Just like our own Pickering College, Aurora’s St. Andrew’s College has a long and distinguished history. Both educational institutions decided to re-locate to our area in search of a home more in keeping with their educational ideals.
St. Andrew’s College (SAC) was founded in September 1899 by Rev. Dr. George Bruce, the first headmaster, as a residential and day school. It was first located in a house named Chestnut Park on the northeast corner of Yonge Street and Roxborough Avenue in the Toronto neighbourhood of Rosedale, and owned by Sir David Macpherson. The architectural firm of Marani and Paisley won an Ontario Society of Architects Metal for its original design.
The school initially admitted approximately 50 boys, 15 of whom were boarders. There were five masters hired to handle the academics, and the boys were divided into four classes. Given Dr. Bruce’s ill health, he was soon succeeded by Dr. D. Bruce Macdonald, who would be the school’s longest-serving headmaster (1900 to 1935).
In 1905, the school moved to a newly built campus in the MacLennan Avenue area of Rosedale, a large collegiate Gothic structure.
That same year, the Highland Cadet Corps was established, and its highest ranking student was Vincent Massey, who would become the first Canadian-born governor general of Canada. The pipes and drums would become part of the cadet program in 1915.
In 1917, the school briefly found a temporary home (1918 to 1920) at Knox College on the campus of the University of Toronto when the Rosedale location was being used as a military hospital. Approximately 600 St. Andrew’s Old Boys served during the First World War, and 104 were killed in action.
In 1919, the school converted from a French-language based school to an English-language based school.
The school would make its final move in 1926, relocating north to Aurora, its current campus. In pursuit of more space and a setting away from the negative influences of the city, SAC moved to a 126-acre site just south of St. John’s Sideroad, on the west side of Yonge.
Built in the Georgian revival architecture style, it takes a traditional quadrangle configuration. In 1931, Macdonald House was completed and the Memorial Chapel was dedicated to those who had served in the First World War. The chapel has been central to community life at St. Andrew’s College dating back to its founding in 1899. Over the decades, several new buildings were added, including Campbell House, the Cole Dining Hall, the La Brier Family Arena, and the Bedard Athletic Centre.
Today, St Andrew’s College hosts more than 650 boys, with more than 360 day students and 260 boarders from across Canada and more than 30 other countries.
During the 1930s, the student population dropped significantly due to the Great Depression impact of family finances. During this period, the college received significant financial support from the community, particularly from David Dunlop and Sir Joseph Lavalle, which would help it survive. During the Second World War, more than a 100 students from St. Andrew’s would fight for their country, a significant contribution indeed.
The student population began to soar again in 1962, growing to more than 350, prompting several additions: Ketchum Auditorium, The Great Hall and Coulter Hall. The campus continued to expand throughout the 1970s and 1980s with the addition of McLaughlan Hall, the Wirth Art Gallery, the Bedard Athletic Centre, and Dunlop Hall.
Many of the school’s facilities are named after prominent graduates. Towers Library takes its name from Graham Towers, the first governor of the Bank of Canada, and a St. Andrew’s Old Boy.
St. Andrew’s, like most private educational institutions, maintains facilities for students who board there. There are four houses on site. Memorial House was named in tribute to the soldiers who died during both World Wars. Flavell House was named after successful Canadian financier and philanthropist in the early 1900s, Sir Joseph Flavelle. Macdonald House is named for the family that had served St. Andrew’s over the years — J.K. Macdonald Jr. and Sr. as board chairs and Bruce Macdonald as headmaster. Finally, Sifton House, which was named in honour of the Sifton family, prolific alumni and donors, who were descended from Sir Clifford Sifton, lawyer, politician and federal government minister under Laurier.
The school is organized by clans in the Scottish tradition. The Middle School clans are made up of the Bruce Clan, the Douglas Clan, the Wallace Clan, and the Montrose Clan. Whether one is a day student or boarder, you are part of a clan.
The Upper School clans include MacPherson Clan in Flavelle House, Buchanan Clan in Memorial House, Chattan Clan in Smith House, Ramsay Clan in Ramsey House, Robertson Clan in Laidlaw House, Stewart Clan in Sifton House, Craig Clan in Perrier House and Macdonald Clan in Macdonald House.
