Alumni of St. John’s College have excelled across their professions and made valuable contributions to the communities which they have served. This page celebrates the achievements of some of the remarkable men and women from our alumni community.

“I am really very pleased that the College and the Association have embarked upon the distinguished alumni project. This is a long overdue endeavour. The Johns story is all about its people. Those who have excelled in their fields, those who have served their communities and who have inspired succeeding generations of alumni. If you have a story you think we should know about, we would be delighted to hear from you.“ Judge Gerard Phillips (John’s 1983-85), Chair Advancement and Alumni Committee & College Council Member.

Politics

The Honourable Tony Abbott AC
St John’s College 1976
Prime Minister 2013-2015
Justin Clancy MP
St John’s College 1996-1998
Member for Albury 2019
The Honourable Peter Collins AM QC RFD
St John’s College 1967-1968
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 1981-2003
Distinguished military and legal career
The Honourable Dr David Gillespie MP
St John’s College 1976-1980
Former Member for Lyne, New South Wales
Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Regional Health
The Honourable Joe Hockey
St John’s College 1985-1987
Member for North Sydney 1996 – 2015
Federal Treasurer 2013- 2015, 25th Ambassador of Australia to the United States
Dr Peter Dalton Hughes
St John’s College 1949-1954
Leader of the ACT Liberal Party from 1974 until 1977
The Honourable Dr Brian Pezzutti AM CSC RFD
St John’s College 1964-1969
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 1988-2003
The Honourable Frank Sartor AO
St John’s College 1970-1971
Lord Mayor of Sydney 1991 – 2003
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 2003-2011

Law

John Hailes Flood Nagle AO QC
St John’s College 1929-1935
Former Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Chief Judge at Common Law, and Royal Commissioner into NSW prisons. Past president of the board of trustees of the Art Gallery of NSW.
Richard Edward O’Connor QC
St John’s College 1871-1873
Barrister, High Court Judge, Member of the Upper House.
One of three Justices appointed to the newly established High Court of Australia in 1903
Cyril Ambrose Walsh KBE PC
St John’s College 1927-1930
Secretary then president of the college’s students club
Barrister, High Court Judge, Judge.
Brian Donovan QC
St John’s College 1961-1966
Council Member, and later Chairman 1997-2002
Brian William Duck
St John’s College 1959-1962
Former judge of the Compensation Court and Dust Diseases Tribunal
Danny Gilbert AM
St John’s College 1969-1970
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Gilbert + Tobin and co-chair of Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition
Matthew Laffan
St John’s College 1989-1994, Rugby Secretary 1990, House Secretary 1991, and House President 1993.
Disabilities activist, lawyer with the Department of Public Prosecutions, Sydney Lord Mayor aspirant and served on judiciaries of NSW Rugby Union.
Hugh Denis Macrossan
St John’s College 1899-1902
Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland; appointed Senior Puisne Judge in 1926; appointed chief justice, Supreme Court of Queensland in 1940.
Roderick Meagher AO QC
St John’s College 1950-1955
Barrister, legal scholar and former Justice of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of New South Wales.
Bernard Mullu Narokobi OBE
St John’s College 1966-1971
Papua New Guinean politician, jurist, and philosopher. Served as the Papua New Guinean High Commissioner to New Zealand 2005-2008.
John Williams QC
St John’s College 1934-1938
Judge on the Workers Compensation Commission of NSW 1964-1985. Served as a war crimes investigating officer on Ambon and as a prosecuting officer at the Morotai trials.

Business

Sir David Higgins
St John’s College 1973-1976
British Australian businessman, chief executive of Network Rail, former CEO of the London 2012 Olympic Delivery Authority and Lend Lease Corporation
Lord Michael Hintze Kt GCSG AM
St John’s College 1974-1976
British Australian businessman, philanthropist, and Conservative Party donor, based in the United Kingdom.
Francis Bede Freehill
St John’s College 1871-1876, Council 1883-1908
A founding director as well as solicitor of the City Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd. He was a founder of the Catholic Press in 1895 and until 1907 a director of the Australian Newspaper Co. Ltd, which also published the Australian Star and Sunday Sun.
Sir Henry ToRobert
St John’s College 1962-1964
First Governor and Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Papua New Guinea.

