St George's College, Perth

The first chancellor of the University of Western Australia (UWA), Sir John Winthrop Hackett, died in 1916. In his will, Hackett made the Anglican Diocese of Perth a residuary legatee, Upon the sale of Hackett's shares in The West Australian and The Western Mail in 1926, they ultimately received A£138,285. These funds were used to establish the College, Aside from the provision of land, the university made no contribution to the initial construction of the College. The architectural firm of Sir Talbot Hobbs, E.H. Dean-Smith, and W.J. Forbes was engaged to design the College. Hobbs later became a member of the College Council, and donated its billiards table. The foundation stones of the College and the College Chapel were each laid on 8 March 1928 by Sir William Campion (Governor of Western Australia) and Riley, respectively. The College was officially opened on 23 April 1931 (Saint George's Day), although the Chapel had not yet been completed. The Chief Justice of Western Australia, Sir Robert McMillan, died at the opening of the College having just delivered his speech. The College catered for 24 men in its first year of operation. It appears that both Riley and Archbishop Henry Le Fanu (who succeeded Riley upon his death in 1929) intended for St George's to serve as a theological college and host seminarians, although this was not possible under the conditions of the University Colleges Act, and St George's never taught theology classes. Despite its close relationship with the Anglican Church, the College was open to students of any denomination or religion from its founding. In one noted incident in 1949, all 74 residents of the College conspired to hoax the university by presenting a lecture on Modern Sculpture—is it a Hoax? from "M. Jean Leps", supposedly an avant-garde sculptor. Leps was, in fact, a resident of the College, and drew an audience of 450–500 people who largely praised his speech. The Joint Colleges Appeal in 1959 raised funds for the expansion of the UWA colleges. The south wing was opened in 1962, and the north wing in 1968; both were designed by Hobbs Winning and Leighton. The College became co-educational in 1981 after 50 years of being male-only. and that same year the College sustained significant damage in the 2010 Western Australian storms. The College drew some attention in 2019 over plans to host a summer school in collaboration with the controversial Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, which did not eventuate. == Architecture, buildings, and gardens ==

The architecture of the original wing of the College and Chapel is described as Interwar Gothic, Chapel The College Chapel is aligned on a north-south axis and is entered from the south, rather than the traditional east-west axis. A similar arrangement is commonly found in the chancel of Gothic churches to provide for a smaller collegial group of worshippers. The College Chapel expanded this format as the College population is collegial as a whole, removing the need for a separate congregation. The pipe organ in its southern loft was newly built as part of the original Chapel construction by Josiah Eustace Dodd and features jarrah casings. The south façade features the five blazons of the Anglican diocese in which Crawley has been located: (from left to right) Canterbury, Calcutta, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth. The south windows feature (from left to right) Bishop William Broughton, Aidan of Lindisfarne, Augustine of Canterbury, Saint Boniface, and Riley. The north windows above the altar feature (from left to right) Saint George, Jesus, and Paul the Apostle. The College was added to the National Trust on 2 April 1979, and the City of Perth Heritage List on 20 December 1985. == College crest ==

The College arms were granted by the Garter Principal King of Arms on 5 March 1964, confirming arms used from foundation. The arms include black swans (indicating its location and proximity to the Swan River), a double-headed eagle (drawn from the Hackett family crest in tribute to its founder), and the Cross of St George. == Wardens ==

Academia • Ken Freeman – astronomer • Bob Hodge – linguist • Robert Ridge – geologist, botanist, cell and molecular biologist • Barry Ninham – physicist and mathematician • Richard Pestell – oncologist and endocrinologist Arts • Peter Bladen – poet • Geoffrey Drake-Brockman – artist • Irwin Lewis – artist • Maxwell Newton – publisher • Jarrad Seng – photographer and filmmaker • Randolph Stow – author Business • Sir Rod Eddington – businessman • Richard Goyder – businessman • Kevin Cullen – doctor and winemaker Law • Sir Francis Burt – jurist • David Malcolm – judge • Christopher Pullin – judge Politics and the public service • Harvey Barnett – intelligence officer • Holger Becker – politician • Mel Bungey – politician • Alan Carpenter – politician • Arnold Cook – economist • John Day – politician • David Irvine – diplomat • Graham Jacobs – politician • Ern Manea – mayor and doctor • Bill Marmion – politician • Ian Medcalf – politician • Ian Osborne – politician • Eric Ripper – politician • David Scaife – politician • John Stone – public servant and politician • Douglas Sturkey – diplomat • Daryl Williams – politician • Sir John Yocklunn – public servant Religion • Bishop Bruce Rosier – Anglican bishop • Bishop Jonathan Holland – Anglican bishop, Queensland Sports • Simon Beasley – Australian rules footballer • David Dickson – Australian swimmer • Ken MacLeay – cricketer == References ==