Around the traps May 2010

Walter Blomfield (42), John Ferris (42), Reg Moses (44), Graham Wilson (44) and Philip Wood (43) were among twelve Sydney Cricket Ground members inducted by the SCG Trust marking 70 years of continuous membership. The induction took place during the Test match between Australia and Pakistan in January this year. 

The Rev John Beer (49) has been awarded a Ph.D by the University of Sydney for his thesis on the Contribution of Dr PA Micklem to Anglicanism.  Micklem was a prominent intellectual Anglican Church leader who was Rector of St James’ Church Sydney from 1917-1937 and gave the Brampton Lectures at Oxford in 1946.  John retired in 2004 as Senior Resident Tutor at the Womens’ College, University of Sydney, and from Sydney Grammar School where he taught English from 1971 to 1991.  He continues to serve as a Fellow of St. Paul’s College and as Hon Assistant Priest at St James’ King Street Sydney.

Dr John Francis (50) has retired from Medical Practice as an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist and recently moved with his wife Diane to Killara NSW.  He has joined Killara Probus and is a member of Elanora Country Club, Allambie Heights Tennis Club, Lampada Ski Club and the National Servicemen’s Association.  He is currently Chairman of the Shore Bequest Committee.

Professor Richard Brown (52) took time out during his visit to Sydney in March to visit the School.  Richard who hails from Ontario Canada had not been back to School in many years and marvelled at the new buildings, the Travers Centre Library and the extensions to the Prep School completed sinc his last visit.  Richard is hoping to visit Sydney again in 2012, for his Alumni 60 year reunion.     

Richard Wilson (55) retired from Austrade 15 years ago.  He and his wife Janet are still living in Canberra where their three children and three grandchildren also live.  During his career as a Trade Commissioner he had a fascinating posting in Moscow from 1986-1988.  He, would be happy to give a talk entitled ‘The adventures of Richard Wilson in the former Soviet Union to any group that would like to hear him speak.

Mark Skipper (78) is currently helping companies detect internal fraud and serious errors.  He is also providing business assurance to the Board and Shareholders.

Martyn Selman (79) is currently living in San Francisco, working in the Headquarters of Visa.  He reports that he is enjoying life but misses Sydney a bit.

Ross Berry (80) is currently working as an Assistant Records Manager for NSW Trustee and Guardian and is a Board Member of the Record Managers’ Association of Australasia.

Richard Lewin (80) is living in the NSW country town of Lismore and is currently working at Lismore Base Hospital. Married to Jen, he often thinks of his days at the School and is looking forward to catching up with his friends at the reunion on 13 August this year.

Brendan Miskell (82), is operating his own business in character animation, product licensing and publishing – Starbuddy Entertainment.  He is also working as Business Development Manager for Infinity Technologies one of Australia’s leading open source web developers.  The Company manage the online marketing for a host of brands including Toyota and Vodafone.

Jason Ellis (88) is heading back to Thailand with his family to head up Bluescope Steel’s operations in that country.  He would be very happy to hear from any Old Boy passing through.

William Sidwell (88) is currently living in Romania with wife Samantha and son Liam.  They are expecting another son later this month.

Michael Rasmussen (90) married nine years ago.  He and his wife have two daughters, Charlie 6 and Anouk 3.  He has been operating his own Dental Laboratory in Roseville for the past ten years, specialising in dental ceramics, implants and neuromuscular dentistry.

James Thompson (90), his wife Lucy and daughters Matilda and Harriet have moved from Coolah NSW to Albury where James is Manager of NVLX (Northern Victoria Livestock Exchange – Wodonga Sale Yards). It is the largest livestock exchange in Victoria and one of the largest in Australia. 

Cameron St Clair (91) and his wife Susan and their three children Leah 7, Huw 5 and Matthew 2 are living in Perth.  Cameron, having completed a Master of Divinity in 2006 is working for the Curtin Community Church as a Pastor to international students and families.

Richard Wenden (94) was appointed to the position of Rector of St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Cronulla in January 2010.  Previously he had been Assistant Minister at St Barnabas Ingleburn from 2006-2009.

News from the Stainlay family is that Andrew (95) has become engaged to Alice Davidson with a planned wedding on 30 October in Young.  The 1995 Alumni year are encouraged to arrange his Bucks Party at the snow fields. 

Theo Souris (99) graduated from Newcastle University after studying Construction Management (Building).  He and his wife Vanessa are expecting their first baby, a girl, in June this year.  The couple have been living in Abu Dhabi (UAE), for the past two and a half years where Theo is working as a Project Manager.

James Young (2000) for the past eight years has been working in the finance field and racing maxi yachts.  He is now running his own corporate yacht charter company in Sydney and Queensland during winter whilst at the same time specialising in team building days and corporate events.

Peter Jensen (2000) married Teira Freeman in March 2009.  The couple live in Forestville Sydney and had their first child Jane in April this year.  Peter is working as a First Officer for Qantas flying the Boeing 737.

Thomas Tweedie (06), on leaving School studied at the Australian Business Academy in 2007, where he concluded the year with two advanced diplomas in Business Marketing and Management. He continued his tertiary education in Business Studies at UTS the following year. In the meantime he has established himself as one of Australia’s most promising Formula 3 drivers. Podium finishes at the recent Philip Island GP circuit in Victoria has moved Thomas into the lead in the Australian Championships as the season approaches the half way mark.

James Duckworth (09) has qualified for the Junior Wimbledon and Junior French Open Championships following wins recently in the Sarawak Chief Minister’s Cup in Malaysia and the Grade one ITF Junior Championship in the Philippines. He is currently training under Australian Junior Davis Cup Captain Ray Ruffles and Ben Mathias at the AIS in Canberra.

 Nick Gowing (05), his brother Ben (09) along with their parents Bruce and Judy celebrated into the early hours of the next day when their Champion mare Hot Danish, brilliantly won her first Group One, the Daily Telegraph All Aged Stakes at Royal Randwick on Saturday 24 April 2010. The Gowings who are part owners of Sydney’s most popular racehorse were thrilled at the win describing it as ‘thrilling’ as the wins of both Nick and Ben who between them coxed three winning 1V’s at the GPS Head of the River during their years at the School.

Kurt Uebergang (01), Graeme Burns (02), Adam L’Green (05), Angus Vowell (05), Chris Hipsley (07) and Stuart Garret (07), were all members of the Long Reef Surf Life Saving Club Boat crew which competed in the 2010 Navy George Bass Surf Boat Marathon in January finishing a credible fourth. The race rowed over 190km, over seven stages on seven consecutive days, is generally regarded as the longest and toughest surf boat race in the world with the Club entering the race to raise funds for a new surfboat.