Medicine

Herbert Francis Benning OBE KSG
St John’s College 1926-1930
Psychologist and academic, Australian rugby league player and Administrator
Walter Charles Burfitt KCSS
St John’s College 1892-1898
Surgeon and co-founder of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Kevin James Fagan AO
St John’s College 1927-1932
Army Medical Officer, Prisoner of war in Changi and later the Thai-Burma Railway, surgeon
Richard St John Honner
St John’s College 1919-1922
Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon, Australian Olympian (1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump)
Sir John Lawrence McKelvey KBE
St John’s College 1889-1904, 1905, 1911 (Fellow)
Surgeon, foundation fellow and former vice-president of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, racehorse owner.
Sir Herbert Henry Schlink
St John’s College 1901-1906
Chairman of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Board, for 28 years, honorary gynaecological surgeon and lecturer at the University of Sydney. He played a leading role in elevating Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to the State’s leading teaching hospital. He was a foundation fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
Bruce Dalway Shepherd AM
St John’s College 1950-1957
Orthopaedic surgeon, founder of the Shepherd Centre for hearing impaired children, former president of the Federal AMA and AMA New South Wales
Professor Noel Dan AM
St John’s College 1958-1961
Neurosurgeon who pioneered new techniques for surgical procedures in anterior skull base surgery. His leadership of an epidemiological study of head injuries in NSW was instrumental in the introduction of Random Breath Testing.

Diplomacy

The Honourable Joe Hockey
St John’s College 1985-1987
Member for North Sydney 1996 – 2015
Federal Treasurer 2013- 2015, 25th Ambassador of Australia to the United States
Michael Gerard L’Estrange AO
St John’s College 1974
Former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, former Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and Rhodes Scholar
John Charles George Kevin CBE
St John’s College 1927-1932
Former Australian High Commissioner to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), High Commissioner to Pakistan and Ambassador to South Africa
John Anthony McCarthy QC AM
St John’s College 1965-1970
Former Australian Ambassador to the Holy See
Dennis Richardson AC
St John’s College 1968
19th Ambassador of Australia to the United States
Former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2010-2012, Secretary of Department of Defence 2012-2017, Director General of Security 1996-2005

Media and the Arts

Andrew Corrigan
St John’s College 1973-1976
Master of Wine (one of only 418 in the world), writer and ABC Radio presenter
William (Bill) Norman Peach AM
St John’s College 1952-1955
Television journalist and host of the ABC current affairs program This Day Tonight from 1967 to 1975. In 1975, Bill was awarded a Logie for Outstanding Contribution to Television, and he was awarded the Order of Australia in 1991 for services to media and tourism.
Dean Yates
St John’s College 1987-1989
Former Bureau Chief of Reuters News Agency in Baghdad. Covered the 2002 Bali bombings and the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. Author Line in the Sand
Anna Henderson
St John’s College 2001-2003
Chief Political Correspondent & Bureau Chief at SBS Australia

Academics

Dr Anthony (Tony) Edward Cahill
St John’s College 1953-1957
A major contributor to the academic study of Australian Catholic history. His name is perpetuated in a prize awarded annually to the best student in first year Late Modern European History.
Dr Peter Cunich
St John’s College 1985-1987
Former director of the University of Hong Kong Centenary History Project.
Dr Jean (John) Pierre de Monchaux
St John’s College 1955-1959
Former Dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture & Planning (MIT) 1981 to 1992
Professor James Franklin
St John’s College 1971-1974
Australian philosopher, mathematician, and historian of ideas.
Emeritus Professor John Dominic Lynch
St John’s College 1964-1967
A linguist specialising in Oceanic languages. He was an emeritus professor of Pacific Languages and the former Director of the Pacific Languages Unit at the University of the South Pacific in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
Professor James Dwyer McGee OBE
St John’s College 1922-1927
Devoted to the field of photoelectronics, ranging from his crucial contribution to the development of television in the 1930s to his work on astronomical detectors in the 1960s and 1970s.
Dr Paul D Scully-Power AM
St John’s College 1963
Australia’s first astronaut. He flew on Space Shuttle Challenger’s sixth flight (and the 13th flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle program). NSW Space Industry Ambassador
Dr Keith Suter AM
St John’s College 1975-1979 (Resident Tutor)
Considered to be one of Australia’s most influential Global futurists and media commentators in national and foreign affairs.
Peter Hugh Quail
St John’s College 1961-1965
PhD University of Sydney, Australia, 1968
BS Agriculture, University of Sydney, Australia, 1964
Professor of the Graduate School, Plant & Microbial Biology University of California, Berkeley
Professor Anthony Hannan
St John’s College 1988-1990
Principal Research Fellow and Head of the Epigenetics and Neural Plasticity Laboratory.
Professor Anthony Beasley
St John’s College 1983-1986
Director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Professor Rory Todhunter
St John’s College 1971-1974
Professor of Surgery in the Department of Clinical Sciences, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

