Today 06 September 2024 James Carolin and his family, from Sydney Australia, visited The Mitre and had a tour of the Bishops campus.  James and his wife Colleen and their two sons, Jonty and Hugo, were taken on a tour of the College by the school historian Paul Murray. 

They were completely bowled over at the new developments since leaving in 1995 - in particular the recent additions.

James has very vivid memories and indeed extremely pleasant ones of his time at school.  As we moved through the precinct, James recounted his experiences and shared from his memories about his days at Bishops.  This was remembering every one of his teachers, which classrooms they taught in, singing in the choir and playing sport.  As he did so, his two sons seemed very inspired, to the degree that I am sure they would love to come to Bishops.  James hinted at the prospect for this, as they might come to Bishops on an exchange.

The Carolin family and Bishops go back a long way, and not just to Bishops, but also to the ODU. Jame's great grandfather, Harold "Paddy" Carolin (10 April 1881 – 15 March 1967) who was at Bishops (1902F?) represented South Africa in rugby union, apparently credited with conceiving the 3-4-1 scrum formation (Paul Dobson, Doc – The life of Danie Craven, Cape Town, Human & Rousseau, 1994).  It can only be speculated that Carolin was also involved in helping to choose the name 'Springboks' for the South African national side.  He was one of two ODs playing in the 1906 touring Springbok side, with Barley Burdett.  The other Bishops connection in the 1906 overseas Springbok team was Dirk Cloete 'Mary' Jackson (1897 - 1908) who played as a Bishops schoolboy!    

Apparently Paddy Carolin wanted the name All Myrtles for the side, (after the Heatlie 'green', after the format - All Blacks).  However, the name 'Springbokken' won the day - settled on as 'Springboks' (Paul Dobson, Bishops Rugby - A History, Don Nelson, Cape Town, 1990).  

Carolin was the second player ever to serve as captain in the 1906 side, when, for the test against Scotland in Glasgow on 17 November 1906, Paul Roos had to withdraw from the team.

Paddy's eldest son Richard Peter Faure was at Bishops (1933F) and in turn, his son, Richard Hamilton (1961F).  His son is James Edward (1995B) who visited with his family today.

It was an historic moment indeed, when the fourth generation Carolins visited Bishops today, accompanied by James and Colleen's sons, Jonty and Hugo, who might one day spend some time on exchange at Bishops wearing the Mitre Badge, making it the fifth generation!