Bishop Julius: Exstudent

Ex-Students

Join us

For almost 50 years there has been an Ex-Students Association at Bishop Julius.

We were to have held our Annual General Meeting on Saturday 4th September, but a natural
disaster overtook us (the earthquake and resulting loss of power and water to most homes)
and so it was rescheduled to take place in November.

The following were elected to the committee:

Dr Janet Baldwin (President); Joanne Mulligan (Secretary); Carroll Chambers (Treasurer);
and Eleanor Okey, Lynne Williams, Diane Hopkins, Joyce Edmondson, Juliet Barker, and
Ann de Lambert.

We also elected Rev Michael Welsh, as the current Principal of the Hall, to be a patron of the
organisation along with Cynthia Blair and Olive Baylyn.

Would you like to join us? You may:

Our members live in many different countries but we have an active committee and keep in touch and support each other, and foster the general well being of the Hall and its present students.

Now, two publications about our past

(1) DVD of our history

In 2007, it was 90 years since the Hall first opened on Park Terrace. To commemorate this event, a DVD was produced with more than 160 archive photos and a spoken commentary.

That’s the cover, on the right.

This DVD is a fascinating portrait of 90 years at “Bish” prepared by Tim and Judith Bell and family.

The price is $10 (including packing and post).

Click and order the DVD.

(2) We have also published a Register.

It is 65 pages long, in A5 for $8 (including packing and post), and has the names of hundreds of exstudents and a short history of Bishop Julius Hall.

Click and order a copy of the Register.

Building the Bishop Julius Archives

A small group of committee members currently works on accessioning the archival material, but we would welcome any other ex-students with an interest in the history of BJH to join us. Email us and get in touch.

Donations to the archives

Photographs and documents relating to BJH are welcomed by our archive team. We are always looking out for more items that record the history of the hall. We are particularly keen to access items of interest from 1970 to the present day. If you have anything of interest, please contact the committee to arrange for copies to be made.

Financial donations are also welcomed to help cover the cost of copying photographs and documents. Donations are now tax deductable because we are a registered charity. Our Charities Commission Registration Number is CC42690 and this number should be used when claiming a tax deduction.

You’re now an exstudent AND an alumni

Since the amalgamation of the University of Canterbury and the Christchurch College of Education, all graduates of the Christchurch Teachers’ College and Christchurch College of Education are now identified as alumni of the University of Canterbury.

You may have received the regular Alumni Magazine from the University or had an invitation to attend the Annual Alumni Weekend and wondered why!

Stories of 60 exstudents

In 1998 the life stories of 60 former residents and principals were compiled by Olive Baylyn and published as “Hall of Fame”.

This has been a very valuable resource for the organisation.

Download the order form and purchase a copy of this informative and interesting book for only $15 inc p&p.

Recent news

Another successful morning tea was held in March with around 30 people attending. We were entertained by a very talented group of students from the Hall.

At the BJH Valedictory dinner in October 2010, the Daphne Fahy Cup for all round citizenship and our $50 book token was presented to Iain Maclaurin.

A number of Ex-students passed away during the year. Among them were Edna Crumpton (Pedder); Juliet Cowan CNZM (Peter), Mary Rose Bennett(Unwin); Clare-Marie Clarke (Tonks) and Catherine Macfarlane (Hay). The Association acknowledges the passing of these people and of any others who we have not been made aware of and express sympathy to the families of all who have lost loved ones.

Future Events at BJH

Gearing up for 100 years!
The association is very aware that it is less than 7 years until the Hall celebrates its centenary. We are looking at ways that we can contribute to this celebration and would welcome any items of interest (including any bathplugs that may still be around out there), photographs and anecdotes that can be used to compile a record of the Hall since its establishment in 1917. Please contact us if you can help in any way.

Membership drive using facebook and the web

The committee is very keen to expand the membership of the association, and to include more of our more recent ex-students from BJH.

To this end, we are planning some social events as well as publicising the association through media such as Facebook and the BJH website. Tell people they can get the membership form from this page. Membership forms are also available from the committee, so please email us if you are unable to access it through this website.

Drinks and Nibbles at BJH

Rev Michael Welsh is planning to host ex-students for drinks and nibbles at BJH during the UC Alumni Weekend later this year.

You do not need to be involved in the Alumni Weekend to participate, just come along and join us. We would like to help Michael to make this an event to remember, so make a note of the date and time and we hope to see you there.

Annual Morning Tea, 2011

The association will be having its annual Christchurch morning tea on Saturday, 5th March next year. If you are likely to be in Christchurch during March, let us know so we can ensure you know when and where we will be meeting. The venue will be advertised through this website in February 2011.

We would love it if ex-students in other parts of the country were willing to organise a similar event in other centres. Please contact us for names of people in your area so you can contact them.

Michael Welsh has begun visiting various centres around the South Island to let schools know about BJH and to encourage future university students to apply. He is very keen to host a coffee meeting in areas he is visiting, so don’t be surprised if you receive an invitation.