Sport

Dr Jack Blomley
St John’s College 1946-1952
Rugby Union player who played for Australia in 1947, 1949, and 1953; first grade cricketer.
Luke Burgess
St John’s College 2002-2003
Retired professional rugby union player. His usual position was scrumhalf. He represented Australia on thirty-seven occasions.
James Carlton
St John’s College 1929
Australian sprinter who competed in 100yd and 220yd events at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
Sam Carter
St John’s College 2008-2010
Professional rugby union player who currently plays for Leicester Tigers. His playing position is lock. Previously played Super Rugby for the Brumbies (2011-2016) and Australia (2014-2017) and Ulster in Ireland
Nathan Charles
St John’s College 2007
Professional rugby union player who played for Australia on four occasions between 2014 and 2015.
Edward Fernon
St John’s College 2007-2009
Olympian (Modern Pentathlete): 2012 London Olympics; 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Keith Eric Gudsell
St John’s College 1950-1954
New Zealand rugby union footballer who played for both the country of his birth and Australia; veterinary surgeon.
Nathan Peter Haas
St John’s College 2010-2010
Professional road racing cyclist, who represented Australia in two UCI World Team Championships.
Jack Hargreaves OAM
St John’s College 2012-2012
Olympian (Rowing) 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, Men’s Coxless Four, 2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Eight
Richard St John Honner
St John’s College 1917-1922
Olympian (Track and field): 1926 400m, 400m hurdles, long jump; Army medical officer, obstetrician/gynaecologist, surgeon
Christopher Meagher
St John’s College 1953-1957
Torero (professional bullfighter) Spain, 1960-1965; lawyer
John (Jack) Maxwell Potts
St John’s College 1954-1959
Rugby Union player who played five Tests for Australia in a three-year international career.
Patrick (Paddy) John Ryan
St John’s College 2008-2008
Rugby union player who plays as a tight-head prop. Ryan played eight seasons for the New South Wales Waratahs (2011-2018) and Australia (2012-2014). He is contracted with the San Diego Legion team in Major League Rugby in the United States.
William Ryan OAM
St John’s College 2008-2009
Olympian (Sailing) 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medalist; 2020 Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, sailing Men’s 470 class.
Daniel Vickerman
St John’s College 2000-2000
South African born professional rugby union player who played sixty-three tests with the Wallabies. After seven seasons with the Wallabies and having played Super Rugby for the New South Wales Waratahs and ACT Brumbies, Vickerman retired from international rugby in 2008.

Religious Leader

Bishop John Steven Satterthwaite
St John’s College 1946-1949
Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Lismore

Rhodes Scholars

The Honourable Tony Abbott AC
St John’s College 1976-1976
Prime Minister 2013-2015
Anthony John Dietz
St John’s College 1984-1986
Terence Gilronan Glasheen MBE
St John’s College 1934-1938
Air Vice-Marshal Colin Hingston AM
St John’s College 1970-1971
Michael L’Estrange AO
St John’s College 1974-1974

