OD Jubilee Dinner in Cambridge
ODs met at the Lion Hotel, Cambridge in 1899 (Bishops' Jubilee Year).
ODs in Cambridge 120 years ago
The photograph above is of ODs meeting at the Lion Hotel in Cambridge, 120 years ago at the occasion of Bishops' Jubilee Year. On the LHS from the front are The Reverend J.C.H. Brooke, The Reverend O.J. Hogarth, P.F. Smith, V. Grindley-Ferris and on the RHS from the back, D.M. Buchanan KC, T. Buissinne, Major Ernest Andersen, Ivan Grindley-Ferris and The Reverend V. T. Kirby ('Old Skiff' as he was known among some of the students). As the occasion was far away from the school, only OD Colours were able to be displayed, in the form of a couple of scarfs hung over the back of the chair (see the photograph). The photograph was taken with a flash-light camera, "and although the faces did not come out very well, yet the ribbon did, and the old boys present have sent a copy to their old college, which they hope in years to come will show that at her first jubilee the fame of the Diocesan College had spread so that love of their fond alma mater had brought together a company of her sons at Cambridge to celebrate the happy event --- a company who, though small in numbers, it would have been difficult to beat in the warmth of its attachment to the old place."
There were several toasts proposed. One was to "good Old Gog" (Canon Ogilvie) who as a retired Principal, was collecting funds for the school. Another was to the Principal, Staff and school. At that timer it was Canon Richard Brooke. Another was to ODs in combat in the South African War (1899 - 1902).
On the occasion of one of the toasts, the name 'Bisho-o-O ---ps' was yarped 'in the true Newlands style'.
The gathering was entertained to Ian Grindley-Ferris's rendition of songs, and the company dispersed with singing 'Auld Lang Syne' and 'God save the Queen'.