling a stone to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the College.[16] In 2019, Prince Alfred College celebrated its sesquicentenary 150th Anniversary.

The first female member of the school's leadership was appointed in 2024, Deputy Headmistress Georgina West.[17]

List of headmasters

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Campuses

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The original school campus is in the Adelaide suburb of Kent Town. The school also owns two other campuses, one for outdoor education in Scott's Creek, and the other in Point Turton named 'Wambana'.[20]

Kent Town

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Year 6 production of William-Shakespeare's 'The-Tempest', 2022.

The original and main campus is located in Kent Town, approximately 2 km east of the Adelaide city centre. The land, originally leased by Dr Benjamin Archer Kent from 1840 to 1859, then bought by Charles Robin,[21] was bought at auction from Charles Robin for £2750 on 18 September 1865.[citation needed] However, it was not until 22 June 1969 that the college celebrated its inauguration, two years after the laying of the foundation stone by H.R.H. Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.[22][23]

The school campus is divided by the main building, with the preparatory school on the Flinders Street (south) side of the school, and the middle and Senior schools on the Capper Street (north) side.

Scotts Creek Campus

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Scotts Creek campus is the college's Murray River retreat. The Scotts Creek Outdoor Centre is located near Morgan, approximately 165 km from Adelaide. It provides a mix of environmental education, adventure and personal development activities.[24]

Wambana Campus

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Wambana Campus is an off school ground recreational camp. The primary purpose of Wambana is to foster growth by helping adolescent boys better manage the transition to adulthood through immersion in community, academic, spiritual and outdoor adventures.[20]

Wambana is a six-acre (approx. 2.5 hectares) property situated on the coast of southern Yorke Peninsula, bordering the township of Point Turton and rural farming land. Students and staff live in a small village in which residential accommodation and a classroom are clustered around a central meeting facility. The property consists of six accommodation buildings known as "Wardlis" (aboriginal word meaning "dwelling"). Wambana accommodates up to 32 students for five-week periods.[20]

Sport

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Returning to shore at Head of the River, 2022.

Prince Alfred College is a member of the Sports Association for Adelaide Schools (SAAS).

Rowing

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College rowing team, 1891

Rowing began at PAC in 1883 and has played an important part in the school's sporting culture since that time. The school has two boat houses, at West Lakes and by the Torrens Lake in the City of Adelaide's parklands. The school employs a full-time Director of Rowing, (currently Mr. Tim Hennessy). Although competition in local and national regattas forms an integral part of the rowing programme, the main event for each year is the Head of the River. The school won the Head of the River in 2012, 2013 and 2014, captained by Jack Kelly (2012), Nicholas Parletta (2013) & William Burfield (2014). These years marked the first time the college has won three consecutive titles at the event. Notably, the school won the 2025 Head of the River captained by Oliver Smith, putting an end to a near ten-year St Peter's College victory record.

Intercol

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Each sports team at Princes has an annual fixture against traditional longtime rivals Saint Peter's College, known as the "Intercol" (Inter-collegiate). These are considered by the two colleges to be the most important games of the seasons, and the fiercely fought matches of the more popular sports draw big crowds of students and old scholars from both schools.[25] The Intercols have been played for over 100 years. At one time, the Australian rules football and the Cricket intercols were both played on Adelaide Oval. The Cricket Intercollegiate match has been competed since 1878. According to Richard Sproull[who?] this is "the oldest unbroken annual contest in the history of cricket" (Weekend Australian 5/6 December 1992).

Outdoor education

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The Prince Alfred College Outdoor Education programme provides a variety of integrated activities designed to allow boys to face challenges beyond those possible in a suburban day school. Current activities are focused on the Scotts Creek Outdoor Centre at Morgan on the River Murray.

In 2008, the college opened its Wambana Campus at Point Turton on the Yorke Peninsula. Year 9 students spend 5 weeks at the new facility, learning field science and mathematics along with other subjects and life skills as well as community service.

Year 11 students undertake practical leadership training and are encouraged to nominate for trips to Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Kangaroo Island.

