Florence Marie DixonPrint Page

The gates commemorate Florence Marie Dixon, who was the wife of the founder of The Southport School, Dean Horace H. Dixon.

Last year a fund was established to provide for the erection of a memorial at the Southport School to the late Mrs. H. H. Dixon who with Canon Dixon (now Bishop of Brisbane) was for so long connected with the school. The fund has now been closed and the memorial will take the form of a gateway which is now being erected at the entrance to the drive leading to the senior school and the chapel. The gateway is designed in the style of the transitional period between Decorative and Perpendicular Gothic.

The gate posts are octagonal in plan, 12ft hígh, and surmounted by griffins, the mythical beasts that symbolise strength and learning. The width between the gate posts is 14ft., and the gates which weigh nearly 22cwt. are of massive iron, wrought and decorated in a dignified manner, the upper balusters being twisted with caps and foliated heads. The head or lintel of the gateway bears a simple inscription in copper letters, "In Memory of Florence Marie Dixon RIP January 1, 1932."  The lintel is surmounted with wrought iron scroll work supporting at the middle point the school crest worked in beaten copper. The whole forms an impressive gateway to the chapel and senior school and will be a lasting memorial to the memory of one who gave the best years of her life to the welfare of the boys who attended the school. Mr. A. H. Conrad prepared the architectural design and the memorial is being erected under his supervision.

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