City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

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DAREBIN HERITAGE STUDY STAGE 2former Lakeside Primary School in Reservoir and converted it to a Linh Son Buddhistmonastery. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Melbourne and draws people from across themetropolitan area. It also demonstrates the movement of people of Vietnamese origins intoDarebin in the last decade or so (www.linhson.org.au).Figure 75Construction of the TraditionalBuddhist Gate and Archway,Reservoir, 2001[Melbourne Linh Son BuddhistCongregation, accessedhttp://www.linhson.org.au/developments.htm]Indigenous ChristianityAs noted above, Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls received his Christian conversion experience in theNorthcote Church of Christ in the 1930s, and subsequently became an ordained Pastor. Heestablished a significant ministry to Aboriginal people, particularly in the Fitzroy district.Much later, the Catholic Church developed a ministry to the Darebin Aboriginal community,as a result of a Papal visit to Australia. When Pope Paul VI visited Sydney in 1970, headdressed the Aboriginal people:We know that you have a lifestyle proper to your own ethnic genius and culture - a culture whichthe Church respects and which she does not in any way ask you to renounce …. We deeplyrespect your dignity and reiterate our deep affection for you.Pope John Paul II, in his 1986 Australian tour, strongly affirmed these sentiments, and therecognition of Indigenous peoples’ ancient occupancy of and spiritual attachment to the land.(‘Address to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders’, pp 166-7) Such Papal encouragementgave impetus for the Aboriginal Catholic Church to be established and to bring the CatholicAboriginal community together. The Aboriginal Catholic Ministry in St George’s RoadThornbury is a local outcome of this.Another Aboriginal Christian Group in Darebin is the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship. TheAEF was formed in 1970 at Port Augusta in South Australia and is now a nationwide Christiangroup, which encourages Aboriginal Christians in leadership, fellowship and responsibility.The AEF occupies the former Presbyterian church in Rossmoyne Street, Thornbury (AEFwebsite).7.2 EducatingThe story of education in Darebin focuses on the establishment of State education, althoughthere were a few notable private schools in the area. Secondary education was not available inthe area until the mid to late 1920s, when separate schools for boys and girls were opened. Intimes of rapid growth, after both World Wars, Darebin suffered from a shortage of schools, soadditions and extensions are part of the heritage of many old schools in the area.106
VOLUME 2: THEMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORYChurch, National and Common schoolsBefore the establishment of the State school system in 1872, education was provided by localcommunity groups, particularly churches, who gained some government funding towards thebuilding and running of schools. The National Board of Education functioned from 1851 to1862 managing government-funded non-denominational schools, of which 193 were builtthroughout Victoria, while there was a Denominational Board to see to the church-runschools. This was all superseded by the Common Schools Act, 1862, which was designed toimprove the standard of education, and to end sectarian rivalries over competition for funds,thus giving education a secular focus (Victorian Year Book, 1973:477-8). Church ordenominational schools sometimes became National or Common schools if they obtainedGovernment Funding. Some Common schools became State schools after the introduction offree, compulsory and secular education in 1873.Darebin’s earliest school appears to have been the one run by the Wesleyans in the littleschoolhouse in High Street Northcote, opened in 1854. The bluestone building was used forworship and Sunday School, as well as for other community functions, as noted above. It wasthen the only school within a two mile radius. In 1859 the Primitive Methodists began aschool, presumably in their High Street church just down the road from the Wesleyan School.The teachers were John and Hannah Dunkerly, who had run a private school in Manchester.The church was running this school without any government assistance because they did notrealise they were eligible until the All Saints Church in Westgarth applied for funding to start aschool. The Denominational Schools Board Inspector assessed the situation and the number ofchildren in the district, and decided that there were not sufficient children for three schools.He refused the application from the Primitive Methodists in favour of the Church of England.Lemon suggests that there may have been a hint of sectarianism in this decision. TheDunkerleys then applied, unsuccessfully, to the National Schools Board for funding, sayingthat they were no longer connected with the church and would give the children an‘unsectarian education’ (Lemon, 1983:45-6, 50-2).In 1863 Richard Tobin took over the Wesleyan school, and remained to run the newNorthcote State School, when it opened in 1874. Both the Wesleyan and Anglican schoolsclosed at that time.The Preston Wesleyans also had a school at their church site on the corner of High and TylerStreets in the 1860s, as did the Anglicans at All Saints, but it is not known when theycommenced. In 1864 residents at Preston South, then known as Gowerville, applied forfunding for a Common school. Land was donated, and funds raised to attract the pound forpound government subsidy. In 1865 the Gowerville School opened in a small wooden buildingon the south-east corner of Raglan and Albert Streets. This became Gowerville State Schoolunder the Education Act 1872, and was later rebuilt in Hotham Street in 1878. It was renamedSouth Preston State School in 1902 (Carroll, 1985:39-41).Private schoolsBefore the introduction of State education it was common for families or individuals, especiallywomen, to run small private enterprise schools. These proliferated in built-up areas such asPrahran, but only a few have been noted in early Darebin’s scattered communities. PrestonGrammar School was established in 1869 by Eugene Rodda in a large house in High StreetNorth Preston. Its patrons included the Gardiner family of Bundoora Park, but the school wasforced to close in 1891 (Lemon, 1983:98). As Darebin’s population began to increase in theboom years several more opened, including that of Miss Fraser, daughter of Rev. Fraser, whotaught eight students in the manse. In 1896, daughters of the vicar of All Saints Prestonopened the Preparatory High School (Lemon, 1983:98; Forster, 1968:60).The Misses Westgarth ran a ‘High School’ for young ladies in Clifton Hill, which they namedWestleigh College after they expanded into Northcote. The school was accommodated in twolarge houses, one at 212 Clarke Street and the other, Leura in Bayview Street. In 1912,Westleigh College had an enrolment of 106 primary and secondary students. By then the107
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CONTENTSVOLUME 1: THEMATIC ENVIRONM
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CRITERION E:VOLUME 2: THEMATIC ENVI
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City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

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