Notable alumni

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See also People educated at Prince Alfred College

Rhodes scholars

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The Rhodes Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for study at Oxford University. As of 2023, PAC has educated 20 Rhodes Scholars throughout its 154 year history. Recipients who attended PAC include:

Rhodes Scholar Year
awarded		 College at Oxford Ref
William Douglas Allen (1914–2008) 1937 New College
Henry Brose (1890–1965) 1913 Christ Church
Garry Leslie Brown 1964 Magdalen [26]
Theodor Siegfried Dorsch 1933 Christ Church [27]
David Wyke Evans (1934-2024) 1957 New College
Henry Fry (1886–1959) 1909 Balliol
Sir Brian Hone (1907–1978) 1930 New College
Stanford Howard 1919 Christ Church
Norman Jolly (1882–1954) 1904 Balliol
Cecil Madigan (1889–1947) 1911 Magdalen
Ryan Paul Manuel 2006 Merton
Roger Gilbert Opie (1927–1998) 1951 Christ Church [28]
Renfrey Potts (1925–2005) 1948 Queen's
Howard Rayner (1896–1975) 1916 Balliol
David Alexander Robertson 1983 Magdalen
Peter Lindsay Rogers 1963 New College
Michael Ewers Smyth 1960 Exeter
Mahesh Umapathysivam 2014 St Peter's
Stephen Kidman Wilkinson 1982 New College
Max Kirkby 2023 Magdalen [29]

Academia and education

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Business

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Entertainment, media and the arts

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Exploration

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Military and defence

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  • Major General Steve Gower AO (1940–), Director of the Australian War Memorial 1996–2011
  • Major-General Sir Newton Moore KCMG (1870–1936), eighth Premier of Western Australia, World War I general, member of the UK House of Commons
  • John Alexander Raws, journalist and WW1 diarist, killed in action 23 August 1916 at Pozieres – no known grave[36]
  • Lieutenant Leonard Taplin, DFC, World War fighter ace, pioneer aerial photographer and aerial cartographer
  • Captain Hugo Vivian Hope Throssell, VC (1884–1933), soldier, farmer[37]

