Many people have asked about the old photograph in Schramm's Cottage of a dinner in the Athenaeum Hall, Doncaster. A large cake on the main table gives the impression of a wedding reception.
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| 1903 40th anniversary of the Doncaster school DP0180 | Title: Schramm's school reunion | Brief Description: Photograph of the banquet in honor of Pastor and Mrs Schramm, given by past pupils, held in the Athenaeum Hall, Doncaster, on 27 August 1904. Mr and Mrs Schramm are seated in the front row with members of his family, and the Athenaeum Hall is decorated for the occasion. A banner at the rear of the hall reads"For days of auld lang syne 1860 - 1885", which would suggest that the past pupils had attended Schramm's school during that time. (Photograph mounted with caption) See also DDN22A5 and DD6AF2D5. | Place: Doncaster | Storage Location: Archives room filing cabinet | Publication Name: Photograph | Size: 17.5 x 24cm |
The photograph was taken on 27th August, 1904, of a reunion of the scholars taught by Pastor Max Schramm during his 25 years of teaching from 1860 to 1885.
The dinner was attended by three hundred, from all over Victoria and other parts of Australia. Conveyances met trains at Box Hill station to carry the visitors to Doncaster. On the way to the Athenaeum Hall, they stopped outside the old E. S. & A. Bank that had been Schrammës first schoolhouse and sang "Home Sweet Home". During the evening letters of good will, from England, America, India and different parts of Australia, were read.
Pastor Max Schramm was presented with an easy chair and Mrs. Kate Schramm with a solid silver tea and coffee service. The coffee pot from this service is on display in Schramm's Cottage. The scholars' cake, made in Doncaster, was iced in white and pink and crowned with a model of the old school bell.
The secretary of the reunion was Mrs. Laurie Smith and the committee consisted of J. Aspinal, B. Toogood, E. Thiele, J. Whitten, E. Lawford, P. Crouch, A. Zerbe, H. Crouch and H. Thiele.
1979 05 DTHS Newsletter
The dinner was attended by three hundred, from all over Victoria and other parts of Australia. Conveyances met trains at Box Hill station to carry the visitors to Doncaster. On the way to the Athenaeum Hall, they stopped outside the old E. S. & A. Bank that had been Schrammës first schoolhouse and sang "Home Sweet Home". During the evening letters of good will, from England, America, India and different parts of Australia, were read.
Pastor Max Schramm was presented with an easy chair and Mrs. Kate Schramm with a solid silver tea and coffee service. The coffee pot from this service is on display in Schramm's Cottage. The scholars' cake, made in Doncaster, was iced in white and pink and crowned with a model of the old school bell.
The secretary of the reunion was Mrs. Laurie Smith and the committee consisted of J. Aspinal, B. Toogood, E. Thiele, J. Whitten, E. Lawford, P. Crouch, A. Zerbe, H. Crouch and H. Thiele.
