Ex-Students of Parramatta High
This page will provide you with links to articles about some of the ex-students who appear on our website (and in some cases to external websites). If you have information about ex-students that you think would be of interest, please contact the web designer . Years attended
John Benaud - Captain of the PHS First XI in 1960. Former NSW Captain and Australian Test cricketer. Currently NSW Chairman of Selectors. 1956-60
Louis Benaud A reliable spin bowler with tidy figures. He became a teacher and father of John and Ritchie. 1923
Richie - click for a photo in '63 Richie Benaud - (1930-...) willow-wielder, broadcaster, 2201 runs & 248 wickets.
 1942-46
Mark Bishop OBE From industrial chemist to Headmaster at Cranebrook School (1963-85). Was a founder of the Australian College of Education and the Science Teachers' Association of NSW. 1937-41
Morven Brown. Reproduced with the kind permission of the University of NSW Archives Professor Morven Sydney Brown. Appointed to the first academic chair of sociology created in Australia at the University of NSW in 1958. Foundation director of NIDA. Gave some very sage advice to a young lecturer... 1926-31
Vice Admiral Sir Henry Burrell RAN At the end of 1917, 13 year old Henry Burrell was successful in passing the Naval College Entrance Examination. He commanded the HMAS Norman during WWII and enjoyed a long and successful career. 1917
Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy Former President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews. Read about him here 1937-39
Gordon Champion First Public Defender of NSW. Gordon appears on the school's WWI Honour Board. Bombadier Champion served in the 2nd Sec 1st Aust. Divisional Ammunition Column. Read Champion's letter to the school, published in the school magazine in 1918. 1913
Dr Phil Chapman Antarctic explorer, astronaut and rocket scientist - features in a 2600-word article in the Sydney Morning Herald of 26/4/99. Read about it here. 1948-52
Air Commodore Stanley Clark DFC Another distinguished RAAF officer who commanded No 35 Squadron at Vung Tau in South Vietnam during the war. Instrumental in the establishment of the Tindal air base in Darwin. He's been everywhere, man. Read about it here. 1951-55
Professor John S Croucher Mathematician, statistican and author. He has written extensively on the statistics of gambling. Presides over the largest number of enrolments in any single subject in an Australian University. Ambivalent about Disraeli and Mark Twain . . . 1959-63
Peter Fab Fenton Author, coach, poet, film maker, story teller. He is also a noted sound mixer for motion pictures and has been responsible for the sound tracks of many of Australia’s best-known features over twenty years including Caddie, Picnic at Hanging Rock, My Brilliant Career, The Getting of Wisdom, Gallipoli, Phar Lap and Evil Angels.
1949-53
Air Commodore William N. Gibson DFC distinguished RAAF officer. Appointed aid de camp to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1955. Was involved in the rescue of injured RAAF pilots whose DC 3 had crashed in the Snowy Mountains. Read more about him here. 1928-30
Evan Green - popular motoring journalist and author
 1942-47
The Dame Pattie Warwick Hood AO Naval Architect and designer of the 1967 America's Cup Challenge 12 metre yacht Dame Pattie. 1944-49
Harry Hopman Schoolyard marbles champ, soccer player and cricketer. Oh yes...he played a little tennis as well. Read about him here. 1920-21
Donald Horne 1921-2005. Journalist and author. Young Donald did not enjoy his sojourn at the school (one of the few!) but seemed happy enough when he returned in 1979 as guest speaker at the school's awards night. 1935-36
Dr Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson AM Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney 1972-1985. His directorship has been said to have revitalised the Gardens and he was instrumental in the development of the Friends of the Botanical Gardens. Read a detailed account of his work here. 1937-41
Ken Kearney Australian Rugby League Captain and St George Captain/Coach, Australian Rugby Union Wallaby. Also coached Parramatta and Cronulla. 1939-41
Wilbur Kentwell Musician. Theatre organist of the 30s and 40s - just as he said he would be in his essay published in the school magazine of December 1930. 1927-32
Lt.Frederick Austin Mackell MC On the 13 April, 1941, Mackell, Corporal JH Edmondson and five privates dislodged a group of Germans who had breached the Tobruk defences and established two guns, a mortar and eight machine guns. Edmondson received the Victoria Cross, the first awarded in World War 2. Read an account of that night here. 1930-33
The McKean Sisters (Heather and Joy) forged very successful careers in country music. 1940s
Click here for more David McKenzie Olympian and Australia's IOC representative until his tragic death in 1981. David made significant contributions to the sport of fencing and the Australian Olympic movement. Was a founding member of the NSW youth advisory council. Read more about him here. 1949-53
Professor Bede Morris Renowned immunologist. He died tragically in a car accident near Paris in 1988. The Australian Academy of Science has a comprehensive biography which you can read here. 1941-2
Jack Mulholland Author of Darwin Bombed - an account of the Japanese attack on Darwin in 1942 and the good men and women who defended our shores. Mulholland was serving with the 14 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery. This episode of Australia's history is largely otherwise unsung. 1934-7
Ted Ted Noffs - founder of the Wayside Chapel - visit the Ted Noffs Foundation. Read a tribute to Ted here. 1939-41
Peter Pinney Peter Pinney Traveller, adventurer, restless soul and author. Received the Military Medal for courage at Jaba River and Makapeka Forks in WW2. His novel Signaller Johnston's Secret War: New Guinea 1943-45 is considered to be one of the best books written about the Australian fighting man in the jungles of New Guinea. Other titles include: Dust on My Shoes, Too Many Spears, Restless Men, Ride the Volcano, Anywhere But Here, Who Wanders Alone, The Lawless and the Lotus. 1940
Leo Port Leo Port MBE Engineer, Inventor, Alderman and Lord Mayor of Sydney (1975-78). Was a driving force behind the beautification of Sydney's city centre and the restoration of the Queen Victoria Building. 1939-40
Lt Cdr Robert William Lt Cdr Robert William "Oscar" Rankin was in command of the sloop HMAS Yarra in 1942 when they encountered the Japanese with tragic consequences. The Royal Australian Navy recently named the last of their Collins class submarines in his honour. 1919-1920
Emeritus Professor William Edward Hanley Stanner anthropologist. Read about his life and work here at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies 1919-21
Rod Taylor - (1930-...) noted thespian - c65 films to date:
( Long John Silver [1954] to Welcome to Woop-Woop [1997] ) 		1942-44
Margaret Trask AM (nee Kinsella) A pioneer in the development of the library and information profession in Australia. Read an account of her life's work here. 1943-44
Sir Cyril Ambrose Walsh - High Court Justice. His academic achievements at Sydney University have never been equalled in its 150 year history. 1922-26
Lilian Whiteoak - first Dux of Parramatta High School. Returned as a teacher in 1917. Became Headmistress of Fort St Girls High School. 1913
Dr Ronald Winton - Doctor, journalist and author. Former editor of the Australian Medical Journal. 1925-29
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