John Mead (1940-41) was prompted by the report of the Dalby Reunion to write the following letter…

In the July edition of Signum Fidei, it was stated that the Dalby area was one of the most well established ‘Cradles for Nudgee’. I believe this to be true. There was a time when it was recognized that Dalby sent more boys to Nudgee than the Brisbane Metropolitan area.

I was one of the many during my era who came from Dalby to Nudgee. My brother Kevin, Cecil Adcock (1940-43) and two Hogan brothers were among those who also attended the College with me. Besides studying the normal subjects of the time such as Latin, English and Maths, we played sport, attended Mass in the Chapel and were all rostered to serve on the altar with the Mass being said in Latin.

Kevin and I attended the 1891 –1991 Centenary Celebrations.

I joined the Queensland Railways as a junior clerk and worked in Toowoomba, Roma, Emerald, Maryborough and Brisbane where I finished as Manager of Queensland Railway Advertising Branch. After 46 years service in the railway I retired. My brother, Kevin also joined the Railway in Toowoomba and served in Dalby and Mt Isa until he resigned and started his own accounting business in Sandgate.

Editor’s Note: Some research regarding the Hogan brothers of whom John writes reveals support for the claim that Dalby has been a prolific ‘Cradle for Nudgee’.

While John Mead refers to two Hogan brothers, there were in fact three - Bruce (1938-40), Noel (1938) and an older sibling, Brian who attended Nudgee from 1933 to 36. Brian played in the Ist XV, the 2nd XI and was a School Prefect. Their father was Patrick Joseph Hogan (1903-04) who was the Dux of the College and went on to be Mayor of Toowoomba in 1918. Patrick died in 1936, the year his son Brian graduated from Nudgee. Patrick had a brother, John who also attended Nudgee (1901-02).

Again this illustrates the importance of keeping our records updated and accurate. All of this information can be gleaned from our database. This one small mention by John Mead in his ‘Letter to the Editor’ to support the notion of Dalby being a ‘Cradle for Nudgee’ revealed that nine members of the wider Hogan family came from Dalby or moved there after attending Nudgee.