Prince Alfred College

History

The school has been the subject of three histories written by, respectively, J. F. Ward (1883–1954), Ronald Malcolm Gibbs (1938-2015) and Rob Linn.

1854 to 1945

First conceived in 1854, the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain) in South Australia voted to create a school 'for the education of our sons' in 1867, at what is now called Old Methodist Meeting Hall on Pirie Street. The land in the suburb of Kent Town had been secured earlier at the sum of £2,750 with enough capital (£6,00) to build the first part of the main building. The creation of a Methodist school followed other successful attempts in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The new school was primarily intended to educate children of wealthy businessmen and farmers with a view to create future civic leaders steeped in 'large and liberal culture'. At the time, Methodism accounted for a quarter of the colony's population, partly because of the influx of Cornish miners.

T. G. Waterhouse and the Rev. John Watsford persuaded the Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly, to ask Prince Alfred, then Duke of Edinburgh, to lay the foundation stone at the new school during his tour of the Australian colonies. In September it was announced that Alfred would lay the stone and that the new school would be the 'Alfred College'. The stone was laid on 5 November 1867 at 2pm.

The only female student to attend the school was Lilian Staple Mead, daughter of Baptist minister Silas Mead, in 1883–1884, in order to matriculate and enter University at a time when few schools were available for girls to do so.

1945 to 1999

The school has attracted many royal visitors since its foundation, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1954. In the 1970s, the Prince Alfred College Foundation was created under the direction of businessman, W. Geoffrey Gerard. Its first project was the Scotts Creek outdoor campus located at Mannum in country South Australia, before developments at the preparatory school, gymnasium and boarding house. The Foundation quickly became the financial arm of the school responsible for many major redevelopments.

The Methodist Church of Australasia amalgamated with other Protestant churches in 1977 to form the Uniting Church in Australia, which the school is now affiliated with.

2000 to present

In 2000 the school was mentioned in the Australian Parliament when the then Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley, had to deny his children attended the school. The matter arose because of a controversial letter sent to MPs by the headmaster, Stephen Codrington, regarding proposed legislative changes.

At one time, Princes was the only college in Adelaide to offer the IB Diploma at all three stages; the PYP and MYP are compulsory units of work for Preparatory and Middle school students, enabling its students to continue to complete the Diploma in year 11 and 12, or to be recognised nationally with the SACE.

On Wednesday 18 April 2018, Elizabeth II's son, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, visited Prince Alfred College, and participated in an unveiling a stone to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the College. In 2019, Prince Alfred College celebrated its sesquicentenary 150th Anniversary.

The second female member of the school's leadership was appointed in 2024, Deputy Headmistress Georgina West; the first being Cynthia May (2004 – 2007).

The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, officially opened a new building built by the PAOCA.

List of headmasters

• 1869–1870 Samuel Fiddian
• 1871–1875 John Hartley
• 1876–1914 Frederic Chapple
• 1915–1929 W. R. Bayly
• 1930–1948 J. F. Ward
• 1949–1969 John Dunning
• 1970–1987 Geoffrey Bean
• 1988–1999 Dr. Brian Webber
• 2000–2004 Dr. Stephen Codrington
• 2004–2014 Kevin Tutt
• 2014–2022 Bradley Fenner
• 2022–current David Roberts

Campuses

The original school campus is in the Adelaide suburb of Kent Town. The school also owns two other campuses, one for outdoor education in Scott's Creek, and the other in Point Turton named 'Wambana'.

Kent Town

The original and main campus is located in Kent Town, approximately 2 km east of the Adelaide city centre. The land, originally leased by Dr Benjamin Archer Kent from 1840 to 1859, then bought by Charles Robin, was bought at auction from Charles Robin for £2750 on 18 September 1865. However, it was not until 22 June 1969 that the college celebrated its inauguration, two years after the laying of the foundation stone by H.R.H. Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

The school campus is divided by the main building, with the preparatory school on the Flinders Street (south) side of the school, and the middle and Senior schools on the Capper Street (north) side.

Scotts Creek Campus

Scotts Creek campus is the college's Murray River retreat. The Scotts Creek Outdoor Centre is located near Morgan, approximately 165 km from Adelaide. It provides a mix of environmental education, adventure and personal development activities.

Wambana Campus

Wambana Campus is an off school ground recreational camp. The primary purpose of Wambana is to foster growth by helping adolescent boys better manage the transition to adulthood through immersion in community, academic, spiritual and outdoor adventures.

Wambana is a six-acre (approx. 2.5 hectares) property situated on the coast of southern Yorke Peninsula, bordering the township of Point Turton and rural farming land. Students and staff live in a small village in which residential accommodation and a classroom are clustered around a central meeting facility. The property consists of six accommodation buildings known as "Wardlis" (aboriginal word meaning "dwelling"). Wambana accommodates up to 32 students for five-week periods.

Sport

Prince Alfred College is a member of the Sports Association for Adelaide Schools (SAAS).

