A Brief History of Rostrum Queensland 1937-2020
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2020 A Brief History of Rostrum Queensland 1937-2020 Bill Smith 0 A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROSTRUM QUEENSLAND 1937 – 2020 Copyright © 2020 Bill Smith All rights reserved. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA ISBN – 13: 978-0-646-83510-5 Brisbane, Qld, Australia No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. 1 The Rostrum Promise “I promise to submit myself to the discipline of this Rostrum club and to endeavour to advance its ideals and enrich its fellowship. I will defend freedom of speech in the community and will try at all times to think truly and speak clearly. I promise not to be silent when I ought to speak.” Sidney Wicks 1923. Dedicated to the memory of Freeman L.E. (Joe) Wilkins – A True Friend to Many 2 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4 Remarkable things do happen under trees! .................................................................................. 4 1930s .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1940s ........................................................................................................................................ 10 1950s ........................................................................................................................................ 45 1960s ........................................................................................................................................ 79 1970s .......................................................................................................................................101 1980s .......................................................................................................................................122 1990s .......................................................................................................................................144 2000s .......................................................................................................................................171 Tutors Panel .............................................................................................................................171 Vice Regal Patronage ................................................................................................................172 Gold Coast Mayor’s Debating Shield ..........................................................................................173 Gold Coast Regional Vice President’s Debating Competition ......................................................175 Queensland Debating Union .....................................................................................................177 The Eddie Fee After Dinner Speaking Competition .....................................................................177 Rostrum Voice of Youth ............................................................................................................181 Rostrum Trees in Queensland ...................................................................................................205 Appendix 1 - QUEENSLAND ROSTRUM PRESIDENTS ...................................................................218 Appendix 2 - QUEENSLAND FREEMEN 2020 ...............................................................................219 Appendix 3 - CLUB AWARDS ......................................................................................................220 Appendix 4 - AWARDS FOR INDIVIDUALS ..................................................................................222 Appendix 5 - SPEAKING COMPETITIONS ....................................................................................225 Photo Album ............................................................................................................................233 Rostrum Personnel Index ..........................................................................................................244 Rostrum Club Index ..................................................................................................................245 3 Introduction Remarkable things do happen under trees! In 1215, King John and his barons met under the oaks and elms at Runnymede outside London and signed the Magna Carta. In 1666, Isaac Newton sought shade under an apple tree and wondered why apples fell to the ground instead of floating into the sky. On Saturday 21st July 1923, members of the Manchester YMCA under the tutelage of Sidney F. Wicks met under a yew tree and established the first Rostrum club. We don’t know if the YMCA members had apples on their minds, but perhaps they had been inspired by the Magna Carta and Runnymede. Runnymede itself is derived from the Latin for ‘regular meeting in the meadows’. Rostrum is for those who desire to improve themselves in the practice of effective speaking, and who hold that freedom of speech, loyalty to truth, clarity of thought, and a love of the English language are of utmost value to the community. Sidney F. Wicks Yew Tree 1952 In 1924, these meetings of the first Rostrum club caught the attention of a young Australian, R. Alan Crook, studying engineering at the nearby Victoria University of Manchester. A seed was planted in the young Aussie mind. That seed sprouted six years later when Rostrum was founded in Australia. An initial meeting at the Sydney YMCA on 21st July 1930 which resolved to form a Rostrum club was adjourned to Sunday 10th August where 12 men took The Rostrum Promise and signed the register of Rostrum Club No 1 under an angophora tree at the junction of Middle Harbour and Stony Creek about three kilometres above Roseville Bridge in Sydney. In 1937, R. Alan Crook whilst on a business trip to Brisbane founded Rostrum in Queensland. This brief history of Queensland Rostrum has been written covering each decade in turn. The clubs are listed in affiliation date order. Several club numbers were reused where clubs no longer existed. The personnel profiles listed in the index were included as far as possible just after the history of the club each member first joined. “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it” – Winston S Churchill 4 1930s Club 1 Brisbane was founded on 6th May 1937. First president was Charles F. Willers. The first secretary was A. S. (Arthur) Bell and the first critic was J. Kane Maguire, Classics Master at the Brisbane Teachers Training College. Members 1937: K. Auld, A. S. Bell, C. A. Burcher, T. C. Bray, H. Carter, S. Cohen, J. G. Drake, A. E. Emmett, O. M. Fletcher, J. L. Ferguson, L. C. Fisher, L. George, T. R. Groom, E. W. Ham, G. L. Hart, R. M. Hamilton, C. J. Johnson, H. Kingston, F. L’Estrange, H. Lovelock, Dr W. E. E. Langford, F. E. C. Loxton, A. P. (Andy) Muir, F. G. Marginson, T. H. Martin, B. Martin, J. Kane Maguire, G. Newman, L. J. Priestly, H. Pack, L. S. Stone, Dr C. H. Sippe, H. L. Trout, I. G. Trotter, E. L. Timson, A. P Well, C. F. (Charlie) Willers. Numbers grew so fast that by November 1937, Club 2 Brisbane (Mid City as it later became to be known) was established. Club 1 met at lunch time Thursdays and Club 2 lunch time Fridays. Both clubs met in the Golden Glow Café, Adelaide Street (opposite Anzac Square). In the Rostrum Review of November 1937, Club 1 had 37 members and Club 2 13 members. By November 1939 both clubs had 33 members. Club 2 had a very energetic secretary J. M. Wallace, previously a member of the Gunnedah (NSW) Rostrum Club. In 1938 a management committee (known as Dais) was formed to coordinate and control Rostrum activities in Queensland. Charles F. Willers was the first Dais President. Members of Club 1 in 1937 who later became prominent Brisbane citizens included T. C. Bray (later Sir Theodor, editor Brisbane Courier- Mail and founder Griffith University), T. R. Groom (later Sir Reginald, Lord Mayor of Brisbane 1955 - 1961), and H. L. Trout (later Sir Leon, solicitor, businessman, art collector and benefactor). T. R. (Reg) Groom, knighted in 1961, was president of Club 1 Jan – Jun 1943. His son Peter Groom was a member of Club 1 from 1959 to 1966. Ken Auld, President Club 1 Jul – Dec 1943, in his December 1943 president’s report, stated that Massey Herbert had launched an evening club which would result in Dais being re-established. In 1947 the title of Freeman, the highest award in Rostrum, was conferred on Ken Auld and Theodor Bray. On 16th July 1948 the title of Freeman was conferred on Robert Steel Byrnes by Dais President Ron Weatherstone, in recognition of 15 years outstanding service to the Rostrum movement. R. S. Byrnes joined Club 3 Sydney in 1933, later Club 1 Sydney. In 1936 he was appointed editor of the “Rostrum Review” and produced the first five issues. In 1940 he enlisted in the AIF and on his return in 1942 transferred to Brisbane as General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church. He joined Club 1 Brisbane in 1943. He was later appointed Chairman of the Queensland Literature Board of Review and awarded an OBE on the New Year’s Honours List 1st January 1964. In a collection of poems titled The Light of Setting Suns, Freeman R. S. Byrnes wrote: “I met her first on Rotten Row, Within an hour I was her beau, We married, and in Aussie now, We often have a Rotten Row!” A notable event occurred