Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne, the first university in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The college was opened in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the government of Victoria. In addition to its resident community of 380 students, mostly attending the University of Melbourne, Trinity's programs includes the Trinity College Theological School, an Anglican training college which is a constituent college of the University of Divinity; and the Pathways School which runs Trinity College Foundation Studies and prepares international students for admission to the University of Melbourne and other Australian tertiary institutions, as well as summer and winter schools for young leaders and other short courses.
History Trinity College was founded in 1870 by the first Anglican Bishop of Melbourne, Charles Perry. Students were in residence from 1872, the first being John Francis Stretch. The college was affiliated with the University of Melbourne in 1876. The Trinity College Theological School was founded by Bishop James Moorhouse in 1877, and the first theological student was Arthur Green.
In 1883 the college became the first university college in Australia to admit women when Lilian Helen Alexander was accepted as a non-resident student. With the establishment of the Trinity Women's Hostel (which later became Janet Clarke Hall) in 1886, Trinity admitted women as resident students, making it the first university college in Australia to do so. Among the earliest resident women was Classicist Melian Stawell.
In 1989 the Trinity College Foundation Studies program was established to prepare international students for entry to the University of Melbourne.
Since 2001, Trinity has also offered summer school programs to high school age students from around Australia and internationally. In 2010 the college hosted its first Juilliard Winter Jazz School.
Architecture and main buildings Situated to the north of the main University of Melbourne campus, as part of College Crescent, Trinity's buildings surround a large grassed area, known as the Bulpadock. Its built environment is a mix of stone, stone-faced and brick, in a variety of styles from the different periods of its history.
The college's main buildings include: 1870-2: Leeper Building (formerly the Lodge) 1878: Bishops' Building (named after Charles Perry and James Moorhouse, the first and second bishops of Melbourne) 1880: Dining hall 1883–87: Clarke's Building (designed by Edmund Blacket and listed on the Victorian Heritage Register) 1914–17: Horsfall Chapel 1933: Behan Building (named after John Clifford Valentine Behan, a former warden) 1958: Memorial Building (commonly called "Jeopardy") 1963–65: Cowan Building (named after Ronald Cowan, a former warden) 1995–96: Evan Burge Building (college library) 2006–07: Gourlay Building ("Woodheap") 2014–16: Gateway Building 2019–20: Dorothy Jane Ryall Building ("Dorothy")
College life Clubs and societies The Trinity College Associated Clubs (TCAC) provides leadership for the annual orientation week program at the beginning of the academic year and facilitates a multitude of social, cultural and sporting events throughout the year. Trinity's clubs and societies run many different functions and events throughout the year. The current student clubs include an art room and the E. R. White art collection, Beer Budlay, Billiards Room, Dialectic Society (formed in 1877), a drama club, Environmental Committee, Games Society, Gender and Sexuality Alliance, Independent Dining Society, Racquet's Society, several music clubs and a wine cellar. Students also run an active program of social service and community outreach, including such programs as tutoring in local schools and educational visits to remote Indigenous communities.
Sport Trinity College participates in many different sports in intercollegiate competition, including Australian rules football, soccer, netball, hockey, athletics, swimming, volleyball, squash, tennis and badminton. The college also has a particularly strong tradition in rowing and rugby. The college has its own multi-purpose synthetic court.
College song The current college song was written by the fifth warden, Evan Burge (1974–1996), set to the hymn tune "Thaxted" derived from the "Jupiter" movement from Gustav Holst's The Planets.
Where Bishops' lifts its ivy'd tower and Clarke's long cloisters run. The College Oak stands spreading forth its branches to the sun. And here are joy and laughter and loyal friends as well; The Bulpadock rejoices in our efforts to excel. And whene'er we think on all these things wherever we may be, We shall raise our voices higher and sing of Trinity.
Great God, your spirit fills this earth, your truth can make us free, O lift us up beyond ourselves to be all we can be. For you have made and love us, and guide us through all strife, You gave your Son as one of us, his death's our source of life. In friendship bind out hearts in one, a diverse unity, And make us worthy of your name, O glorious Trinity.
Chapel and choir The Choir of Trinity College has become known, especially but not exclusively, for choral music in the tradition of English cathedrals and the collegiate chapels of Oxford and Cambridge universities. The choir sings Evensong in the chapel during term. Choral Evensong at Trinity has become a well-known liturgical event in Melbourne. The choir also performs locally and tours internationally and have made a number of radio broadcasts and CD recordings, including five albums for ABC Classics.
From 1956 to 2016, the college provided liturgical hospitality to a dispersed Anglican congregation, the Canterbury Fellowship. The fellowship's choir sang for choral services on Sunday mornings and Evensong out of term time.
The current chaplain of the College is the Reverend Dr Luke Hopkins.
