7. Early Schools in Wattle Flat
During the 1st 30 years of the Wattle Flat community (1851-1881), the population fluctuated considerably with transient gold seekers. A good number of prospectors stayed, made Wattle Flat their home & raised families. There were many children in need of schooling. In 1854 a small private school was established in a shed behind Beath’s Prospect Inn.
In 1857 a government public school was established on the site of the present public school. Initially this was a timber slab building, but in 1872 and again in 1883 was upgraded with brick buildings which are still in use today.
The push for “secularisation” of education by the 1866 Public Schools Act was not acceptable to many of the Catholic faith, and many Catholic children no longer attended the public schools. Within this context Father Julian Tenison Woods & Sister Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph in South Australia in 1867. This was an unorthodox community of nuns dedicated to the education of children in Australia.
In 1870 Father Tenison Woods gave a mission in Wattle Flat. A need for a Catholic school here was recognised and some sisters were promised. Teaching started in 1870 using basic resources, and was later improved with a brick convent building in 1876.
During the 1870’s a Lodge of Orangemen in Wattle Flat protested the establishment of the convent with street parades & letters in newspapers, but over successive years significant student numbers were maintained in both the public & Catholic schools.
The old brick Public School building is still being used today. Older 1872 part on left & 1883 part on right.
The brick St Joseph’s Convent building opened in 1876, and closed in 1959.
In the old brick building across the road from the Solitary Site, an extended family with roots in Ireland ran a general store that served the community for a great many years. This store was initially established by Henry Stuart in 1860, and was then passed through his extended family carrying the names McCarthy & Ireland. Members of this family were close to the Sisters of St Joseph, and Saint Mary MacKillop is believed to have stayed in this building during her visits to Wattle Flat in 1870’s.
It is not widely known, that Father Julian Tenison-Woods was also an accomplished scientist in many fields, especially geology. He was president of the Linnean Society of NSW 1879-1881.
Mary MacKillop with 2 children – bronze sculpture at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, Adelaide.
Plaque on the grave of Julian Tenison Woods at Waverley Cemetery