Grammar Gazette- Issue 2, 2010

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LADY LILLEY GOLD MEDAL

FOR DUX OF THE SCHOOL

SARAH JEAYS, THE FUTURE LADY LILLEY, LIVED HER LIFE IN HIGHLY CHARGED POLITICALLY AWARE FAMILIES. HER FATHER, JOSHUA JEAYS WAS, AN ACTIVE PARTITIONER FOR SEPARATION FROM THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, HE SERVED AS AN ALDERMAN IN BRISBANE’S COUNCIL AND AS THE CITY’S MAYOR IN 1864. IN 1858, SARAH JEAYS MARRIED CHARLES LILLEY WHOSE CHEQUERED CAREER WAS ACTED OUT UPON THE PUBLIC STAGE.

The Gold Medal was named in honour of Lady Lilley and Margaret Kerr is recorded as being the inaugural recipient in 1883. The specificity of conditions meant that in some years the Lady Lilley Medal was not awarded as either the requisite subjects were not studied or the level of a first class pass, set at 75 per cent was not achieved. In her Speech Day address (1968), the then Headmistress Louise McDonald made the following statement. ...for some time we have been concerned that one of the most coveted prizes, the Lady Lilley Gold Medal has been outside the reach of our best scholars...considerable research amongst old school documents revealed the fact that the conditions under which the medal was awarded had been altered many times and that the original intention was that this medal should be for the Dux of the School. This has now been restored and the medal will now be awarded to the girl in sixth form who gains the highest percentage in six subjects which lead to a matriculation...

He had been a radical soldier in England before coming to Brisbane where he began his career as a journalist/editor for the Moreton Bay Courier , before completing his legal studies and being appointed a Queen’s Councillor in 1865. As an elected politician to the state’s Legislative Assembly he became the Attorney-General and finally Premier from1868 to 1869. Ten years later he became the Chief Justice and in 1881 was knighted. By comparison, little is known about Sarah Lilley although it is obvious she was not an idle woman. She gave birth to thirteen children; eight sons and five daughters. As an outspoken advocate that girls should receive an education equal to that enjoyed by their brothers, Lilley waged a public campaign to establish Brisbane Girls Grammar School (albeit as a branch of Brisbane Grammar School) which he successfully realised when the School opened on March 15, 1875. In a move reminiscent of his gesture at Brisbane Grammar School where he was also a trustee, Charles Lilley donated a gold medal to be awarded annually, for academic excellence at the girls’ school. The conditions were quite specific. ... a gold medal is offered for competition to Form V girls who have been at the school not less than three years and is to be awarded to the girl who gains the highest aggregate of class and examination marks provided that she has not previously won the medal and has obtained at least one first class pass at the school examinations in each of the following subjects: English, Latin or German, French, Mathematics and Natural Science...

Since 1968, the Lady Lilley Gold Medal has been awarded annually and has become the most celebrated of prizes given at Speech Day.

Elizabeth Hatton HERITAGE PROJECTS

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