Scotch College

Bequest enabled construction of two boarding houses

Words: SUE FAULKHEAD • BEQUEST COORDINATOR

Two of the Scotch boarding houses – School House and McMeckan House – are lasting monuments to the generosity of the Mackie family.

Construction of both houses was funded by a bequest from the nephews and nieces of Captain James McMeckan (1797–1878) – Grace, Helen, William and Anthony Mackie. Their uncle James was a sea captain who in 1829 sailed for Australia as captain of the convict ship Waterloo, later retiring to live in the Port Phillip District.

McMeckan and School houses were built in 1925 in the distinctive architectural appearance that Scotch developed during that era. The bricks were red, smooth and tuck pointed, and the spacious cloisters and open-bedroom balconies had cream-plastered, wide, pointed arches, while the upper walls beneath the gables were roughcast render. This distinct style was also used in the earliest buildings, including Junior School and the Quad. The roofs were tiled in red. Everything alluded to the cardinal in the school colours, a tradition that has continued through the generations.

School and McMeckan houses both initially accommodated sixty boys and resident staff and had three sleep-out balconies. A ‘temporary’ dining hall seated 250 boys and its modern kitchen used electricity, steam and gas.
GS