Stanmore History

Stanmore School began life on April 7, 1884. Before that it was part of Thomas Rowley's Kingston Farm on which he grazed sheep. Thomas Rowley was an army officer and later a magistrate. He was first granted land in 1793.

Before that the Dharug people owned the land, and the area around Stanmore was probably a favourite area for hunting. Early British settlers called the area "The Kangaroo Ground" as the local Aborigines used fire to promote the growth of new grass and attract kangaroos and other animals. Nearby Johnston's Creek was big enough to provide a permanent supply of fresh water.

Rowley Street, Kingston Street and Johnston Street are all named from this time.

Starting Big

From the very beginning Stanmore was a large school - 240 children but by the end of the first year enrolments had risen to 539. In the 1930s when over 2000 pupils were enrolled, few schools in Sydney could match its size. One reason Stanmore became such a large school was that from 1886 to 1961 it was also a secondary school. Apart from the original building the school was a crowded clutter of temporary buildings.

The classrooms looked a lot different in those days. The primary school consisted of just one room, which held 168 children and four teachers! There were three blocks of long desks and forms on a stepped floor, plus a steep gallery or tiered area that contained forms only. With so many children in the same room the teachers had to carefully alternate noisy and silent lessons. Discipline was very strict and learning was often by repetition. Children were drilled in their lessons until they were word perfect.

The infants rooms each housed about 70 children, and were even more inflexible than the primary classrooms, as they had only galleries and a handful of desks. Infants did very little writing, and they used slates perched on their knees.

Stanmore P.S. 1886 Building

Stanmore School grew so rapidly that by the end of 1885 a separate girls department was established and the second wing of the original building was added to make its present U shape. In 1886 the school's status was raised to Superior Public School which meant it taught several levels beyond the basic 4 years of primary schooling. Superior Public Schools had low fees and were a cheap and popular alternative to High Schools. By 1900 Sydney had 100 Superior Public Schools, and only 4 High Schools as we know them today.

Historic Tree
Sir Henry Parkes doesn't just have a town named after him. On September 1st 1888 he planted a Norfolk Pine at the school, which still grows there today. This ceremony was the forerunner of Arbor Day which was implemented statewide in 1890.

Top Poet Teaches at Stanmore
From 1891 to 1895, one of the school's assistant teachers in the girls department was Mary Cameron, better known as Dame Mary Gilmore. She was the daughter of a rural worker and after deciding she wanted to be a teacher, sat the admittance exam and topped the state. As well as teaching she was involved in a number of radical causes, including the great strikes of the early 1890s and the "New Australia" movement which planned to establish a utopian settlement in South America. She resigned in 1895 to sail for the settlement in Paraguay, After returning to Australia in 1902 she went on to have a distinguished writing career. At the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, the actor Jack Thompson recited one her best known poems, "Old Botany Bay".

Overcrowding was a continual part of Stanmore School's history. In 1886 the infants department had an average attendance of over 200 and the mistress, an assistant teacher and 3 pupil teachers worked in just 2 rooms. Pupil teachers were as young as 12 years old.

More Students Arrive

In 1894 when Stanmore's enrolment passed 1000 the overcrowding was so serious the Education Department decided to erect a new building and make it the infants department. It was built on the North East of the site and at present is used by Distance Education teachers.

One of the neighbours was not happy. He complained;

Stanmore continued to grow. By 1899 it reached 1400. In the Primary section there were 970 students but only 600 seats at desks.

In 1904 a major reform known as New Education began to be introduced in New South Wales schools and the Education Department was forced to re-consider the school's accommodation. Pupils were to learn by doing and understanding what they learned, rather than the old rote method. However these changes could only be introduced if the traditional buildings were altered, abolishing the long schoolrooms, stepped floors and fixed furniture, replacing them with rooms designed for one class and one teacher with dual desks or movable tables and chairs. All this would take more space.

That same year the department architect recommended a new two storey building. (The foundations of the original 1884 building couldn't support a second storey.) This was not followed through. New Education was brought in, in a piecemeal way, with some of the galleries being removed and replaced by desks. Despite constant overcrowding no permanent addition was made to accommodation for 19 years.

