Ulladulla school records
Schools are often the centre of a town and reflect the good times and bad times but also the fun times like days off for the local show. They reflect the culture and location of the town – early finishes so the children can help with the milking or more pupils attending while the railway is built nearby. Teachers move from school to school frequently and struggle to find accommodation in growing towns. Teachers study and take exams to progress in their careers. Their leave requests provide many details about their lives.
Explore the town of Ulladulla through the school records in the State Archives Collection.
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School Files, 1876-1979
What are they?
The school files [NRS-3829] were created by bringing together all of the correspondence about each school. The correspondence is from teachers, parents, the Education Department and District Offices, other Government Departments, Local Members and Education Ministers. Some school files are up to 15 boxes of papers; some are only a few centimetres thick.
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What can these records tell you about your town?
There are similarities between all of the school files through content and purpose. They reflect their times. The files cover both wars but particularly reflect the many impacts of World War 1. The files cover waves of illnesses – measles, typhoid, influenza, diphtheria. Women resign when they marry or from 1932 have their employment terminated when they marry as the employment of married women as lecturers and teachers was restricted. School buildings require repair, extension or replacement. Schools very strongly reflect the growth or decline of towns.
Ulladulla, Milton and Croobyar
The school files show the growth of the government school system in this area. Ulladulla and Croobyar opened in the early 1860s before these files began. Milton followed in 1878. Each of these schools began as public schools.
There was considerable competition between supporters of both Croobyar and Milton as to the best site for a school. An 1892 petition for a school at East Milton was unsuccessful. Croobyar Public School closed in 1934. A subsidised school continued on that site until 1942. Croobyar Public School moved and changed name having been Croobyar Reserve briefly. Both Ulladulla Public School and Milton Public School have continued on the same sites. Milton was a Central School between 1944 and 1973 providing secondary schooling for the district. The need for secondary schooling had been raised as early as 1918. Ulladulla High School opened in 1974 on land that had been reserved for the purpose in the 1960s.
The school at Ulladulla started in the School of the Arts before moving to a newly built school in 1879. New public school buildings were approved and built from the 1870s. School buildings and fences and school residences needed repairs very regularly over the years.
Schools closed for the local show and for a "Back to Milton Day" in 1924 but also for measles and heavy rain. Schools participated in Arbor Day activities. The donation of a flag pole from Warden Head was accepted, permission to graze horses in the playground was refused, Empire Day was celebrated, and first aid classes were held after school.
Teachers applied for leave (granted without pay) to see relatives before they went to World War 1 and to meet them when they returned. Teachers requested the replacement of items in the teacher's residence such as the stove and repairs and extensions to the residence; for exemption from teaching singing on medical grounds, participated in a Teachers Horticultural Society, applied for travelling expenses, dealt with unsafe drinking water, successfully applied to be able to go home for dinner (no more than half an hour), took free French classes after school, and struggled to find suitable accommodation.
Parents and Citizens groups (formal and informal) made representations in support of the schools in numerous matters – additional teachers, new buildings, installation of electric light in the teacher’s residence (they later paid for the installation) and for improved access to secondary education.
Digitised school files
Photographic collection
What are they?
The History Unit of the Department of School Education collected these photographs (from around 1963 to around 1991) when preparing school histories, research for public relations, or giving presentations.
Many photographs in this series [NRS-15051] are not official photographs, so they vary in subject, titling and image quality. There are no photographs for some schools.
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Ulladulla Public School
In 1960 Head Master of Ulladulla Public School Kelsey Snowden thought this large rock was interesting enough to warrant a photograph – perhaps a stone step from an earlier building.
Milton Public School
Two 1962 photographs at Milton Central School show secondary students and buildings.
Teacher career cards, 1908-1987
What are they?
These cards [NRS-15320] detail each teacher’s appointments during their career in NSW government schools and/or the Department of Education. They also have some personal information like date of birth and date and details of marriage.
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What can these records tell you about your town?
The career cards show how frequently teachers moved (generally every 3-5 years). Reimbursement of travelling expenses was very important particularly if travelling from Bellata (half way between Moree and Narrabri) to Milton as Frank Dwyer did or with a large family. James Byron was appointed to Croobyar as a pupil teacher in 1884 before the career cards started. His card shows his long career as a teacher. He resigned in 1945 after teaching at at least 21 schools.
Digitised teacher career cards
Follow the links below to browse cards for Ulladulla, Milton and Croobyar.
Ulladulla
Cora Artis NRS-15320-1-2-[2]
Alfred Bate NRS-15320-1-3-[3]
Hugh Bates NRS-15320-1-3-[3]
Michael Brennan NRS-15320-1-6-[6]
Thomas King NRS-15320-1-31-[31]
Grace Masson NRS-15320-1-38-[38]
Pembroke Masson NRS-15320-1-38-[38]
Tessa McCourt NRS-15320-1-35-[35]
Albert Morris NRS-15320-1-40-[40]
Kelsey Snowden NRS-15320-1-53-[53]
Rupert Woodhouse NRS-15320-1-62-[62]
Milton
William Bruce NRS-15320-1-7-[7]
JW Charlton NRS-15320-1-10-[10]
Roy Christison NRS-15320-1-10-[10]
Agnes Davidson NRS-15320-1-14-[14]
Frank Dwyer NRS-15320-1-16-[16]
Leslie Garside NRS-15320-1-20-[20]
Irwin Giovanelli NRS-15320-1-21-[21]
William Healey NRS-15320-1-25-[25]
Leonard Kaye NRS-15320-1-30-[30]
Annie King NRS-15320-1-31-[31]
Frederick Lappin NRS-15320-1-32-[32]
Lerida Lawson NRS-15320-1-32-[32]
Walter McGowan NRS-15320-1-35-[35]
John Morrow NRS-15320-1-40-[40]
Christian Petersen NRS-15320-1-45-[45]
Arthur Redfern NRS-15320-1-48-[48]
Frederic Turner NRS-15320-1-58-[58]
Croobyar
Herbert Buckland NRS-15320-1-7-[7]
James Byron NRS-15320-1-8-[8]
DW Howie NRS-15320-1-27-[27]
Cyrus Turnbull NRS-15320-1-57-[57]
Gerard Van Epen NRS-15320-1-58-[58]
Alfred Whiteoak NRS-15320-1-61-[61]
Site register cards, 1930
What are they?
These cards [NRS-3988] were compiled in the Department of Education and its successor agencies from approximately 1930, and record details of school sites purchased and subsequently disposed of since the early nineteenth century.
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What can these records tell you about your town?
The Croobyar site was given up in 1958 and the land sold.
Croobyar site register card [AF00192160 ]
The Mollymook site has not been used.
Croobyar site register card [AF00192160 ]
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West Wyalong school records
In this webinar recording explore the town of West Wyalong through the school records State Archives Collection