11. Education in the Marrar District

The First School At Marrar
Although it was not until 1880 that the Public Instruction Act was passed by the New South tales Parliament, and education allegedly became 'free, compulsory and secular', there was a considerable movement throughout the colony during the seventies for schools to be provided or aided for the benefit of the colony's children.  On March 10, 1878, the Secretary of the Council of Education, William Wilkins, received a letter from a number of residents in the parish of Marrar:

We the undersigned residents of the parish of Marrar, situated about thirteen miles from North Wagga most respectfully solicit your influence on behalf of the residents of this neighbourhood in establishing a Government school in this vicinity.

Wilkins returned the appropriate application forms to the residents' spokesman.

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A Formal Application
On April 19, 1878 a formal application for government aid to a Provisional school at Marrar was submitted by six farmers, Alexander Munro, Thomas Ryan, James Hessian, John Roberts, William Taylor, and Michael Comell.  They claimed that there were at least ten boys and fourteen girls between the ages of four and fourteen living within a two miles radius of the proposed school, and as the population was steadily increasing, this number could be expected to grow in the future.

Commenting on the application, the district inspector, Mr. G. O'Byme, conceded that the settlement would undoubtedly grow, as there was abundant land, indeed very fertile land, for new settlers, but that he did not expect the number of potential pupils in the early stages would exceed eighteen.  Under these circumstances, he recommended to the Council that the applicants should be informed that aid would only be given when they had erected and furnished a suitable temporary school building.

At ten shillings for one hundred feet of good pine, it was not an expensive outlay for the residents to meet.  O'Byrne selected a two acre site (with an adjoining two acre horse paddock) which took into account future needs.  On December 13, William Taylor informed the Council that a thirty foot by fourteen foot sawn timber building with iron roof, and adequate desks, had been completed.  He went on to express the hope that the school might be opened immediately after the Christmas vacation, and that an 'elder lady' might be appointed to take charge of the school.

Asked to indicate the scale of fees proposed for the school, Taylor replied:
One child would pay 1/- per week.
Two children in the same family would pay 9d per week.
Three children in the same family would pay 8d per week.
Four children in the same family would pay 71/2d per week,
and each additional child in the same family would pay 6d per week.

Open At Last
The rapidity with which the residents made their preparations for the opening of their school was not matched by the Council's ability to find a suitable teacher to take charge.  Throughout February and March, various inspectors were asked to suggest the names of possible appointees.  Eventually it was Miss Rosanne Maginnity, who was instructed to open the school on April 24, 1879.

Miss Maginnity conducted the school for the remainder of 1879, but ill health in her family forced her to submit her resignation at the end of the year.  The parents were disappointed, for she had, in the words of Mr. Taylor, the local committee secretary and Mr. Roberts, the chairman, 'been a good teacher against whom we have had no complaints.

She was replaced in February 1880 by twenty-six year old Mrs. Sophia Stafford.  Although she had been educated at the National School in Wagga Wagga, and the Young Ladies Private School conducted by Mrs. Large in the same town, she had not been trained as a teacher.  However this did not appear to adversely affect the quality of her teaching, and she maintained the standards of education inaugurated by her predecessor.  Ill health and the need to find more suitable accommodation for her two young children, compelled her to resign in May 1881.

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Confidence ... And Closure
Meanwhile, confident that the school would survive, and apparently grow, the Council, and from 1880, its successor, the Department of Public Instruction, had put in train the process whereby a piece of land was to be set aside and dedicated for public school use in Marrar.  The application for a two acre site and a reserve of ten acres in the Parish of Malebo, County of Clarendon, sought in September 1878 was approved by the Lands Department in July 1880.

Notwithstanding this acquisition of land, a decision was made in February 1882 to close the Marrar Provisional School.  William Gray, who had succeeded Mrs. Stafford in June, 1881 reported to the new inspector Mr. D. Hicks that in November and December, 1881 attendances had dropped to sixteen and with several families expected to leave the district in the new year, there would be fewer than eleven pupils eligible to attend/the school if it reopened after the vacation.  Gray was transferred in February to Cuddell, and the equipment in the Marrar school moved to Downside.

A School at The Pinnacle
A little over a year (application submitted September 20, 1880) after the Marrar school had been opened, a group of residents surrounding a hill in the parish of Marrar called The Pinnacle submitted an application for a Provisional school in their own area.  The group of farmers and graziers comprising Messrs Hannan, Britt, Wooden, Robertson and Erskine, contended that there were at least seventeen children who would attend such a school if it were established.  However, as there already were several schools within the general area, and some of the seventeen children in fact walked the four miles or so to attend one of these, the Department chose to decline the application.

