Upcoming History of Saint John High School
by Richard Thorne
and
The Macfarlane Children Make
their Parents Proud
Aunt Ethel never left the classroom behind
her. Today’s visit was no different. She was lecturing me on studying hard
so when I graduated from high school, I would win the Governor General’s
Medal and make her so proud.
Probably James and Mary Anne Macfarlane of Saint John were proud
parents in 1866 when their son William Stuart Macfarlane was the first
student at the Saint John Grammar School to win the Parker Silver Medal
for Mathematical Leadership. Judge Robert Parker donated 50 pounds in 1864,
the interest of which was to pay for the silver medal. It is still awarded
although it has been converted to a cash prize. Both Judge Robert Parker
and his brother Judge Neville Parker had attended the Saint John Grammar School
which, with the addition of the Victoria School for Girls, became Saint John
High School in 1897.
William Stuart Macfarlane was a Gold medalist graduate of the
University of New Brunswick in 1869 and a graduate of Harvard. At the time
of his marriage to Margaret Russell, author and composer of music, widow
of Baron von Stratendorf, daughter of wealthy Edward Russell, he was a lawyer
in Boston.
James and Mary Anne were proud parents at least two other times.
Their son Wallace Macfarlane graduated with honours from Harvard in
1879 and was appointed United States District Attorney for New York City
by President Cleveland in 1894.
Their daughter Annie Robertson Macfarlane, was not allowed to attend
the University of New Brunswick with her brother, as girls were not admitted,
instead she attended the New Brunswick Provincial Normal School in Fredericton.
She later moved to New York and contributed to Scribner’s Magazine, the Saturday
Evening Post, and was literary critic for The Nation. Scribner’s commissioned
her to go to Montreal to write a series about French-Canadians. She
married John E. Logan, a poet who wrote under the name Barry Dane. To celebrate
the 300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City in 1908, Annie Logan
published a life of Champlain, hopefully remembering the explorer’s association
with Saint John, her own city of birth.
In 1929 Annie was the donor of $8,000.00 to the University of New
Brunswick for the foundation of the William Stuart MacFarlane, Scholarship
for Classics, which is still active.
By the way, the prestigious Parker Silver Medal that was presented in
1866 to William Stuart Macfarlane was donated this spring by Rev. J.S.S.
Armour of Montreal to Saint John High School to be displayed in the
School archives.
Richard Thorne, a former vice-principal of Saint John High School is compiling
a history of the school in anticipation of the 200th anniversary in 2005
. He would be very interested in hearing from anyone with information on former
students, medals, scholarships or photographs prior to the 1950's. Of
particular interest are the graduation programs from 1898 to 1914 or graduation
photos from 1880 to 1910 with names attached. Richard Thorne’s postal address
is 69 Norton Shore Road, Hampton, NB, E5N 6J5. Telephone 1-506-832-0604 or
email rsthorne@nb.sympatico.ca.
* * *
Queries
Macfarlane - Cameron: Rev. J.S.S. Armour of Quebec is seeking
information on the above mentioned, James and Mary Anne (Cameron) Macfarlane,
and their children, William, Wallace, Ewen and Annie. He would also
like to learn more about the father of James Macfarlane as well as the siblings
of Mary Anne Cameron. If you have any information, please contact him by
E-mail at jss@magma.ca.