Intercol

Each sports team at Princes has an annual fixture against traditional longtime rivals Saint Peter's College, known as the "Intercol" (Inter-collegiate). These are considered by the two colleges to be the most important games of the seasons, and the fiercely fought matches of the more popular sports draw big crowds of students and old scholars from both schools. The Intercols have been played for over 100 years. At one time, the Australian rules football and the Cricket intercols were both played on Adelaide Oval. The Cricket Intercollegiate match has been competed since 1878. According to Richard Sproull this is "the oldest unbroken annual contest in the history of cricket" (Weekend Australian 5/6 December 1992).

Rowing

Rowing began at PAC in 1883 and has played an important part in the school's sporting culture since that time. The school has two boat houses, at West Lakes and by the Torrens Lake in the City of Adelaide's parklands. Although competition in local and national regattas forms an integral part of the rowing programme, the main event for each year is the Head of the River. The school won the Head of the River in 2012, 2013 and 2014. These years marked the first time the college has won three consecutive titles at the event. Notably, the school won the 2025 Head of the River, putting an end to a near ten-year St Peter's College victory record.

Outdoor education

The Prince Alfred College Outdoor Education programme provides a variety of integrated activities designed to allow boys to face challenges beyond those possible in a suburban day school. Current activities are focused on the Scotts Creek Outdoor Centre at Morgan on the River Murray.

In 2008, the college opened its Wambana Campus at Point Turton on the Yorke Peninsula. Year 9 students spend 5 weeks at the new facility, learning field science and mathematics along with other subjects and life skills as well as community service.

Year 11 students undertake practical leadership training and are encouraged to nominate for trips to Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Kangaroo Island.

Notable alumni

Among the noted alumni who attended the college are Rhodes scholars, as well as people who worked in academia, business, entertainment, the judiciary, public service, politics, the sciences and sport. From the full list of Old Reds, some of the most notable include:

Crawford Vaughan.jpeg|Crawford Vaughan, 27th Premier of South Australia and 2nd Labor Premier Lionel Logue 1937.jpg|Lionel Logue, speech pathologist for King George VI, depicted in The King's Speech (2010) by Geoffrey Rush Nick Xenophon.jpg|Nick Xenophon, Senator for South Australia and Member of the Legislative Council Ian Chappell 1971.jpg|Ian Chappell, Australian Cricket Captain Sir Edward Holden.jpeg|Sir Edward Holden, founder of Holden car company

References

References

1. N. E. Peard, Prince Alfred College School Songs, Adelaide, 1961.
2. Leah Simons, "Princes Men Masculinity at Prince Alfred College", University of Adelaide, 2001, PhD thesis, https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/items/80fd4c3b-e1ad-4887-b69f-f1540a281f48
3. Ibid, 29-31.
4. The oldest ongoing contest is [[Eton v Harrow]]
5. (July 2025)
6. (5 March 2025). "Origins of 'The Great Intercollegiate Match'".
7. Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia, ‘Pirie Street Methodist Church’, SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au/places/pirie-street-methodist-church/
8. South Australian Weekly Chronicle (Adelaide, SA: 1858 - 1867), Sat 13 Jul 1867, Page 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91261311?
9. Philip Payton, "The Bible Christians in Early South Australia, 1836-1860: A preliminary survey", in ''Remembering the Bible Christians'', University of Exeter Press, 2017, Volume 2, Chapter 5.
10. South Australian Register, Mon 22 Jul 1867, Page 3, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/39189282?
11. The South Australian Advertiser, Fri 13 Sept 1867, Page 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28800766?searchTerm=%22prince%20alfred%22%20college
12. (2019). "PAC Chronicle 2019". Prince Alfred College.
13. (1884). "Proceedings of the Parliament of South Australia". Parliament of South Australia.
14. Walker, John. (October 2009). "'A Holy Liberty in the Lord'? South Australian Baptists and Female Gender Roles, circa 1870 to 1940". Pacific Journal of Baptist Research.
15. "A History of Generosity and Impact".
16. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/chamber/hansardr/2000-11-09/toc_pdf/814-1.pdf {{Bare URL PDF. (July 2025)
17. Vlach, Anna. (5 January 2007). "Boys show they too can be perfect". The Advertiser.
18. (14 January 2002). "Paul's almost perfect". The Advertiser.
19. Goodfellow, Nhada. (17 February 2003). "Students with the world at their feet". The Advertiser.
20. "News".
21. (July 2025)
22. R. M. Gibbs. (1990). "Ward, John Frederick (1883–1954)". MUP.
23. "Stephen Codrington". Stephen Codrington – The Website.
24. [https://pac.edu.au/school/campus/wambana-campus/ Wambana Campus], Prince Alfred College
25. "Kent Town's history". Preserve Kent Town Association.
26. "History". Prince Alfred College.
27. "Kent Town Historical Walks". City of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters.
28. [https://pac.edu.au/school/campus/scotts-creek-campus/ Scotts Creek Campus], Prince Alfred College
29. [http://www.messenger.net.au/Sport/htm/colfoot0906.htm Adelaide College Football], Gary Jenkinson. Retrieved 8/1/07