A further attempt in February 1882 met with a similar response.  In the opinion of the Department's agent, Inspector Hicks, the area was not sufficiently settled to warrant the establishment of a school, and certainly the distribution of children was such as to render the selection of an acceptable centrally located site nigh impossible.  Despite the offer by Mr. Hannan of a temporary slab building, the previous decision was maintained.

In August it was a different story.  The Marrar school had closed in February and there were said to be eighteen children being deprived of educational opportunities.  At The Pinnacle it was claimed there were now eighteen pupils as well in need of a school.  A building was offered at The Pinnacle by Mr. McNickle and two desks and two forms were acquired.

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A Teacher Appointed
On October 17, 1882 Clarence Dyce was appointed as the teacher of the Half Time schools at The Pinnacle and Marrar.  The intention was that he should reside at Marrar and travel between the schools, spending about an equal amount of time each week in both.  It was not until November 13 that Dyce actually commenced lessons, and as it eventuated, most of his time was spent at The Pinnacle School.  By the end of the year it was quite clear that a continued decline in population, coupled with the willingness of at least three of the children to attend The Pinnacle School, that the Marrar School should be closed again.

Accordingly when The Pinnacle school opened after the summer vacation, it did so as a Provisional school with an enrolment of thirty-one pupils.  The materials which had not already been transferred from Marrar to Downside were added to the stock at The Pinnacle.

Although the school had grown numerically, it had not been without its problems.  In February Dyce was compelled by a severe shortage of water to repeat an earlier request for a four hundred gallon tank.  The school possessed neither a tank nor a well, and the only water that could be obtained was to be had from 'a deep and dangerous tank a quarter of a mile hence'.  In March a tank was installed at a cost of £6/-/-.

The rapid increase in enrolments and average attendances early in 1883 posed an accommodation crisis as well.  An additional desk and an additional form were sought, but this did not solve the overall problem.  So a tent was supplied to replace the existing building as a teaching area, although the latter was retained for storage purposes.

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In Place of a Tent
In May 1884, twelve months after the school had been classified as a Public School, the Department acknowledged that the tent was in such a dilapidated condition that more satisfactory accommodation was most essential.  Mr. J. McIntosh was authorised to erect a simple wooden building after the style of the rooms he had constructed in recent months at Coolamon and Grong Grong.  The new building, placed alongside the tent, cost £124/13/9 and was occupied for the first time on October 15, 1884.

Confident that the school's future growth was assured, a site for a permanent school was surveyed in October 1883 and dedicated a short time later.  It was a block of two acres, a short distance from the existing site, upon Mr. George McNickle's conditional purchase.

In April 1887, Clarence Dyce married Margaret Macrae, daughter of one of the settlers.  For a time the couple lived in the Macrae household, but in October 1888, he was granted a transfer to a school which possessed a residence.  His successor, George Hewitson took over the school on October 31.

The remainder of the decade was apparently uneventful.  The year 1890 opened with an outbreak of opthalmia which reduced attendances significantly.  In April 1890, as a result of a continued decline in attendances at both The Pinnacle Public School and Yathella Provisional School, it was decided that both schools should revert to Half Time schools with each other.  In February, Hewtson had reported that:

There are nineteen pupils enrolled in the school, of which six live within two mires of the school.  The average attendance for the last quarter was 18.4; the average attendance so far this year 8.5.

Miss Hamilton reported that at Yathella, some five miles distant,

There are seventeen pupils enrolled at the school.  Nine live within two miles of the school.  The average attendance for the last quarter was 14.9 but the average attendance for this year has been only 11.8.

The continued operation of the two schools, each with its own teacher could not be justified on such figures.  However, difficulty in finding an alternative position for Miss Hamilton, who had been at Yathella since May 1887, delayed the implementation of the change until July.

The Pinnacle Half Time School continued to operate (although its name was changed to, Eurandelong in December 1890) until June 1894.  At that time the average attendances at both schools had fallen so low (Eurandelong 5.3 and Yathella 9.4) that it was decided to close both schools.  In December, as a result of the residents' pleas, Yathella was reopened as a Provisional school but Eurandelong was left closed.  Some of the pupils who had attended the latter school walked the extra distance to Yathella.