Homebush
Lower School No. 225
A request was made to establish a school at
Lower Homebush on 18/3/1878. The committee wrote stating that a building was available for
rent and that Mr. Alexander Lundy was prepared to become the teacher.
The Board of advice advised that the
building was 30 foot by 13 foot and that it could be purchased for 30 pounds, plus a
further 20 pounds for the improvements such as tanks and out offices would need to be
spent. The District Inspector was asked to report on the feasibility of the establishment
of a new school.
He advised that there were approximately 98
children of school age in close proximity, however he suggested that since there was a
school operating at Homebush Upper, that a full school should not be established but it
should be established for younger children only and
the older ones walk to Homebush Upper. He also suggested that the building should not be
purchased, as it was not totally suitable and there was a Crown Allotment, which could be
made available.
On the 17/2/1879 a petition was submitted to
the Minister of Public Instruction requesting the establishment of a school at Homebush
Lower, which was signed by the following parents.
William Campbell John Trounson H. Thomas
Denis Clancy R. H. Stubbs John Nicholls Lister Field
J. F. Tulloch John Searle
W. R. Sallick Joseph Watters C. Tregonnin J. Chesterfield
John Ridd
William Leyland William
Mettrick
John
Hawkins
William Graves J. G. Smith William Hay P. McCarthy
David Piper
John Cunningham James
King A.
Wilson
J. Bullock
Stephen Draper Patrick Cusack
F.M.Closs
John R. Williams John Nesbit George Harris George Fitch
Thomas J .Smith Edward Tregonning John Hammer J. Houseright
Jonathan Bullock Robert Summers Patrick Conroy
F. M. Closs
John Shea Edward Craven George Harris J. Rycroft
William Hill
D. Farnsworth E.
Cummin
C. Farnsworth
William Smith
John Rees
T. Watters
R. Cummins
S. Close
William
Bullock
F. Grop
T. Richardson
John Steele
Neils Larsen
P. Prunty Henry Twist
The Minister agreed to look into the
establishment of the school. A further letter in November 1879 indicated that although
there had been many people who had moved from Chinaman's Flat to Timor there were still at
least 75 children to attend the school.
The site was gazetted on 23/1/1880 and the
building offered by Willam Buhlert was purchased for removal. A request was placed for the
building to removed and re-erected on the government site. Tenders for removal ranged from
sixty-nine pounds sixteen shillings to one hundred and seventeen pounds. Mr. Bennett's
tender was the lowest and as a result was accepted.
Accommodation for 36 pupils was to be
completed by 1/5/1880 but this eventually was for 40 children and was finished on
19/6/1880. This was immediately too small and a month later a request was made to increase
the accommodation to cater for 150 children. The average attendance for the two months had
been 74.7 children, 28.3 of these were infants. The head teacher also requested more
furniture to accommodate those in attendance.
On 9/11/1880 approval was granted for the
hire of the Union Church as the population had risen to more than 80 children living
within 3/4 of a mile and the population was increasing daily. Lease was approved for six
months at Thirty-eight pounds per annum.
Henry Carter was appointed as the. first
permanent Head Teacher on 20/11/1880.
Attendance continued to rise over the
following year and by the middle of the year the average attendance for the month was 121.
This allowed an assistant teacher, Annie Williams, and a pupil teacher, Henry Twist to be
appointed. By 1882 a second pupil teacher Teresa Conroy, had been had been also been
employed.
In 1881 the agreement between the Union
Church and the Minister for Public Instruction for the lease of the Church building was
extended for an indefinite period, with either party being required to give one month's
notice of variation to the agreement.
The tank required replacement as the one,
which had come with the building when it was removed, was badly worn, and as a result of
being empty had developed holes.
The Head Teacher wrote to the Department on
13/4/1882 requesting information as to the procedure to be followed for the following
week. The Church had notified him that the building was to be closed for the following
week to allow it to be sealed. The Department approved the partial closure of the school
under the prescribed circumstances. All possible attempts were to be made to obtain an
alternative building but if this was not available then as many children as possible were
to be accommodated in the main building and the older children were to be granted a
holiday.
The District inspector reported, following
his visit in 1882, that there had been 175 children in attendance on that day and that the
standard of work was very good.
The local residents, although pleased to
have their school, were not really happy with the makeshift collection, which they felt
were unsightly in their developing township. They prevailed upon the Board of Advice to
have a more substantial building erected, which would be in keeping with the prosperous
nature of the town. The Board of Advice agreed to represent them in the request to the
Department and urged the erection of a substantial, permanent building as soon as possible
to accommodate 200 children.
Tenders were called in 1886 and a two-roomed
brick building with a third timber room attached was erected. The two brick rooms were 50'
x 20' and 20' x 20' with the wooden room 30' x 20', It was completed by the addition of
front and rear porches. The total cost was one thousand three hundred and sixty pounds.
The buildings were completed for occupation by July 1887, the old original building was
left as a shelter shed, but the portable school and quarters were removed.
This presented accommodation problems for
the Head Teacher, as houses were not readily available for rental. A request was made to
the Department at the end of 1889 to purchase a four-roomed cottage, which was available
for seventy pounds, but the Department pointed out that due to financial constraints it
was not in a position to assist them.
Vandalism began to be a problem in 1890.
After an evening entertainment supervised by the School Committee the Headmaster wrote to
advise the Department that despite care taken by the committee there had been serious acts
of vandalism and obscenities had been written on the building and in the out offices. The
teacher pointed out that it was not done by any of the scholars from the school as he had
made enquiries and the children had informed him that it had been a number of young men
about eighteen years of age who had been seen loitering outside during the entertainment.
