Ralph Peterson played the part of Rupert Bottomly. He was
the cheekiest of the students, and was therefore struck with the cane
the most. His whole aim in life was to come up with a prank to prevent
the lesson going ahead.
Some episodes featured Bottomly's girlfriend, Daphne,
played by Alice Creed.
In some later promotions for their sponsors, his name was sometimes
wrongly spelt with an "e", ie "Bottomley". However, in Rex Dawe's
original scripts, it is spelt "Bottomly".
Ralph was 11 years old when he started his career in radio
in the radio 5AD Children's Hour. His first big radio job was as the
bad boy in series, "Following in Father's Footsteps". It was because of
his part in that, that he was cast as Bottomly, the bad boy of St
Percy's.
Ralph was 16 years old when the series started in 1936. In
his youth, he also enjoyed camping, shooting and general outdoor
activities. He was also fond of photography. After the war, he became a
well known script writer in radio and television before retiring in
Queensland.
He died in 1996, the last remaining member of the Yes What
cast.