John Laurence Lambert


John Laurence Lambert was an Australian educator and author.

Early life and education

John Lambert was born in 1936 at the western New South Wales town of Wilcannia where his father was an Anglican minister with the Bush Church Aid society. As his father moved, he lived in Carlton, Katoomba and Springwood attending school in those areas.
Lambert studied education at the Sydney Teachers' College, achieving both his Bachelor of Arts, and Diploma of Education. He subsequently completed a Master of Education at the University of Sydney in 1980.

Education career

Lambert taught English and history at Sydney Boys High School and St Marys High, where he also became the leader of the local cadet unit and band master. He was appointed English/history master at Cabramatta High School in 1966.
He then advanced from direct teaching roles to a variety of inspector and administrative positions within the New South Wales Department of Education:
From 1994 to 2010, after leaving the Department of Education, Lambert took up a role with the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation as schools development officer, leading the site selection, establishment and early years of school growth for a network of low fee, Christian schools in the west and south of Sydney and New South Wales south coast. A task that subsequently established nine new schools, commencing with Penrith Anglican College. His role also assisted in the transition of three other independent schools into the Anglican Schools Corporation, and the planning of several new schools that did not subsequently proceed.

Personal life

Lambert married Janice Stephens in 1958 and lived in Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains. Together they had three children. Janice died in 2011. Lambert subsequently married Jennifer Wearn in 2012.
Throughout his life Lambert was a committed Christian, for many years involved in the Anglican Church at Springwood where he served as lay preacher, warden and parish councillor. Lambert was also a prolific writer of hymns, with 76 of them printed in a compilation, Hymns for the Twenty First Century, prepared after his death by his local church.

Death

Lambert died at home in Warrimoo on 2 December 2014. suffering from lung cancer.

Biography

John Goddard wrote a biography of Lambert entitled To Seek Beyond the Known in 2017.

Awards

He was recognised with the Anniversary of National Service 1951–1972 Medal for his National Service in the early 1950s.
Lambert was awarded a member of the Order of Australia in 2001 for "service to education, particularly in the area of curriculum development frameworks within New South Wales, and to the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation".

Published works

Non fiction

Handbook of Modern History: Book One – Melbourne : CheshireHandbook of Modern History: Book Two – Melbourne : Cheshire

Hymns

Hymns for the Twenty First Century – compiled by Patricia Browne

Monographs

High School Education and Industry in the United States a Report Compiled Following a Visit to the United States On a Fulbright Scholarship March/April 1988 – : N.S.W. Dept. of EducationThe Liberal Tradition: Problems With Competencies, Profiles and Vocationalism - Sydney : Monograph No 21

Novels

A Land of Plenty – Zeus, Burleigh Qld, Beyond All Seas – Zeus, Burleigh Qld, Arthur: King of the Britons – Zeus, Burleigh Qld, Apocalypse – Zeus, Burleigh Qld, A Promise Kept – Zeus, Burleigh Qld,
  • NSW Australian series
  • * Two Tales of the Mountains – Zeus, Burleigh Qld,
  • * Two Tales of the West – Zeus, Burleigh Qld,
  • Weston trilogy
  • * Risk and Reward – Zeus, Burleigh Qld,
  • * Lost and Forgotten – Zeus, Burleigh Qld,
  • * Encounter Hall – Zeus, Burleigh Qld,

Short stories

The Lamp and Other Stories – Zeus, Burleigh Qld,