This beautiful, young tree stands as a symbol of the School’s history, from the early days of the Bishop’s College at the Cloisters on St George’s Terrace to the campus here at Wembley Downs.
Bishop Hale was a keen gardener. On his arrival in Perth in 1858, he planted a row of willow trees that lined the road at the foot of his property, Bishops House. These willows came from slips of the willow tree growing at the head of Napoleon Bonaparte’s grave on St Helena. It is thought that Napoleon considered the shade of the willow tree as a place of quiet reflection.
In 1910, Hale student Eric Merriman Riley (1902-11), brother of Bishop Charles ‘Tom’ Riley, made a cricket bat out of wood from one of the original willow trees planted at Bishops House. This cricket bat was used by the 1st XI team and is now part of the Hale School Archives collection.
When the School moved from Havelock Street to Wembley Downs, it was decided that a cutting from ‘Napolean’s Willow’, from Bishops House, would be planted at the new campus to maintain connections with the School’s history. On Arbor Day 1961, the School hosted a tree-planting ceremony, during which Bishop Charles ‘Tom’ Riley planted a cutting. Sadly, this cutting did not survive. However, in 2022, the School was kindly offered another cutting from the same tree. It was planted by Headmaster, Dean Dell’Oro; Chaplain, Father Thomas Couper; Captain of School, Alex Perin; and Year 7 student, Kingsley Jones near the Chapel of St Mark.
Napoleon’s Willow is a continuing symbol of the history of the School from its beginnings on St Georges Terrace to the current day. We hope that our new willow tree continues to mature and provide our school community with a place of quiet reflection.
