Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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The Voyageur ln these young Canadians was to be inculcated Ha love of outside exercise . . . . a prominent feature of the institution , and gymnasiums were avail- able during Mwinter and inclement weatherw. A Literary Society was organized which met once a week, when lectures on literary and scientific subjects were heard. Among the distinguished visitors in this connection were George W. Ross, lV1.P., and Inspector James L. Hughes. A student paper was published by the simple and convenient method of having the editors read it to the assembled Society twice a term. Departments of Music and Art were added, and some paintings done under the tutelage of Edward S. Shrapnell, A.R.C.A., the first art teacher, w-ere hung in the present school at the time of the Centenary Re-union through the kindness of Mr. Walton of Aurora. As a final suggestion of the spirit of this first Pickering College, there may be noted the gracious and rather curious survival of the old manual labouri' tradition in the announcement that ustudents who wish may have flower jkots assigned to them for their own cultivationf' I The history of Pickering College nicely exemplifies the truth of a belief often expressed by the present Headmaster that uthere is no growth without a strugglef' A division in the Society of Friends along conservative and progressive lines fthe Separation of 18811, together with financial troubles, occasioned the temporary closing of the school in 1885. After seven years, however, operations were resumed, partly because of aid solicited and ob? tained from Friends in Great Britain by Mr. John R. Harris and Mr. Samuel Rogers. It is noteworthy that the College Committee described the re- opening at this time as Han act of faith , for the same phrase was spoken again in 1927, and ufaithw has continued and will continue to make the school live. To give expression to their faith, the Committee were forunate to secure Willi.am P. Firth as Principal and Miss Ella Rogers, a graduate of the University of Toronto in Modern Languages, as Lady Principalg as Dr. Dorland writes, uso well did they succeed in this joint enterprise that in 1894- they joined hearts and hands to continue, as husband and wife, what was to be their lifeis workf, Dr. Firth came to America from a Yorkshire mill town in the seventies, he became a member llater a ministerl of the Society of Friends, and taught at Oakwood Seminary-a continuation of the earlier Nine Partners-before coming to Canada. His own field was Science, in which he received his Master's degree and afterwards his Doctor- ate from Queen's, but his learning was broad and his teaching exceptionally stimulating. His understanding of youth was matched only by the sympa- thetic and skilful endeavour of his wife, whose interest in the school has never flagged. It was perfectly 'fitting that the hundredth-birthday cake at the Centenary Dinner this year was cut by Mrs. Firth. The activities and objectives at this time differed little from those suc- cessfully established before the closing. Various improvements were effected in the building, a new gymnasium was added, the gift of Samuel Rogers, and the Hold pumpi' was abandoned where the 'corder of the bath had long been established as a technique of justice dispensed by students to their fellows. By 1904 the school had not only reached its peak enrolment of one hundred and twenty students, with some from as far away as Jamaica 18

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The Voyageuar practice so unbecoming to youthw, and also that ularge scholars who will not obey the rules of the school after being suitably admonished shall be expelled . The Hthree R's,,, with English grammar and geography, were taught, and other languages were added later. ln accordance with the very sound theory that ulearning and labour properly intermixed greatly assists the ends of both-a sound mind in a healthy bodyn, male pupils were permitted to labour two hours each day, and to receive payment for their work, the girls too could engage in usuitable employmentw. Evidently the teachers shared in the common tasks about the school, in 1843, when Jesse H. Haines--the first teacher in the boys, department- was re-engaged, he uagreed to paint the Boys' School inside and out at his own expensef, ln 1857 there were one hundred and sixteen pupils reg- istered, and the construction of a ufarm labourer's dwellingv at this time would indicate that such a large number was too unwieldy for an effective work plan. Instructions from the committee in charge which reflected practices and ideals peculiar to the Quaker religious ethic were far from rigorous-- plainness of dress and propriety of language were to be observed, alight literaturei' ffictionj was aschewed, regular Friends' Meeting was to be at- tended, and the Bible was to be read daily at school. ulformalized plainnessi' was in time abandoned by the Society of Friends, but the ideal of simplicity in more vital ways as an attitude towards life continues to be of significant influence in modern Quakerism and in the Pickering College of to-day. The West Lake