Military

Francis (Frank) Coen
St John’s College 1903-1908
Captain,18th & 19th Battalion, AIF (1st AIF)
Reginald George Downing MC and Bar
St John’s College 1913
Captain, 54th and 2nd, and 1st Training Battalions, and 12th ALH Regiment, AIF (1st AIF)
Kevin James Fagan AO
St John’s College 1927-1932
Major, 8th Division AMC AIF (2nd AIF)
John (Jack) Aloysius Fitzherbert MC
St John’s College 1910-1913
Lieutenant, King Edward’s Horse, RGA and RAF, BEF
James Martin Flattery OBE
St John’s College 1917-1922
Surgeon Captain, HMAS Penguin, RAN
Francis Bede Freehill
St John’s College 1871-1876, Council 1883-1908
Served in Colonial Militia and British Defence Personnel
Terence Gilronan Glasheen MBE
St John’s College 1934-1938
Flight Lieutenant, RAAF
Donald Neil (Peter) Rankin DFC
St John’s College 1932-1937
Flight Lieutenant, No. 466 Squadron RAAF

Johnsmen who served in World War I,
1914-1918

Leo Bamber
St John’s College 1914-1917
Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Aylmer Edward Burke-Gaffney
St John’s College 1907-1908
Captain, AAMC, AIF
Florence Charles Burke-Gaffney
St John’s College 1907-1908
Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Vincent Charles Callen
St John’s College 1908-1909
Lieutenant, 34th Battalion AIF (1st AIF)
Francis (Frank) Coen
St John’s College 1903-1908
Captain, 18th & 19th Battalion, AIF (1st AIF)
Thomas John, Connelly
St John’s College 1915
Private, AIF (1st AIF)
John Edward Ferdinand Deakin
St John’s College 1902
Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Reginald George Downing MC and Bar
St John’s College 1913
Captain, 54th and 2nd, and 1st Training Battalions, and 12th ALH Regiment, AIF (1st AIF)
James Joseph Vincent Duhig
St John’s College 1908-1914
Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF) and BEF
Jeremiah Joseph E Durack
St John’s College 1895-1900 Lieutenant, Indian Reserve of Officers
John (Jack) Aloysius Fitzherbert MC
St John’s College 1910-1913
Lieutenant, King Edward’s Horse, RGA and RAF, BEF
Michael Joseph Gallagher
St John’s College 1908-1913
Captain, RAMC, BEF; AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Robert Augustine Gardner
St John’s College 1912
Captain, AAMC, AN & MEF (Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force)
Francis John Gwynne
St John’s College 1915-1919
Private, AIF (1st AIF)
Raymond James Haynes
St John’s College 1910-1915
Captain, AAMC (1st AIF)
Laurence Richard Henrys
St John’s College 1919
Lieutenant, RAFC Royal Flying Corps, England
Henry George Leahy
St John’s College 1915
Major, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Francis Victor McAdam
St John’s College 1913
Private, 3rd Australian General Hospital (1st AIF)
Ernest Moore (Ernie) McCaffrey
St John’s College 1911-1916
Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Randal Vivian McDonnell MC
St John’s College 1907-1908
Captain, RAMC, BEF
Peter James Benjamin Murphy
St John’s College 1907-1909
Major,14th Australian General Hospital and Reinforcements Unit (1st AIF)
Robert Joseph Murphy
St John’s College 1912-1917
Captain, 5th Light Horse Field Ambulance (1st AIF)
Jack Keith Murray
St John’s College 1913-1915
Lieutenant, AAVC Australian Army Veterinary Corps (1st AIF)
Stanislaus (Stanley) Vincent O’Regan MC
St John’s College 1909-1910
Captain, AAMC, 15th Battalion AIF (1st AIF)
Harold Horne Power
St John’s College 1917-1924
1919-1925 Private, 102nd Howitzer Battery, AIF (1st AIF)
John Joseph (Jack) Power DSO
St John’s College 1909-1914
Major, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Cecil Roy Quinn
St John’s College 1914-1915
Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
Arthur Bernard Sullivan
St John’s College 1917-1923
Gunner, Heavy Artillery Brigade Reinforcements, AIF (1st AIF)
Bryan Aloysius Veech
St John’s College 1912-1916
Captain, AAMC (1st AIF)
Harvey Sylvester Walsh
St John’s College 1907-1907
Captain, AAMC, AIF (1st AIF)
James John Woodburn
St John’s College 1909-1910
Captain AAMC, AIF (1st AIF), Sea Transport Service; and RAMC, BEF