The Education Department did buy "Mona Villa" the house belonging to their unhappy neighbour and converted it to classrooms. It later knocked down and replaced by the present administration block.

In 1921, the Director of Education said overcrowding at the school was "one of the 3 worst cases in the metropolitan area". Finally in 1923 a massive building program was carried out and the two storey building along Cavendish St was erected and became the boy's department.

In 1913 the government began to expand post primary education. At the time only 5% of children in NSW continued beyond primary! The secondary part of the school was re-organised to specialise in Domestic Science and Commercial studies. There wasn't the room at Stanmore for it to be Technical High School.

Other high schools such as Newtown and Wilkins were established and eventually the number of boys in the Stanmore secondary school began to fall. 1944 was the last year secondary boys attended. It remained Stanmore Girls Junior High until 1962. The primary pupils then had the site to themselves for the first time since 1886.

In the 1960s A Block, the Administration Building was built, occupying the site of the old house "Mona Villa". Wal Fife M.P. opened the Library in 1965. Then in the 1970s B block was built and the school site was considerably extended by purchases of adjoining houses and flats.

Patriotic P&C

The P&C was established in 1916. Not much is known about its early activities but in 1918 it awarded a War Bond prize for the best essay written by a Stanmore School boy on 'the growth of the British Empire'

The P&C also raised funds for the School Library and were responsible in 1936 for installing the first electric lights in the girls building.

Stanmore School Band, 1921

Pupils of Note

Syd Barnes 1916 - 1973
Syd Barnes is one of Australia's most famous cricketers. He played for Australia in 13 test matches and was Don Bradman's partner in a 5th wicket record of 405 which has never been beaten. A wicket keeper and batsman, he was one of the great close-to wicket fieldsmen. Apart from Bradman he was probably the most influential player in the test team.

He was a poor boy, often without shoes. He began school in 1922 and lived with his widowed mother in Northumberland Avenue.

Stanmore School cricket team, 1929.
Sid Barnes is second from the right in the centre row.

Neville Amadio. Born 1913
Neville Amadio was a pupil at Stanmore from 1918-1923. He became a flautist and spent 50 years Principal Flute with the ABC Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

He has been a soloist with many of the world's leading conductors such as Sir Thomas Beecham and he's worked with numerous singers including Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Lisa Perli. He was a foundation performer for Musica Viva and of the acclaimed New Sydney Woodwind Quintet.

Neville Amadio came from a musical family. His brother Clive who also attended Stanmore was a world famous saxophone and clarinet player. His other brother Leon is a fine trumpet player.

Harold Robertson. Born 1924
Harold Robertson is a famous soccer player. He played 20 matches for Australia and 350 first class matches with the Leichhardt - Annandale Club, later known as Apia.

He started at Stanmore in 1924 in the infants and stayed until 1930. After graduating from North Newtown Intermediate High School he became a fitter and turner. Later he studied design drafting and became a design engineer with Austral Bronze Company.

He set an Australian record by playing outside left in 12 successive tests.

Stanmore Teachers

Mary Gilmore: see above.

Emily MacWhirter: Stanmore Girls Mistress 1919-1930.
She began work as a twelve year old pupil teacher in 1877 and in 1892 at the age of 27, achieved the Education Department's highest classification. She married and resigned in 1900 but returned to teaching in 1913. She taught at Stanmore until her retirement in 1930, just before the Department began to dismiss married teachers. She encouraged a strong sense of identity and pride, particularly in the secondary girls. She also lobbied strongly for more resources and better accommodation.

Mrs. Grace O'Brien:
Grace O'Brien was an assistant teacher at Stanmore and a temporary teacher during World War 1. She was an excellent singing teacher and from 1921, with her coaching, the Stanmore girls won first place in the Annual Tonic Sol-fa Competition for School Choirs 9 times out of 12.

Unfortunately in 1932, as the Depression loomed, the government decided to save money by passing the Married Women (Lecturers and Teachers) Act, which allowed the dismissal of women whose husbands earned a minimum wage, regardless of the circumstances or service of the women concerned. Stanmore's choral performances were an important way of raising funds for textbooks and the Girls mistress, Ethel Wicht wrote to the Department asking to keep Grace O'Brien until the end of that year. The request was not granted and Grace O'Brien was dismissed in August.