The School acquired a significant collection of nine academic medals belonging to Russell Walker Grant (BGS 1890–1894), revealing a scholar of exceptional ability and the pathway Grammar boys followed to higher education before the founding of The University of Queensland.
Grant attended Fortitude Valley State School and won a state scholarship to BGS. In 1892 he sat the Junior Exam in seven subjects, receiving an 'A' grade in each and coming first in Latin, Greek and German, and won both the Lilley Silver medals. He secured an extension scholarship and won the Lilley Gold medal in 1893, came first in German and Greek in the 1894 Sydney Senior examination, and was awarded a university exhibition worth £100 a year, choosing to study at Trinity College Melbourne where he won the Vice President's medal for essay writing.
After university he became a teacher before joining the engineering works and machine importers Smellie & Co as an accountant. In 1915 he enlisted to fight in the First World War, and in late 1916 he was mortally wounded near Mouquet Farm, just west of Pozières. In 1918 his sister endowed the Russell Grant Memorial Medal, still awarded on Speech Day for proficiency in French.
Source: Grammar News, Winter 2026.
Source: Grammar News Winter 2026. Read the original edition