Mollison Cup

In 1917, the first “sports day” was introduced to raise “Patriotic funds” for World War I. Sports was a loose term. To 21 st century students, including events like a “flag race” (believed to be a shuttle relay) and a “chariot race” – involving three girls, lead strings, and a set formation seem like novelty activities rather than serious athletic pursuits – especially when you examine the strange contraption that the “chariot race” required. In 1918, hurdles were added which one assumes heralded a more modern compliance to what we know as athletics. However, in 1919, the flag and chariot races remained popular, with the flag race regarded as the most important event.

1920: A chariot Race group. One would wonder how modern Health and Safety regulations would view this activity! Enter the Mollison Cup. This elegant, hallmarked silver cup was first presented in 1920, three years after the interform “sports” competition was introduced to Girls Grammar. 1920 also saw the introduction of more novelty events: the tug-of-war (popular at the early Olympic Games) and egg and spoon races. Though these events would be regarded as “little weight” in the athletics arena, the entertainment they added to the competition contributed to the financial outcome, which was always a focus in these early years. Different charities such as the Nurses’ Quarters Fund and the Red Cross, benefitted from the funds raised. It is now that serious sleuthing is required: the Interform/Interhouse Athletics Aggregate Cup does not bear Essie Linsday Mollison’s name. That raises the question of why an athletics cup would have been donated by a Science teacher employed at the Brisbane Girls Grammar School from 1916 to 1918? Who was she and why would she donate an athletics trophy or have one named in her honour? Essie Lindsay Mollison was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC), Melbourne from 1907 to 1912 where she was a school prefect, a member of the Debating Society, and graduated as Dux of