1979 05 DTHS Newsletter
REUNION OF OLD SCHOLARS AT DONCASTER. 1904
Never in the memory of the oldest inhabitants of Doncaster has their been such a crowd from all parts of the states as that which gathered together in the Athenæum on Saturday to do honor to the Rev. Mr Schramm and Mrs Schramm. For weeks past the committee, with an ideal hon. secretary in Mr L. H. Smith, has been busily engaged in writing to and receiving replies from all parts of the world, remote even as India and America, and the result was a greater success than had been dreamt of in their most sanguine anticipations, the attendance numbering upwards of 300. On the long-expected day, conveyances of every description were in waiting at the Box Hill railway station from 4.30 to 6.30 p.m. for the visiting "old scholars" and their relations, who had accepted invitations to be present. Each vehicle bore a large placard proclaiming that this was the day of the "Old Scholars Reunion at Doncaster," and, as each one got its load, it started merrily for "home," as they one and all called it. The talking over old times. renewing of old acquaintanceships, and singing old songs learnt at the school years ago made the time pass quickly till they reached the spot where the old school building used to stand long years ago—now occupied by the E.S. and A. bank—and here ringing cheers were given. To the vocal strains of "Home Sweet Home" they drew up in great style at the Athenæum hall, where quite an army of ladies were busy putting the finishing touches to the tables The hall was a per-fect dream of beauty: the walls were artistically draped with blue muslin and ferns, and the stage was a genuine bower of garden trophies, while genial mottoes, "For the days of Auld Lang Syne, 1860-1885," and "Not forgotten after all these years," beamed a kindly welcome upon all from over the en-trance. There were five large tables placed longitudinally, all charmingly laid out, and giving evidence of most liberal levies on the flower gardens of the district. The guest table, with its central seats of honor, was placed transversely to the others, being right in front of the stage. The main decorative feature of this table was the "Old Scholars' cake," locally produced, and which was a marvellous conception of amateur confectionery, gleaming with icing, filagreed with pink, and crowned with a representation of the old school bell, "sweet emblem in more than one way. Here, in the central place of honor, were seated Mr and Mrs Schramm, and this table was in the special charge of Mrs L. H. Smith and Mrs Aspinall, while the other tables were assiduously attended to with equal care by the wives of the old scholars Grace having been sung, a vigorous onslaught was made on the good things literally heaped upon the festive board, while most excellent tea provided liquid cheer. And now vanished the faintest vestige of restraint, and genial converse, interspersed with bursts of suddenly remembered reminiscence, succeeded. Everyone was glad to see everyone else, and, as efforts had been made as far as possible to group the guests in coteries of ancient schoolday friendships, the greatest harmony prevailed, and recognition gradually widened, as enquiry succeeded enquiry, and identifications were established. Merry greetings were exchanged to and from all parts of the hall, and bursts of joyous laughter from overflowing hearts sounded cheerily above the buzz of conversation from the clatter from tongues let loose upon the green fields of memory's brightest reminiscence. And then came the time to cut the cake, and this ceremony was gracefully preformed with tear-dimmed eyes by the sweet-faced old lady, now sharer in the joys as ever partner in the sorrows of the well-loved patriarch of the gather-ing, amid a burst of deafening cheers, re-peated again, while everyone partook of the celebration delicacy. Mr Aspinall then pro-posed "The King," and a verse of the national anthem was sung. Then followed the toast of the evening—"Mr and Mrs Schramm," eloquently proposed by Mr Oswald Thiele, himself a member of the teaching profession. It gave him great pleasure to be present at such a gathering, and to meet so many old friends. Memory took him back to his first meeting with his old master over 40 years ago, when Doncaster was a very different place to what it was now. His (the speaker's) father was the first one to induce Mr Schramm to start a school, which was a great necessity, the nearest being one over at Templestowe, and another at Box Hill where the Recreation hall now stands. The speaker then went on to say what a good example their dear old teacher had been to them in every way, inculcating every good principle and preparing them far beyond the ordinary routine of education for the battle of life. He would call on them to give three hearty cheers for Mr and Mrs Schramm. And to this demand what a response was given ! The very building shook as cheer after cheer from scores of lusty throats rang out, while "For they are jolly good fellows" inevitably followed. Mr Schramm, who was received with loud applause, was in doubt for a moment how to address the meeting, but at length, prompted by his pupils, he said "Boys and girls, it gives me extreme pleasure to see you all