Shelford Girls' Grammar (previously known as Shelford Girls' School, Shelford Church of England Girls' Grammar School, and sometimes SCEGGS) was an independent Anglican day school for girls. It was located in Caulfield, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The school was established in 1898, and before it closed (at the end of 2024) it was a member of Girls Sport Victoria (GSV),Women's Sports: New Association Formed, The Argus, (Saturday, 29 October 1932), p.27.Girls Sport Victoria: Member Schools (accessed:27-07-2007) the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA) and the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia. It was a non-selective entry school, with more than 600 students.
Shelford had a coeducational Early Learning Centre, which educated toddlers 18 months old, as well as providing groups for 3 and 4-year-olds.
Shelford offered students the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) program, and the Vocational Education and Training (VET) course.
After 127 years in operation, the last classes were held in December 2024. In 2025, the school merged with Caulfield Grammar School with some Shelford students transferring to CGS at the start of that year. The school is now known as Caulfield Grammar School Shelford Campus.
History The school was established in 1898 on Glen Eira Road by Emily Dixon.Births: Dixon, The Ballarat Star, (Thursday, 25 September 1879), p.2.Thanks, The Geelong Advertiser, (Wednesday, 14 December 1904), p.1.
The school was relocated to 77 Allison Road, Elsternwick,Educational: Shelford Girls' School, The Argus, (Thursday, 21 July 1904), p.3. by Dora Mary Petrie Blundell,Matriculation Examination, October Term, 1882: Honour Examination: Class Lists: English and History, The Ballarat Star, 9 January 1883, p. 2."Educational: Shelford Girls' School", The Argus, 11 February 1907, p. 11."Deaths: Blundell", The Argus, 30 August 1943, p. 2. who served as the school's second principal from 1904 to 1921.From the Principal: ANZAC Day Reflection 2018, Shelford Girls' Grammar. Dora was supported by her sisters, Lucy Annie Blundell,"Deaths: Blundell", The Argus, 15 May 1922, p. 1. Fanny Blundell,"Deaths: Blundell", The Argus, 24 June 1937, p.1. and Margaret Helen Petrie Blundell."Deaths: Blundell", The Argus, 4 July 1953, p. 16.
As the vicar of St Mary's Anglican Church in Caulfield, Henry Langley had been giving the pupils of Shelford Girls' School weekly lessons in religious instruction for many years.Letters to the Editor: Shelford Girls' School, The Age, 1 September 1942, p. 2. In 1922, the Blundell sisters wished to give the school to the church. They approached Archdeacon Langley, who was responsible for its temporary move from 77 Allison Road, Elsternwick, to St Mary's Jubilee School Hall. The Argus reported on the re-opening and Archdeacon Langley's appointment of Ada Mary Thomas as the school's head mistress:
There was a large gathering of residents of Caulfield and Elsternwick, including several of the neighbouring clergy, to witness the formal reopening of Shelford Girls' School, a long-established Elsternwick school, as a girls' school and kindergarten in connection with St. Mary's Church, Caulfield.Bishop Green, in declaring the school open, congratulated the vicar (Canon Langley) on an initial enrolment of 60 pupils.The mayor of Caulfield (Councillor [Thomas] Falls) and the Rev. [James Valentine] Patton, of Sydney, also spoke.Canon Langley said that the school is to be called by the old name of Shelford, but will be carried on as a Church of England school, under a local council, with A. M. Thomas as principal.It is proposed to build up-to-date school buildings at a site for a branch church near the Caulfield Town Hall [viz., St Margaret's], but for the present the school will meet in the existing school buildings at St. Mary's, Caulfield. — The Argus, 23 February 1922.The Schools, The Argus, (Thursday, 23 February 1922), p.9.
The following year, Archdeacon Langley moved the school to "Helenslea" in Hood Crescent, Caulfield North.An article, written at the time of Langley's retirement as Dean of St. Paul's, notes that "another venture [of Langley's] which was successful was the purchase of the Shelford Girls' school property with only £5 to make a payment as deposit" (In the Churches: An Aggressive Venturesome Spirit Urged for Church, The Argus, (Saturday, 22 March 1947), p.17). The school was officially opened at its new location by Archbishop Lees on 22 February 1923Schools & Colleges: Shelford Girls' School, Table Talk, (Thursday, 22 February 1923), p.24; Church and Education, The Argus, (Friday, February 1923), p.11; Archbishop Dedicates School Building, The Argus, (Friday, February 1923), p.5. adjacent to St Mary's Church as the Shelford Girls' Grammar School.
In 2025, the school merged with Caulfield Grammar School with some Shelford students transferring to CGS at the start of 2025.Caulfield Grammar School and Shelford Girls’ Grammar enter into merger agreement The school is now known as Caulfield Grammar School Shelford Campus.
Headmistresses Miss Emily Dixon - 1898 to 1903 Miss Dora Mary Petrie Blundell - Acting 1903/04, 1905 to 1921 Miss Ada Mary ThomasShelford, The Argus, 22 December 1922, p. 14."Church and Education", The Argus, 23 February 1923, p. 11.A photograph, "Head Mistress and Staff of Shelford Girls' School, Caulfield", including Langley (second from right) is at: Schools & Colleges: Shelford Girls' School, Table Talk, 10 April 1924, p. 24. - 1922 to 1944Head Mistress for 22 Years, The Agrus, (Tuesday, 16 May 1944), p. 7. Miss Judith Thewlis - Acting 1943, 1944 to 1952 Miss Violet Baddams - 1953 to 1963New Head for Shelford, The (Melbourne) Sun News-Pictorial, (Friday, 17 October 1952), p. 14. Miss Ida Washington - 1964 to 1972 Miss Jean Myers - 1973 to term 1 1979 Ms Elizabeth Britten - 1979 to 1991 Ms Pam Chessell - 1992 to 2009 Ms Polly Flanagan - 2010 to 2019 Ms Katrina Brennan - 2020 to 2023 Pauline Cutajar - 2024
Houses The House System was introduced in 1928 with the first four houses named Blundell, Thomas, Langley and School House. Most grammar schools had a School House and traditionally the students who boarded were allocated to this group. In the 1920s Shelford had plans to take boarders, but never did. In 1934 School House was renamed Lloyd. The house system enabled students to participate in inter-house competitions.
