Where are they now – Edward Cotching (SPC 1947-49, PY1950)

 

The College recently reconnected with former boarder Edward Cotching (SPC 1947-49, PY1950) who may well be our oldest living Old Boy!
Edward is 93 years “young”, in excellent health and still driving on an unrestricted license. He reckons he has good genes and his doctors say “I should live to 100 – but I’ve got to prove that!”
Edward, who lives now in Buronga, New South Wales, continued working til he was 80 and has always been a strong supporter of SPC. He has very kindly shared some of his memories of his time as a boarder and his well-lived life!

 

 

Where has life taken you since leaving SPC?

Well, life has taken me on a long road since leaving St Pat’s in 1949. My family owned a fruit block at Cardross, Victoria about this time and I worked with my dad Cecil Cotching there until 1953, when we sold the block about May 1953 and purchased another property at Trentham Cliffs, in New South Wales. This place was larger and had citrus as well as dried fruits. Had I the mathematical skills of my grandfather, also Edward Cotching, I would have been an accountant. He looked after the financial affairs of several big graziers, north of Wentworth.

However, we sold this property right on the banks of the Murray in November 1981 at a good price and about six months later, the price of dried fruit dropped considerably. I was only 50 then, semi-retired and I worked casually for other growers for another 30 years.

 

Which teacher/s from your time at SPC had the greatest impact on you? Why?
The teacher that had the most impact on me was Brother Bill O’Malley, who was actually the most popular among the boys. He taught Maths, Latin, History and Geography, was a good disciplinarian and had a good sense of humour.

According to Jack Dyer, well known coach and player of Richmond who visited the College, Br O’Malley was a top coach in coaching the famous green, white and blue’s First XVIII Football team; in fact, he would put other coaches to shame.

One day, when speaking on the virtues of Our Lady on one of her many Feast Days, he spoke of her colour, blue, then he spoke about St Patrick, which was green and white, and then all of a sudden, the subject was football which brought great laughter to the 57 boys of the Intermediate Class of 1947.

Sometimes if I misbehaved, Brother O’Malley would say he would report me to my uncle Tom Conroy, not an Old Boy, but a member of the Y.C.W. Harriers who often trained at the College. In fact, he never did!

 

 

Do you have family ties with SPC? How did you come to studying at SPC?
Really, I have no close family ties with St Pat’s although two distant cousins Noel Whelan and Frank Conroy attended as boarders while I was there. Incidentally, both of these boys have passed away in recent years.

I grew up on a dried fruit block in Cardross via Red Cliffs in Victoria, and while living there, a neighbour of ours had decided to send their son to St Pat’s.

When my mother heard this, she decided to make enquiries about me. Only about a fortnight after this, a Brother from Rostrevor College, Adelaide, called with one of his star pupils, hoping I would go there, but we had decided to go to St Pat’s as I had an uncle who had a fruit shop in Ballarat for about 40 years, and numerous relatives living between Ballarat and Ballan.

 

What are your fondest memories of your time at St Patrick’s College?
Having attended St Joseph’s College, Mildura in 1945 and 1946, it was great to enrol at St Pat’s in 1947. In those days, St Joseph’s was run by Sisters of Mercy and was really a girls’ school with only a handful of boys attending, no sport for boys, but plenty for the girls with tennis and netball. Today it is completely co-ed with about 800 students and caters well for both boys and girls.

Because of this, it was great to come to St Pat’s with such a variety of sport, and all the sporting records they have achieved, particularly in football and athletics.

It was great to see them win and I loved bellowing out the War Cry.

On Saturday nights, we watched the movies (in the now Sir Bernard Heinze Theatre), and at the beginning and end of the football season, we had movies on Wednesday nights too.

In 1947, we had lessons in ballroom dancing and I was sorry when they discontinued it.

 

 

How has your education shaped your life?
My education began at Cardross Primary School at the age of six years in 1937, the year of the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

All the kids at the school received a coronation medal, which I still have.

I was a shy kid (painfully so) and had struggled to learn the letters of the alphabet. In fact, a prize was to be given to the teacher who could succeed. However I made good progress in later years, having spent only six months in Grade 4 and moving into Grade 5 for the rest of the year in 1941. I was very happy then to be with all the kids my own age.

I finished school at Cardross in 1944 after attaining the Merit Certificate and hen enrolled at St Joseph’s College in 1945, the year that World War II ended. This was a good school but only for girls not boys. However, I had a good teacher in Sister Rose B.A. When kids complained about too much homework, she would say “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”. This I have never forgotten.

I spent another year there in 1946 attaining the Proficiency Certificate and then on to St Pat’s in 1947 as a boarder. Boarding in itself was an education for me as it brought me “out of my shell” when I had to sleep, eat, play and study with the other kids.

 

If you could pass on one message to the students of today, what would it be?
Work hard, have a good positive attitude and most importantly, keep the faith!

 

Would you like to share any further words of wisdom?
Think positive, keep smiling, treat others the way you would like to be treated and may you live a life of peace, hope and joy.