Thomas Kingsmill AbbottPrint Page

The windows, erected by pupils, commemorate Thomas Kingsmill Abbott who was appointed headmaster of the school on 1st July 1910.  He died suddenly on the school tennis courts on the 8th December 1912.

The second and sixth stained glass windows as well as the plaque on the north interior wall of the chapel are dedicated to his memory.

The Rev. T. K. Abbott, head master of Armidale School, collapsed while playing tennis on Friday afternoon, and died a few minutes afterwards. The reverend gentleman was engaged with characteristic enthusiasm in a keenly contested game of tennis with three of his masters, and had just made the winning hit when he collapsed and died in a few minutes. The deceased was a comparatively young man, being llttle more than past middle age.

It was two years ago last June that the late reverend gentleman resigned the Archdeaconship of the Tamworth diocese of the Church of England which position he had held for about seven years, to accept the post of head master of the Armidale School. During his residence in Tamwoth the deceased gentleman won the esteem and goodwill of all sections of the community and his untimley end occasioned genuine and widespread regret. The reverend gentleman was a keen athlete and it was not many years ago that he donned the football guernsey in Tamworth.
The Maitland Daily Mercury (NSW), 7 December 1912.

On Sunday morning, October 12, the Lord Bishop of the Diocese (Bishop Cooper) unveiled and dedicated the windows of stained glass in the Armidale School Chapel, subscribed by the boys in memory of the late Headmaster {Rev. T. K. Abbott, M.A.). The Bishop gave a very interesting address to the boys, emphasising the value of such adornment in the house of God, especially where they were the outcome of spontaneous generosity, as in this case, and so beautifully symbolical of the Divine truths. He also spoke in feeling terms of the late headmaster`s devotion to the school, and of his splendid influence over all with whom he was associated. The windows are by Westlake, London, and portray the institution of the Eucharist and the holy women at the tomb, and beneath them are placed two Latin inscriptions in brass, setting out that they have been erected "To the glory of God and in memory of Thomas Kingsmill Abbott" by the pupils of the school.
Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser (NSW),
17 October 1913.

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