Johnsmen who served in World War II,
1939-1945

Neville Joseph Anderson
St Johns College 1937-1941
Captain, Australian Army Ordnance Corps AIF (2nd AIF)
Robert Arthur Astill
St John’s College 1932
Captain, Z’ Special Unit AIF (2nd AIF)
Paul Thomas Barry
St John’s College 1932
Private, 4th Pioneer Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Patrick Thomas Gerard Bateman
St John’s College 1935-1941
Captain, AIF (2nd AIF)
Edward Thomas Beazley
St John’s College 1929
Temporary Captain, 31st Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Allan William Belford
St John’s College 1930-1934
Lieutenant, 8th Field Company Royal Australian Engineers AIF (2nd AIF)
Herbert Francis Benning
St John’s College 1926-1930
Flight Lieutenant, RAAF
Henry Michael Brady
St John’s College 1936
Sergeant, 17th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Walter Furneaux Burfitt
St John’s College 1929-1932
Captain, No. 1 Field Ambulance AIF (2nd AIF)
Erskine Thomas Calthorpe
St John’s College 1933-1935
Lieutenant, 25th Australian Field Personnel Corps AIF (2nd AIF)
Thomas Gerard  Conneely
St John’s College 1933
Captain, AAMC AIF (2nd AIF)
Charles Alexander Crothers
St John’s College 1908-1909
Naval Officer, RAN
Francis Norman Chaston
St John’s College 1938-1941
Captain, No. 3 Field Company AIF (2nd AIF)
Geoffrey Charles Corlis
St John’s College 1933-1939
Squadron Leader, RAAF
Leo Edward Joseph Corrigan
St John’s College 1935-1938
Flying Officer, No. 466 Squadron RAAF
Felix Cyril Sigismund Dittmer
St John’s College 1926-1928
Captain, 102nd Australian General Hospital AIF (2nd AIF)
John Neil Downing
St John’s College 1939-1940
Lieutenant, 17th Australian Infantry Battalion (2nd AIF)
Walter Anthony Gerard Enright
St John’s College 1936-1938
Sergeant, 17/33rd Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Kevin James Fagan AO
St John’s College 1927-1932
Major, 8th Division AMC AIF (2nd AIF)
James Martin Flattery OBE
St John’s College 1917-1922
Surgeon Captain, HMAS Penguin, RAN
Mark Austin Gilchrist
St John’s College 1931-1935
Captain, 1st Australian Pioneer Battalion, AIF (2nd AIF)
Terence Gilronan Glasheen MBE
St John’s College 1934-1938
Flight Lieutenant, RAAF
Eric Myer Goldwater
St John’s College 1929
Sergeant, 35th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF (2nd AIF)
James Joseph Guerin
St John’s College 1931
Flying Officer, No. 249 Squadron RAAF
Walter Percival Ham
St John’s College 1941-1942
Leading Aircraftman, No. 54 Radar Station RAAF
Desmond Townsell Hartigan
St John’s College 1932-1935
Lieutenant, HMAS Magnetic
Brian Francis Hempenstall
St John’s College 1930
Flight Lieutenant, RAAF
Denis Patrick Heraghty
St John’s College 1930
Captain, AAMC AIF (2nd AIF)
Thomas Foley Higgins
St John’s College 1936-1937
Signalman, AIF (2nd AIF)
Garner Gware Hitchen
St John’s College 1930
Lieutenant, 1st Australian Field Regiment AIF (2nd AIF)
Thomas Desmond Hollywood
St John’s College 1936-1941
Captain, 32nd Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Richard St John Honner
St John’s College 1917-1922
Major, 101st Australian General Hospital CMF (Citizen Military Force)
Leopold Stewart Johnstone
St John’s College 1926-1929
Gunner, 398 Anti-Aircraft Gun Station AIF (2nd AIF)
Patrick Kelly
St John’s College 1908-1913
Captain, 112 Australian General Hospital CMF (Citizen Military Force)
Charles James King
St John’s College 1932
Captain, Australian Army Veterinary Corps AIF (2nd AIF)
Francis Xavier Leavey
St John’s College 1935
Flight Sergeant, No. 459 Squadron RAAF
Charles Adrian Loneragan DFC
St John’s College 1932-1934
Wing Commander, 1st Operational Training Unit RAAF
