A legacy a century in the making

A lot has changed over the past century. When Jane Maclean's aunt, Marjorie Johnstone (nee Mant, '29), first walked through the gates of St Margaret's, Brisbane had recently elected its first Lord Mayor, William Jolly. Evenings were spent at the silent pictures or dances, and tram lines still ran throughout the city. Yet through everything that followed – the Great Depression, a world war, the millennium bug – one thing remained constant: the Mant family's enduring connection to St Margaret's.

Marjorie was a day girl from Bowen Hills who won the Senior Art Prize, learnt music from the Sisters, and left St Margaret's with the kind of formation that stays with a person for life.

"She learnt music from Sister Hope and was an excellent pianist. She enjoyed her tennis and athletics and won the Senior Art Prize in 1928 and shared the prize in 1929. She was a pro-Prefect, Prefect and Sports Captain for Bede House – where we all followed," Jane recalls.

After school, Marjorie went on receive an associateship diploma from Trinity College London in elocution and studied music at the Royal College of Music and Acting at the Neilson Terry Guild of Art. She would later perform a range of plays, some in the lead role, and work for the BBC. When war broke out, Marjorie returned to Australia, where, in 1950, she would marry Brian Johnstone.

Marjorie put aside her acting career in favour of helping her husband open the Johnstone Art Gallery. The gallery served as an art hub in Brisbane and was regarded by some as one of the best galleries in Australia, exhibiting artists including Olley, Crooke, Blackman, and Drysdale. She performed for years with the Twelfth Night Theatre, and when the theatre needed a permanent home, she and Brian donated the land on which it was built in 1971.

"She contributed enormously to the arts in Brisbane. She was an inspirational woman, loved by so many. Her legacy has continued long after her," Jane said.

That devotion to the arts never dimmed – and neither did Marjorie's connection to the school that first nurtured it.

"She always kept involved with the Sisters, especially Sister Elisabeth and Sister Joan, and often visited them at Community House," Jane said.

It is a loyalty Jane understands completely. "I went to St Margaret's for kindergarten in 1950 with Miss Harvey, and I loved every year."

Like her aunt before her, Jane immersed herself in school life. She embraced ballet lessons with Miss Rosemary Stevenson, Gilbert and Sullivan musicals under Miss Rees and Miss Raymond, music lessons from Miss Baird, helping Miss Rosslyn Stevenson's Flower Show and Christmas break ups with Santa, to playing tennis with her sister Anne in the under-12, junior and senior teams, athletics with Miss Dyason, time spent in Bede House – the same house Marjorie had captained three decades before, and serving as Head Girl in 1962.

“As I got to senior years I always enjoyed helping wherever possible. I was so very lucky. I adored my school life," Jane said.

That connection to St Margaret's endured across the generations that followed. Jane and Anne's daughters boarded at the school. Granddaughters attended more recently, with Anne's granddaughter Annabelle becoming School Captain in her own time – a quiet echo across the years. And the next generation is already on its way.

When Jane attended the St Margaret's Reunion Weekend and heard the plans for the new Performing Arts Precinct, with spaces dedicated to music, drama and performance, she and Anne knew at once it was something they wanted to support in their aunt's memory.

"It seems so fitting," she says. "Marjorie loved all forms of art. We are so proud of all she achieved."

Jane and Anne's gift will help bring that vision to life, supporting the next generation of St Margaret's girls to fall in love with the arts, just as Marjorie did nearly a century ago.

Principal Ros Curtis AM knows exactly what that will mean for the girls who walk through its doors.

"Many of our Old Girls will remember the iconic school musicals led by Miss Rees and Miss Raymond, the foresight of principals such as Sister Helen, whose love of music left an indelible mark on St Margaret’s. Our current students and their families know the joy of being nurtured by our outstanding team of teachers, led with passion and expertise by our Head of Performance, Mr Brad King.

This new Performing Arts Precinct will carry their legacy forward. It will be a place where creativity is nurtured, where talent is discovered, and where the arts continue to shape the lives of St Margaret’s students not only of today, but for generations of young women yet to come," Ms Curtis said.

Philanthropy has shaped St Margaret's since its very beginnings, and all of us have benefited from the generosity of those who came before us. Jane and Anne's gift is part of that story – a quiet act of generosity, made in honour of a woman who gave so much to Brisbane's cultural life, and whose love of the arts was fostered in the very place their family still calls home.

By Georgia Mitchell

Assistant Director of Philanthropy and Stakeholder Engagement