Official unveiling of statue of St Magnus the Martyr

Chairman, Mr O’Connor, and Council Members; Headmaster, Dr Campbell; other distinguished guests; young men of the Anglican Church Grammar School, including our 2017 School Captain, Aubrey Job.

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, and express respect for Elders past and present.

Every Churchie boy (including me) knows just how significant St Magnus the Martyr is for this school.

However unlikely it may seem that a twelfth century Viking saint would be the founding inspiration for a school in far-off Australia, 900 years after his death, his presence here has been all-pervasive now for more than a century – the crossed Viking axes on the school crest; the statue that has watched over us from its niche on the chapel since 1989 (though long after my time here);

the Helidon freestone Viking Heritage sculpture gifted by the Old Boys in 2001; Magnus House; the war-cry; the Magnus Quad where we stand this morning … all these things and more mark the connection between this very great school and the life and spirit of Magnus Erlandssen, the Earl of Orkney, who gave his life for his people.

And now the school has commissioned Mrs Rhyl Hinwood to create this magnificent bronze, The Spirit of Magnus.

Mrs Hinwood graciously invited me to view the bronze in the Studio.  I declined, because I knew we should all for the first time jointly view this no doubt amazing production together.  I am told that with its powerful, armoured eagle and ancient Viking symbols, it constitutes a marvellous tribute to St Magnus on the 900^th anniversary of his martyrdom.

This is the fifth work Mrs Hinwood has created for the school and it is a wonderful addition to the vast catalogue of commissions she has completed in her long career as one of Queensland’s most celebrated sculptors.

And it will additionally be most pleasing for Mrs Hinwood to know her grandson Declan is seated in the audience with his House, fittingly Magnus House.

As the plaque on the statue will record, the Viking sagas tell us that St Magnus was an exceptional man – intelligent, virtuous, wise, brave, eloquent, generous, and fair.

But as a Viking, he also lived a life of great adventure and daring. When these things are considered together, it really should come as no surprise that Canon Morris chose St Magnus as the Patron Saint of his school – who could better exemplify the qualities that this school, then and now, instils into its students in preparing them for life beyond the Quad?

Thank you again, Churchie, that with Kaye I should come back to the school today, and for according me the most considerable honour of unveiling this enduring tribute to the Saint who inspired the School’s establishment. Alis aquilae!