A very Wesley family
For our great school and our generational Wesley families, history flows together; the school helps shape the character of family and family helps shape the character of the school.
As we head towards our 160th anniversary next year, we’re featuring a Wesley family who is the living embodiment of this, their purple bloodline flowing all the way down through the generations from our very beginning...
Like all family trees, the Hartnett’s is winding and complexly connected, the Hartnett family of today stemming from three main branches: the McCutcheons, Littles and Nyes.
The family’s Wesley story begins in 1863, when the school site was still 10 acres of timbered ground. John McCutcheon and Sophia Little, the great-great-great-grandparents of today’s Wesley generation, were married by the Reverend D J Draper, Methodist minister and a key founder and benefactor of the College.
Sophia’s nephew, 12-year-old William Parker Little, started when the school opened in 1866, as Pupil Number 38. Since then, more than 70 of his relatives have attended Wesley across the generations.
John and Sophia’s son, Walter B. McCutcheon (OW1876) was a founding member of the Old Boys’ Society (forerunner of the OWCA) and was the 16th President of the OWCA in 1912.
Prominent in the family’s early association with the College is the Reverend Edward Nye (OW1884), College Dux in 1884 and Walter Powell Scholar in 1886. Teacher and College Chaplain for 30 years from 1909 to 1939, he also wrote our first official history, ‘The History of Wesley College 1865-1919’. St Kilda Road’s Nye Quadrangle is named after him.
One of John and Sophia’s grandsons was Major General George Vasey (OW1907), who led major campaigns for the Australian Army in the Mediterranean and Papua New Guinea during WWII. General Vasey served as the 18th President of the OWCA in 1914.
Walter’s grandson, Andrew McCutcheon MP (OW1949), served as Attorney-General and Planning Minister in the Victorian Labour Governments of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
John Harnett (OW1959), grandson to Walter’s brother Henry, started at Wesley in Grade 6 in 1953 and was a prefect in his final year. He was followed by his brothers Ralph (OW1961) (dec) and Bruce (OW1968) (dec), who were keen members of the school Athletics team. Ralph was a champion high jumper.
‘When I started at Wesley the headmaster was Mr W H Frederick, who was related to my uncle Harry,’ says John. ‘My uncles John Maurice McCutcheon (OW1916), Harry McCutcheon (OW1921) and Hugh McCutcheon (OW1926) all attended Wesley. During my initial interview with him, Mr Frederick mildly rebuked me for not addressing him as ‘Sir’!’
All of John and Ralph’s children went to Wesley. John’s daughter Jillian (Hartnett) Campbell (OW1987), was in the first intake of girls at the St Kilda Road Campus in 1982, son Andrew (OW1990) was the Leader of the Concert Band and member of the First VIII rowing crew and son Richard (OW1993), who married Sheree (Bryant) Hartnett (OW1993), a Glen Waverly graduate, in the St Kilda Road Chapel in 2005, was a prefect and Captain of the First XI (Premiers in 1993) and a member of the First XVIII Football team. He also served on the OWCA Executive Committee from 2016-2018.
Ralph’s son Robert (OW1993) was also a keen rower and a member of the Second VIII rowing crew and daughters Deb (Hartnett) Binek (OW1996) and Katherine Hartnett (OW1998) were also dedicated athletes; passionate gymnasts, they both served as Captain of the Gymnastics Firsts.
The living connection to Wesley, forged at the birth of the school itself, remains strong and unbroken, with the fifth generation of the family having attended or now at school: Ned (OW2024), Angus in Year 11, Holly in Year 9, Charlotte in Year 8 and Henry in Year 7. And next year, on Wesley’s 160th anniversary, two more of Pupil Number 38’s relatives will start their own Wesley journeys, when we welcome Levi into Year 5 and Leah into Year 7... and so their story continues.
A very Wesley family: The Hartnetts gathered in the Nye Quadrangle at St Kilda Road - named after John’s great uncle, the Rev Edward Nye (OW1884)
William Parker Little's nephew, John (Jack) Little (OW1918)
Harry McCutcheon (OW1917), nephew of Rev. Edward Nye
Rev Edward Nye (OW1884) with other Wesley staff in 1932
