The War Memorial Library – Brisbane Grammar School

During World War One over 1000 Brisbane Grammar School old boys served. Of that number 176 boys and two masters lost their lives. Like most Australian communities who had suffered so much loss, the BGS community sought to build a memorial to those boys. The building’s foundation stone was laid by the Governor of Queensland Sir Matthew Nathan on Anzac Day 1923 and was formally opened with a golden key by then Governor on Armistice Day, 11 November 1924.

The War Memorial Library is an octagonal-shaped building in the Gothic Revival style and was designed by a past student, architect John Barr. The 12 stained-glass windows and much of the furniture were designed by Charles Tute, a stained-glass artist and cabinet maker. It contains a series of a dozen stained glass windows representing chivalric values and both peace and victory. Plaques and boards honour Old Boys who served and died in the Boer War, WWI and WWII. In the centre of the building is The Golden Book, a four-volume hand-written record of Old Boy veterans of the Great War.

Adjacent to the War Memorial Library is a 1917 German Field Gun, captured in Palestine by an Old Boy and sent to the school as a “War Trophy”.