From the Archives: Origin stories of our prizes and awards

Sir John Sheppard Memorial Prize for Greek

Since 1857, interest in the classical languages has always been strong at Grammar. The School was originally established to provide an education for prospective pupils for the University of Sydney, with knowledge of classical languages a prerequisite for entry into the university. Furthermore, as one of the largest faculties of Classics and Ancient History in the Australasian region, the University of Sydney is home to academics and researchers who are leaders in their fields.

Pictured: Sir John Tressider Sheppard, courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London

In 1955, upon retirement as Provost of King’s College and Professor of Classics, Sir John Tressider Sheppard (b.1881–d.1968) travelled to Australia and New Zealand on a lecture tour and was invited to give a talk at Grammar, among other schools and universities that taught classics, including the University of Sydney and The Hutchins School in Hobart, Tasmania. As reported in their magazine of July 1955: “Sir John Sheppard treated us to a most brilliant and entertaining talk … we considered it a great privilege to be addressed by a person of Sir John’s standing.” The Salient, newspaper of Victoria College, Wellington University, also recounted his visit in July 1955: “Sir John Sheppard, classical scholar, sometime Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, was speaking to a lunchtime gathering in room A1, the subject – Homer. A report of what he said would not do justice to the zest and vitality with which he spoke. A small old man … perched precariously on the table, legs swinging, created anew for a delighted audience the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey.” [The Dons by Annan, 1999]

Retired Grammar master and Master of the Lower School Mr John Sheldon, who was in 1955 a pupil at St Aloysius’ College, recalled attending the talk held at Sydney Grammar School in the old library, also on Ancient Greek poet, Homer. A dinner for Sheppard was subsequently held by Catherine MacLaurin, the mother of Mr Alastair Mackerras (who read Latin and Greek at Cambridge and at this time was appointed a mathematics master at the School) at their Turramurra home while he was in Sydney. During his visit he made the offer to then Headmaster, Mr CO Healey, of a prize for Greek which was accepted and then reported in The Sydneian of 1955.

Healey also mentions Sheppard and his Australian visit in his unpublished memoirs, held in the Sydney Grammar School Archives: “When Sir John Sheppard, ex-Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, visited Sydney University to give the Tod Memorial Lecture in the mid-fifties … he likened the young Australian athletes who went to Cambridge to the Hometic and Virgilian heroes.”

Pictured: ‘Harpenden’ in Turramurra, the Mackerras family home for 32 years where Sir Sheppard was a guest in 1955

During the Second World War, Sheppard was redirected to perform intelligence work and later appointed MBE for his service. He was then knighted in 1950 for his services to Greek. During his long career, Sheppard translated many famous Greek classics and published several books on the subject.

The study of philosophy, history, drama, lyric, epic, the novel and oratory all begin in Greece, and no doubt Sir Sheppard was of the belief that Greek contributions to world literature were undisputed models of how we should live our lives in the modern age.

^{Reference:
The Dons: Mentors, Eccentrics, and Geniusesby Annan, Noel Gilroy, 1916–2000 (1999), Chicago: University of Chicago Press}

Harvard University’s reputation certainly precedes it. Hollywood, the media and the longevity of its prestige have contributed to the perceptions people have about this well-known institution. You probably already know that Harvard is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1636, making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. You also probably know through various films and other social commentaries that acceptance into Harvard is typically extremely competitive.

Since 1910, the Harvard Prize Book programme has been an effective way of attracting the attention of talented young people to the opportunities available at this tertiary institution. A Harvard Prize Book is presently offered annually in 1,400 schools around the world with the primary purpose to encourage talented young pupils to consider attending Harvard. And in turn, it succeeds in fulfilling most secondary schools’ goal of exposing pupils to the top institutions of the world upon their graduation. A notable number of Prize Book winners do go on to apply to Harvard, but schools endowed with awarding this prize have already successfully linked the Harvard name and what it signifies, with the name of hundreds of promising young school pupils.

Pictured: The Harvard Book is a prize offered at 1,400 schools around the world

The Yale Prize is similarly awarded to a Fifth Form boy “for outstanding personal character, intellectual promise and involvement in the life of the School”. Presented by the Australian branch of Yale’s Alumni Schools Committee, the Award takes the form of a book from the extensive Yale Press catalogue. Yale regional clubs and individual alumni across the world present this award annually to outstanding local high school pupils at the end of the school year. Clubs or individual alumni decide the number of awards and which schools are to be involved. The selection of award recipients is made by the school. The Yale Prize Book at Grammar has previously been facilitated by the incumbent Director of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee of the Yale Club of Australia.

Pictured: Prize giving at Speech Day 2022