Southportonians' Review - The Southport School

From the Headmaster
On September 13th, the day of his funeral, the
School flag was flown at half-mast in recognition
of the passing of Old Boy and long-serving teacher
Mr Edward Leney (Pat) Hunt. Up until the last few
months, Pat was a regular visitor to the School where
he is still fondly remembered by other long-serving
staff still teaching here.
A contingent of us, with a delegation of Delpratt Year
12 students, joined many Old Boys and Pat’s family and
friends at Pat’s church, the Holy Spirit Anglican Church on
Isle of Capri, to celebrate the life of this fine man.
Two past Chaplains, Jim Stonier and Ross Burnett, along
with long-serving teacher and fellow Delpratt Housemaster,
Canon Bruce Maughan, officiated at the service. All were
teaching colleagues of Pat. At assembly that morning,
prior to the Chaplain offering a prayer for the life and
service of Pat Hunt, I told the boys about some of Pat’s
life, aspects of which I would like to share with you:
Pat commenced as a student at TSS in 1943 and an
excerpt from his student journal reads… “Imagine yourself
back in 1943, and a small boy arrives aged 14, a little
bit small for 14... it has taken two hours from South
Brisbane to Southport Station where we were met by Mr
Henry Greenhalgh, ‘Greenie’ or ‘Bottle’ they called him,
who whisks us away to our bus… at the School there is
a brownout on and the lights on the bus are browned out
(wartime) and the Americans are here. This is the time of
the American occupation and the Japanese are knocking
at the door in the North. The Americans have use of the
building… as a base hospital…”
Pat lived in a part of the Governor’s old summer house
(now Biddle House) and the other boarders lived in
temporary wooden rooms nearby.
Current Walker Housemaster Mr Steve Roberts taught with
Mr Hunt before he retired. Mr Roberts describes Pat as
… “an esteemed and highly distinguished Old Boy and
leader, but also both a real gentleman and a gentle man…
Pat was an articulate, witty, generous and caring teacher; a
genuinely intelligent man in touch with his emotional being
and blessed with a desire to inspire others – both students
and fellow teachers”.
During his time as a student Pat Hunt achieved 8 As out
of 9 subjects in Year 9 (he would have been on our Dean’s
List nowadays). He was a Chapel sacristan and in his final
year Pat was a Prefect, Dux of the School and hooker for
the First XV (many current boys felt this was his crowning
achievement!). Pat was also a writer, one of our early
Renaissance men, and he went on to win the Chelmsford
Cup.
Pat continued on to university and then taught at The
Armidale School and taught French and Latin at two
Grammar schools in England before returning to TSS as
a teacher. He was Delpratt Housemaster from 1957 to
1963, editor of The Southportonian for 17 years, and
acted as the Librarian while teaching full-time.
Four years ago, Dean of Studies at the time Mr Michael
Turley instituted The Pat Hunt Prize for Senior Language
students in recognition of Mr Hunt’s efforts as a linguist,
scholar, and former Head of Languages. This prize is
awarded each year to the top student in Chinese, French
or Japanese who is not a native speaker – providing
recognition for our Australian boys who persevere and
succeed with foreign languages.
There is a great photo in Bearing the Palm of Pat Hunt and
Mr Allan (Wallaby) Ware being applauded by students as
they walked through the Dixon Gates on the day they both
retired in 1990.
We give thanks for the life, achievements and Christian
service to others of Edward Leney (Pat) Hunt.
Mr Greg Wain
Headmaster
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THE OLD SOUTHPORTONIANS’ REVIEW