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. Among the many features of his garden was a row of willow trees that lined the road at the foot of his property, Bishops House, Perth. These willows were grown 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.
When the school moved from Havelock Street to Wembley Downs, it was decided that a cutting from ‘Napolean’s Willow’, from Bishop Hale’s house, would be planted at the new campus. The purpose of which was to perpetuate tradition and maintain connections with the school’s long 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 given another cutting from the same tree. It was planted by current Headmaster Dean Dell’Oro; Father Tom Couper, Chaplain; Captain of School, Alex Perin and Year 7 Student, Kingsley Jones near the Chapel of St Mark.
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 Bishop Hale’s house. This cricket bat was used by the 1st XI team and is now part of the Hale School Archives Collection.
Napoleon’s Willow originally planted by Bishop Hale on his arrival in Perth in 1858 is a continuing symbol of the history of the school from the beginnings on St Georges Terrace to the Wembley Campus in 2022 and we hope that our ‘new’ willow tree by the Chapel of St Mark continues to mature and provide our school community with a continued place of quiet reflection.
