WESTMINSTER COLLEGE – Olivos (1937 – 1967) By Michael Smith

Introduction

When Westminster College in Olivos (WCO) started operating in 1937 as a boys-only Kindergarten and Primary English-Spanish bilingual school, it was the fourth bilingual school to open in the Northern districts, within 5km of Buenos Aires city’s limits. Preceeding it were Northlands (1920), a girls-only school in Olivos, Florida Day School (1925) and Michael Ham Memorial College (1926), a Roman Catholic girls school in Vicente López.

Location

WCO was located on the corner of Alberdi and Estrada streets – the address was Alberdi 1200 – one block away from the Plaza de Olivos, the Church and the Olivos Tennis Club (where annual alumni dinners have been held since the year 2000.)

The Boarding House (founded and owned by Harry Read) was four blocks away on the corner of Estrada and Pelliza streets, included the sports field (70 x 35 mts. aprox.) where football, cricket and athletics took place.

History

As mentioned above, the founder was Harry Bright Read, an Englishman who went to India as a teacher and was later contracted by Mr. XXX Vibart in the mid-twenties to teach Maths at Quilmes Grammar School (founded in 1907). The School later moved to Lomas de Zamora (1923) at which time it became known as St. Alban’s College. According to John Vibart, Harry Read was best man at his father’s wedding in 1928!

Harry stayed on as a member of Staff at St. Alban’s until 1936 when he moved to Olivos,bought or rented his home and teh WCO premises. At some time between 1930 and 1936, he met and married Beryl Ambler who was the Gym and Hockey teacher at Michael Ham, a very athletic lady of English and Indian parentage who was also an exceptional teacher of algebra and other subjects.

The Reads kept the School until 1953 when it was sold to Mr. Hawthorne, a mining engineer who had worked in lead mines in Bolivia. The Reads returned to England and nothing more was knwn about them.

Mr. Hawthorne and his wife Rosa Bertres headed the School until 1965. In 1958 it became co-educational and Secondary education began. One of the teachers was former pupil Jack Hussey* who taught maths in the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades of Primary School between the years 1956 and 1958. He was succeeded by his brother David in 1959. In 1965, the Hawthornes sold the school to a Mr. Arriaga who closed it down at the end of 1967.

*(I am indebted to Jack for giving me a great deal of background information on the school with which to write this story.)

Education and Discipline

The standard of education in the 1940s, both in English and in Spanish, was high – at least during the time the Reads were in charge. The English staff included Fred Thompson, an elderly Scottish bachelor knicknamed “Mongo” who frequently lost his temper due to the pupils’ pranks and used to knock them on the head with his knuckles - before the laws of bodily punishment came into effect! Other teachers included Miss Prooven, Mr. Plaice who enjoyed twisting the hairs on ones’ head as punishment for misconduct, and Miss Chelo Rasmussen who was my first teacher in 1945 at the age of 7.

The quality of education at WCO in the ‘40s was proven when four former pupils won the highest scholastic honour – the Dux medal – at St. Andrew’s Scots School, four years in a row, as follows: 1951 – John Scharenberg, 1952 – Ronnie Knowles, 1953 – Jack Hussey, 1954 – 1^st Granville Morris, 2^nd. Walter Klein.

From WCO, students would go on to other schools to continue their secondary education: 60% to St. Andrew’s Scots School, 30% to St. George’s College Quilmes, 5% to Belgrano Day School and the remaining 5% would go to other schools.

The standard remained high until the end, except that the student body profile - about 200 between kindergarten, primary and secondary (as of 1958) -  changed from a majority who spoke English at home until 1953 to a majority who spoke Spanish at home in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.

Former pupil Douglas Sirrs, a Canadian who attended WCO between 1939 and 1943 and who now lives in Toronto, recalls that in the early days of the School, there was a teacher by the name of Mr. Darcey who acted as a sort of vice-headmaster under Mr. Read. Darcey, who was custodian and implementor of “caning”, had a cabinet full of canes with differing characteristics and, before applying punishment, would bring them out individually and flex them to test them for their “suitability”. He adds that everybody did their best to behave themselves in his presence...

There was a History teacher called Mr. McCormick, and Irishman contracted from the UK, who would occasionally arrive in class after having “a few too many” which would bring on some unusual and potentially dangerous reactions, like hurling a hefty book at a student caught talking during his lengthy lecures!

However, no permanent physical harm was endured by the students and one would only wish that class discipline as known in the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s existed in present times, when professors seem impotent to maintain order in their classrooms.

Sports

The student body was divided up into four Houses:

AUSTRALIA, whose symbol was a red Cangaroo.

CANADA, whose symbol was a green Maple Leaf.

INDIA, whose symbol was a yellow Elephant.

SOUTH AFRICA, whose symbol was a brown Springbok.

These Houses would compete against each other at football, cricket and athletics. These games would be take place on the grounds at the Read’s home (70 x 35 mts aprox.) with the peculiarity that a large tree existed in one of the corners (near Pelliza street) which one had to run around when playing football! Some clever forwards would use the tree as a silent teammate, kicking the ball against the tree and running onto the rebound to beat the fullback marking them and face the goalkeeper nearby!