Boarding School userved its generation wellv until the end of the summer term of 1865. Responsibility for its upkeep had come to rest largely upon the West Lake Monthly Meeting rather than on the, Canada Half-year Meeting, qualified teachers who were also Friends were difiicult to obtain, and the growing state-system was offering serious com- petition to the school, whose somewhat out-of-the-way location prevented its attracting pupils from a very large area. The Canada Half-year Meeting, moreover, now severed its connection with the New York Yearly Meeting, and with this independence came the revival of a project for a boarding school, which would offer broader and more generally appealing educational opportunities, directly under the care of the New Canada Yearly Meeting. After some ten years of planning and financial organization, construction was begun along much more ambitious lines than had at first been con- templated, and in 1878 the first Pickering College, rising four stories high upon a gentle hill in the village of Pickering, opened its doors to scholars of both sexes. The first Pickering College was a blend of the old and the new. ln this respect and many others, the pattern of living and learning established sixty years ago is curiously reflected in the activities and objectives of the modern school at Newmarket. A dual emphasis marks the published aims of the school at that time: the needs of the young scholars were regarded from a practical point of view having reference to their later vocations in society, and their education was not limited by the academic curriculum. When a student had made his choice of profession, he was required to study only those subjects necessary for admission to that field, and a commercial form was established for those who wished to enter the world of business. 17 7 .

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The Voyageur and Persia, but also had a reputation as Hne as it was far-reaching. The schoolis achievement was brought to a conclusive but again only temporary end by a disastrous fire which, on the last day of 1905, almost completely destroyed the buildings and its contents. The Committee lost no time in making plans for a new school. After four years of effort on its part under its generous and enthusiastic chairman. Albert S. Rogers, assisted by many Friends and well-wishers, notably Joseph A. Baker and Arthur C. Dorland who interested English Friends in the undertaking, students again entered Pickering College, a noble building beautifully situated on the outskirts of Newmarket. The first few years in Newmarket were not easy ones. The demand for this type of education had definitely declined. ln the rapidly expanding Canadian economy, a set of values stemming from the Quaker tradition appealed to a relatively limited group of people with means sufficient to make use of a private school rather than the increasingly elaborate state schools supported by tax-payers. English-style colleges and finishing schools were fashionable. The leader- ship and devotion of Dr. and Mrs. Firth, however, surmounted this and other difficulties, and had it not been for the first World War the previous success would beyond doubt have been repeated. But a different mode of service presented itself, and the school, with its land and equipment, was turned over in 1916 to the Military Hospitals Commission to be used rent free as a mental hospital as long as it was required. The plant was released by the government in 1920. For seven years the uschool on the hilli' did not function, and one might have supposed that its history as an educational institution had ended. But in the midst of the materialism and disillusionment general after the war, the great Quaker attributes of faith and vision endured. If a predominantly Quaker co-educational boarding school did not seem a practical venture, the College Board and the Society of Friends saw that a service of great signifi- cance to education generally might be performed by a private school with a freedom to experiment often lacking in more conservative foundations or government controlled institutions. A new charter was obtained for the school which left it associated with but not controlled by the Canada Yearly Meeting, the co-educational feature of the College was abandoned, since the duplicating of equipment was very costly, and finally, on the retirement of Dr. and Mrs. Firth, the Board believed that they had found in Joseph McCulley, the present Headmaster, a man who could undertake the kind of educational pioneering which the Board envisioned. A great opportunity was thus offered him and, gathering around him a group of young and enthusiastic teachers like himself, ua great experimenti' was begunfi 'Of the 1927-28 staff of the College, besides the Headmaster, Mr. Taylor Statten. Mr. R. E. K. Rourke, Mr. R. H. Perry, Mr. J. A. Maitland, and Miss F. S. Ancient are still associated with the school. In 1942, Mr. Rourke was appointed Associate Headmaster: Mr. Perry is on leave of absence, a Flight Lieutenant in the R.C.A.F.: Mr. C. R. Blackstock, Director of Health and Physical Education, and more recently Preparatory Housemaster, came to the school in 1928. 19