Politics, public service and the law

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Science and medicine

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Sport

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Cricket

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Australian rules football

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Association football

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Rowing

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  • Dr. Matthew Bolt (1986–), former Australian Under 23 Rower, stroke of the 2011 Bronze medal winning South Australian Kings Cup crew, member of 2012 Bronze medal winning Kings Cup crew, former Captain of Adelaide University Boat Club
  • Alexander Hill (1993–), Current Australian Rowing Team member, Olympic Silver Medallist (Rio 2016) M4–, World Cup Medallist, Australian Under 23 Rower, 2011/2012 Bronze medal winning Kings Cup crew member, former Under 19 World Champion[citation needed]
  • Brian Richardson (1948–), former Olympic Rower, Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ N. E. Peard, Prince Alfred College School Songs, Adelaide, 1961.
  2. ^ Leah Simons, "Princes Men Masculinity at Prince Alfred College", University of Adelaide, 2001, PhD thesis, https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/items/80fd4c3b-e1ad-4887-b69f-f1540a281f48
  3. ^ Ibid, 29-31.
  4. ^ Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia, ‘Pirie Street Methodist Church’, SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au/places/pirie-street-methodist-church/
  5. ^ South Australian Weekly Chronicle (Adelaide, SA: 1858 - 1867), Sat 13 Jul 1867, Page 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91261311?
  6. ^ Philip Payton, "The Bible Christians in Early South Australia, 1836-1860: A preliminary survey", in Remembering the Bible Christians, University of Exeter Press, 2017, Volume 2, Chapter 5.
  7. ^ South Australian Register, Mon 22 Jul 1867, Page 3, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/39189282?
  8. ^ The South Australian Advertiser, Fri 13 Sept 1867, Page 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28800766?searchTerm=%22prince%20alfred%22%20college
  9. ^ "PAC Chronicle 2019" (PDF). Prince Alfred College. 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  10. ^ Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia. Parliament of South Australia. 1884. p. 6.
  11. ^ Walker, John (October 2009). "'A Holy Liberty in the Lord'? South Australian Baptists and Female Gender Roles, circa 1870 to 1940" (PDF). Pacific Journal of Baptist Research. 5 (2): 3962.
  12. ^ https://pac.edu.au/community/giving-to-pac/a-history-of-generosity-and-impact/
  13. ^ Vlach, Anna (5 January 2007). "Boys show they too can be perfect". The Advertiser. Adelaide, South Australia. p. 7.
  14. ^ Heggen, Belinda; Pengelley, Jill (14 January 2002). "Paul's almost perfect". The Advertiser. Adelaide, South Australia. p. 8.
  15. ^ Goodfellow, Nhada (17 February 2003). "Students with the world at their feet". The Advertiser. Adelaide, South Australia. p. 11.
  16. ^ "News". Prince Alfred College.
  17. ^ https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=AAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adelaidenow.com.au%2Fsouth-australia-education%2Fadelaides-prince-alfred-college-appoints-former-walford-anglican-school-for-girls-leader-georgina-west-as-its-first-female-deputy-headmaster
  18. ^ R. M. Gibbs (1990). "Ward, John Frederick (1883–1954)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. MUP.
  19. ^ "Stephen Codrington". Biography. Stephen Codrington – The Website. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  20. ^ a b c Wambana Campus, Prince Alfred College
  21. ^ "Kent Town's history". Preserve Kent Town Association. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  22. ^ "History". Prince Alfred College. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012.
  23. ^ "Kent Town Historical Walks". City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters.
  24. ^ Scotts Creek Campus, Prince Alfred College
  25. ^ Adelaide College Football, Gary Jenkinson. Retrieved 8/1/07
  26. ^ Emeritus Professor Garry Brown, princeton.edu
    Honors Faculty Members, May 2011, princeton.edu
  27. ^ Hugh Trevor-Roper Theodor Siegfried Dorsch, "The Wartime Journals"
  28. ^ Former Rhodes Scholar dies in Oxford, Adelaidean, Vol 7 No 2 (2 March 1998) pg.7
  29. ^ "Rhodes Scholar, Max Kirkby". Prince Alfred College. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  30. ^ Tim Cooper Archived 28 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, www.coopers.com.au
  31. ^ Glenn Cooper Archived 28 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, www.coopers.com.au
  32. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). The encyclopedia of Australian Rock And Pop. Australia: Allen & Unwin. pp. 18, 242. ISBN 1-86448-768-2.
  33. ^ "David Basheer". Prince Alfred College. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  34. ^ Creator of our best-loved bear, Rex Heading obituary, Sydney Morning Herald, 28 October 2010
    Obituary, www.adelaidenow.com.au, 15 January 2011
  35. ^ Bye, John T.; Carvalho Junior, Oldemar (1996). "The first recorded successful cross Backstairs Passage swim: research note [Andrew Martin's swim is a unique entry in the annals of South Australian exploration.]". South Australian Geographical Journal. 95 (1996): 70–74.
  36. ^ "Hail and Farewell – Letters from Two Brothers Killed in France in 1916", Ed. Margaret Young and Bill Gammage, Kangaroo Press 1995 ISBN 0-86417-707-0. Also "Records of an Australian Lieutenant 1915–16", privately published.
  37. ^ Welborn, Suzanne (1990). "Throssell, Hugo Vivian Hope (1884–1933)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 12 (Online ed.). Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. pp. 223–224. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  38. ^ australianfootball.com player profile [1] and Norwood Football Club player profile [2]
  39. ^ "Riley Bonner". AFL Tables.
  40. ^ "AFL Tables - Peter Dalwood - Stats - Statistics".
  41. ^ "AFL Tables - Sam Day - Stats - Statistics". afltables.com. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  42. ^ a b Twins Ed and Nick Lower both attended St. Ignatius' College, Adelaide prior to completing their education at PAC.
  43. ^ "AFL Tables - ed Lower - Stats - Statistics".
  44. ^ "AFL Tables - Nick Lower - Stats - Statistics".
  45. ^ "AFL Tables - David Pittman - Stats - Statistics".
  46. ^ "AFL Tables - Kym Russell - Stats - Statistics".
  47. ^ "AFL Tables - Scott Russell - Stats - Statistics".
  48. ^ "AFL Tables - Luke Tapscott - Stats - Statistics".
  49. ^ Memories for Sturt Football Club as Amrozi is sentenced Archived 10 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Ian Henschke, Stateline South Australia, Broadcast 8 August 2003. Retrieved 28 June 2007
  50. ^ "AFL Tables - Tex Wanganeen - Stats - Statistics". afltables.com. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  51. ^ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/adelaideunited/players/John-95Hall/4800 [dead link‍]
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