While we have been a girls’ school since our founding in 1886, there is a lesser-known yet fascinating chapter of our history… we have 123 Ascham Old Boys too. From 1915 to 1943, young boys, aged four to eight, were enrolled at Ascham at various times. Many lived nearby or had sisters at the School.
One of our Old Boys is Mr Lloyd Poulton, now 98 years old, who attended Ascham in 1932. That same year, an iconic Sydney landmark was completed—the Sydney Harbour Bridge—which would continue to play a significant role in his life.
Born in Darling Point in 1927, when he came to Ascham aged five Lloyd lived locally in Rose Bay with his mother and grandmother. His father had been killed in a car accident when Lloyd was just one year old, a loss that would go on to shape the course of his early life. Despite his brief time at the School, to this day Lloyd retains vivid memories of coming to Ascham each day: ‘I can remember my mother dropping me in her 1928 car at those same gates,’ he said. ‘I think we only had about 10 of us boys at the time, and there was only one who became really famous: Sir Laurence Street*. I don’t remember him but he was probably just another scruffy little boy like I was!’
After leaving Ascham, Lloyd attended both Geelong Grammar for a time and then finished his schooling at Charterhouse School in England. He was conscripted during World War II, at the age of just 17. Lloyd joined the Army in England as a recruit, then decided to become a regular after being commissioned. He went on to serve in Palestine and the Korean War. Lloyd also became a parachutist, which he very much enjoyed.
After Korea, Lloyd left the Army and made a career in industry, becoming a Director at Rolls Royce Motor Cars, in charge of the factory at Crewe in Cheshire. Having a commercial pilot’s licence, and keen to be able to travel back and forth to Australia to see his mother, Lloyd began working as a flying instructor and became deeply committed to teaching others to fly. He became a Reserve Officer in the Royal Air Force, training and examining instructors who trained Air Training Corps cadets at gliding schools all over the UK. In 1980, he had the pleasure of training HRH Prince Edward, who Lloyd describes as ‘a most pleasant young man’. Also in 1980, Lloyd very happily married his wife, Joan.
Lloyd’s aviation achievements extended far beyond powered aircraft. He was a world-class glider pilot, earning gold and diamond badges, and soaring to extraordinary aerial heights in New Zealand. He also undertook aerial survey work in England, helping identify archaeological sites.
Adventure threaded through every chapter of Lloyd’s life. He deep-sea dived around the world and climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge an astonishing 136 times. As a five-year-old boy at Ascham in 1932, Lloyd recalls looking out across the harbour and seeing the bridge under construction: ‘I can remember when the two spans met. Oh, all the cars were hooting. That’s what made me so fascinated with it, and I kept climbing it.’
Lloyd retired from flying at age 60 and returned with Joan to settle in Australia after 50 years of living in England. Now residing just over the road from Ascham, they have a bird’s eye view over the School and across the harbour. He said of the AOG badge proudly worn on his collar: ‘I love wearing the badge. I’m an Old Girl of Ascham! It’s an extraordinary thing that I’ve been right round the world and here I am right back at Ascham. Every morning I get up and it’s like I’m ready to go to school again.’
It is our great privilege to count Lloyd Poulton among our treasured Ascham Old Boys. His story reminds us that even a single year at Ascham can form part of a life lived with curiosity, generosity and distinction—and that our community is all the richer for it.
*Sir Laurence Street AC (1926–2018) went on to become a barrister, judge, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW and Lieutenant-Governor of NSW.
