The Hutchins School

The Hutchins School, colloquially known as Hutchins, is an Anglican, day and boarding school for boys from pre-kindergarten to Year 12 in Hobart, Tasmania. Established in 1846, Hutchins is one of the oldest continuously operating schools in Australia.

Hutchins is a founding-member of the International Boys' Schools Coalition (IBSC),^[2] and a member of Independent Schools Tasmania (IST).^[3] The Hutchins School is also a member of Round Square.^[4]

The Hutchins School was established in 1846 at Hobart Town in memory of The Venerable William Hutchins, first Archdeacon of Van Diemen's Land. Arriving in the colony in 1837, Archdeacon Hutchins had worked to establish a faithful ministry, erecting churches and schools and laying the foundation for secondary education under the auspices of the Church of England.^[5]

The school commenced operations under Headmaster John Richard Buckland at Ingle Hall, a large Georgian house dating back to 1811 which still stands in lower Macquarie Street, Hobart. Three years later it moved several blocks up Macquarie Street to a purpose-built schoolhouse designed by Tasmanian architect, William Archer.^[5]

In the early days of many and varied schools and tenuous longevity, Hutchins survived by absorbing pupils, staff and plant of other less robust institutions, including Christ's College (1846–1912), The High School (1850–65), Horton College (1855–93) and Officer College (1888–1900). When Hutchins joined forces with Christ's College in 1912 it was the signal for Arthur A. Stephens to close Queen's College, founded by him in 1893, and accept the post of vice-master of Hutchins. In 1905 Hutchins amalgamated with Buckland's School, opened in 1893 by William Harvey Buckland, son of founding headmaster J. R. Buckland and brother of second headmaster John Vansittart Buckland. Hutchins would go on to absorb King's Grammar School (1907), Franklin House School (1917) and Apsley House School (1928), and affiliate with Gryce (1934) and Gladwyn (1937) Schools.^[5]

By the 1950s the school was growing too large for its inner-city site and in 1957 a new Junior School was built on an elevated site overlooking the River Derwent at Sandy Bay. This followed the opening at the Sandy Bay site of a sub-primary section in 1946 and the War Memorial Oval and DB Memorial Pavilion in 1955. The Senior School was later constructed on the adjacent site of the former Queenborough Cemetery, following a council referendum in which ratepayers voted '1 for educational purposes' in 1960.^[6] As part of this arrangement the council committed to pay for 1,900 bodies to be exhumed from the cemetery with the school funding all other exhumations. As of 2024, it is unclear how many bodies were actually exhumed by the council.^[7] By 1964 the Senior School campus encompassed a Boarding House (Burbury House), the Foster Science Wing and the Erwin Science Wing, quickly followed by an administration block and classrooms, later followed by the Ray Vincent Humanities Wing, while the Junior School campus across the road soon expanded to include a fledgling Middle School. The Macquarie Street building was sold in 1965, with Hutchins commencing full operations at Sandy Bay the following year. In the following decades, The Hutchins School expanded to include the Palfreyman Gymnasium, the Chapel of St Thomas, the Terence Butler Auditorium, ^[8]the Middle School Megaquad and the John Bednall Centre for Learning Support (later renamed to the John Bednall Centre for Excellence in 2014).

In March 2024, two graves were found during earthworks for a new building at the school.^[9] An archaeology team was brought in and 1,973 human remains were exhumed upon completion of the project in late 2024. It is believed to be the largest mass exhumation ever undertaken in Australia. Due to poor management of the former cemetery it was difficult to identify most of the remains.^[7] 1,717 out of 1,973 of the bodies were identified.^[10] The remains were reinterred at the Cornelian Bay Cemetery. It is believed that hundreds of bodies remain buried under school property.^[7]

In recent years, the Hutchins School has undertaken a number of campus expansions and redevelopment projects. These works, including new buildings and upgrades to existing facilities, have been designed to accommodate growth in enrolments and to provide modern, purpose-built spaces for teaching and learning. This section includes expansions, modernisations and developments from 2020 forward.

• Chris Rae Building- Named in honour of former teacher and Head of Senior School Chris Rae, the CRB was constructed as part of the Middle School's campus expansion program in order to accommodate the Year 6 Cohort, which would join the Middle School in 2022 . It provides 4 new contemporary classroom spaces for Years 7 and 8, a new multipurpose classroom, an amphitheatre, offices for staff, new breakout spaces for years 7 and 8 and a new dance and drama studio, and serves as a central hub for students and staff within the Middle School.^[11]
• Pre-Kinder Learning Space- In 2024, the Hutchins School unveiled a new indoor Pre-Kindergarten learning space, designed with flexible, open-plan areas to support dynamic play and early learning. The project was recognised with an award at the 2024 Tasmanian Architecture Awards.^[12]
• NJ Edwards Hub^[13]- The N J Edwards Hub is a major development at The Hutchins School. Named in honour of former Headmaster N J Edwards, The central feature of the N J Edwards Hub will be an auditorium capable of congregating the entire school, complemented by facilities for indoor sports. Other features will include: new classrooms for Senior students and Middle Students with classes in the Senior School, Entrance foyer, displaying artworks and memorabilia, Indoor swimming pool (Stage 3), Basketball/badminton/volleyball courts, Weights and cardio rooms, Flexible learning spaces, Parking space for 120 cars (Stage 3), Tunnel under Nelson Road to connect the Senior School and Middle School (Stage 2, completed), and a home for the Hutchins School Old Boys’ Association and The Hutchins School Parents’ Association. The building is complete (Stages 1 & 2, Stage 3 to be begin) as of the 13th of March, and is currently open and used.^[14]

