News Archive

Mabel Lonsdale, the Founder’s sister, was enlisted from the start to teach French, mathematics and music. She was an accomplished violinist, having trained under famous Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim. Former students remember that she could teach every instrument in a philharmonic orchestra. Under her direction, the School had at one time the only orchestra on Vancouver Island. The Founder himself played the flute and the oboe, and surely would have joined the ensemble, along with any other willing teachers as they were added to the staff.

What better way for a community to gather and share an experience than through the ritual of breaking bread. Marion MacMillan Hawley believed so firmly in the power of this practice that she gifted Shawnigan with a building that would promote exactly that: a shared community experience.

From 1916-1928, the main School sport was soccer. The founder, Christopher W. Lonsdale, had been a semi-professional soccer player in England, who loved playing and coaching the sport. In 1927, E.D.W. (“Tiny”) Levien joined the Shawnigan teaching staff and brought with him his passion for rugby. He had played for England and was determined to change the main sport at Shawnigan from soccer to rugby. By September 1928, Levien convinced Lonsdale to make this shift. From then until the early 1990s every boy played rugby. In the 1990s, rugby became mandatory for boys Grades 8-10, and in 2008, for Grades 8 and 9 only, allowing the older boys to choose to play rugby, or a different sport. In the spring of 1993, the first girls' rugby team was formed and is still going strong.

House Colours: yellow and red
House Emblem: dragon
House Motto: Cartref – “A Loving Home”
House Hymn: Calon Lan

House Colours: royal blue and gold
House Emblem: wolf and crown 
House Motto: Cave Lupum – “Beware of the Wolfpack” 
House Hymn: I Vow to Thee My Country

House Colours: orange and white
House Emblem: cougar centred inside a sun
House Motto: Solae paulum uniter tantum – “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”
House Hymn: Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee

House Colours: purple and white
House Emblem: dove
House Motto: Alis volamus propriis – “With wings we fly”
House Hymn: And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time

House Colours: sky blue and white
House Emblem: dogwood blossom with swan in centre
House Motto: Cherchons – “Let us seek”
House Hymn: Be Thou My Vision

House Colours: forest green, gold and black
House Emblem: phoenix
House Motto: Ex Fumo Dare Lucem – “To give light from smoke”
House Hymn: "How Great Thou Art"

House Colours: crimson and white
House Emblem: cross-crosslet
House Motto: Ubi Crux Ibi Lux – "Where there is a cross, there is light"
House Hymn: Lift High the Cross

House Colours: maroon and white
House Emblem: eagle
House Motto: Ex Unitate Vires – "From unity, strength"
House Hymn: I Feel the Winds of God Today

House Colours: emerald green and light blue
House Emblem: griffin
House Motto: Non Sibi Sed Aliis – "Not for ourselves, but for others"
House Hymn: Amazing Grace

House Colours: navy and light blue
House Emblem: lion
House Motto: Acta non verba – "Actions, not words"
House Hymn: I Hear Thy Welcome Voice

It has always been important for the School to have a gathering place. By around 1920, a separate building was constructed for this purpose and was called the “Big School,” a term borrowed from British tradition. We know it included a piano. In the new 1927 School, the Big School was a separate room in the centre of the building opposite the front door. It was accessed through arched wooden doors that mirrored the double doors at the entrance. At the far end was a slightly raised platform. The Big School was used for large gatherings of all kinds – assemblies, guest speakers, plays, dances. A stone fireplace was on the east side. In the 1930s, new boys went through an initiation ceremony that required them to walk along the fireplace mantle, stepping over teacups that had been placed along it, while also ducking under a large moose head hunting trophy that hung over the middle. Later the moose head was replaced by a buffalo head. 

On your marks! Get set! BANG!! 

Many races start with the sound of a starting pistol, a pistol that fires blanks. The School did use a starting pistol in the past, but by the mid-1980s it was replaced by a simple homemade contraption made from two 2x4-inch lengths and a hinge. The "clap" sound it makes is sharp and loud and surprisingly similar to a gunshot. It is known as the starting clapper.

The closure of Strathcona Lodge School in 1977, an all-girls boarding school in Shawnigan Lake, had a ground-altering impact on Shawnigan Lake School. For 40 years the two schools – only 3.5 kilometres apart – had enjoyed a successful working relationship. The administrations worked closely to bring the boys and girls together for dances and other social events, stage plays and musicals and, in later years, even a few classes. 

