Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

Brian William Hone OBE

FACE The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

(1907–1978) was an Australian headmaster and, in his youth, a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er.Officer of the Order of the British Empire
(OBE), 1 January 1969, It's an HonourKnight Bachelor
1 January 1970, It's an Honour Brian was born on 1 July 1907 in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

suburb of

Semaphore, South Australia Semaphore is a northwestern suburb of Adelaide in the Australian state of South Australia. It is located on the Gulf St Vincent coastline of the Lefevre Peninsula about from the Adelaide city centre. History Semaphore was first surveyed for ...

, to Dr. Frank Sandland Hone and his wife Lucy née Henderson, He was educated at

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

(B.A. Hons, 1928) where he won

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

in cricket, football and tennis. During the 1929–30 cricket season he opened the batting for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, scoring a century against Victoria and averaging nearly 50. In 1930 he was awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

to attend

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

(B.A., 1932; M.A., 1938), and achieved honours in English. (

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

was his tutor). He won Blues in cricket and tennis. Brian was the brother of

Garton Hone Dr. Garton "Gar" Maxwell Hone (21 February 1901 – 28 May 1991) was an Australian medical practitioner noted as a tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s who also played first-class cricket for South Australia. Career Born in Morphett Vale, South ...

. He and his wife Enid had four children: civil engineer Christopher, academic Judith, corporate lawyer Geoffrey, and sportsman and educator

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. 1933–1939: Taught at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

, Wiltshire, and was made head of the new department of English. While in England he wrote ''Cricket Practice and Tactics'', (London, 1937). 1940–1950: Headmaster,

Cranbrook School, Sydney Cranbrook may refer to: People * Earl of Cranbrook, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom ** Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook (1814–1906), British Conservative politician ** John Stewart Gathorne-Hardy, 2nd Earl of Cranbrook ...

. 1951–1970: Headmaster,

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denominatio ...

. 1973–1974: Deputy Chancellor,

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

. He died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 28 May 1978. His remains lie near the

Norfolk Island pine ''Araucaria heterophylla'' (synonym ''A. excelsa'') is a species of conifer. As its vernacular name Norfolk Island pine (or Norfolk pine) implies, the tree is endemic to Norfolk Island, an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific ...

planted in Dr J E Bromby's

John Edward Bromby John Edward Bromby (23 May 1809 – 4 March 1889) was an Australian schoolmaster and Anglican cleric. Bromby was born in Hull, England, the son of the Reverend John Healey Bromby and his wife Jane, ''née'' Amis. His brother was Charles Henry Br ...

, MA, DD was appointed first Headmaster of

in 1858. honour in the grounds of Melbourne Grammar School. He was a descendant of

William Hone William Hone (3 June 1780 – 8 November 1842) was an English writer, satirist and bookseller. His victorious court battle against government censorship in 1817 marked a turning point in the fight for British press freedom. Biography Hon ...

, via William's son the sculptor Alfred Hone.

Selected bibliography

*R. M. Jukes, ''Liber Melburniensis'', 4th edn, Melbourne Church of England Grammar School (Melbourne, 1965) *J. W. Hogg, ''Our Proper Concerns'' (Sydney, 1986) *C. E. Moorhouse, "Sir Brian Hone", Unicorn, Vol 14 No 1, February 1988 *C. E. Moorhouse, ''Challenge and Response'' (Melbourne, 1989)

Reference and notes

External links

Photo of B Hone
Third Headmaster, Cranbrook School, 1940–1950.
Photo of Brian William Hone
circa 1940. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hone, Brian William Australian Rhodes Scholars 1907 births 1978 deaths People educated at Prince Alfred College University of Adelaide alumni Australian cricketers South Australia cricketers Oxford University cricketers Alumni of New College, Oxford Australian headmasters Chairmen of the Headmasters' Conference of the Independent Schools of Australia Cricketers from Adelaide Gentlemen cricketers Wiltshire cricketers Melbourne Grammar School Monash University faculty Sportsmen from South Australia