John Garry Lubrano
St John’s College 1933-1934
Warrant Officer, No. 4 Radio School RAAF
Clement Joseph McDonough
St John’s College 1941-1942
Flying Officer, 20th Advanced Flying Unit RAAF
John Cranston McInerney
St John’s College 1934-1936
Captain, No. 2 Australian Commando Squadron AIF (2nd AIF)
Glencairn Mackintosh
St John’s College 1933-1937
Squadron Leader, RAAF
Leo Hanney McMahon
St John’s College 1934-1938
Captain, 11 Field Ambulance AIF (2nd AIF)
Arthur Geoffrey McManis
St John’s College 1930
Squadron Leader, 28th Medical Clearing Station RAAF
Kevin Matthew McNamee
St John’s College 1930
Major, 2nd Company Beach Group, AAMC AIF (2nd AIF)
Bryan Craven Meagher
St John’s College 1936-1939
Lieutenant, 20th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Edward Augustine Moloney
St John’s College 1933-1934
Sergeant, MTTD (Motor Transport Training Depot) AIF (2nd AIF)
Joseph Francis Moloney
St John’s College 1932-1934
Private, 17th Battalion Volunteer Defence Force CMF (Citizen Military Force)
Noel John Morgan
St John’s College 1941-1942
Gunner, 22nd Australian Infantry Training Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
John William Harper Mulhearn
St John’s College 1928-1932
Captain, No. 11 Field Ambulance 2nd AIF
John Hailes Flood Nagle
St John’s College 1929-1935
Major, 1st Australian Parachute Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Valentine Flood Nagle
St John’s College 1931-1936
Lieutenant, No. 2 Cavalry Commando Squadron AIF (2nd AIF)
John Robert Nolan
St John’s College 1931-1932
Lieutenant, 41/2 Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Francis Vincent O’Brien
St John’s College 1936-1941
Captain, 7th ADU (Air Defence Unit) AIF (2nd AIF)
John Galvin O’Neill
St John’s College 1935-1941
Captain, 1st A PERS STG CAMP (Australian Personnel Staging Camp) AIF (2nd AIF)
Brian Allen O’Neill
St John’s College 1941-1947
Lieutenant, Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment AIF (2nd AIF)
Neil Owen O’Neill
St John’s College 1941-1942
Corporal, “Q” Field Section, Australian Intelligence Corps AIF (2nd AIF)
Kevin Walter Priddis
St John’s College 1932-1937
Captain, RFTS (Rear Field Treatment Station) No.3 Field Ambulance AIF (2nd AIF)
Donald Neil (Peter) Rankin DFC
St John’s College 1932-1937
Flight Lieutenant, No. 466 Squadron RAAF
Aylmer Campbell Robertson
St John’s College 1931-1936
Major, 25 Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
Matthew Ignatius Rocks
St John’s College 1933
Sergeant, 6th Australian Division AIF (2nd AIF)
James Stewart Rogers
St John’s College 1941-1948
Corporal, 14th Australian Radio MTCE Station AIF (2nd AIF)
D’Arcy James Ryan
St John’s College 1941-1942
Leading Aircraftman, 385 Radar Station, RAAF
Favel Thomas Satterthwaite
St John’s College 1917-1922
Flight Lieutenant, Airforce HQ RAAF
John Arthur McKelvey Shera
St John’s College 1932-1938
Captain, 5th Australian General Hospital AIF (2nd AIF)
John Cunningham Speers
St John’s College 1941-1942
Gunner, 32 Company Anti-Aircraft Regiment AIF (2nd AIF)
Ray Edward Thorold-Smith
St John’s College 1935-1936
Squadron Leader, No. 452 Squadron RAAF
Frederick William Tietyens
St John’s College 1929-1932
Captain, 23 Australian Infantry Battalion AIF (2nd AIF)
William Carrick Turk Upton
St John’s College 1914-1916
Wing Commander, RAAF
Robert John Walsh
St John’s College 1935-1939
Major, Australian Blood & Serum Preparation Unit, CMF (Citizen Military Force)
John Myles Williams
St John’s College 1934-1938
Lieutenant, 33 Infantry Brigade AIF (2nd AIF)
Morgan Francis Windsor
St John’s College 1937-1941
Captain, 1st Australian Hospital Ship AIF (2nd AIF)

