Alan McLucas has perhaps not had the recognition he deserves in the story of The Scots School. Don Wiburd expressed this and remarked that McLucas was “a very decent fellow”. He rates an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Biography – Allen Ernest McLucas – Australian Dictionary of Biography
Alan McLucas commenced at The Scots School in June 1949. Having been a resident of Queensland up until 1949, McLucas found himself in the middle of a Bathurst winter. Industrial action in the coal mining industry often threatened supplies needed to fire the school boiler; a problem overcome through the contacts available to Council Member and parent Ivor Hector.
Staffing was also a problem. A diary he kept of his first six months at Scots records that finding good teaching staff was difficult, and the State Register of Teachers did not always offer promising candidates, although he did make a few notable appointments, such as Don Wiburd. Good domestic staff were also hard to find. At one stage in 1949, Alan McLucas fired many of the domestic staff who were refusing to do aspects of their work. One kitchen staff member declared it was not her job to peel potatoes. Post-war inflationary economic conditions were still an issue, and money had to be found to pay extra to retain staff. One solution that he did find was to recruit staff from the Bathurst migrant camp, and a number of Baltic and other immigrants were employed as cooks, cleaners and grounds staff.
When Alan McLucas took over in 1949, the total enrolment at Scots was 62. He reported on Speech Day 1951 that the numbers for that year had reached 95. McLucas commented that every nook and cranny of the school was occupied by a boy, a classroom or a boarding space. This necessitated further building work. This began with the construction of a Headmaster’s flat, which freed up space in Karralee for boys’ accommodation.
Early in 1952, the first stage of Cooerwull House was built around the flat, providing three dormitories to accommodate 63 boys. Additional staff accommodation allowed him to employ some extra teaching staff. The Dining Hall was enlarged, and a Science laboratory opened at the southern end of the Stable Block. Extensive work was also done, funded largely by the Parents and Friends, to establish what is now Hector Oval. The Annual Report for 1952, which has been found just this week, states that there were 127 boys at the end of Mr McLucas’s last full year at Scots.
Academically, in 1949, Scots was taking some tentative steps into senior secondary education. At the time, boys in the later secondary years completed their schooling at Scots in Sydney. At the end of 1949, McLucas announced that in the future, Scots Bathurst would offer classes for both the Intermediate and Leaving Certificates. In his diary, he recorded that he did not see Scots Bathurst as a feeder school for Scots Sydney. Another notable event from his career was the foundation of the Cadet Unit in 1951 with John Bulkeley as C.O. The Cadets Unit was also founded in 1951 during his time.
Early in 1953, Alan McLucas took up a position as Headmaster of Brisbane Boys’ College. John Bulkeley was appointed to the first of three stints as Acting Headmaster until a replacement could be found. Alan McLucas had a very successful time as Head of BBG. Its enrolments increased in his time there, and he initiated a building program. In 1956, he replaced Guthrie Wilson as Head of Scots Bellevue Hill. His last years there were marred by acrimony over his perceived traditionalist religious views on one hand, and educational views that were considered too revolutionary. There is evidence in his Bathurst diary that he was not a convinced supporter of the use of the cane. He resigned in 1965. Alan McLucas went back to the classroom as a teacher at Barker College until he died suddenly in 1967.
The College is grateful to Mr John McLucas, who arrived at Scots in 1949 as a six-year-old, who has donated a number of letters and photos to the Betty Ives Archives Centre, a tray that was given to him on his departure from Scots, and a silver cigarette case. This has ensured that the McLucas era is well documented.
Mr Andrew Maher
Archives
