Hutchins School


Hutchins School, Hobart, in 1865 (W.L. Crowther Library, SLT)

The Hutchins School is a boys' school, one of Australia's oldest independent schools, founded in 1846 under the auspices of the Church of England. Named after William Hutchins, Archdeacon of Van Diemen's Land, the School began in Ingle Hall in Macquarie Street, under the Reverend JR Buckland, headmaster until 1874. The School moved further up Macquarie Street several years later to the site now affectionately known as 'the old school'. In 1907 and 1911 Hutchins amalgamated with King's Grammar School and Queen's College, and after difficult times at the turn of the century enrolments were again healthy. Headmaster CC Thorold introduced the house system in 1918 and the School flourished. With the School's continued success, a move was made to a larger and more suitable site in Sandy Bay, the Junior School in 1957, the entire School by 1965. Enrolment is now 1020. William Toppin, who commenced duties in 1997, is the seventeenth Headmaster (now entitled Principal) of the Hutchins School.

Further reading: G Stephens, The Hutchins School, Hobart, 1979.

William Toppin