Shepparton’s first public state school
My decision to come to Shepparton in 1980 was not my idea but one made for me by the education department.
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I had finished my Diploma of Teaching at Bendigo Teachers College the year before but did not secure a teaching position, so I enrolled in a physical education degree course at the University of Western Australia in Perth.
Halfway through the first year I received a letter saying I was offered a teaching position at Bourchier St Primary School.
I jumped at the opportunity and organised a lift with a stranger to make the long trip back across the Nullarbor to Victoria.
And the rest is history for another time.
A couple of years ago Peter Matthews and I started a project with the Greater Shepparton Secondary College called ‘Honouring the Past’.
They provided the resources and the impetus to begin collating the establishment and proud histories of many well-loved schools across our district, including the four secondary schools that merged into the new college.
Part of the project was set up a website listing current schools, and those that have closed (now lost) and a brief history of each:
www.greater-shepparton-schools.weebly.com/shepparton-ss
Shepparton’s first public state school, commonly known as the Fryers St School, has a very interesting history.
It was originally located where GOTAFE is now.
This early history of the school was written by L. J. Blake in 1973:
Shepparton State School: No. 1469
“This school opened in a leased Wesleyan Chapel on 16th of November 1874 to serve the neighbouring land selectors and the children of the townspeople, as Shepparton grew following selection under the 1869 Land Act.
Maria Crimp, Head Teacher in the leased building, remained as Head Teacher of the new school from its first use on 8th of July 1875 until the end of September when she was succeeded by William Lievesley.
Lievesley occupied the residence; he had a large family, and kept a ‘servant’; to meet his need for accommodation — additional rooms had to be added with corresponding increases in his rent.
John Furphy, brother of Samuel Furphy of Colbinabbin whose son Joseph became the well-known author, was Correspondent of Board of Advice 311 which advised on Shepparton School.
John Furphy’s family manufactured in Shepparton the well-known Furphy tanks, used to transport water for the land selectors, and used at Gallipoli during World War I.
Selection was successful in the Shepparton district, and attendance at SS1469 grew, causing the Wesleyan Chapel to be brought back into use, the enrolment in 1880 being 260.
Brick rooms 40ft x 20ft were built in 1880 and 1883; a veranda was added to the residence, and yet another brick room added in 1888.
Town water was laid on in 1889, and a number of pepper trees, the ubiquitous shade trees of the Northern plains, were planted in 1890.
Yet another brick classroom 35ft x 20ft was supplied in 1891, and the original wooden classroom became part of the residence.
A further acre of land was added to the 11 originally reserved by the Benalla Rd.
With the average attendance over 400 in 1901, two more rooms were required.
In 1905, town residents paid for removal of SS1944 Tallygaroopna to the grounds, to be set up as a model infant room.
Education for post-primary children was provided by the school from 1909 till 1912 when the Agricultural High School commenced.
However secondary pupils remained associated with the primary school.
The Correspondent of the Committee wrote in September 1912: ‘They (the High School young men) have to come to the State School closets which are not fit for gentlemen’s sons to use’ (though apparently suitable for primary children). SS1469 was extensively remodelled in 1913 at a cost of £5,477, and continued as the only primary school in the town of Shepparton until after the second World War. By Ministerial Order of 27th of February 1957, the school was conducted as an adjunct of 4742 Shepparton (known as Bourchier Street State School). The lively development, particularly in numbers, of the primary school population in Shepparton is accounted for by successful irrigation, closer and soldier settlement in the district throughout this century, and in more recent decades, by the extension of manufacturing industries.”
(Vision and realisation: a centenary history of state education in Victoria/general editor, L.J. Blake)
Comments from our Lost Shepparton Facebook fans:
Bob McKellar: Happy memories of that school. I started there in 1940 and can still remember every detail with the school ringed by peppercorns. Marbles was the game at playtime. I could go on ...
Debbie Harris: I was there in 1961 & 62 then the Girls school took over. I then went to Bourchier St after that then back to Fryers St to the Girls School.
Joan Coulstock: Loved the peppercorn trees and we used to squash the peppercorns in the puddles on a rainy day and make rainbow colours. Such a long time ago.
Sandra Lyle: I remember going there and then when St George’s Road opened I was transferred there. I remember the tomato fights from the factory across the road and also the loud speaker in the class room announcing the King is dead.
Lynette Aglinskas: I started primary school there in 1955. I left and went to Boucher Street when it was built and then returned when I graduated to Shepparton Girls Secondary School in 1962.
Gerard Shanahan: Our late father, Tony Shanahan, taught at Fryers Street Primary School from mid 1953 until mid 1956.
Norm Tinker: I started school there in 1951 and then went to St Georges Road the first day it opened.
Pamela Thomas: I went there in 1951 and I had Miss Bartels as a teacher. I then transferred to Gowrie Street for Grades 5 & 6.
Peter Cobb: Miss Bartels was a tuff old girl. She used to give me the cuts because I was left handed.
Jean Kevin: I went there in the late forties when Mrs Young, Cath Harrington and Mrs Saddler were teachers.
Sharyn Read: That’s the school where Mrs Mason started her teaching career until she moved to other schools in the region.
Shepparton Freezing Works part two: Calamity for Shepparton
By Peter Matthews
It’s not widely known that a huge fire within a mile of the old Shepparton Post Office in Wyndham St set Shepparton back on its heels in 1919.
Shepparton Freezing Works was one of the major employers in Shepparton, with an extensive factory for processing meat products.
The company had been established in 1914 south-west of the railway line off Wyndham St, initially for freezing processed lambs for export, though at periods during the company’s history, rabbits were also frozen.
On Wednesday, March 19, 1919, a fire started in the vicinity of the freezing chamber in the early morning (thought to be the fusing of electrical wires), and spread out to completely consume the killing and freezing facilities.
It is reported that just under 80,000 carcases of mutton and lamb were destroyed.
Such was the extent of the fire, it burnt for a month, while the recovery and boiling down of meat lasted for 10 days.
One can only imagine the noise and smoke and smell lingering over the town.
Fighting the fire was very difficult — the freezing works was outside the town water area — and there was a small dam to draw from on the premises.
Fire brigade reports show that the manual engines of the Shepparton and Mooroopna brigades were used, and the assistance of the townspeople, including ladies, in working the manual pumps was very favourable.
The final cost of the fire approached £100,000, the equivalent in today’s dollars of $7.5 million.
The freezing works was insured, and the payout was received even before the fire was extinguished.
A new factory was built in 1920, operating until 1922 when the company had financial difficulties.
It reopened in 1928, but that’s a whole new story.
Pics of the past columnist