Arthur Aspinall - The Scots College

The Scots College

The well-educated minister saw a need to provide an education in Sydney for the children of these pastoralists at a price which they could afford. Arthur returned to a ministry in Sydney in 1887 and took up an appointment at the St Lukes, Redfern church (1887–1893). Initially the family lived near the church. From 1890 to 1892 they lived in a large house on a large block of land that they had purchased at Unwin's Bridge Road Marrickville (now Tempe). It is thought that the original intention was to start the school in this building. Then Thomas Saywell offered the Church the use of the de-licensed Brighton-le-Sands hotel for the proposed boarding school. Necessary changes were made to the hotel by Arthur's brother, Albert Aspinall, a builder. When The Scots College was officially opened on 28 January 1893 with the sons of his friends from the Forbes circuit as boarders Arthur's dream had been fulfilled. Much of the money to establish the school had come from his wife's family. They and another family then purchased the house in Tempe from the Rev. Aspinall. Arthur remained as the Principal of the school until he retired in 1913. Ashworth, as Arthur preferred to be called, was a tough, unpopular disciplinarian. Small transgressions by his children and students resulted in harsh punishments. (This aspect of Ashworth's personality is expanded elsewhere: see references.) Behind his back, even after retirement, Ashworth, was called "The Old Tosh" by friends and family as well as by his students. As a tribute to Arthur, one of Scots's boarding houses (Aspinall) is named after him.