This memorial to a father and son was ordered from the stained glass department of Brooks, Robinson & Co.by Mrs. H. Douglass, widow of Henry Percival Douglass, on 4 March 1930. The figures of Patteson and Livingstone were not in the usual Brooks, Robinson & Co. style and the artist, identified only as 'Griffin' (possibly V. Murray Griffin),appears not entirely comfortable with the medium: the figures are small for the space and selection of colouring for the glass suggests imaginary interpretations of exotic locations of Melanesia and Africa. The additions of thistle and oak designs in the tracery refer to the British ancestry of the Douglass family.
George Percival Douglass excelled in several sports while a student at Geelong Grammar School and was one of the school's rowing eight in 1913 and Head of the River team in 1914. He enlisted in the British Army with 157 Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery where he was awarded the MC. Aged 22 years, he died of wounds at a casualty clearing station in France on 25 August 1918 and was buried at Arneke British Cemetery, France.
References & Acknowledgements
AWM Commemorative Roll; http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx?cpage=1; Argus, 31 August 1918, p.20; http://www.flickr.com/photos/left_handed_male/5959629756/in/pool-militarycross
