THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN SOCIETY OF MELBOURNE
Objects
of the Society
· To foster taste for all Scottish culture including music and sport
·
To promote brotherhood and good fellowship amongst its members
·
To provide advice and assistance to Scottish folk from overseas
Eligibility
for Membership
Membership
is open to natural persons of not less than 18 years of age being natives of
Scotland or of Scottish descent or association.
The spouse/partner of a qualified member may be
deemed eligible for membership notwithstanding the absence of a Scottish
blood-line.
Membership
Fees
Single
·
Joining Fee (including membership badge) $25.00
·
Annual Fee
$15.00
Application forms are available from the Secretary,
Mr David Thomson, P.O. Box 610, Elsternwick, Victoria 3185.
Tel: 0411 242 297. E-mail: davidthomson@caulfieldgs.vic.edu.au
Meetings
·
Gatherings of the Society are held on dates and at times advertised in
“Royal Courier”
·
The Annual General Meeting of the society is held in August
Society
Functions
The
Society conducts two principal functions each year, viz:
·
Hogmanay Australis
Generally
a luncheon held on the Sunday closest to 30th June
The
ceremonies of Hogmanay are enacted and celebrated
·
St Andrew’s Festival Dinner
A
formal dinner to honour the patron saint of Scotland; the dinner is held in
November and generally within ten days of St Andrew’s Day
In
addition, a Tavern Day is held in April and a Church service and luncheon in
December.
Newsletter
The
Society publishes a quarterly newsletter entitled “Royal Courier” which is
distributed to all members.
THE ROYAL CALEDONIAN SOCIETY OF MELBOURNE
A Brief History
John Pascoe Fawkner’s ship, the Enterprise, moored for the first time on the north side of the Yarra basin, just below the present Queen’s Bridge, on 29th August, 1835. Less than 25 years later, on 6th April, 1858, about 100 people gathered in the Mechanics Institute and adopted the following resolution:
It is expedient that a national association, to be called the Caledonian Society of Victoria, and consisting of members of Scottish birth or parentage, be now formed, and that the rules now read be the fundamental rules of the Society.
With the adoption of that motion, the Society which is now known as the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne came into being.
It is not the oldest Scottish society in Australia. That honour belongs to the Maryborough Highland Society which was founded the year before, in 1857.
In 1860 a Grand Caledonian Gathering was held in Melbourne with an attendance of some 20,000 people. A similar function was held the following year from 26th to 28th December and was an event of such significance that H.H. Stephenson’s visiting English cricket team (the first English “test” side to visit) was obliged to play the local side on another ground as the MCG had been booked by the Caledonians.
In 1884 the Society was re-constructed as the Caledonian Society of Melbourne, along the lines of the London Caledonian Society. The following year saw the Society hold its first sports meeting and ball.
The Caledonian Society, in conjunction with a number of other Scottish societies, played an important role in the founding of the Victorian Scottish Regiment which was raised in 1898 and survives to this day as part of the 5th Battalion of the Royal Victorian Regiment.
The statue of Robert Burns, originally located in St Kilda Road, was a gift to the City of Melbourne from the Society. Unveiled on 23rd January, 1904, it has had several locations but is now housed in the Treasury Gardens.
The first decade of the 20th century was a “golden age” for Scottish societies with no fewer than fourteen being founded between 1902-06 in Victoria alone.
Throughout 1904 consideration had been given to the formation of a federation of Scottish societies. The federation came about on 8th September, 1905, with the birth of the Victorian Scottish Union. The Caledonian Society’s President, George Gibb, was elected as the founding President of the VSU.
Such was the enthusiasm for all things Scottish that “the American bounder” as his biographer called him, King O’Malley, sometime Minister for Home Affairs and founder of the Commonwealth Bank, bobbed up at a function in Essendon claiming Scottish blood because his grandmother, Agnes Nairn, had belonged to Aberdeenshire.
