The founders: Ian Clunies Ross

Sir Ian Clunies Ross (1899-1959), known to IHers from the ‘Clunies’ building, was a veterinary scientist and administrator. He was also the first chair of the International House Council.

Clunies Ross’ involvement with International House can be linked to his interest in international affairs and involvement with the Rotary Club of Melbourne. In 1950 and 1951, he was chair of the International Committee of the Rotary Club and a member of the University of Melbourne Council (Parnaby, 2002, p. 109). This put him in a position to join others in lobbying the University to establish an ‘international house’ in Melbourne (Parnaby, 2002, p. 109).

Those associated with [International House] insist that it might never have come to fruition but for his unrelenting enthusiasm which spurred his co-workers to its final establishment.

Boyer, 1959, p. 9

In 1955, he was elected chair of the new International House Council. As chair from 1955 to 1959, Clunies Ross oversaw the construction of International House’s first accommodation wing (later named after him) and the appointment of the foundation warden Brian Jones. Speaking at the official opening in 1958, Ian Clunies Ross highlighted the significance of Australia’s first ‘international house’: ‘[H]ere for the first time we have an institution in which young Australians and young overseas students are working together day by day and learning to know and understand each other’ (Clunies Ross, 1958).

There will be a continual influence of this House far into the future; an influence which I’m sure will contribute to the understanding between this country and others.

Clunies Ross, 1958

Ian Clunies Ross died in June 1959, just over a year after the official opening of the House. Writing in the student magazine Satadal, the warden of International House praised Clunies Ross for his ‘practical internationalism’, his wit and his interest in people (Jones, 1959).

For those of us who worked with Sir Ian Clunies Ross it is hard to believe that we shall never see his like again.

Jones, 1959

After her husband’s death, Janet Clunies Ross continued to support International House. She donated the royalties from the sale of the book Ian Clunies Ross: Memoirs and papers to International House (Jackson, 1961). She was also a patron of the 1961 International House Building Appeal, helping to raise funds to build the Samuel Wadham Wing.

In 1962, the International Council decided to name the House’s first building in honour of Sir Ian Clunies Ross (International House Council, 1962).

References and further reading

Boyer, R. J. F. (1959). Sir Ian Clunies Ross. The Australian Quarterly, 31(3), 7–10. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20633541

Clunies Ross, I. (1958, May 24). Speech at the opening of International House in Melbourne. Papers of Sir Robert Menzies, National Library of Australia, MS 4936. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-222147088/listen/0-104

International House Council (1962, September 11). Meeting No. 4, 1962. International House Archives.

Jackson, M. (1961, June 19). International House Building Fund Women’s Committee: President’s report. International House Archives.

Jones, B. (1959). From the Warden: Sir Ian Clunies Ross and International House. Satadal: The magazine of International House, University of Melbourne. https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/international-house-melbourne/2020/05/02/from-the-warden-sir-ian-clunies-ross-and-international-house/

Parnaby, O. (2002). Australia’s first Rotary Club: A history of the Rotary Club of Melbourne. Melbourne University Press.

Schedvin, C. B. (1993/2006). Clunies Ross, Sir William Ian (1899–1959). Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clunies-ross-sir-william-ian-9770/text17265