S.THOMAS COLLEGE
AT
GURUTALAWA
THE HAYMAN FOUNDATION
(Established 2009)
IN MEMORIUM
WILLIAM ROLLO LENDEN HAYMAN
&
MARY HAYMAN
“To spend and be spent in their
work
was their greatest and best privilege.”
THE HAYMAN LEGACY
Although S.Thomas’ College at Gurutalawa began as an
integral part of the School founded by Bishop James Chapman
at Mutuwal in 1851, those associated with the School have
always considered Dr.R L Hayman as the ‘Founder’
of STC at Gurutalawa. In one sense, he was, for although he
would perhaps have preferred to have stayed at Mount Lavinia,
it was he that practically built the School that continued
at Gurutalawa when the war ended in 1945 and the majority
of exiled Thomians returned to Mount Lavinia. He was for STC
at Gurutalawa what Warden Stone was for Mount Lavinia –
a transplanter & builder. Dr. Hayman’s legacy has
been well documented but one of the finest tributes to Dr.Hayman
has come from Prof. C C de Silva. ‘No single man
has done so much or given so generously, both materially and
intellectually to S.Thomas’ College, or to any other
school for that matter in Ceylon at any time in her long history.
I think I can pronounce that as an indisputable, incontrovertible
statement of fact’.
With Canon R S De Saram, and Canon A J Foster he formed a
triumvirate that guided the early destinies of the School,
but it was Dr.Hayman who laid a solid foundation for the School
at Gurutalawa combining the ethos of the parent School at
Mount Lavinia with its Etonian roots and the spartan ethos
of Kurt Hahn’s Gordonstoun School. His tenure of office
has been the longest of any Headmaster and he bestrode the
destinies of Guru like a colossus between 1944 and 1964 when
he retired to England. He epitomized R W Emerson’s words
that ‘An institution is the lengthened shadow of
one man’. From 1945 he was more than ably supported
by a loyal and able staff, and by his petite wife Mary who
took on the task of surrogate mother with great ease. Their
partnership has been vividly described by the then Bishop
A R Graham Campbell of Colombo thus; For him (Dr.Hayman)
the School has been first and foremost a family – a
family in which every member mattered – mattered equally
and was cared for in equal measure and for each of whom he
sought to find the appropriate outlet for his energies and
interests. And in building up and caring for the life of the
Thomian family here in Gurutalawa he has been wonderfully
helped, as you all know, by Mrs.Hayman, not least in her devoted
care for the sick....”
THE HAYMAN FOUNDATION
Although the Haymans retired to England in1964, they never
ceased to have links with S.Thomas’ College. Dr.Hayman
passed away in 1983 soon after his last visit to Sri Lanka.
Mrs.Hayman last visited the School in 1992 when she attended
the 50th Anniversary celebrations. She died in November 2007.
Soon afterwards the Executors of her Last Will informed the
School that she had left a bequest of 2000 Pounds to the School.
We felt it would be most appropriate to invest the sum in
a special Trust Fund that would be part of a new society called
“The Hayman Foundation”. It was decided to name
this society thus not just to remember two our greatest benefactors
but also to pay tribute to two people whose devotion to the
service of children touched so many others during their time
at Guru. They both embodied Bishop James Chapman’s ideal
‘To spend and he spent in our work is our greatest
and best privilege’-that must be a challenge to
us who continue what they started.
The objectives of the Foundation will be to raise funds on
along term basis for the benefit of the College. Any old Thomian
who would like to be part of this venture may become members
of the Hayman Foundation by depositing a sum of no less than
1/3rd of the approximately Rs.300,000/- bequeathed by Mrs.Mary
Hayman. The Board of Trustees will comprise the Headmaster
(Ex-Officio), three nominated members of the College Board
of Governors (one of whom shall be the Manger) and two nominated
members of the STCG Old Boy’s Association. The funds
will be invested with the Incorporated Trustees of the Church
of Ceylon and disbursed by the Trustees on the request of
the Headmaster as and when the Endowment Fund is adequately
built up.
For further details please contact the Headmaster, S.Thomas’
College Gurutalawa by mail to the School address, telephone
or fax on 057-2280000; or by e.mail to hmstcguru@gmail.com
. Your participation, collaboration and solidarity in this
venture will be one way for you to repay the nurture fee you
owe your alma mater.
“The greatest Memorial to Dr.Hayman will be to follow
the way of life he led; to seek integrity, to follow uprightness,
to care for others in their affliction, and to love and labour
for their deliverance.”
Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe, 1983
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