The Carrs, The First 60 Years at Brentwood

In the spring of 1964, my father, Tony Carr, jumped on a ferry and went from Dublin, Ireland to downtown London to meet up with the Headmaster of Brentwood College. There was a job opening for a math and chemistry teacher and an opportunity to coach some rowing and rugby and “free” accommodation if he wanted to run one of the boarding houses.

Let us take a few steps back in time from this point.

Tony Carr graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1959. Rather than take the easy path of working in some mundane job in Ireland, he decided to travel to Africa and complete his Masters in Geology at the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Ten months after landing in Africa, his fiance, also born and raised in Ireland, Mary Veronica (Yvonne) Woodcock, arrived in Bulawayo and they married two days later on August 28, 1961. 

I was born 11 months later and then 14 months after that my brother Rory arrived. On December 31, 1963, ten weeks after Rory was born, Rhodesia and Nyasaland, due to political and cultural unrest, was about to separate and so it was time for the Carrs to get back to Ireland.

But the adventure did not end there.

Back to the original story - In the summer of 1964 we four Carrs took a passenger ship from Southampton, England to Montreal where we hopped on a train and travelled across the country to Vancouver. Then it was the CPR ferry to downtown Victoria. Finally, a bus to Mill Bay (then a two to three-hour trip) where we stopped at the four way -  three gas stations and a hardware store. 

Mrs. Joyce Mackenzie, the wife of the headmaster, David Mackenzie, met us in the School’s station wagon, and then drove us down the hill to the School. The date August 23, 1964.

My father convinced my mother this move was a good idea based on the fact that we would be close to Seattle (we were not) where we had some Irish cousins from back home, including dad’s two half-sisters who had emigrated, married and had raised families.

In Mill Bay, our first accommodation was a tiny, one-bedroom summer cabin down the road from the School. After a few weeks my 5’1” mother walked into Mr. Mackenzie’s office, spoke her mind, including threatening to return to Ireland if she did not get some accommodation because, at the time, all four of us were living in one bedroom. 

Six weeks later we moved onto campus into the original Senior House. Dad ran Senior House, later Rogers House, for 19 years. I graduated in 1980 and then Rory a year later. 

Dad finished his teaching career in 1998 but continued to coach full-time until 2003. He was coaching with us again this spring making it 60 years of involvement with rowing at Brentwood. 

In everything my father has done at this place, my mother, Yvonne Carr, has been his righthand, lefthand, upper-hand supporter. From looking after the boarding house while dad was away, to driving kids to regattas and then organizing food for up to 80 kids, she did it all. 

Over the past twenty years, since fully retiring from the School, both mom and dad have given back to Brentwoodl - from handing out awards at the Brentwood Regatta, attending alumni events, helping out in the Bunch Centre during performance nights as well as taking the time to share their wealth of knowledge about the past 60 years. Dad still has regular meetings with his former athlete and our current Head of Rowing, four-time Olympian David Calder.

The original plan was to be at Brentwood for two years before moving on to other Commonwealth countries to see the world. From the shores of Mill Bay, we can see the world. It’s been great to explore, and for the past 60 years, these shores and this place, have been the home of four happy Carrs. 

Mr Brian Carr