Lieutenant Hugo Throssell was the first Western Australian to receive a Victoria Cross in World War I. Unknown to the current generation of the college community, his infantry sword was hiding in plain sight in a vault in the Wesley College archive. When it was uncovered, staff quickly realised that the find was significant, and were delighted to recover such a meaningful object in 2023 – Wesley College’s centenary year. The story of the sword and how it came to be in Wesley College’s possession is as fascinating as the Throssell family.
Born in 1884, Hugo was the youngest son of George Throssell, the second Premier of Western Australia. Hugo was later married to Katharine Susannah Prichard, famous author and founding member of the Communist Party of Australia.
Hugo was one of 14 siblings, and he and his brother Frank Eric ‘Ric’ Throssell were known to be inseparable. From Northam, Western Australia, both brothers then boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide and went on to work on a 1000-acre station in Cowcowing, Western Australia. Eventually,
