The Schools of Wamboin and Bywong

by David McDonald   [10-May-19]

Elsewhere on this website is an article that I authored titled ‘Wamboin’s Wyanga School’. Wyanga was the colonial-era name for what was characterised as the wild country at the head of Brooks Creek, in the Lake George Ranges, i.e. the eastern side of present-day Wamboin, and the south-east part of Bywong. I have been asked to provide additional information on the schools that previously operated in and close to Wamboin and Bywong.

Prior to the early 1860s, the area was very sparsely populated by European settlers, and the traditional Aboriginal custodians were no longer present. The selector era commenced in the early 1860s, and within a decade most of the land that is now Wamboin and Bywong had been taken up by selectors. Their land holdings were small, 40 to 320 acres in size. Some families had more than one selection, to make their pastoral enterprises viable.

With a denser population, comprised largely of families, came the need for schools for the children. The first in the area was the Sutton school which was established in May 1871 and it is, of course, still operating. The Wyanga school opened later the same year. It was followed (in succession) by Felled Timber, Kowen, Brooks Creek, Creekborough, Woodfield and Bywong. The last of these to close was Brooks Creek, in 1935.

During this era there were various classifications of schools, including private schools, those on privately-held land that were subsidised by the colonial government, provisional schools that had too few pupils to be the full financial responsibility of the government, formal public schools, etc. All were what we call elementary or primary schools, catering for young pupils. Details of the school types are online (NSW Department of Education 2019). The schools are listed below in order of their commencement.

Sutton school commenced as a provisional school in May 1871 and is still functioning. It is located on Victoria Street, Sutton.

Wyanga school commenced as a private school in Aug 1871 and closed in Dec 1874. It was located between Reedy Creek and Weeroona Road, Wamboin, east from a point on Weeroona Road 3 km from Norton Road and 2½ km from Denley Drive.

Kowen school is confusing as the name refers to two different locations with three different school names! The first opened at Felled Timber (aka Fell Timber), close to George Sparrow’s Hibernian Hotel, a few metres on the Queanbeyan side of the present roundabout on the King’s Highway leading to the Australian Defence Force’s Headquarters Joint Operations Command. The school opened at the ‘Felled Timber’ property as a provisional school in Feb 1875. The name was subsequently changed to Kohan school, and it closed in Nov 1878. It re-opened as a provisional school in Jul 1882, named Kowen school, at Glenburn, six kilometres to the north-west of Felled Timber. This school closed in 1913.

Brooks Creek school commenced as a provisional school in Jul 1884 and operated (with periods of closure) until 1935. It was location between the current Doust Road to the west and Brooks Creek to the east, approx. 500 m before the northern end of Doust Road. ‘Established in July 1884 with Miss Margaret McGrath as teacher, the school functioned at first on the eastern side of the creek very close to the later Federal Highway crossing, and in 1893 a perferable (sic) site on which a new school was promptly built was secured immediately across the creek’ (Lea-Scarlett 1972, p. 70). This was a gold rush area in the 1860s and 1870s. The name of the school is sometimes spelled ‘Brook’s Creek’ (including on official parish maps), but this is wrong as the creek is named after Richard Brooks (c.1765–1833) who was the first recipient of a land grant in the Bungendore area.

Creekborough school commenced as a provisional school in Feb 1885 and closed in Jul 1897. The school was on William Moore’s/John Walker’s freehold property ‘Creekborough’, alongside Bungendore Road, Bywong. This property was one of the first land acquisitions in our area, purchased by Moore in 1838 and subsequently owned by Walker. The property was one square mile (640 acres) and its boundaries can still be seen as the old crown roads marked on today’s maps. Morrison Road and Alchin Lane are on its original northern and western boundaries, respectively, and a line projected across Bungendore Road from Woolshed Lane would mark its original southern boundary. Snowgum Road runs through heart of the former station. Creekborough Road is more than two kilometres north of the former property’s original northern boundary.

Woodfield/Amungula school commenced as a provisional school called Woodfield on the Bingley family’s ‘Woodfield’ property in Sep 1888. The name was changed to Amungula school in Dec 1908 as the Woodfield Receiving Office (a type of post office) had its name changed then to Amungula Receiving Office. The school closed in Nov 1913. ‘Woodfield’ runs north and east from Sutton Road near when Amungula Creek passes beneath it. See the c. 1910 photograph of the pupils of the Woodfield school in Lea-Scarlett 1972, plate 82 between pages 162 & 163.

Bywong school commenced as a public school in Oct 1895 and closed in 1911. The school site was at the north-western corner of the former Village of Bywong, at the point where Donnelly Lane, Bywong, turns to the south. The Village of Bywong site was laid out in December 1895, after the most active period of gold mining in the area had ended. It is now private property, with no visiting permitted.

Confusingly, Lea-Scarlett (1972, p. 90) states that ‘A public school known as “Bywong” also existed near Emu Flat until about 1940…it also helped to draw the name Bywong far from the old sheep-station.’ Emu Flat Road runs off Bungendore Road. If any readers can shed light on Lea-Scarlett’s statement about the Bywong school near Emu Flat, I will be delighted to hear from them.

Further information

The Hall School Museum & Heritage Centre has a skilfully-presented, information-packed display titled Early Capital Region Government Schools and Teachers, and an accompanying online data base documenting over 70 of the area’s schools. Highly recommended.

Sources