Newington College Boer War Commemorative TabletPrint Page

The bronze tablet commemorates former students of Newington College who served in South African (Boer) War.  The tablet is set in a Gothic frame of columns, plinth and cornice and mounted on a wall of the Prescott Hall, the College's original school hall.

On Tuesday afternoon, the 15th inst, his Excellency Sir Harry Rawson, State Governor, unveiled at Newington College the commemorative tablet which had been erected by Old Boys of the School in honour of Old Newingtonians who took part in the South African War.

In order to harmonise with its surroundings the tablet is Gothic in design. The all-important feature— many names — has been conveniently arranged so as to supply a decoration in itself, whilst for legibility they are chased and oxidised in the heavy bronze plates, this method giving a permanent artistic effect. These plates, set within a panel framed by a pair of columns with heavy plinth and overhanging cornice, complete the design. The plinth carries a dedication inscription, and under the cornice reposes the college motto, 'Floreat Newingtonia,' whilst the spandrils of the pointed panel are filled with suggestions of the Wyvern — the college crest — and embossed in brass to relieve the dark bronze, of which the tablet is built. The shafts of the columns are wrapped with aluminium bands spreading into broad foliage round the cap, this white metal against the very dark bronze suggesting the college colours.

The tablet was designed by Mr. Harry Budden, of Messrs. Kent and Budden, architects, and well and faithfully executed by Messrs. J. Castle and Sons. The tablet has been placed on the wall in the main school-hall to the right of the dais. In requesting his Excellency to unveil the tablet Mr. W. Horner Fletcher (president of the Old Boys' Union) said: As the war progressed, and contingent after contingent left Australasian shores, and the significance of the rallying of all the great self-governing colonies to the aid of the mother country became more fully realised, it was felt by many of our Old Boys that in view of the number of Newingtonians who had gone to the front and were still offering their sendees, some steps should be taken to recognise their loyalty, and at the same time permanently record the school's contribution to the forces who fought in that now historic and Empire-binding war.  The tablet about to be unveiled is the outcome of that feeling. The names of 45 Old Boy participants in the war appear on the tablet, and two of them were awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

His Excellency then unveiled the tablet, and said it gave him great pleasure to perform the ceremony. It was a happy thought to recognise the gallantry of Newingtonians, and he congratulated the Old Boys on the handsome tablet which they had erected. He trusted the names would always be remembered in the college, as he was certain they would be in England. The assistance given by the great colonies of the Empire came at a most critical time in the history of the war, for it greatly helped to check a threatened European coalition against England, and opened the eyes of people all over tbe world to the power of the Empire. A great number of Australians had gone to the war, and many had died out on the veldt in the path of duty. He trusted that all the other schools and colleges, and, further, the towns and villages throughout these States, would follow the example which had been set, and perpetuate the names of those soldiers who had fought in South Africa.
Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW), 
23 December 1903.

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Dedication