23
Issue 53 – June 2015 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
Robin was the first daughter of an old girl to attend
Queen Margaret College. Her mother Edna Hopkirk
nee Gilbert was a founding pupil of the College in
1919 and her grandfather William Hopkirk was a member
of the combined Board of Governors of Scots and Queen
Margaret College from 1922 – 1930.
Robin started at Queen Margaret College in 1936 in
standard one and was one of the Boarder Prefects in 1945.
Her father V. Hopkirk was on the Queen Margaret College
Board of Governors.
Old Girl Robin Leckie nee Hopkirk and
daughter Sue Leckie made a special visit
to Queen Margaret College in Term 2.
Our First Ever Daughter of an Old Girl
Acopper microscope complete with its own wooden box from
1945 has been discovered.
The microscope was donated to the school by teacher
Katharine Hoby in memory of a pupil who died.
The pupil, Jane Gillies of Stirling House, attended Queen Margaret
College from 1940 – 1943 before entering Lewisham Hospital.
She spent two years in hospital with an unknown illness before she
died.
An extract of her obituary in the 1945 Te Karere ‘In Remembrance’
reads, “During those two years in hospital, although she was
very ill, there were times when she was able to surprise her
friends by speaking over the telephone at her bedside. There
were times, too, when some of us were allowed to visit her,
and times when she could arrange little tea parties in her
room. Always on those occasions she was eager to hear the
latest news of school.”
The microscope now takes pride of place in Carol Craymer’s office.
Our Science Department has uncovered some-
thing special hidden away in the cupboards of the
College.
Treasure Found
Founding student Edna Hopkirk nee Gilbert can be seen in the back row 12th from the left