522. Edward Bruce Lefroy Austin
He was born in Cofimvaba, Transkei. After the death of his father, Neville, when he was 13 years old, he was sent to school in Grahamstown. First to St Andrew’s Preparatory and subsequently to the Jesuit-run St Aidan’s College. He was good at sports and this interest led him to become a sports photographer and ultimately the completion of an apprenticeship in the process engraving department of a newspaper. In 1936 he married Elsie Ramsay whose family had emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland before World War I. Elsie, like Bruce was keen on sports and a good tennis and golf player. After a brief spell of working in Johannesburg they returned to Port Elizabeth where Bruce established his own process engraving company. Active in the Catholic Church in Port Elizabeth in various men’s organisations, he was also an advisor to the Bishop of the Diocese. For a time he raced motor cycles but after a disastrous crash which seriously damaged his nose he turned his interest to exotic and unusual cars.
Bruce’s ashes were interred in the grave in West Park cemetery, Johannesburg where his mother and sister Joan are buried.
524. Frank Lawlor Wentworth Austin
He was born in Cofimvaba. He and his brother Bruce were educated by the Jesuits at St Aidan’s College, Grahamstown, South Africa. He joined the South African Air Force and served in World War II as a navigator in 24, 25 and 26 Squadrons in the Western Desert and West Africa. He was mentioned in Despatches having survived two crashes: the first when his Boston light bomber was shot down off Malta and the second when his Wellington made a forced landing in West Africa. After demobilization, as a Captain, he returned to the Chamber of Mines in Johannesburg (where his father had also worked) and was there until he retired in 1978.
Frank married Sheilagh Frances Monahan in 1944 and they had two children.
526. Bruce Emilius Austin
He was born and first went to school educated in Stanger, Natal and later educated in Tongaat, Natal and in Johannesburg where he started work for a building society. There, he met Sheila Mary Gunn Swanson ( -1981) who he married in 1939, on the outbreak of World War II. The couple left for a cadet camp in Natal where their daughter was born. Bruce was posted with the Transvaal Horse Artillery to North Africa and later to Italy where he served throughout the war, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He remained with the army as a volunteer until the late 1940’s. He was active in various ex-servicemen's organisations including the Torch Commando, formed mainly by ex-service personnel protesting against the exclusion of non-whites from the common voters roll in South Africa. This began an active interest in politics shared by his wife and daughter.
Bruce worked for much of his career in life insurance, first in Johannesburg, then Pretoria and latterly in Cape Town where he retired. He was a keen sportsman.
536. Wyndham Bruce Austin
He was born in Highflats, Natal and educated at Maritzburg College. He had a dairy and arable farm, Holmdene Farm, just two miles from his father’s at Crystal Waters. He built many of his farm implements and was a progressive farmer, and enjoyed fishing and hunting. He married Valerie Paddon (1935- ) and had four children. After Wydham died, Valerie married Mr Scott-Dawkins.
541. Colin Ernest Sutherland Gordon
Colin Ernest Sutherland (1907-1960) was born at Bath Estate (adjacent to Blairmont, and to the west of it). He was educated at Charterhouse School, Surrey, and Christ Church College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1930 with a M.A. in classics. Colin was an exceptionally fine sportsman. He gained his ‘blue’ in athletics at Oxford and became President of the Oxford Athletic Club. Colin represented Great Britain at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, and the 1930 inaugural Empire Games in Hamilton, Canada. In both these games (and at Oxford), Colin was a competitor in the high jump event. Whilst at Oxford he cleared 6' (a height only once previously achieved in the history of Varsity Sports). At the Olympic Games in Amsterdam, he cleared 6' 3 ½? - only 1? less than the gold medallist. On leaving Oxford, Colin went to Canada, where he taught in Ontario for a year before going to Melbourne, Australia. There he joined the staff of Geelong Grammar School, where he later became Housemaster. In 1940, he married Patricia Hayward Newbigin (1913-1997) of Melbourne, and shortly thereafter joined the staff of King’s School Parramatta with the position of Senior Classics Master. In 1945, Colin enlisted in the R.A.A.F., was commissioned, and served in the Administration and Special Branch of the service. He became head of a rehabilitation unit that did much valuable work helping ex-servicemen find their feet in civilian life again. After he was demobilised in 1945, Colin became the first lay Headmaster of the Collegiate School of St. Peter (known as ‘Saints’), Adelaide, an appointment that lasted from 1946 until he retired in 1960, due to ill health. Colin was regarded by his peers as one of the leading educationalist of his time in Australia, and is credited with helping to create the Australian College of Education, of which he was made a Fellow. He is remembered by colleagues as a man who “ has always placed much importance on the tone or spirit of the school [Saints] holding that ‘it is not enough that a boy should aim to win prizes and get into school teams. His standards should be absolute standards of honesty, courage, and consideration to others’. He has said that it is character building more than anything which enables a school to produce worthy and useful citizens.” Colin and Patricia had two daughters: Sarah Victoria (‘Vicky’) (1944- ) and Dinah Jillian Hayward (1948- ).