Wardens 1872–1875: George William Torrance (acting principal) 1876–1918: Alexander Leeper 1918–1946: John Clifford Valentine Behan 1946–1964: Ronald William Trafford Cowan 1964–1965: John Poynter; Barry Marshall (joint-acting wardens) 1965–1973: Robin Lorimer Sharwood 1974–1997: Evan Laurie Burge 1997–2006: Donald John Markwell 2007–2014: Andrew Brian McGowan 2014–2015: Campbell P. Bairstow (acting warden) 2015–2026: Kenneth William Hinchcliff 2026–present: Russell Goulbourne
Subwardens, deputy wardens and deans Subwardens (vice wardens) 1876–1882: John Winthrop Hackett 1898–1904: Reginald Stephen 1905–1912: Ernest Iliff Robson 1915–1917: Charles Roy Lister 1919–1925: Robert Leslie Blackwood 1926–1933: David Gordon Taylor
Residential deans 1933–1946 Lewis Charles Wilcher 1941–1944 Herbert Charles Corben (acting dean) 1944–1946 Alan George Lewers Shaw, J. N. Falkingham (acting deans) 1947–1951 Alan George Lewers Shaw 1950–1951 Peter Balmford (acting dean) 1951–1952 Peter Ernest Wynter (acting dean) 1950–1951 Peter Balmford (acting dean) 1953–1964 John Riddoch Poynter 1959 Peter Balmford (acting dean) 1965 David W. Bruce 1966–1968 Kenneth Bruce Mason 1968 James Donald Merralls 1969–1971 Raymond William Gregory 1972–1974 Roderick A. Fawns 1975–1977 John Michael Davis 1978–1984 Bryan Deschamp 1984–1987 Peter N. Wellock 1988–1990 Leith K. Hancock 1991 James S. Craig, Michael R. Jones (acting deans) 1992–1994 Mary Chapman 1995–1996 Jan Jelte 'Wal' Wiersma 1997 Damian Xavier Powell (acting) 1998 John Adams (Dean of Students)
Residential deans and deputy wardens 2000–2004: Stewart D. Gill 2006–2008: Peter J. Tregear 2008–2013: Campbell P. Bairstow 2014–2015: Sally A. Dalton-Brown (acting, then dean) 2016–2018: Campbell P. Bairstow
Dean of the residential college 2019–present: Leonie Jongenelis
Deputy warden 2019–present: Scott Charles (also director of advancement)
Theological deans Leadership of theological education at Trinity was originally the responsibility of the college chaplains under the supervision of the warden. Since the 1970s there have been lecturers specifically appointed to teach in and lead the school, holding the positions of Stewart Lecturer, director and, more recently, dean.
1971–1975: Max Thomas, Stewart Lecturer 1976–1985: John Gaden Thomas, director and Stewart Lecturer 1986–1997: Richard McKinney, director and Maynard Lecturer 1998: Scott Cowdell, Maynard Lecturer and acting director 1999–2003: David Cole, director and Woods Lecturer 2003–2007: Andrew McGowan, director and Munro Lecturer 2007–2010: Timothy Gaden, dean and Stewart Lecturer 2011–2017: Dorothy Lee, dean and Frank Woods Professor 2018: Mark Lindsay, Joan F. W. Munro Professor and acting dean 2019–present: Robert Derrenbacker, dean and Frank Woods Associate Professor
Pathways School deans 1990: Karel Reus (executive director, Trinity Education Centre) 1991–1998: Dennis White (executive director, Trinity Education Centre) 1999–2001: David Prest (director, Trinity Foundation Studies Program) 2002: Alan Patterson (director, Trinity Foundation Studies Program) 2003–2006: Diana Smith (director, Trinity Foundation Studies Program) 2006–2014: Barbara Cargill (dean, International Programs) 2014–2019: Denise Bush 2019–present: Richard Pickersgill
Notable alumni Recognised alumni with existing profiles on Wikipedia, the Australian Dictionary of Biography or other verified biographies are arranged below by the category in which they are generally associated. Many alumni served during the world wars; however, unless they pursued a military career or were killed in action it is their later achievements in the field of endeavour in which they are listed.
Arts and music Peter Bucknell (TC 1986) – filmmaker, author and classical violist Ronny Chieng (TC 2004) – comedian and actor Wu Chun (TC 1997) – actor, singer and model Sir Robert Fraser (TC 1924) – journalist, civil servant and first Director General of the British Independent Television Authority (ITV) Gideon Haigh (TC 1984) – journalist and author Melissa "Meow Meow" Gray (TC 1988) – actress, dancer and cabaret performer Red Hong Yi (TC 2004) – Malaysian artist David Lyons (TC 1994) – actor Jennifer Peedom (TC 1995) – documentary film maker Nell Pierce (TC 2008) – author, winner of the 2022 The Australian/Vogel Literary Award Nicholas McRoberts (TC 1995) – Australian composer and conductor Rob Sitch (TC 1980) – actor and film director Geoffrey Simon (TC 1965) – conductor Glenys Tomasetti (TC 1947 – singer-songwriter, author and political activist.) Angus Trumble (TC 1983 – art curator and gallery director) Jack Turner (TC 1986) – non-fiction writer and television documentary host Charles Zwar (TC 1928) – songwriter, composer, lyricist, pianist and music director
Business Clive Baillieu (TC 1909) – businessman and public servant Sir Wilfred Deakin Brookes CBE DSO (TC 1925) – Australian businessman, philanthropist, and Royal Australian Air Force officer. Sir Roderick Carnegie AC (TC 1951) – Australian businessmanIt's An Honour website Robert Champion de Crespigny (TC 1969) – Australian businessman and founder of Normandy Mining Limited SirAndrew Grimwade CBE (TC 1949) – businessman and philanthropist Sir Gordon Colvin Lindesay Clark (TC 1919) – mining engineer and businessman Ananda Krishnan (TC 1956) – entrepreneur
Church and religion Thomas Armstrong (TC 1879) – Bishop of Wangaratta (1902–1927) Phillip Aspinall (TC 1985) – Archbishop of Brisbane (2002–present); Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia (2005–2014) Peter Carnley AC (TC 1962) – Archbishop of Perth and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia (2000–2005) John Chisholm (TC 1940) – 10th Anglican Bishop of Melanesia (1968-75) and first Archbishop of the Province of Melanesia (1975) Horace Crotty (TC 1904) – 4th Anglican Bishop of Bathurst in Australia, 1928–1936 Andrew Curnow AM (TC 1968) – 9th bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Bendigo Robert Dann (TC 1943) – 9th Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne