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Launceston College Bene Orasse Bene Studuisse

The following pages contain the images and text of a college prospectus I acquired while I was still at school. Having spent seven years as a boarder at Launceston College during the 1980's the prospectus provides an interesting contrast between the life that I experienced and that of an earlier era. The prospectus itself is undated, but several clues help us to narrow down the year of printing. Mr H. Spencer Toy, the Headmaster mentioned on page 1, retired in December 1955. The newest of the school buildings that appear in the photos on pages 1 and 2 were completed around 1932. This is approximately the same time as the House System was introduced, and the same year that many of the societies mentioned on page 7 were formed. Rather more vague references to King's (as opposed to Queen's) Scouts may place the date before the death of King George VI in 1952, and the reference to The Great War (as opposed to the last war, or the First World War) might indicate that the date was pre-1939. Finally, the photo on page 2 shows, in the top right hand corner, what appears to be Coronation Park. As I understand it this was given to Launceston in 1937 in commemoration of the coronation of King George VI. The text is provided exactly as it appeared in the prospectus, complete with original headings, punctuation and over-enthusiastic capitalisation. A quick perusal of a similar publication from the 1920's suggests that capital letters were more frequently used than today, and were intended to convey a sense of importance or respect to the noun in question. I'm particularly interested in what became of the Old Dunhevedians, the Old Boys' Association that appears to have been quite active at this time. Formed in 1912 in London, it numbered 139 by 1924, at which time it was a significant contributor of funds for the Jubilee Extension to the south wing of the main building. I am aware that it changed its name to the Old Launcestonians' Association after the amalgamation with the Horwell Grammar School in 1932, but the only reference I have found to it after the second world war was that it was instrumental in the formation of the Launceston Rugby Football Club in 1948.