Ormond College’s namesake was a self-made man who used his wealth to create educational opportunities for men, women and children from all walks of life.

Francis Ormond was a Scottish immigrant who in his youth ploughed paddocks on his family’s farm and made his own boots. His skill as a farm manager in a wool boom saw the family accrue substantial wealth. While prosperous, Francis Ormond’s life wasn’t easy: his four siblings died young and his first wife passed away several years after his only biological child was stillborn.

As well as a strong Presbyterian faith and a commitment to justice, Francis Ormond was passionate about education, which he believed was the key to a successful democratic society. For this reason, he established a school for his labourer’s children; he also taught the labourers themselves by the light of a smoky ‘bush candle’. To extend this opportunity to more workers, he founded Melbourne’s Working Men’s College (now RMIT University).

Francis Ormond believed that education should be available to all. As well as furthering education for men, he sat on the council of one of the few Melbourne girls’ schools that prepared women for university study and insisted that the Working Men’s College be opened to females. His commitment to equality extended to religion: in an era when many schools catered to a single denomination, Francis Ormond required that institutions he founded be open to those of ‘all faiths and none,’ laying the foundation of our College’s commitment to diversity of all kinds.

When the Presbyterian Church sought to establish a residential college for University students and trainee ministers, Francis Ormond gave a series of donations. Ormond College was the result. Francis Ormond’s contributions funded construction of Main Building, Allen House and the Dining Hall.

It was his hope that this College would educate those students would develop the “intellectual and moral powers” of young people who would “in the future exercise an important and sensible influence in the religious, social, and political affairs of our country.”

Our commitment to students who will go on to make a disproportionate difference in the world continues unchanged 140 years later.

Robert Dowling, 1886, Hon. Francis Ormond, Oil on canvas, Ormond College.

Share your Ormond story

Every Ormondian has their own unique experience of College life, and their own story to tell. What Ormond moment stands out in your memory? Whether on the sporting field or the stage, in the JCR, Dining Hall or on Picken Lawn, share your favourite story of life at Ormond College.