Athletics Sports Day

This was a happy occasion when parents would fill the Read’s colonial home’s porch which offered them an excellent view of the whole proceedings. Events contested were: relay races, sack races, high- and

long-jump, and throwing the cricket ball. The champion in my days (1945-1950) in the latter discipline was Granville Morris (who later on worked for INTA.)

The most exciting event of the Sports Day was the classic Tug of War between the Houses (15 members per House). The noise from cheering parents and onlooking students (200 in all) was deafening.

As for Cricket, some players who shone later on in life in local cricket started learning the game at WCO: Jack and David Hussey, and Teddy Hesse are a few who played for the Buenos Aires Cricket and Rugby Club (BACRC) and the Club Atlético san Isidro (CASI).

Two other games played at WCO took place in the school playground (40 x 30mts). One was Rounders, somewhat similar to Softball, played with a wooden bat about 30cm long and 1 ½” wide which looked a little like a British policeman’s truncheon. Tennis balls were used and different trees became the  1^st and 2^nd bases while a tree stump became 3^rd base. The distance between bases was about 20mts and to score a “rounder” (home run) one had to bat the ball about 40mts into the garden at the back of one of the houses where the classrooms  were, where there was a flagpole and a windmill surrounded by a 4mt high fence. Then all runners on the bases scored! The other game played during breaks was Marble-throwing. Students would set up a stall of four marbles or more against a wall and would indicate the distance from where players could throw their marbles. The aim of the game was to knock down the stall. If throws missed the stall, the stall-keeper would keep the marbles; if the stall was hit, the player would keep all the marbles in the stall.

Boarding House

A completely different school experience was had by the 18-20 boarders that the Reads cold accomodate in their large colonial-style home, most of them from the provinces. The Reads kept a small stable with two or three horses, and Roy Gibson (1943-47) reports that Mrs. Read would give him riding lessons after class (4 pm). They would ride to what is today the Olivos Rugby Club, about 5km west of Pelliza street. In those days, most of the journey was through small farms and open fields, as the town of Olivos ended about 8 blocks west of Maipú avenue, the continuation of Santa Fe and Cabildo avenues from downtown Buenos Aires.

He also reports that Mrs. Read was a keen police dog breeder as well, who won many prizes at dog shows with her favourite bitch Janet.

Dinner was served on a longwooden table with Mr. Read sitting at one end and Mrs. Read at the other, and 9-10 boys sitting on benches on either side with little space between them. This forced good table manners, with elbows stuck to one’s body. Mrs. Tarn, the Housekeeper, would see to it that military-style discipline was kept and, needless to say, everyone ate what was placed in front of them!

Annual Alumni Dinners

Sometime during the year 2000, Donald Sym Smith and I had a conversation at the English Club Bar and I mentioned that I would like to get in touch with my classmates who finished Primary School (6^th grade) at Westminster College in 1950, to celebrate 50 years after leaving school. Donald had also attended WCO and had been my desk companion (we sat two to a desk/table) in 1948. He immediately latched onto the idea and suggested that the Olivos Tennis Club (OTC) on Alberdi and Salta streets, one block away from the WCO location, would be an ideal place to hold a former pupils’ reunion. As he lived right next door to the tennis club of which he was a member, he handled the booking details. We both racked our brains and started phoning up former pupils we knew and managed to get about 40 to attend that first reunion in November of 2000. Since then, we’ve been able to assemble between 50 and 70 former pupils at our dinners (13 so far). Unfortunately, Donald moved to Tandil and then passed away a few years ago. Jack Hussey who lives right across the street from the OTC, gives me a hand in organizing the dinners, which take place on either the last Friday of October or on the first or second Fridays in November depending on the availability of the Club premises, trying not to coincide with ABCC or community events, or the British Hospital Ball.

We have over 150 names of WCO alumni on our e-mail list, or address and ‘phone listings (for those members who have not yet come to terms with the computer age) and we know that there are more who we have not yet located ut whom we hope to add to the list and who hopefully will be able to attend our 2013 Dinner. If you are interested, please contact either

Michael Smith (robertomiguelsmith@gmail.com) – 4798 6359 or Jack Hussey (hussey@fibertel.com.ar) – 4794 6544.

