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Teachers make their mark!

My grandfather, Percy Alfred Empey, my great-uncle, Ralph Empey, and my great-grandfather, William Arthur Empey, were teachers.[1] [2] [3]

My grandfather would help me with my homework, especially mathematics. Like his father probably assisted him and his brothers with their studies. My grandfather achieved a scholarship to Wesley College and Ralph obtained one for Scotch College.[4] [5]

They taught in Melbourne and rural Victoria. They were involved in the communities where they taught. They played sports: Australian Rules football, cricket, and golf.[6] Ralph played football for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[7] When I worked in the early 1980s my name was displayed on the counter and customers would remark about their remembrance of Ralph Empey and his sporting endeavours.

Although none of my grandfather’s children were teachers, sports still played a part in his descendants’ lives. His son, Cyril, played football for the Commonwealth Bank, and he played in a ‘demonstration match’ at the 1956 Olympics held in Melbourne.[8] Now, his great-grandson, Darcy, a rookie, plays for Gold Coast in the Australian Football League (AFL).[9]

I always wanted to be a teacher like my grandfather; however, sometime during form six, things changed. I am discovering many newspaper articles on Trove about the achievements of my great-grandfather and his sons.[10] So, my goal is to write about them.  

Jennifer Empey

Bibliography
Alexandra and Yea Standard, Gobur, Thornton and Acheron Express.
Camperdown Chronicle.
Gold Coast Football Club, Rookie List: 44 Darcy MacPherson, Accessed 4 July 2018.
Teacher Records (1863-1959), VPRS 13579/P1, Board of Education, Public Record Office Victoria, Accessed 4 July 2018.
The Argus.
The Prahran Telegraph.
The Sporting Globe.
Trove, ‘Digitised newspapers and more’, Accessed 4 July 2018.

Notes
[1] Teacher Record of Percy Alfred Empey, Teacher Records (1863-1959), VPRS 13579/P1, Teacher ID 14092, Approximate year of registration 1902, TRB unit no. 50, Board of Education, Public Record Office Victoria, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[2] Teacher Record of Ralph Empey, Teacher Records (1863-1959), VPRS 13579/P1, Teacher ID 23164, Approximate year of registration 1922, TRB unit no. 76, Board of Education, Public Record Office Victoria, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[3] Teacher Record of William Arthur Empey, Teacher Records (1863-1959), VPRS 13579/P1, Teacher ID 9296, Approximate year of registration 1879, TRB unit no 31, Board of Education, Public Record Office Victoria, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[4] ‘Full Scholarships’, The Prahran Telegraph, 9 January 1915, p. 6, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[5] ‘Scotch College Entrance Scholarships’, The Argus, 18 December 1918, p. 4, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[6] Trove, ‘Digitised newspapers and more’, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[7] ‘Footballers Who are Delighting Australian Football Crowds’, The Sporting Globe, 1 August 1928, p. 8, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[8] ‘Be Ready for a Shock in Olympic Footy’, The Argus, 7 December 1956, p. 14, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[9] Gold Coast Football Club, Rookie List: 44 Darcy MacPherson, Accessed 4 July 2018.
[10] Trove, ‘Digitised newspapers and more’.

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