William G. Fenner

Herewith are a set of reminiscences from my time as a student at what was then called Thebarton Junior Technical High School – or something close to that. My father had been appointed the first Superintendent of Technical Education in South Australia, coming from his previous job as Principal of the then Ballarat School of Mines, now called Ballarat University.

‘Thebby Tech’ was perhaps the first such school in SA, though by the time I was a pupil there, ‘Adelaide Tech’ was established.

My time there was the years 1935 and 1936, coming from Rose Park Primary School, near which we lived. I attained my Intermediate Certificate during those two years, and then went to Leaving and Leaving Honours at St Peter’s College – being a boarder there during 1937 when my parents went on an extended world tour.

Now what memories arise?

The teachers: the headmaster was Mr Alec Paull – called by us students ‘Acka’ Paull, and the assistant head was Adolf Kriehn. We, as students, saw little of these two – they seemed to remain largely closeted in their offices. Of the teachers, ‘Hoot’ Gibson took chemistry and maybe science and operated in what was just a regular chemistry lab room, providing facilities for about 20 – 30 students. He was a quiet fellow. Why ‘Hoot’ I don’t know.

‘Hooker’ Harvey and ‘Beaker’ Harvey – the latter so-called certainly because of his nose, and the former similarly I think. One or both took maths and one, maybe, a language. Then Hector Moore, taking – I think, drawing, that is geometrical drawing, using T square, set square, protractor and divider: Teddy Matthews took sheetmetal work – I still have a quite lovely sugar bowl I made under his tutelage. Teddy was fond of making references to his experiences as a soldier in World War I – though I don’t recall any specific such stories. Another teacher present was Geoff Mainwaring – pronounced ‘Mannering’. He taught, I think, freehand drawing, that is, art, which I don’t think I studied. And that’s about all the teachers I can remember.

Incidentally, I visited the school when I was in Adelaide last week. It is now called Thebarton Senior College and its main aim is to help senior, that is adult people complete a secondary education, qualifying for university or other advanced study. The original school is still there, except for the sheetmetal work and woodwork buildings which seem to have gone, being replaced with large areas of brick buildings – I went inside one major building and it is of course quite different from those of my day, particularly the presence of computers.

Of the students, I recall only one – Peter Mitchell. He was a bigger fellow than the rest of us. We usually met each morning on the tram starting point in Currie Street, where it strikes King William Street, and went down Henley Beach Road, getting off at Shipster Street, and walking the fairly long walk down to school. Similarly, usually went back the same way after school and back to town, where we separated again to go to our separate suburbs, Peter lived, I think, in Glen Osmond, though I never visited his home to the best of my recollection.

I used to catch the tram, No. 13, on Fullarton Road, at the foot of Alexandra Avenue – the fare to town was tuppence – only a penny if we walked the extra distance to ‘The Brit’ – the Britannia Hotel at the corner of Kensington (‘Kensy’) Road and Fullarton Road, where the No. 12 tram ran to town, as with the No. 13 down Wakefield Street to Grenfell Street, stopping at the T&G Building. Rigby’s bookshop was there too!

I had a happy two years at Thebby Tech. Didn’t excel at anything in particular – Frank is a lot brighter than me, as his life’s record shows in Who’s Who, but I did attain the ‘Intermediate’ in two years which was considered good – you could take it on in two years or three.

When I went to Saints while my parents were away, one incident I recall did hurt my feelings very much at the time. During an English class within a few days of my starting there – and I was thus the only ‘outsider’ in the class – the English master commented to the class about something I’d just said: ‘Oh, he says “ticher”; he means “master”.’

I nevertheless enjoyed my three years at Saints, and remember many of my fellow students, including Max Harris of Angry Penguins fame, Don Dunstan, W.A.N. Wells who became a judge of the Supreme Court, Mark Hill-Smith of Yalumba Wines at Angaston, Peter Rudall, whose father was a Minister in the state government – Minister of Education – and, oh yes, Basil Hetzel, who did medicine and was more recently Chancellor of the University of South Australia. I guess I remember these people from Saints because they were or became ‘big names’.

I became an engineer. I don’t know why I chose it without any real knowledge of what engineers do. I just said to dad that I wanted to and he let me do so. I’ve had no regrets over the choice of that profession. I worked with BHP at Whyalla, the SA Mines Department, ICI at Osborne, CRA, and Vic Rail and I lectured at Monash University and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

Postscript In 1995 William Fenner was made a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia. Today he concentrates on Quality and Productivity Management. His 600 page book on the subject has just been published by Standards Australia.

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