View + 3 Photos A principled stand against the Wallabies 1971 rugby tour of South Africa might have ended James Roxburgh's playing career but he remained philosophical throughout his life. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading $ 0 / $ NaN /year All articles from our website The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue The former Goulburn man is being remembered not just for his opposition to apartheid and treatment of the black population, but as a respected and influential teacher with an unconventional streak.
Mr Roxburgh died at his Sydney home on Sunday, August 11, aged seventy-seven. In recent years he had lived with dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. Wife Carolyn, also a former Goulburn teacher, said James never wallowed in thwarted national rugby potential.
"It was just part of him and he was proud to have been a Wallaby," she said. Mr Roxburgh and six other players pulled out of almost certain selection in the team's 1971 Springbok tour. Their views were forged in the Wallabies 1969 tour of South Africa where they witnessed firsthand the black population's treatment.
Carolyn said James was his harshest personal critic and felt he should have done more beforehand. "The exposure certainly made him extremely aware of the injustice of the system," she said. "It was always going to result in him refusing to play.
It effectively ended his rugby career." Mr Roxburgh was just twenty-four. He played nine tests for Australia over three years and maintained his opposition to apartheid over many years in the face of criticism at the highest political level.
However South African president, Nelson Mandela, awarded the "magnificent seven" the Medal of Freedom following the end of apartheid in 1994. James was born in Ceduna, South Australia on October 28, 1946, one of four children to GP parents. The family relocated to Sydney when James was three.
At The Kings School, he excelled in rugby, a talent he developed along with rowing at the University of Sydney where be studied an arts/law degree. Mr Roxburgh was selected in the Junior Wallabies in 1968, setting the scene for his national career. The same year he met and married Carolyn Thornhill.
"He was tall, dark and handsome and had the aura of a first year uni student when I met him. He had it all," Carolyn said. "There was an element of unconventionality and a great sense of humanity.
" James Roxburgh played nine tests for the Wallabies over three years. Picture supplied by Rugby Australia. He played little rugby following his 1971 stance.
In 1975 the couple moved to Goulburn to continue James's teaching career. He taught briefly at the co-educational Argyle College (formerly PLC) before joining Saint Patrick's College in 1976. When principal, Brother FD Marzorini, asked about his faith, James replied he was a "humanist.
" The thought of having an ex-Wallaby on staff of the rugby-loving school appealed to the Christian brother. There, Mr Roxburgh established himself as a respected English and General Studies teacher. Ex-student, Chris Gordon, remembered him as "quirky.
" "I'd shown a bit of aptitude in English and he allowed me to study Lord of the Rings rather than the Year 8 assigned books, saying 'stuff the syllabus.' He wanted to see me challenge myself. "His year 12 General Studies class was an eclectic grand tour of everything from politics, history and philosophy interspersed with his own two cents worth.
It was better than any TED talk. I only had him for those few classes but he made an impact. (He was) a scholar and an idealist who had no problem swimming against the tide.
" James Roxburgh was never happier than when he was home with family doing the things he loved. Picture supplied. Writing in 2018, another ex-student, Greg Barron, recalled the day Mr Roxburgh told his English class about the Wallabies' 1969 tour.
"We were a bunch of rowdy country boys, but you could have heard a pin drop while he talked, choking up then, well over a decade after the event, trying to tell us something important in that slow, careful way of his. He told us of something that should offend all humanity. Something that never should have happened," Mr Barron wrote.
"Jim was an English teacher, and a good one. But the main thing he did for me was much deeper than grammar. He inspired me, especially as the years passed and I learned more about what he did and how powerful a symbol it was at the time: almost certainly helping the Australian government towards a decision to officially sever all sporting ties with the South African regime in 1972.
" James Roxburgh (second left) maintained his activism, this time as a member of Rural Australians for Refugees outside Parliament House in 2002. He was with wife, Carolyn, Barry McDonald, Greg Allen and John McKinnan. Picture supplied.
Mr Roxburgh never coached the St Pat's First XV, a role Brother Powell had cornered. Instead he coached more junior sides. Ex-student, Mik Webber recalled his first rugby coach in about 1998/99 as "a wealth of knowledge, hard but fair.
" "We'd be doing a drill and he'd knock us over on our backsides...
He wasn't trying to hurt us; he was passionate about it and wanted to show us how to do it properly," he said. Only later did they fully understand his background. Webber developed a passion for rugby and went on to play more than 300 rugby games for the Goulburn Dirty Reds.
He said Mr Roxburgh was influential as a coach and teacher. In the classroom, he'd turn up late, "dishevelled, with messy hair and shirt tail out" but forged respect from his students. Carolyn said her husband was passionate about teaching and loved literature, especially Shakespeare.
He also enjoyed chess and later played bridge with Carolyn in the Goulburn club. The couple raised three children on their Range Road farm and were active community members. They and four others founded Tambelin School in 1979, an independent primary institution overseen by parents and offering an alternative form of education.
In between teaching, James started the Pickwick Bookshop in Goulburn and set up Sasso's Italian pizza restaurant in Bourke Street where he worked with children, Rupert and Ruth. The teaching never stopped with James Roxburgh. He's pictured here with grandson, Eddie.
Picture supplied. Mr Roxburgh maintained his activism and rallied outside Parliament House as a member of Rural Australians for Refugees. He continued teaching after Saint Pat's' amalgamation with Marian College in 2000.
In 2011 Mr Roxburgh retired and three years later the couple relocated to Sydney to be closer to children and grandchildren. He was diagnosed with dementia in 2018, which developed into Alzheimer's Disease. Despite the setback he retained his fitness and regularly went to the gym with Carolyn.
On August 6 he suffered a brain haemorrhage while riding an exercise bike and was taken to hospital. Carolyn said it was some comfort that her husband died at home five days later, surrounded by family. He donated his brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank to examine the impact of concussion on sports people.
Carolyn said she would overwhelmingly remember her husband's love for her and the family. "To know that you are truly loved is an enveloping and beautiful thing," she said. Mr Roxburgh's farewell will be held at BYRA Sailing Club, 1836 Pittwater Road, Bayview on Friday, August 23.
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au or call 0418 229 678. If you have a story to tell, drop me a line at louise.thrower@austcommunitymedia.
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