RECOLLECTIONS OF ST COLM’S COLLEGE
AUTUMN TERM 1965
Anne and Murdoch MacKenzie
As Murdoch had received his BD Degree after studying at New College we only had to study for one term at St Colm’s. We lived in No 24 with Charles and Stephanie Thrower and had the real privilege of having Kenneth McKenzie as our tutor for that term. Jean Fraser was the principal and Lottie Clunie used to take us to the local laundry to learn about ‘industrial mission’! Effie Gray was around to keep us on the straight and narrow. Bob Bone came over from Ibrox to teach us about car maintenance and Denys Saunders of the Methodist Connexion appeared for several days to teach us how to take photographs including the advice to take at least five shots of each subject and not to shoot ‘until you could see the whites of their eyes.’!
Mrs Chellappa, widow of Bishop David Chellappa of CSI Madras Diocese, was in residence and slept in a room next to the principal. Jean Fraser was usually the last into breakfast but she suddenly began to appear earlier. The reason for this was that Mrs Chellappa had an alarm clock which she was said to keep in a tin box and being an Indian she was always up very early in the morning. Thus the principal had a rude awakening each day – hence the early breakfast. Anne was expecting our first child and Mrs Chellappa very kindly took a great interest in this. In fact our daughter, Ruth Elizabeth, was born on the last day of term December 14th in the early morning. Anne had been playing table-tennis the night before so this may have helped with the birth! Mrs Chellappa was not very approving of the table-tennis and when Murdoch appeared at breakfast the next morning she was astonished to think that the child had arrived without our informing her that Anne was in the hospital.
We really enjoyed St Colm’s and being with people preparing to go to various parts of the world as well as the Irish deaconesses in training. That term happened to coincide with the declaration of UDI in Southern Rhodesia on 11th November 1965 by Ian Smith and of course Kenneth McKenzie had worked in Northern Rhodesia and was a friend of Kenneth Kaunda. Thus he was in great demand each day on the BBC to give a running commentary on events in what is now Zimbabwe. He was an amazing teacher and shared with us the books of newspaper cuttings which he had collected over many years on a great variety of topics. He had never learned to ride a bicycle and was well known for walking miles and miles in Africa.
That autumn term the Duff Lectures were being delivered in New College by M. M. Thomas the very distinguished lay theologian from India whom we later came to know in Bangalore. He stayed in No 24 and we were amazed to find that each night he was writing the next day’s lecture by hand in a notebook. We gave him cups of tea and he literally just kept writing page after page to be ready for the next day. They were published in 1966 under the title ‘The Christian Response to the Asian Revolution’.
From St Colm’s we went to Paris where, on Lesslie Newbigin’s advice, Murdoch was studying Marxism. We eventually sailed for India in July 1966 and shortly before that Ruth was baptised in St Colm’s chapel by Murdoch’s uncle Rev John Ross of St Catherine’s Argyle church in Edinburgh. Thus we bade farewell to many friends including Helen Bee, Margaret Nutter, Myrtle Milliken, John Rough, Joan Barr, Charles and Stephanie Thrower, Charlotte Stuart, Norma Burnett, Elizabeth Spears, Ria Plate, June Collier and many more.
Anne and Murdoch MacKenzie
28th May 2011
AUTUMN TERM 1965
Anne and Murdoch MacKenzie
As Murdoch had received his BD Degree after studying at New College we only had to study for one term at St Colm’s. We lived in No 24 with Charles and Stephanie Thrower and had the real privilege of having Kenneth McKenzie as our tutor for that term. Jean Fraser was the principal and Lottie Clunie used to take us to the local laundry to learn about ‘industrial mission’! Effie Gray was around to keep us on the straight and narrow. Bob Bone came over from Ibrox to teach us about car maintenance and Denys Saunders of the Methodist Connexion appeared for several days to teach us how to take photographs including the advice to take at least five shots of each subject and not to shoot ‘until you could see the whites of their eyes.’!
Mrs Chellappa, widow of Bishop David Chellappa of CSI Madras Diocese, was in residence and slept in a room next to the principal. Jean Fraser was usually the last into breakfast but she suddenly began to appear earlier. The reason for this was that Mrs Chellappa had an alarm clock which she was said to keep in a tin box and being an Indian she was always up very early in the morning. Thus the principal had a rude awakening each day – hence the early breakfast. Anne was expecting our first child and Mrs Chellappa very kindly took a great interest in this. In fact our daughter, Ruth Elizabeth, was born on the last day of term December 14th in the early morning. Anne had been playing table-tennis the night before so this may have helped with the birth! Mrs Chellappa was not very approving of the table-tennis and when Murdoch appeared at breakfast the next morning she was astonished to think that the child had arrived without our informing her that Anne was in the hospital.
We really enjoyed St Colm’s and being with people preparing to go to various parts of the world as well as the Irish deaconesses in training. That term happened to coincide with the declaration of UDI in Southern Rhodesia on 11th November 1965 by Ian Smith and of course Kenneth McKenzie had worked in Northern Rhodesia and was a friend of Kenneth Kaunda. Thus he was in great demand each day on the BBC to give a running commentary on events in what is now Zimbabwe. He was an amazing teacher and shared with us the books of newspaper cuttings which he had collected over many years on a great variety of topics. He had never learned to ride a bicycle and was well known for walking miles and miles in Africa.
That autumn term the Duff Lectures were being delivered in New College by M. M. Thomas the very distinguished lay theologian from India whom we later came to know in Bangalore. He stayed in No 24 and we were amazed to find that each night he was writing the next day’s lecture by hand in a notebook. We gave him cups of tea and he literally just kept writing page after page to be ready for the next day. They were published in 1966 under the title ‘The Christian Response to the Asian Revolution’.
From St Colm’s we went to Paris where, on Lesslie Newbigin’s advice, Murdoch was studying Marxism. We eventually sailed for India in July 1966 and shortly before that Ruth was baptised in St Colm’s chapel by Murdoch’s uncle Rev John Ross of St Catherine’s Argyle church in Edinburgh. Thus we bade farewell to many friends including Helen Bee, Margaret Nutter, Myrtle Milliken, John Rough, Joan Barr, Charles and Stephanie Thrower, Charlotte Stuart, Norma Burnett, Elizabeth Spears, Ria Plate, June Collier and many more.
Anne and Murdoch MacKenzie
28th May 2011
