Tucked away in hundreds of boxes and seemingly hidden in a dark room, sits the history of St Peter’s College. They are carefully arranged and recorded to be preserved and protected to last for generations. These boxes hold letters, uniforms, photographs, meeting minutes, and other bits and pieces that show us the lives of the boys who have walked amongst these walls and fields in times gone by.
With 178 years of history, you can imagine the wealth of stories and items that the archives hold – including the original list of gentlemen who pledged money to the founding of the School. There are handwritten notes describing the struggles of starting a school, and trails of our old scholars in the world wars, and the achievements of boys in their academic pursuits.
For School Archives Day, the locked room where few enter was opened for the boys to see the rows and rows of boxes that hold the past, and one day, will hold their present. It is important to remember where our present came from by looking through the past.
‘Archives… are the gift of one generation to another and the extend of our care of them marks the extend of our civilization.’ Arthur G. Doughty, Archivist and Historian.
Mrs Elisabeth Bramford
School Archivist
