George Ryland was not alone when he arrived at UNE in 1963 and became one of the first residents of Earle Page College (EPC). Joining him was his sheepdog Sadie, with whom he’d just spent three months droving “2,000 woolly wethers” from Queensland into north-western NSW.
“I arrived with my swag and Sadie, and EPC Master Albert Bussell said that she would probably make friends with the cooks in the Bevery during my lectures,” said 80-year-old George. “She was allowed to stay for three months, before I found her a permanent home.”
George’s digs for the first two years were only a cut above those of his droving days.
“Earle Page was a series of houses throughout Armidale at that stage, and I was allocated to Beta House, on Dangar Street, which was dreadful,” he recalls. “It was an extremely old house and my room was already taken, so I ended up sleeping on the veranda at first.”
Later, the room he shared with Alan Marks – who went on to become an ABC sports commentator and George’s best man – was so cold that the pair rigged up an extension lead to the house next-door, to power a small heater they picked up from the rubbish tip. “I was a beachie from the Gold Coast and I’d never been so cold,” George said.
He lived in Beta House for two years, by which time the construction of the new Duval College had freed up rooms that officially became Earle Page College, his home for the third and fourth years of his Agricultural Economics degree.
“I really enjoyed my studies at UNE and was treated very kindly,” George said. “I hadn’t matriculated in mathematics or English at school, but UNE took me on and I started doing basic maths. It’s ironic that I became a mathematical economist.”
After taking his first job at the Reserve Bank, George became a lecturer in economics at the University of Queensland before working internationally for the ACIAR, World Bank, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and OECD. “I met then President Jimmy Carter at the White House, gave a lecture at the World Bank in Washington and was instrumental in introducing the technology that enabled Asian countries to transition from bag to bulk handling of rice,” said George, who finished his career in 2000 as Finance Secretary in Tonga.
“UNE studies opened up numerous opportunities for me in Australia and overseas,” he said. “My original intention was to become a farmer; instead, I became an economist to the world.”
At EPC’s 60th reunion, George is looking forward to catching up with some old mates and reminiscing about those formative years.
It’s not too late to join him at the 20-22 October reunion. Weekend tickets, costing $165, are on sale until 29 September and we warmly welcome former EPC residents. For more information about the weekend’s events and to book, follow the link below.
