Prize certificate 1901 WR Vial

Prize certificate 1901 awarded to WR Vial OW1899.

Walter Rupert Vial came to Wesley in 1899 into Form IV, and matriculated in 1901 with First class honours in English and History and Third class honours in Mathematics. He studied law at the University of Melbourne. Many of his family members have links to the College over the next decades, and the Vial gymnasium was named after a more recent relative.

In 1901 the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, later King George V and Queen Mary came to open the first Federal Parliament. While in Melbourne they handed out these Prize certificates to high achieving Sixth Form students of the Independent schools.