Orders, Decorations & Medals

Lot 3822    Session 14 (4.30pm Thursday 24 November) Leslie J Carlisle C    Orders, Decorations & Medals

Estimate $1,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $600

THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, Officer (OBE) (Civil) (type 2); France, Ordre des Palmes Academiques (Officer); Sydney Opera House Trust 'Trustee' gold ingot (9ct; 8g; 20x29mm), reverse inscribed, 'H.L.Yelland'; metal casting of the Sydney Opera House (70x100x47mm) mounted on timber felt bottomed base (165x131mm), metal Australian arms at left and below a plaque inscribed, 'Presented by/The Government of New South Wales/to commemorate/the official opening of/The Sydney Opera House/October 20, 1973'; plaque in oxidised silvered metal (76x50mm), obverse, Sydney Opera House, below, 'To Commemorate/The Official Opening/of the/Sydney Opera House/October 20, 1973', reverse, Australian arms, below, 'Presented by/The Government Of/New South Wales', with two pierced holes on bottom edge for fitting to base (missing); Sydney Opera House cufflinks in sterling silver by Angus & Coote (given to Yelland in 1973); Roche Research Institute of Marine Pharmacology, Sydney cufflinks in oxidised copper (given to Yelland); sporting prize medal handcrafted in gold (9ct; 4g; 22x35mm), obverse with central shield inscribed, 'HY', reverse inscribed, 'H/Yelland/1st/100 yds/Jun Champ/11.11.19' (WWI Armistice Day first anniversary). Very fine - good extremely fine. (8)

Together with case and miniature for OBE and case for French order; OBE bestowal document timber framed under glass; Palmes Academiques bestowal document timber framed under glass; small leather purse; photo in Sydney Opera House folder of Yelland with other dignitaries at official opening function; program for the first concert at the Sydney Opera House 21 January 1973; invitation from the President and Members of the Committee of the Alliance Francaise of Sydney to attend the ceremony for presentation of the Ordre des Palmes Academiques to H.L.Yelland; two different photos of Yelland being presented with the Ordre des Palmes Academiques, both in folders; other research papers.

OBE: Supplement to LG 1/1/1974, p21, to Hedley Lawry Yelland for services to the State (of NSW).

French Order of Palmes Academiques (Order of Academic Palms) on 18 February 1972 for services rendered to French culture: Mr Yelland made successful representations for the establishment of French schools at both primary and secondary levels in NSW and for the employment of the first French Orienteur Pedagogique in Australia. He also supported the sending of French teachers to the Noumea seminar and the filling of assistantship in France. When the French drama company, Treateau de Paris, visited NSW he arranged for the distribution of copies of the plays presented and for the attendance of school pupils at matinee performances.

Hedley Lawry Yelland was born in 1906 at Sydney. His father died before he was born and his mother died in 1911. He was raised at Bega by his German grandmother and two unmarried aunts. After completing primary school at Bega he attended Goulburn High School on a state bursary and after matriculating at 16 he went to the University of Sydney on a teacher training scholarship. He graduated in 1925 and in the following year completed a Diploma in Education.

In 1927 Hedley started working with the NSW Education Department holding teaching positions at Hurlstone Agricultural High School, Hay War Memorial High, Newcastle High, then as administrator at Lismore High, deputy head of Murwillumbah High and then headmaster of his old school, Goulburn High. In 1950 he was promoted to secondary inspector and over the ensuing years he became director of secondary education and in 1969 the education member of the Public Service Board.

The highlight of his career was being delegated by Dr (later Sir) Harold Wyndham the huge task of administering the Wyndham Scheme, set up in the early 1950s, to review and recommend changes to the secondary education system in NSW. This was the scheme that ultimately would replace the leaving certificate, after five years of schooling, with the school certificate after four years and the higher school certificate after a further two years of schooling. The scheme also recommended a move towards large, comprehensive, co-educational high schools. As director of secondary education Yelland implemented the Wyndham Scheme changes into the classroom. He believed selective schools were unnecessary but as a compromise to implementing the scheme, entrenched selective schools, such as Sydney High and Fort Street, were retained.

While on the Public Service Board, Hedley was involved in many aspects of government. He also served as chairman of the Archives Authority of NSW, was appointed to the Sydney Opera House Trust in 1969 helping to organise the opening of the Opera House in 1973, was chairman of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and was involved in the restoration of Vaucluse House for the Historic Houses Trust. He co-authored and edited 'A Handbook of Literary Terms', a standard reference work in its field and in 1988, after his wife died, he wrote his memoirs titled, 'Grandma's Pistol: A Public Service Life', to be published after his death. A copy of this manuscript is in the Sate Library of NSW. Hedley Yelland died at home in Sydney in 2006 at the age of 100.