Herewith a partial list of those attending our dinners:

R. Bayley, N. Behrens, J.F. Berk, L. Blumenthal, A. Bramer, F. Brom, R. Brown, P. Bruno Videla, G. Butler, F. Carlés, R. Carlés, P.Cavey,

 C. Chiaraviglio, R. Chiaraviglio, A. Coleman, E. Cornejo, R. Cseh, B. de Boer, H. de Carolis, A. de Marco, E. Deges, J. Deges, J. del Castillo, L. Demare,R.Dunning, A. Eastman, G. Edbrooke, A. Englebert, E. Enright,

 E. Fairhurst, Fernández Gorgolas, R. Frogone, R. Garda, J.and L. Gauweloose, H. Gibson, R. Gibson, L. Gigliani, I. and L. González Bernaldo, A. and O. González Bonorino, R. González Stanley, E. Grant, I. Grundy,

R. Heffesse, E., J. and R. Hernández, P. Heslop, E. Hesse, C. Hildred, G. Hirst, R. And S. Hogg,T.Hudson, J &D.Hussey, J.Hynes, F. Jacobs, F. James, A. and E. Justiniano, W. Klein, R. Knowles, E. And R.LePoole, J. Lee, Roderick Macadam,  E., T., M. and R. Macadam, D. Martin, N. Mercer, E.Munton, J. Murray, K. Murray, D. Neild, R. Raimundez, E. Reed, G. Rodger,A.Sartorio, E.and J. Scharenberg,E.Schiaffino, D. Sirrs, M &R.Smith, J. Sussex,D Sym Smith, R. Taylor, E.Viel Temperley,D.. Teubal, J. Wilson, J. With.,

Conclusion

Westminster College was a great Primary school with a very high level of education in English language, history, geography (worldwide) and Mathematics. It is said that no pupil who went to WCO had any trouble with Maths when they went on to other schools – on the contrary, they were ahead of competing schools – scholastically speaking.

Why did it not survive? Probably as a result of St. Andrew’s Scots School  moving from the Constitución area out to Olivos  in 1947. Westminster offered only Kindergarten and Primary school until 1958 while St. Andrew’s had Secondary as well as the other two, and many parentspreferred to have their children in one school for their entire education rather than have them change half way through at age 13, where they had to start new friendships with different classmates, and lose contact with their former classmates.

St. Andrew’s also had infinitely more financial resources which allowed them to offer new buildings, complete laboratories, etc while WCO retained their small, antiquated buildings and the Reads sold their property/boarding house when they left. In hindsight, they made the correct business decision by selling out when they did.

On the other hand, other bilingual English-Spanish schools have entered the market in the northern suburbs since 1967 and as some have thrived, there may have been mismanagement besides a lack of investment at WCO in the latter years.

However, the Westminster College legacy lives on in the memories of all those who attended the College and who today enjoy reminiscing over dinner every year. What was the secret? Many opinions exist but I should like to make mention of Freddie Berk’s eloquent description of the essence of being a Westminster College alumni – or former pupil if you prefer – which adecuately describes our feelings.

Acknowledgements

F. Berk – School Spirit

P. Bruno Videla – Anecdotes (1944 – 50)

E. Deges – Photographs

R. Gibson – Boarding House

J. Hussey – Photographs and history

A.   de Marco – Research on the Read family

N.Mercer – Photograph and early History (1937 – 43)

E.Reed--Photographs of  Alumni Dinners( 2007- 2012 )

D. Sirrs – Photograph (1940, 1941) and names of Alumni and Teachers (1939 – 1943)

J. Vibart – Harry Read history

February 18, 2013                                                                    Michael Smith

Thoughts on Westminster College

It says something of any institution when former members meet together to share a moment of fellowship and camaraderie. It says even more when that institution has become extinct. There must be a certain aura about it when, after 50 years or so, those who spent time in its classrooms and recreation areas meet for the first time and then continue to do so over the years.

What could be the common factor that makes such a thing possible? Ask each one and most likely different answers will be given. I’ll share mine, others can add to it.

Teachers are more than mere passers-on of knowledge. True teachers are those who share their lives with their pupils, not in an explicit way but simply by the kind of people they are. Pupils, especially young ones as we were, look on the “masters” and “mistresses” with awe and respect, if and only if they command that type of respect. Otherwise they become indifferent and, if they can, will treat them cruelly.

At Westminster, the former was the case. Even though we remember with pride our feats in algebra, far in advance of other larger schools, what I remember most are the teachers, both in English and Spanish. They had the knack to awe you into good behaviour, to inspire one to do things that were beyond ne’s ken. Sr. Genoni was one of those, who on the first day in cuarto grado, sitting in the front row and looking at the blackboard, spotted someone behind his back doing something he thought he could get away with. We later found out that he wore bifocals, although I still don’t know how he did it. But then he went on to give us advice I have never forgotten: before writing in your exercise book, take a rubber and rub the whole page with it. Then write. In other words, and much more graphically and suitable for our young minds: think before you write, or for that matter, think before you do whatever needs to be done.

The same applies to Harry Reid, or Mongo Thompson, of Mrs. Read as well. You looked on these people with respect, and wanted to be liked by them. Mr. Read must have had about him a sixth sense to choose his teachers the way he did.

Supremely, I believe, this is what makes school spirit. C.S. Lewis puts it well: masters passing on “manhood to man”, in order to make us ggod people, useful citizens later on. Hopefully Westminster College did just that.

Beyond spending an enjoable evening remebering times gone by, Westminster Alumni gather annually, gratefully, to honour their memory. It seems to me that this is the one common factor that underlies the success of this event.Fred Berk     “Los Nogales”  5117 Ascochinga-Cordoba