Christ’s College Museum – 175 years of history in the making
15 Feb 2025
It has taken 175 years, but Christ’s College now has its own Museum. Funded by the 2023 Annual Appeal, the College Museum is packed with stories, images, treasures, and memories spanning the history of the school.
Located in the Hare Memorial Library (overlooking the Quad) and designed by Old Boy architect Alec Bruce, the new Museum is wrapped in a hallowed heritage building.
Major Old Boy donor Peter Margoliouth has climbed the wooden stairs and stepped into the museum room named in his honour to formally cut the black-and-white ribbon to open this special space in front of many donors. All have shown their commitment to protecting the past for the benefit of future generations of College boys and families.
“Throughout my life I have wanted to do something for College,” Peter explains. “College was good to me and I have certainly benefited from it throughout my life. What better way to contribute to College than the new Museum.
“My love of history was nurtured at College. Now, I want to share that history with many generations. I was pretty good at History at College, thanks to an outstanding master, Don Hamilton. And my favourite place during my time at College was the Hare Memorial Library. Its steeped deep in history. By supporting the Museum, it is also another way to keep my surname alive as I am the last. It is now here forever. I know my parents would be very proud to see my name above the door within the Hare Memorial Library. My father, Walter, was also an Old Boy, arriving at College in 1927.”
For Alec Bruce, “creating a dedicated Museum here at College is very overdue”.
“The history of College is something we can all be proud of,” he says. “This Museum is a record of a journey made by committed, capable, conscientious people with a mission to educate young men – to help them achieve their potential. Not only is the school still here 175 years later … it is thriving. This new Museum displays the evolution to date. Today is the moving edge of history.”
The Museum opens the door to Old Boys’ “authentic, genuine, personal memories”.
“And they will see again … where we have come from, to reaffirm their sense of identity and place. Archivist Jane Teal has created a remarkable legacy and College would be very much poorer without it.”
For Jane, the opening ceremony marks the fulfilment of 10 years of dedication to delivering the College Museum. While the College heritage lives on in every boy who passes through the school gates, it can now be proudly displayed.
Fellow archivist Anne Gabrielsson, former Executive Principal Garth Wynne, Old Boy artist Oliver Roake, the Christ’s College Old Boys’ Association, and the Christ’s College Parents’ Association have all played significant roles in enabling the Museum.