He also pointed out that the scholars were better educated and would not have used the
poor spelling or grammar that was evident.
The two young men concerned were eventually
traced and prosecuted. The Head Teacher again wrote to the Department to advise them of
the outcome of the court case. One of the young men had admitted his guilt and had been
fined 10/- and placed on a bond to keep the peace for the following twelve months. The
second lad had been released with a warning about the company he was keeping as it could
not be conclusively proven that he had been involved even though he had been present at
the event. The Head Teacher indicated in his letter that he considered that they had
received very light treatment from the Magistrate and if it had been up to him he would
have had harsher penalties imposed as a deterrent in the future.
Further problems occurred in 1892 and the
Head Teacher requested that a fence be erected between the school and the Wesleyan Church
as there were large numbers of young men congregating under the school verandah on Sundays
and many minor acts of vandalism were occurring at this time. Complaints were largely
about cigarette buts and rubbish being left in the vicinity but there were several
instances of windows being broken and the Head Teacher claimed that, as he was not living
on the site he should not have the cost of the windows debited against his salary,
as it was not normal wear and tear. The Department agreed to pay for the cost of the
broken windows but would not agree to the total cost of the fence. They suggested,
however, that if half the cost could be raised locally then they would pay the remainder.
The total cost was eleven pounds, ten shillings.
The population remained stable until
approximately the turn of the century, but after that, due to the changing fortunes on the
goldfields, it declined rapidly until it had fallen to approximately 40 by 1903.
The Head Teacher in 1903, finding
accommodation difficult to obtain requested permission to convert the smaller classrooms
to a residence. This permission was granted, provided there was no cost to the Department.
He notified the Department on 1/2/1904 that he had converted the two classrooms for
personal use and had bricked and boarded up the doors that led to the passage from the
residence side. He also dismantled the galleries and used the timber to erect partitions
but does not appear to have progressed beyond there.
The Head Teacher, in 1910, made a request to
remove these partitions as he claimed that the rooms were not usable in their present
condition. This request was also approved. Mr. L.A.Squires, the Correspondent of the
School Committee, reported on 12/9/1912 that the building needed repairs especially to the
toilets as they had been damaged by white ants and were unserviceable.
The white ants had also attacked floors in
the school and the verandahs by 1918 and approval was given to replace the boards, which
were defective, but this proved impossible, as timber was not available due to war
restrictions. Tanks were also not available and as a result repairs had to be effected to
the existing ones.
The School Committee requested that the name
be changed from Homebush Lower to Homebush on the 29/5/1919, as there was no longer
Homebush Upper so there was no cause for confusion. The Department approved this and from
June 1919 it was known as Homebush.
In 1925 the local Public Hall was to be sold
so several requests were made to the Department. The first being, that the piano be moved
into the school and be available for school purposes. This was approved provided it was
moved by the locals and there was no cost to the Department. Secondly, it was requested
that the school building be available for public purposes. This request was denied as it
was pointed out that the Department could not give permission without knowing what the
school was to be used for. There were guidelines for the use of school buildings by
outside groups so application would need to be made at the time of requiring the building.
Thirdly, the Defense Department had presented the district b with a machine gun following
the Great War and this had been housed in the hall. Permission was granted for this
to be transferred to the school provided that it was hung on the wall and that the firing
pin was made inoperative. The Head Teacher accepted these conditions and the gun remained
in the school until it was reclaimed by the Defense Department during the Second World
War.
New furniture was supplied during the 1920's
and the old desks were sold for timber at 5/- each. Repairs and painting were also carried
out in 1927 at a cost of eight hundred and sixty six pounds.
By 1931 there were only 14 children in
attendance.
The children were encouraged to maintain the
school garden and as a result a fence was erected protect the horticulture plot. This was
at a cost of one pound five and eight pence. The School Committee made a request on
14/8/1937 to have the floor leveled as they wished to hold entertainments and the stepped
floor was not suitable for this. This request was considered but there was never any
decision made and as a result it remained stepped.
The District Inspector suggested in. 1942
that the school enrollment had fallen so far that it might be expedient to close the
school. There were only seven children in attendance. These were Don and Ray Templeton,
Judith and Helen Sheill, Shirley Templeton, Joan Barry and Irene Jardine. Children were in
grades 1, 4, 5 and 7. There were three children still to come to school in the district,
Allison Miller, John Sheill and Lance Elliot.
Mail deliveries proved a
problem in 1942 as mail was often up to a week late since it had not come directly through
Avoca. A request was made by the Head Teacher to have the name changed back to Homebush
Lower so that mail would come directly through Avoca. As a safeguard the term Via Avoca
was also added.
A review of the children in the
school saw an increase in the
enrolment as George Greenwood
and Lance Elliott had commenced.
Rabbits had undermined the
toilets and these needed remodeling to prevent them falling over. The access was also
dangerous as the entrances to the boroughs were in close proximity to the entrances to the
toilets. This work was carried out in 1944.
General repairs and painting
were carried out in 1951 at a cost of eight hundred and sixty six pounds.
Pupil numbers continued to decline and by
the commencement of 1962 there were only 5 children on the roll. These were to be
transferred to other local schools and the school was to be unstaffed from the
commencement of the 1962 school year. Heather Greenwood, Carolyn Castleman and Leanne
Castleman transferred to Avoca, Geoffrey Elliott left school and Mervyn Lilburne
transferred to Wareek.
The school officially closed on the 10/7 /1967.