My Dad,
Allan John Curry, used to talk about his time at
Bangaroo Public School near
Canowindra, NSW. He enjoyed his school days. Today I took to
Trove to see if I could locate any information on the school.
In spite of leaving school at 13 to work on the family farm Dad's literacy and numeracy skills were well developed. He must have received a good foundation in the 3rs during his time at Bangaroo.
As there were two schools at Bangaroo I was never sure which one Dad attended but in reading through articles on Trove I have concluded that it was Bangaroo school that Dad attended not Bangaroo North.
Dad used talk of his teacher
A. Grabham. Trove confirmed that Mr Grabham was at Bangaroo School as he received a transfer from that school to another in 1932 (When Dad was 13). I can't remember Dad mentioning
P. O'Donaghue who took over from Grabham.
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1932 'SCHOOL TEACHERS.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 27 July, p. 6. , viewed 15 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16889096
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Grabham had been transferred from Coolah to Bangaroo in 1928.
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| 1928 'THE SCHOOLS', Tweed Daily (Murwillumbah, NSW : 1914 - 1949), 7 July, p. 6. , viewed 15 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191577701 |
Another article tells me that Grabham passed some teachers' exams and confirmed what Dad told me, Grabham's first name was Alan.
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| 1931 'SCHOOL TEACHERS.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 6 August, p. 6. , viewed 15 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16798810 |
Dad never mentioned Miss Gellately who must have taught him in his early years at the school.
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| 1925 'PROMOTED TO BANGAROO.',Narromine News and Trangie Advocate (NSW : 1898 - 1955), 10 June, p. 2. , viewed 15 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119988730 |
Another article reports on the success of John McCarron who would have been one of Dad's classmates in the small school at Bangaroo.
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| 1931 'Canowindra', The Carcoar Chronicle (NSW : 1878 - 1943), 13 March, p. 5. , viewed 15 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103557255 |
The school at Bangaroo is long since gone. Hopefully in a year or two I can return to Trove and, in the newly digitised resources find more information on Dad's Alma Mater.
It's amazing what a picture of the school you can pick up just using Trove. Does NSW have a history of every school in the State similar to Victoria's 3 volume Visions and Realizations ?
ReplyDeleteI haven't looked for such a resource yet. Sadly there are no files for Bangaroo School at State Records NSW.
ReplyDeleteI have in my hand a hardcover book, Shakespeare's Hamlet, which is signed inside the cover "Alan K. Grabham, 1928, Bangaroo, Canowindra".
ReplyDeleteAs a retired teacher, it is interesting to me that this book was owned and studied almost a century ago by a teacher in a country school.
My guess is that Mr Grabham himself studied this book for his own progression and possibly the in-service exams that teachers used to take to complete their qualifications, as it is also noted: "for textual study of Acts 1, 2 and 3". It certainly doesn't look like it was handled by students.
Just guessing, of course.
Anyhow, thank you so much for posting that information on the internet so that I can appreciate this little old book that I picked up at a second-hand shop in Canberra!
Best wishes, Ross Kelly, May 2020.