EPPING ROTARY IS LOOKING FOR PAST J W LANGSTON SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Hornsby Mayor Councillor Nick Berman, on behalf of Epping Rotary, awarded the 2009 J W Langston Scholarship to Ashkan Koshab from Roselea Public School .The Presentation was attended by Ashkan and his family and finalist Georgia Dilley from Epping Heights and her family, school representatives and Rotarians. The other finalists, Emily Read from Epping West Public School and Abhi Aiyer from Epping Public School were unable to attend on the night.
The Langston Scholarship is probably one of Sydney’s longest standing educational awards.
During his 19 years as a resident of Epping, John William Langston became involved in every community cause in Epping and was recognised as the leading citizen of the District. When he inadvertently stepped in front of a northbound train in 1923 and was killed, while hurrying to a Hornsby council meeting, there was an immense and immediate public response.
Langston Place, adjacent to Epping railway station was named in his honour and in 1924 a Memorial Scholarship for the most outstanding final year Epping student progressing to High School was established.
The first recipient in 1924 was Nerida Bubb who received a scholarship of Four Pounds ($8). This was funded from contributions made by the public to the Langston Memorial fund. In 1984 the Rotary Club of Epping was asked by the trustees of the award to take over the administration of the Scholarship. Over time the value of the scholarship increased and the initial capital of the fund was exhausted.
In recent years the scholarship has been funded by donations from some senior members of the Epping Rotary club. While this generosity is gratefully acknowledged, Epping Rotary President Graham Stevens said that “to ensure the financial continuity of the award, the club has decided to re-establish an endowment fund for the scholarship”
“We were delighted to receive a donation recently from a past Langston awardee” said Mr Stevens. “That will be added to the fund, however it could still take several years to build the necessary capital to allow the fund to be self sustaining, and we would welcome further donations.”
Epping Rotary is also compiling an updated history of the Langston award. A full list of Langston scholarship winners from 1924 to 2009 is on the website . Mr. Stevens said “The Club would love to hear from past Langston scholarship recipients or their descendents and we would particularly like to find out about their achievements since receiving the award.” Information can be emailed to eppingrotary@iinet.net.au
The club would also like to hear from any of John Langston’s descendants so it can update its profile on J W Langston the man.