On 27 September 1974, the Jubilee Time Capsule was buried near the steps of Rutherford House to celebrate 50 years since the opening of Marsden School for Girls in 1925. This Time Capsule was then moved over to the All Saints’ Campus in 1983 following the closing of Marsden and the merging of the two schools.
On Saturday 27 September this year, the same Time Capsule was unearthed and its contents carefully removed in front of a large crowd of Marsden Old Girls, many having been at the original burial of the capsule. There was a brief talk from historian Christopher Morgan on the history of Marsden, a singing of the School Hymn Ad Lucem and a reading of the school psalm Levavi Oculos, and a speech from Christine Thompson (Gabb) on the events of the year 1975.
The opening of the Time Capsule took some time, but with the help of many, it was at last pulled out of the ground and the lid removed. Belinda Boshier (Batterham) was given the task of carefully removing the items one by one and placing them on a table for everyone to see.
It was a wonderful day for so many who were able to see their own contributions to the capsule in the form of their carefully written names on the scroll or photos of themselves in the newspaper articles contained in the capsule.
Other items contained in the Time Capsule were handwritten Scrolls, Timetables, a dining hall menu, calendars, various school badges, hatbands, cloth samples from various uniforms, 1975 coins and stamps, Duke of Edinburgh Award badges, a Marsden School prospectus, a Western Advocate Newspaper supplement featuring Marsden, The Pilgrim, and a tape recorded during the Jubilee Festival. This tape made for very interesting listening as there were voices of the many attending the festival who were present 50 years later at the unearthing. Unfortunately, very few tape recorders are around today, so we are hoping to place the recording into some other format for those who would like to hear themselves as they were 50 years ago.
Earlier in the day, many of the Marsden Old Girls went over to the old Marsden site – now the Bathurst Catholic Education Office and were shown around by Dr Vince O’Connor. As they visited each part of the building, the girls were reminded of their school days and the fun they had.
There was also a photo and a memorabilia display in the school dining room, and the MOGS and their families had a great time seeing themselves and their friends as they were over 50 years ago. The many photo albums on display still needed details, and several of the girls were able to add details, which were greatly appreciated by the archivist.
The same display was visited by the classes in the Junior School, who were delighted by the ‘old images’ and seeing their own Mrs Boshier in photos as a 1st form student with long pigtails and as the Gymnastic Champion in 1975!
Mrs Memory Sanders
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