In 1912 the Society moved from Queen Street to more club-like premises in Queen’s Walk off Swanston Street where it remained until 1923.
The Society continued to host dinners, balls and concerts, pursuing its objects of fostering Scottish culture including music and sport; promoting brotherhood amongst its members; providing advice and assistance to Scots from overseas; and promoting philanthropy – much the same as it does today.
In 1921 the Society received the Royal Charter from His Majesty King George V and in 1923 moved to new premises in Russell Street which were opened by the Prime Minister, Mr Bruce, in the presence of a huge gathering on 18th June.
In 1928 a delegation of members of the Society visited England and Scotland and were received by the Duke and Duchess of York at St James’s Palace. This was the first of a series of delegation “exchanges” with a Scottish group visiting Melbourne in 1934 and a return visit from Melbourne in 1936.
The Society’s pipe band visited Western Australia in 1929 and came home with £160 in prize money and 25 gold medals. A similarly successful excursion to South Australia took place in 1936.
The early 1930s were a dark period for many people and many organizations. Despite the difficult times, the Society celebrated the jubilee of its 1884 re-construction with a dinner at Scott’s Hotel and a Jubilee Social at the Society’s rooms in the Manchester Unity Building to which it had moved in 1933 after the sale of the Russell Street premises.
Throughout the Second World War, the Society devoted itself to patriotic and charitable purposes, supporting the Prisoners of War Fund, the Red Cross and the Merchant Navy. The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Society was formed in 1940 and laboured long and hard in support of the Scottish Regiment, the Limbless Soldiers’ Association, the Merchant Navy, the Comforts Fund, and other organizations.
Scholarships at Scotch College and Presbyterian Ladies’ College were endowed in 1944.
In January, 1947, the Society’s pipe band won the Dewar Cup in Sydney and in July of that year the band was selected to play at a welcome to Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein by the Rats of Tobruk Association.
In 1949 the Society had 450 members and boasted investments of nearly £20,000.
The last fifty years of the 20th century have seen the Society’s fortunes wax and wane. In common with many similar organizations, membership has fallen. The Society quit its premises in the Manchester Unity building and moved to Queen’s Road. Now gatherings are held at various locations around Melbourne and the main social activities are held at Ascot House in Ascot Vale.
Nevertheless, the flag is kept flying. The words of Alex Chisholm, author of the Society’s history “Scots Wha Hae”, published in 1950, make an appropriate conclusion:
The story of our organization, in all its facets is one of national significance, and it bears out the claim made by President Gibb, in 1903, that “Melbourne‘s Caledonian Society has a history of which it may well be proud”.
MILESTONES
1858 Caledonian Society of Victoria formed
1884 Society re-constructed as Caledonian Society of Melbourne
1885 First sports meeting and ball
1895 Victorian Scottish Regiment formed
1904 Burns statue unveiled in St Kilda Road
1905 Society president becomes first president of Victorian Scottish Union
1912 Society re-locates from Queen Street to Queen’s Walk
1921 Royal Charter granted
1923 Prime Minister Bruce opens Society’s new premises in Russell Street
1928 Society delegation visits Scotland; Pipe band victorious in Western Australia
1933 Russell Street premises sold and Society re-locates to Manchester Unity Building
1934 Visit by Scottish delegation; Presidential chair presented
1936 Second delegation visits Scotland; Pipe band victorious in South Australia
1944 Scholarships endowed at Scotch College and Presbyterian Ladies’ College
1947 Pipe band wins Dewars Cup in Sydney
1950 Society’s history “Scots Wha’ Hae” published.
OFFICE BEARERS – 2002-2003
President: G. James Rattray
Vice-President and Honorary Piper: Glenn Dudley
Hon. Secretary: David Thomson
Hon. Treasurer: Chris Adam
Councillors: Johan Fraser, James Miller, George McNaughton, Nessie McNaughton
Councillor Emeritus: Andrew Fraser
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