Source of Index | Members of the Geelong Family History Group |
Source and/or Location of Records |
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Explanation of Fields |
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Completed Index? | YES |
Number of entries | Updated: 1st January 2012
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About Murroon State School No. 940 |
A public meeting was called in October 1867 to discuss the possibility of building a common school in the district. Up until this time a teacher was paid by parents to teach the children in private houses. As this proved inconvenient, the residents of the district asked the Board of Education for permisson to erect a school. When the community began talking of erecting a school there were 63 childrenin the district who could attend. Many children walked from Pennyroyal, Barwon Downs and Gerangamete to come to the only school in the district. Mr Henry O'Neill held the first classes in the building on the morning of 1 July 1868. Mr O'Neill had come from Gherang Gherang National School 'after having founded several other schools in the colony'. He taught at Murroon from 1868 until 1870, under an agreement with the school committee. Shortly after he began teaching, his pay from the Board of Education was stopped because he lacked the necessary qualifications for a teacher at that time. He remained at the school unpaid until he left in 1870. In 1876 Mr L A Gilbert wrote to the Board of Education asking for the school to be fenced in. The original shingled roof didn't prove a great success. It was eventually suggested in 1879 that the children be supplied with umbrellas or that teachers be trained in resuscitation of the drowning! An iron roof was put over the shingles soon after. In 1879, the teacher, Mr John Brice, indicated to the newly formed Education Department that he would build a residence himself if the Department could reimburse him at a later date. However it was 30 years before any concrete moves were made by the Education Department. |
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