For many years, when one pictured Shawnigan Lake School, colourful marigolds often dotted the frame. They were a favourite choice of gardener Bernie Dinter, who started with thousands of seedlings in the large greenhouse located on the south slope below Copeman's House. Once the flowers were established, Dinter planted them throughout the campus. For decades, massive swaths of gold marigolds were featured on the covers of prospecti and other publications. 

In photos of the first School building, there are no signs of a flagpole; the earliest we see one is in 1921, located then in almost the same location it stands today. It is worth noting that the original flagpole actually survived the catastrophic 1926 fire. When building the new School following the fire, the driveway and front garden area were regraded, and a new flagpole was erected slightly west of its original location, next to the driveway near the southwest corner of the Main Building.

By 1928, the new Main Building, the original Gym/Assembly Hall and the Chapel had been built. These three buildings surrounded a rectangular patch of land that has become known as the Quad: a grassy gathering place, used for many purposes. For a number of years, sheep grazed there as a way to keep the lawn trimmed. For many years, the June Closing Ceremonies were held in the Quad. When grad balls were still held at the School, elaborate decorations spilled out from the Assembly Hall into the Quad, everything from Japanese gardens to a pyramid. Not only a place for pomp, the Quad has also housed many a prank, such as a petting zoo. Each fall, the School gathers in the Quad to welcome the Cops for Cancer riders, where staff and student heads are shaved for fundraising. Since 2020, the Remembrance Day Service has been held in the Quad. More recently, it is where the Grad luncheon is served on Closing Day. In addition to these scheduled events, the Quad offers a pleasant place to throw a ball or just relax, and at various times throughout the year, School BBQs are hosted in this space. 

The iron gates gracing the School entrance were a gift from Dr. Peter Banks, a long-time and very active member of the Board of Governors, later serving as Chairman from 1985-1993. The gates were brought from England. Before they could be installed, permission was obtained to change access to the School entrance from Renfrew Road. The ribbon cutting was November 9, 1979. 

It may seem paradoxical that 550 uniforms – symbols of sameness – require clothing labels – markers of uniqueness. Philosophically, both uniformity and individuality are valued at Shawnigan; practically, the clothing label helps to keep one’s garments with their person, especially on laundry days. 

At the beginning of WWII, there was a sense that the School campus was and would remain far from the action; however, when Japan entered the war, perceptions changed. In the fall term of 1941, a Cadet Corps was formed, which the School Magazine described as "a Civilian Defence Corps for the purpose of giving the boys elementary training in signalling and first aid; so that they may be of use to the civilian authorities in case of a national emergency of any description." They became one of the widely organized Military Cadet Corps.

“Pulling one’s leg” typically means teasing someone by telling a tall tale, but the tale behind this leg pulling is one steeped in tradition, featuring an annual event that spanned many years of the School’s history: the Pancake Greaze. 

The Rifle Range was donated by Mrs. Percival A. Woodward in 1937 in memory of her son, W. Douglas Woodward, who was in Groves’ House 1929–34, and sadly passed away in 1935 from cancer when he was in Grade 12. Douglas was the grandson of Charles Woodward, founder of Woodward’s Stores Ltd. In the Prefects’ Log Book from April 6, 1938 the official opening of the Rifle Range is noted: “The shooting range was satisfactorily initiated today by the Head, Mr. Twite, and some of the prefects, each firing several shots.”

One thing that has always set Shawnigan apart from other schools is our singing in Chapel. As a community, we have always taken such pride in singing. Not only is it an auditory wonder to behold, but also a visual one, where a cue from the organ has staff and students alike rising in quiet unison with hymnals in hand, standing a little taller than usual. And while this is true for most of the songs we sing, it is definitely the case when we sing the official School hymn, “A Voice in the Wilderness.”

The original school building contained two dormitories in which there were metal beds, a long trestle table on which sat wash basins, and beside each bed was a little cubicle for small personals and toiletries. Each morning the dorm was inspected and each bed had to be made perfectly. The story goes that in the early days, the covers had to be pulled so tightly and smoothly that a coin would bounce off the surface when dropped from above. After inspection, the boys were not allowed in the dormitories during the day. Their sports clothes were kept in designated change rooms and they did their homework (prep) in the dining room where it was a bit warmer, returning to the dorms only to sleep.