The school runs an extensive co-curricular program^[15] offering music, performing arts, debating, sports, dance, and the Duke of Edinburgh International Award. Students from Years 7-12 choose a sport for Term 1/4 (summer sports) and Term 2/3, to participate in after school. Inter-school debating is available from Year 5 to Year 12, with the Year 5s and 6s Debating and the Year 7s and 8s debating together. Debating usually begins around March, and participating students debate every second week, at various schools across Hobart. Music at Hutchins is also another co-curricular choice^[16], with Strings Groups, Bands, Concert Bands, Jazz Bands, Chamber Groups, Ensembles and Choir/Vocal Groups on offer to students in Junior School, Middle School and Senior School. Private music tutoring is also available at an additional cost. Performing Arts are also available for Middle/Senior Students, with Dance, being the most popular within the Faculty, in which students can participate in the following dance programs: Jazz, Musical Theatre, Lyrical/Contemporary, Hip-Hop, and Tap. Also available is the School of Performing Arts (SPA), for students with interests in Drama, Musical Theatre and Music Performance, a small number of scholarships may awarded by the Principal to students of exceptional ability.^[17]

As with most Australian schools, Hutchins uses a house system. The current house system consists of four houses (Thorold, Stephens, Buckland, and School). Each house has a sister house from St Michael's Collegiate School. Buckland, Dundas and McPhee (Collegiate) are red houses. School, Rivers and Stevens (Collegiate) are blue houses. Thorold, Monty and Reiby (Collegiate) are green houses. Stephens, Kilburn and Mitchell (Collegiate) are brown houses. Each year, these houses compete against each other in physical and mental contests for the 'House Cup'. These events include inter-house debating, house performance, house choir and athletics. There is also a 'House Spirit Cup' that goes to house with the most School Spirit.^[18] The School holds multiple house events across the year including: Athletics Carnival, Swimming Carnival, Summer Sports Day and Winter Sports Day.

During Toppin’s tenure, the title of the school’s leader was changed from Headmaster to Principal. The title was subsequently restored to Headmaster by his successor Dean. Incumbent Dr Rob McEwan, kept the title of Headmaster until 2023, where McEwan adopted the title Principal.^[19]

Notable alumni of The Hutchins School include:

• Errol Flynn, Hollywood actor
• Percy Abbot CMG, a soldier, politician and solicitor^[22]
• Stuart Barnes, poet (1981–1995)^[23]
• John Bisdee VC, first Australian winner of the Victoria Cross (1882–1885)
• Frank Bowden CBE, FRS, scientist^[24]
• Tim Bowden, broadcaster, journalist and author (1946–54)^[25]
• Sir Stanley Burbury KCMG KCVO KBE, Governor of Tasmania (1973–1982)^[26]
• Bob Clifford, founder of Incat, shipbuilder and entrepreneur (1961)^[25]
• Sir John Davies KCMG, politician, newspaper proprietor and first-class cricketer^[27]
• Lyndhurst Giblin DSO, MC, economist^[28]
• Stephen Gumley, engineer and first CEO, Australian Defence Materiel Organisation (1966–74)
• Richard Hewson, master mariner and navigator, winner of 2011–12 Volvo Ocean Race (1992–97)
• Mitchell Hibberd, AFL Footballer
• Michael Hodgman, Liberal MHR (1947–56)
• Roger Hodgman, theatre and television director
• Will Hodgman, Liberal Premier (1980–86)
• Kevin Hofbauer, actor (2006)^[25]
• Paul Hudson, AFL footballer and coach (1988)^[25]
• Leonard Huxley KBE, physicist and former President of the Australian Institute of Physics
• Thomas Murdoch CMG, politician^[29]
• Brodie Neill, designer (1983–96)
• Harold Nicholas, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, judge and politician^[30]
• Hamish Peacock, javelin olympian (2008)^[25]
• Sir James Ramsay KCMG, KCVO, CBE, DSC, Governor of Queensland (1977–1985)^[26]
• Arthur Smithies, Harvard economist
• John Stopp, President of the Legislative Council of Tasmania (1992–1995)
• Damon Thomas, Alderman and former Lord Mayor of Hobart, Tasmanian Crown Solicitor, State Ombudsman, CEO of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Korean Consul (1967)^[25]
• James William Tibbs CMG, Headmaster of Auckland Grammar School, 1893–1922 (1867–72)
• Alan Walker, architect^[31]
• Owen Walsh, Administrator of Norfolk Island (2008–2012)^[26]
• Troy Pickard, politician and businessman^[32]
• Denis Warner OBE, CMG, war correspondent, author and journalist (1928–35)
• Guy Wylly VC DSO, joint first Australian winner of the Victoria Cross (1889–1893)

As of 2024, The Hutchins School has had 26^[33] Rhodes Scholars, the latest being the 2024 Tasmania scholar, Billy Blackett.^[34] Alumni have been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Australian states other than Tasmania, such as the 2016 New South Wales scholar, Harjeevan Narulla.^[35][36]

Notable Hutchins alumni to be awarded the Rhodes Scholarship include:^[33]

• 1923 – Leonard Huxley
• 1979 – Stephen Gumley

Two Hutchins Old Boys have been awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour in Commonwealth countries. They include:

• Major Guy George Egerton Wylly VC DSO (1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen; Boer War; 1900)^[37]
• Trooper John Hutton Bisdee VC OBE (1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen, Boer War; 1900)^[38]

• List of schools in Tasmania
• List of boarding schools
• Education in Tasmania
• International Boys' Schools Coalition

• The Hutchins School website