here to-night, such a well-to-do, prosperous-looking crowd" The very sight of them recalled scores of incidents that occurred when they were young, and, after mentioning a few of these, he gave a brief sketch of his career. After his school days were over he wanted to see life, so, much against his friends' wishes, he went to sea, serving two years before the mast, and subsequently as mate. During his seven years spent at sea he had visited almost every port in the world, and at last, in 1853, he landed in Australia, just when the gold diggings had broken out. Here he deter-mined to stay and try his luck on the fields, but, finding none, he again took to the water and shipped on a river craft at Foots-cray. Coming on shore regularly to service he became known to the German portion of the population, and eventually Mr Thiele, senr, induced him to start a school in Doncaster, and this school he carried on from 1860 till 1885, when he was urged to qualify for the ministry. His preparation for this was greatly simplified by the thoroughness of his early classical training, and, as a minister, here he had remained. In conclusion, he was very glad to see them all again, and he hoped they would bring up their children to be obedient and God-fearing and ultimately good citizens. He wished them every prosperity, and hoped they would meet in the world to come The rev. gentleman sat down amid loud and sustained applause, and when this had sub- sided, and the necessary grouping arrangements had been made, flashlight photo-graphs of the gathering were taken by Messrs Sears, of Collins street, City. Mr L. H. Smith subsequently notified that copies could be obtained from him at any time. The tables were then cleared, and social converse once more reigned supreme. Mr and Mrs Schramm were besieged by the attentions of their old friends, and held a regular levee at the end of the hall, one after another coming up for a hearty grip of the hand, while heartfelt greetings poured in from all sides, and it must truly have been a source of the deepest gratification to the aged couple to observe the dominant note of sincere and deep affection for them that prevailed. The committee consisting of Messrs J. Aspinall, B. Toogood, F. Thiele, J. Whitton, E. Lawford, P. Crouch, A. Zerbe, H. Crouch, H. Thiele, with the indefatigable hon. secretary, had left nothing undone to make the affair a perfect suc-cess, to which result the ladies, with Mrs L. H. Smith as the moving spirit, contri-buted in no small measure. The oldest scholars present were Messrs W. Lawford (1860), Aumann, and R. Smith, while bet-ween them the Aspinalls and Smiths made up quite a small contingent. There was purposely no regular pro- gramme, and Mr Aspinall, assuming the chair, called on Mr Anson, who sang "The Holy City" in excellent style, and was loudly and deservedly applauded. The chairman then gave a brief outline of the origin and gradual development of the scheme of which they saw the brilliantly successful fruition that evening, and Mr L. H. Smith also read a short explanatory re- port, and several of the most interesting of the many letters of sympathy and congratulation received, in every case expressing deep regret at the inability of the writer to be present. Altogether they had sent out 260 circulars. An old pupil, who had been a Miss Aspinall, then sang "Darby and Joan" appropriately and feelingly, Mrs J. Petty being the accompanist. Short ad-dresses suitable to the occasion were given by Messrs H. Crouch, president of the shire of Doncaster, Cr Zerbe, H. Thiele, Cr Pent-land (Traralgon), and T. Lawford (Benalla). The chairman and three other members of the same family next sang a quartet with harmonious effect. The event of the even-ing succeeded, when the chairman, on be-half of the "Old Scholars" presented Mr Schramm with an easy chair in costly and handsome tapestry, and a purse of sovereigns, while Mrs Schramm was made the recipient of a solid silver tea and coffee service of beautiful design and suitably inscribed. At these signal and material evidences of affection and esteem, which must had been a genuine surprise, the old gentleman was deeply affected, and, return-ing brief thanks in a broken voice, in which the concluding words and "God bless you, my children" were scarcely audible, he left the hall. General jollification was once more the order of the day, and repeated cries of "Laurie Smith," "Where's Laurie ?" &c., brought that gentleman speedily to the platform, whence he delivered a Dutch recitation in his well-known inimitable style, which completely brought down the house amid thunders of applause. Mr John Tully and others made short speeches, and the usual votes of thanks to the "Ladies," "Press," "Chairman," followed by the sing-ing of "Auld Lang Syne" by the "full strength of the company," brought to a con-clusion perhaps the most successful, and certainly, the most unanimously enthusiastic meeting ever held in the little town of Don-caster.1904 'REUNION OF OLD SCHOLARS AT DONCASTER.', Reporter (Box Hill, Vic. : 1889 - 1918), 2 September, p. 2. , viewed 18 Sep 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90309001
Text included in 1997 12 DTHS Newsletter.
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