James Ralph Darling

Sir James Ralph Darling OBE (18 June, 1899 - 1 November, 1995) was the Headmaster of Geelong Grammar School, (1930-1961), and Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission, (1961-1967).

Early life

Darling was born in Tonbridge, England, the second child of an Englishman, Augustine Major Darling, and his Scottish wife, Jane Baird, née Nimmo. He was educated at the preparatory school in Tonbridge run by his father, then at Repton, a boarding school in Derbyshire. He served as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in France and occupied Germany in 1918 and 1919 before reading history at Oriel College, Oxford. He taught from 1921 to 1924 at Merchant Taylors’ School in Liverpool, before joining the staff of Charterhouse in Surrey.

Headmaster

He was appointed as Headmaster of Geelong Church of England Grammar School in 1930 and the student population of the school grew from 370 to 1139 at the time of his retirement. He was a founding member of the Headmasters' Conference of the Independent Schools of Australia and was its sixth Chairman. During his time at Geelong he set up Timbertop and was a founder of the Australian College of Education. Darling served from 1933 to 1971 on the Council of the University of Melbourne and he was a member of the Universities Commission from 1941 to 1951.

ABC Chairman

After his retirement as Headmaster he was for several years Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. In retirement he wrote often for newspapers and published his own books. In 1988 he was named on a list of 200 great Australians (of whom only 22 were living, he being the only headmaster on the list). He died aged 96 in Melbourne.

Honours

* Officer, Order of the British Empire (1953)
* Knight Bachelor (1968)

Publications

* The Education of a Civilized Man (Melb, 1962)
* Timbertop: An Innovation in Australian Education (Melb, 1967)
* Richly Rewarding (Melb, 1978)
* Reflections for the Age (Melb, 1991)

References

* [http://www.humancondition.info/Articles/SirJamesDarlingObituary.html FHA - Sir James Ralph Darling, OBE Obituary]