Archive Photo of the Month – June

As part of celebrating 150 years of girls’ education at Hutchesons’ Grammar, we reflect on the long-standing tradition of awarding Dux medals.

Records held in the school archive show that Dux medals have been awarded at the Girls’ School since at least 1880–1881. In earlier decades, prize winners were often featured in local newspapers, including cuttings preserved in school scrapbooks that document generations of academic distinction.

Among the early twentieth-century recipients was Margaret Davison, who enrolled at Kingarth Street alongside her four sisters. Leaving the school in 1920 as Dux, she is recorded as having been photographed with the girls’ headmaster, known as “Pa” McVicar, and receiving her medal from the wife of Dr Laidlaw.

Following her time at school, Davison went on to university before pursuing midwifery training in Dublin. She later established a medical practice in Battlefield, where she worked for many years and was later joined by her nephew.

Family recollections suggest she remained proud of her achievement throughout her life, often recalling her first day at school when a teacher spoke about someone being top of the class, a moment that reportedly inspired her ambition to become Dux.

As this year’s prize winners will soon be recognised, the school continues to celebrate both current achievement and the long legacy of excellence represented by former pupils like Davison.

School Archive:

Committed to the collection, preservation and maintenance of the records of the school, its activities and pupils, our archives hold a range of material from class registers and magazines to photographs, trophies and uniforms. Pupils are encouraged at both Primary and Secondary to engage with archive material, with the aim to provide a dynamic educational resource for pupils and our wider community.

Would you like to know more about Hutchesons’ Grammar School’s history? Contact our School Archivist at archives@hutchesons.org with any enquiries.