Blundell House - Carpe Diem - Seize the Day / Do It Now
Dora Blundell was born one of 12 children (8 daughters and 4 sons) to Martin Petrie Blundell (1813-1885) and Sophia Sarah Murray (1822-1885). Her father was a wealthy merchant and the family lived in St. Kilda. The Blundell sisters (Dora, Fanny, Lucy, Margaret and Florence) were educated at Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC) and Dora matriculated from the University of Melbourne with second class honours in English and History in 1882, before entering the workforce as a teacher. In 1868, Fanny Blundell entered the Teacher Training Institute run by Emily Dixon's father Stephen Chancellor Dixon; this interaction between the Dixon and Blundell families is a crucial moment in the history of Shelford's foundation. Dora began teaching at Shelford shortly after it opened in 1898.
Supporting Emily Dixon, Dora became the School's acting Headmistress in 1904 and then fully assumed the role from 1905. She moved Shelford from a little house on Glen Eira Road to her home at 77 Allison Road, Elsternwick. Teaching students with her sister Fanny, Dora led the School through World War One until her retirement in 1921. Dora always kept a close association with Shelford, sitting on the School Board, teaching Divinity and attending sports days until the mid-1930s. Blundell House was named after Dora in 1928. Dora Blundell died in 1943. Her possessions were left to her surviving sister Margaret and a number of nieces that she was close to. She is buried with her sisters Fanny and Lucy at Brighton Cemetery.
Langley House - Fide Sed Cui Vide - Trust, but be careful whom you trust
Henry Thomas Langley (known as Tom) was born the sixth of twelve children to Bishop Henry Archdall Langley (1840-1906), an Irish-born clergyman, and his wife Elizabeth Mary, née Strachan. Langley was educated at Caulfield Grammar School before attending the University of Melbourne (B.A., 1899; M.A., 1904). While at university, he helped to found the Student Christian Movement. Made deacon on 10 June 1900, he was ordained a priest on 2 June 1901 and married Ethel Maud Du Vé in September of that year too.
During his incumbency (1911–42) at St. Mary's Caulfield, he was appointed a chaplain in the Australian Military Forces in 1916 and a canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, in 1918. In 1920 he set up a board to superintend Religious Education in Anglican communions in Australia and New Zealand. In 1921 he founded Shelford Church of England Girls' Grammar School. A council-member of Melbourne Church of England and Caulfield Grammar schools, he had something of his father's drive and interest in education. He was also much involved in the Mission of St. James and St. John, and in the Church of England Boys and Mens, the Church Missionary and the Bush Church Aid societies. Langley's daughter Grace attended Shelford during the late 1920s and early 1930s.
In 1942 Langley was elected Dean of Melbourne. He associated himself with socialist movements and marched annually in the May Day procession. After retiring in 1947, he took a leading part in 1950 in negotiating an amendment to the Victorian Education Act (1928), allowing government schools to engage chaplains. In addition, he chaired the Council for Christian Education in Schools. Langley enjoyed gardening, fishing, tennis (when younger) and excursions in the country. Survived by his daughter and three of his four sons, he died on 28 November 1968 in Hawthorn.
Lloyd House - Fide Et Virtue - By fidelity and virtue/courage
Maurice Charles Lloyd was born in Broadford, Victoria on 24 December 1890 to Charles Edward Lloyd (1843-1905) and Johanna Wilhelmina Zander (1851-1905). The youngest of eight children Maurice was known as M.C. ("Em-cee") or "Motts". M.C. was sent to Melbourne Grammar School to board for his education. After both his parents died in 1905, M.C. did not go back to Broadford preferring to stay with his Uncle Leonard in Albert Park. After graduation, M.C. joined the parish of St. Mary's Caulfield where he worked as a Sunday School teacher before joining the Vestry. During World War One, M.C. served in France with the 10th Field Company of Engineers, in the Pay Corps. Returning from service in March 1919, M.C. was married at St. Mary's (by Reverend Henry Thomas Langley) to Doris Read in 1920.
M.C. Lloyd became a very successful businessman. He was a local of the Caulfield area and a parishioner at St. Mary's for most of his post-war life. Joining the St. Mary's Vestry as its secretary around 1920, M.C. worked with Canon Langley to bring Shelford Girls' School to the Church and secure Helenslea for school purposes. M.C. is a signatory on the mortgage papers for Helenslea and loans that were taken to renovate it. He also sat on the School Council as its secretary and was responsible for balancing the School's finances. Shelford's early years after joining the church (1922-1945) were tough.
M.C. was a major patron of the school and acted as a personal guarantor during the Depression. In 1934, School House was renamed Lloyd in his honour and the House colour was changed to purple. M.C.'s regiment in the war was purple and he chose the colour himself. Working with Shelford up until his death in 1952, the funeral cortege went past the School and students lined the street to pay their respects. M.C.'s daughters Nona and Judy also attended Shelford.
Thomas House - Fidei Tenax - Firm to my trust/faith