Old Martinians

Hubert Stanley Bolst’s connection with La Martiniere College, Lucknow began in the beginning of the year 1880, when he was admitted as a day pupil at the age of 9 years. He appears to have passed the lower forms of the College with credit and secured second place in the examination of 1889 for admission in the 2nd (Upper Subordinate) Department at the Thomason Engineering College Roorkee. The results of the examination did come not out till early 1890 and circumstances did not permit his taking up the engineering course. He however left the College in the same year.

Shortly after leaving College he obtained an appointment in the Traffic Department of the Oudh & Rohilkhand Railway, where in a comparatively short time he was promoted to the senior grade in the Department; becoming Station Superintendent for some time and retired in 1925 as Asst. Traffic Superintendent. Endowed with a good height (over 6 feet) and being broad shouldered and upright, Hubert was a conspicuous figure in the old Oudh & Rohilkhand Railway Volunteer Battalion, and whenever a representative detachment was sent from this corps he was invariably included. He was in the detachment sent to participate in the review of all troops from the Empire on the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902. He was again included in the detachment sent to participate in the grand review at the Delhi Durbar in 1912 during the visit to India of King George V and Queen Mary.

In 1918 six old Martinians, all contemporaries, found themselves stationed at Faizabad. That year Alex Spiers, a lawyer and oldest in the group invited them to dinner on Founder’s Day. Needless to mention, the party spent a very enjoyable evening, after which it was decided to hold dinner meetings annually on Founder’s Day and to invite other Martinians from out-station. These annual dinners proved popular, the largest attendance being fifteen, and were

successfully kept up at Faizabad till 1924. In November that year Alex Spiers passed away and Hubert Bolst was transferred to Lucknow.

Having come to Lucknow, Hubert expressed his wish to continue with these annual dinners. The La Martiniere College Old Boys dinner at Lucknow was inaugurated on Founder’s Day in September 1925 at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Abbott Road. In the following year at the Founder’s Day annual dinner 17 old Martinians and three guests namely George Jackson, a Governor of the College, W.E. Andrews and J.G.Taylor were present and after dinner, on the proposal of C.F. Gilbert, seconded by Hubert Bolst, the Old Boys Association was formed. This was then the beginning of the Association as it exists today. The Association celebrated its Diamond Jubilee with great pomp and show in 1986. The Platinum Jubilee is slated for 2001.

For four years after its formation, Hubert Bolst was a member of the working Committee and in September 1930 he was elected Secretary of the Association. During his tenure the name of the Association was changed to its present one as the girls of the Girls College also expressed their desire to join the Association. To Hubert goes the credit for successfully increasing the membership many fold and for the opening up of branches in Burma, Bombay, Kanpur, Jamalpur and Calcutta. He continued as Secretary till May 1940, when after the death of W.H. Surdivall, he was appointed Vice President, a post that he filled till his passing away.

For Hubert Bolst the call from beyond came on 17th August 1945. At his funeral at the trans-Gomti Cemetery, the senior boys from the College were the pall bearers. This respect is granted to very few.
Hubert Bolst not only founded the Association but also gave meaning and significance to the traditions associated with the annual dinner of the OMA on Founder’s Day. Traditions which

are maintained even to this day. He took keen interest in OMA activities till his last day and was greatly instrumental in ensuring not only the full co-operation of the College in OMA business but also involved the Principals in the activity. As he had been keeping indifferent health there was a move amongst the members to cancel the annual dinner of 1945, which incidentally was the centenary year of the College. His last words, we believe, were that the annual dinner must be held come what may because the Association and its traditions were far bigger than any one person. The dinner was held and in full tradition as a mark of respect to his last wish.
Hubert Bolst’s association with the College and the OMA did not end with his passing away. In 1947 when his will was probated he had left instructions to his sole legate Mrs.  Eva Bourne, that a sum of Rs.5,000 be handed over to the OMA to invest as an ‘Endowment Fund’. The annual interest accruing from this investment be used for the purpose of a scholarship to be given to a needy and deserving Day Scholar Anglo-Indian boy studying in the Boys College. The OMA received the money on 10.09.47 and on 14.09.47 at the Annual General Meeting of the Association the ‘Hubert Bolst Scholarship’ was established. This scholarship has been religiously paid by the Association every year till today to the Principal, La Martiniere College, who selects the recipient and informs the Association.
For 50 recipients of the scholarship to date, Hubert Bolst is a godfather and for all us old Martinians he is someone worth emulating.
May his soul rest in peace with the knowledge that he is remembered even today by the College he so dearly loved and by the Association he founded.
Source: J.S. Kaul, (Former) Hony. Secretary, Old Martinians Association, Lucknow.