Other identities associated with St John’s College

Christopher Brennan
Australian poet, author, and scholar. He attended the University of Sydney (classics and philosophy), graduating in 1892. He travelled on a scholarship to the University of Berlin to study philosophy. The French symbolist writers, particularly Mallarme, distracted Brennan from completing his studies but he returned to Sydney in 1894 to a position in the Public Library. Brennan was appointed as a lecturer in modern literature at the University of Sydney in 1909 and associate professor in German and comparative literature in 1920. The University of Sydney Library holds the Brennan collection which is on permanent loan to Rare Books and Special Collections from The Nagle Library, St John’s College, University of Sydney.
Countess Eileen Freehill
Countess Eileen Marie Freehill was made a Papal Countess by Pope Pius XI, following her active participation in the Sydney Eucharistic Congress in 1928.Countess Freehill donated £15,000 toward the construction of the College’s Freehill tower in memory of her husband, Francis Bede Freehill. The Freehill Tower at St John’s College was completed in 1938. The tower contains a Lady Chapel at first-floor level leading off the Antechapel, with an ornate terrazzo floor representing the titles of Our Lady, created by the Melocco Brothers (who also decorated the floors of the Mitchell Library entrance hall, the crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral, and the ticket hall of Central Railway Station).
Dr Herbert Michael (Paddy) Moran
Rugby union player, a state and national representative flanker who captained the Wallabies on their first overseas tour in 1908–09. Although best known as a Wallabies captain and cancer surgeon, Herbert Michael Moran had other achievements and was a prolific author. He published his first memoir Viewless Winds: the recollections and digressions of an Australian surgeon (London, P. Davies, 1939); Beyond the hill lies China: scenes from a medical life in Australia (London, P. Davies, 1945) and In my fashion: an autobiography of the last ten years (Sydney, Dymocks, 1946). His criticisms of Australian Catholic Church leaders such as Archbishop Mannix were forceful and caused offense to many people. The book received substantial publicity in the Australian and English press and had wide appeal due to its breadth of coverage. He was educated at Darlington Public School, St Aloysius’ College, Surry Hills, and briefly at Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, before proceeding to the University of Sydney (M.B., 1907; Ch.M., 1929). Moran was also a Fellow of St John’s College, University of Sydney.
John Hubert Plunkett
John Hubert Plunkett was the first Catholic Solicitor-General and then the first Catholic Attorney-General of New South Wales. He is best known for the prosecution of the colonists who brutally murdered 28 Aboriginals in the Myall Creek Massacre of 1838, seven of whom were convicted and hanged.
Plunkett was one of the founders of the University of Sydney (Vice Chancellor from 1865-67) and played a critical role in the establishment of St John’s College, serving on the first Council.
He was also a founder of the Sydney Grammar School, the AMP society, and St Vincent’s Hospital (where the Centre for Ethics is named after him). He authored The Australian Magistrate in 1835, a significant contribution to the administration of justice in 19th century Australia. He pioneered the Church Act of 1836, which disestablished the Church of England in this country, and embedded the principles of legal equality among religions and the separation of church and state.
Archbishop John Bede Polding
Archbishop Polding may be regarded as the founder of St John’s College. It was due to Polding’s advocacy and the generosity of the Catholic community an amount exceeding 20,000 pounds was pledged in a brief period to enable the establishment of a Catholic College within The University of Sydney. The University of Sydney was established in 1850 shortly before the introduction of ‘responsible government’ in the colony of New South Wales. At the time, the place of religion in the proposed university was the subject of intense debate. At Sydney, the scheme which was adopted was that the University itself would not have a religious character, but the government would aid the foundation of colleges by the four main Christian denominations in the colony at the time – Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist. The government assistance on offer required financial commitment from the denominations themselves: so long as at least 10,000 pounds were raised, the government would match the amount up to 20,000 pounds and make land available within the University’s land grant for the building of a college by that denomination.

Are there other people who should be recognised?

If you are aware of any St John’s alumni who have excelled in their chosen field of endeavour, we want to hear about it. All you need to do is to send an email to info@www.stjohnsalumni.com and set out in a few brief paragraphs the notable achievements of the subject of your submission.