St. Andrew’s College houses Canada’s second largest Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corps, the 142nd St. Andrew’s College Highland Cadet Corps established in 1905. The cadet corps is also affiliated with the legendary 48th Highlanders of Canada, sharing the same motto, Dileas Gu Brath, Faithful Forever and the same design of its uniform (scarlet tunic and modern Gordon tartan). During St. Andrew’s centennial year in 2005, the corps was granted the Freedom of the City of Aurora.
The Pipes and Drums Band represents another integral element of the St. Andrew’s College Highland Cadet Corps, responsible for accompanying the Battalion when it is on the march.
The Cadet Corps structure closely resembles that of the Canadian Army’s Royal Canadian Army Cadets. Beginning in Grade 9, all students must participate in either the cadet program or music program (the pipes and drums and wind bands). There are four mandatory levels within the cadet program accompanying each grade: Green Star (Grade 8) lance corporal, Red Star (Grade 9) corporal, Silver Star (Grade 10) master corporal and finally Gold Star (Grade 11) sergeant. A cadet can be promoted on merit gained through cadet accreditation and leadership within the corps.
St. Andrew’s hosts activities and events that involve the school’s entire student body, while others invite alumni and their friends and families. These events are said to be integral to the school’s identity, while also serving as a fundraising vehicle. Some of the highlighted school events you may have attended include the annual Cadet Inspection, held every May since 1906, which serves as an integral part of the school’s identity and preserves the history of the cadet corps.
The Focus Festival of the Arts is a three-day festival of plays, films, the visual arts, music and social events for students, parents, and guests, and the Annual Fall Play is held in November in the Wirth Theatre.
The Celtic Concert showcases the pipes and drums and features many of the school bands, plus outstanding soloists, percussionists, and dancers.
Homecoming is an annual gathering of alumni in September. For Upper School students, the homecoming event usually includes the annual homecoming dance on Saturday evening.
The MacPherson Tournament is an annual hockey event with the St. Andrew’s varsity hockey team competing against hockey teams from other top schools from across North America for the MacPherson Cup, named for former members Lloyd MacPherson, Jim Hamilton and Bob Meagher, who contributed greatly to the team.
The St. Andrew’s Dinner every November is a traditional Scottish menu complete with haggis. All students are expected to attend wearing their kilts. The dinner has taken place since the inception of the school and is considered integral to the preservation of the its Scottish traditions.
Sports are considered a part of the bailiwick of St. Andrew’s and are deemed essential to the school’s life and culture with 72 teams spread across 22 sports. One of the original members of Ontario’s Little Big Four, along with Ridley College, Trinity College School, and Upper Canada College, St. Andrew’s College has a long and distinguished tradition of sporting excellence.
Participation in sports is mandatory, with all Upper School boys participating in two out of three sports terms, while Middle School students must participate in all three terms.
I am told that St. Andrew’s continues to epitomize the epithet ‘Not an Ordinary Place,’ the title of William Scoular’s book chronicling the first 100 years of the school.
Many well-known and prominent Canadians spent their formative years at St. Andrew’s College, including Vincent Massey, Roy McMurtry, Jack McClelland, Lawren Harris, Donald Davis, Timothy Findley, John Crosbie, J.A.D. McCurdy, Tony Fell, Rob McEwen, Kiefer Sutherland and Steve Amell.
For those who are interested in learning more about the school, St. Andrew’s maintains an impressive archive that serves as a repository of photographs, documents, and artifacts dating back to 1899.
I will leave you with a few tidbits of information about the school that you may not know. Its official motto is ‘Quit ye like men, be strong’. It is a non-denominational institution, but it was founded upon a Christian foundation. It is celebrating its 124th anniversary of its founding this year.
St. Andrew’s has a sister school now, named St. Anne’s, as St. Andrew’s is exclusively a boys school.
The land where St. Andrew’s is located was once owned by Philip Cody, grandfather of Buffalo Bill Cody of American Wild West fame.
And finally, a bit of trivia, the Aurora campus was featured in the fifth episode of the Netflix mini-series The Queen’s Gambit.
Sources: Newmarket / Aurora Era Banner; Town Crier 1994; Not an Ordinary Place by William Scoular; The St. Andrew’s College Archives; St. Andrew’s College website; Stories of Newmarket – An Old Ontario Town by Robert Terence Carter; Photos curtesy of St. Andrew’s College and the Hockey Gods website
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town’s history in partnership with Newmarket Today, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
