This week we celebrate on 25 July, what would have been the 100th birthday of Betty Ives, who had an extraordinary 54-year association with The Scots School. It is simply not possible to encapsulate the length of this association, Betty’s deep involvement with Scots, or her 93 years of life in the space available, but I will give it a go! Betty Campbell was born in Hay in 1925 and attended school there. Her career included a stint as a reporter at the local newspaper. Betty’s skills at finding out what was going on were already well-developed during her journalistic career. She came to Bathurst during World War II as a W.A.A.F. It was here that Betty met Bill Ives, whom she married.
Betty was appointed to The Scots School in 1964 as Headmaster’s Secretary to Alan Mitchell. She had previously worked as the Assistant to the Home Economics department at Bathurst High School. It was not long before Betty had made Scots very much her school. Betty carried out many official duties. In the days before computers, she typed all official correspondence and maintained lists. She enrolled new students, kept a close eye on the boys’ incoming mail in case something suspicious arrived, and ensured that everything that happened in the school was done to a high standard. Mothers from Betty’s time in the Office were relieved to have someone like her around who could be relied on to look after their boys.
School functions such as open weekends, guest speakers, and Speech Day were organised methodically and thoroughly. For many years, Betty also oversaw the Blue, Black and Gold Ball. On the night, she would go around to every table for a chat and be offered a glass of whisky. It was an unwritten duty of the Headmaster to drive Betty home after the Ball, especially given that her neighbours were the local Police.
Betty had an astounding memory for people. Years after one past student had left, she was able to remember who his parents were, where they came from and what sort of car they drove. She took a very keen interest in people, and had a huge knowledge of those involved with Scots and from the wider Bathurst community. When Adrian Lamrock was Principal (1998-2003), he quipped that the world might have the internet, but we had the Interbet! When an Old Boy announced in a speech that he had lost track of his best mate from school days, Betty interjected, “He’s in London”.
Betty supposedly retired around 1992, but returned as the Registrar and looked after overseas students. She also began organising the archives, and in 1996, the Betty Ives Archives Centre was opened. When the Scots Museum was begun in 2019, Denise Weeks, the consultant brought in to assist with its establishment, commented that we were very lucky to have had Betty, who is described on the plaque of the Betty Ives Archives Centre as a “keeper of things”, and ensured that many items of Scots memorabilia were preserved. When reorganising and sorting the Scots files, the ones sorted during the period of Betty’s stewardship of them required almost no new work!
Moving into the 21st Century, increasing frailty (2 hip fractures) made it difficult for Betty to go up and down the stairs into the archives, but she was still a regular attendee at many school functions such as open weekend chapel, Old Boys’ Cricket, reunions and Speech Day. Betty donated a trophy for the Old Girls versus Firsts Netball Team annual match.
Betty’s name has been commemorated in a number of ways around the school. The Betty Ives Archives Centre is the oldest. In 1999, when the sporting houses were reorganised, one of them was named Ives in Betty’s honour, and she thereafter attended interhouse events to lead the cheering, and if Ives did not win, to call on the Head of House to account for why not! The members of Ives House boasted that at least they had a house named after someone who was still alive. Betty promised them to stay around for as long as she could. Betty was Chieftain of the Highland Gathering in 2011. In 2014, the then Headmaster, David Gates, made a special presentation to Betty to mark her 50-year association with Scots.
With the imminent integration of Scots and All Saints in 2018, the names of the sporting houses were changed, but David Gates and the people making decisions about the nascent Scots All Saints College decided that all buildings would retain the names of notable identities on both campuses, and Betty’s memory was perpetuated by renaming “The Kennel” as Ives House.
Betty died in July 2018. A very large congregation gathered in the Bathurst Presbyterian Church to farewell her, with family, past staff, students and parents travelling long distances to attend. Members of the local community also attended, reflecting her involvement in Legacy, Rankin Cottage Crafts and much more. Betty was commemorated in 2015 by the Bathurst Regional Council as one of the city’s 200 Living Legends, and she is represented by a tree on Bradwardine Road. Betty was a much-loved institution to both Scots and the City of Bathurst.
Mr Andrew Maher
Archives
