On 5th of February 1873, an application for a school at Lamplough was received from twelve parents with 35 children. Patrick Fogarty was the Correspondent. School began on 23rd of June 1873 in an old weatherboard store with iron roof and measuring 23ftx21ft. At first lent by (later leased from) Cartwright, it stood on the corner of Ballaarat and Amphitheatre Sts. The HT was William Bredel Matthews. DI [District Inspector of Schools] Bolam, 25th of June 1873, recommended leasing the building for £10 p.a., and advised that a site be obtained. One of 2 acres 11 chains 68 links from S angle of Allotment 4, Section 1, was gazetted on 12th of December 1873. On this, a wooden building 30ftx18ft with three skillion rooms attached was built by W. Ashley for £374 18s. Rent for the residence was £12 p.a. (reduced to £9 in 1878). The new school was first used on 1st of July 1875. NE [net enrolment] declined to 15 in 1902, and SS1239 was closed in July 1902, reopening part-time with SS1579 Homebush on 24th of January 1905: Lamplough resumed full-time on 8th of October 1908. NE in 1909 was 33 and in 1911, 35. Mrs J. Gibson was Correspondent of the first 1911 Committee. Reports in 1914 describe the building as being in very good condition. In February 1916 HT M.B. Isaac, occupied the residence which, prior to this, had been used as a shelter shed and play-house. Painting and repairs to the school and residence were carried out in 1925. In 1933, the residence, now unoccupied, was being used by passing tramps and left in a dirty condition. No. 1239 was closed on 20th of September 1949.
Avoca Shire Heritage Study 1864-1994 Volume 3
FILE No.: AD10 Lamplough State School 1239
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Lamplough state school No. 1239 is a timber structure built in 1875. It has significance for its characteristic qualities, its associations and importance as a landmark. The school is characteristic of the small timber schools built as a combined school and teacher's residence by the Education Department from 1873 until 1890. It is one of the only buildings to survive in Lamplough, and it is viewed as a local landmark to which the identity of Lamplough is now attached.
HISTORY
During the Lamplough goldrushes in late 1859, the population of the area was estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000. However by the 1870s Lamplough was a far smaller and more settled community of farmers and miners. The first school at Lamplough was established in response to an application from twelve Lamplough parents on behalf of thirty-five children early in 1873. The application was written by Patrick Fogarty who stated:
A school will be of the greatest benefit here, as there are many children receiving no instruction at all and are growing up in the greatest ignorance. The nearest schools to Lamplough are those at Avoca, Spring Flat and Lillicur, and these places are each four miles distant from us.
Classes were initially held in an old weatherboard store with an iron roof which stood on the corner of Ballarat and Amphitheatre Streets and which the Education Department leased from Mr Cartwright.
On 25 June 1873 the District Inspector, Mr Bolan, recommended that a site for a new school be obtained and the present site was gazetted on 12 December 1873. The new school was built by W Ashley for a cost of £374.18.0. It combined a residence and school room in a timber building, 30 feet x 18 feet, with three skillion rooms attached. The first classes in the new building were held on 1 July 1875.
As the population of the Lamplough area declined with the exhaustion of gold, the enrolment at the school also fell until by 1902 it stood at only fifteen. The school was closed in this year but opened part-time with the Homebush State school No. 1579 in January 1905. Lamplough resumed full-time on 8 October 1908, and in the following year boasted an enrolment of thirty-three.
In 1910 residents complained that the school roof was leaking and the windows and sashes were rotting and falling out. The repairs were done and reports in 1914 describe the school as being in very good condition. The attached residence was being used as a shelter shed and play-house until February 1916 when the head teacher, M B Isaac occupied the house. Painting and repairs were carried out to the school and residence in 1925 but by 1933 it was reported that the residence was again empty and was being used by passing tramps and left in a dirty condition. Miss Jess the last teacher at Lamplough, did not reside at the school but rode her bike to and from Avoca each day.
The Lamplough State school closed on 20 September 1949.
DESCRIPTION
The Lamplough school is a standard timber 60-type single room school with attached residence. From 1873 until 1890, 240 of this style in either the 40-type or 60-type with or without attached residents were built by the Education Department. In 1875 all were roofed in timber shingles.
The schoolroom is the standard gable roofed rectangular, weatherboard clad building with a small gable roofed porch facing the road and the gable roofed residence intersecting at right angles. The major items of decoration are the finials, barge boards and central timber wall vent. The two brick chimneys survive. The building appears to have been altered by the addition of an enlarged front window, probably replacing the original double hung window and the roofing of corrugated iron replacing or covering the original shingles. The existing paint scheme would appear to be that of the 1925 repainting.
The building is a substantially unaltered and the retention of the early colour scheme enhances its appearance. It is a good example of a characteristic building type.
Wikitree:
- Patrick Fogarty (1820-1897)
- George Cartwright (abt.1832-1885)
- William Bredel Matthews (abt.1829-1879) : taught at Lamplough State school 1239 in 1873
- Thomas Bolam (1843-1884) : District Inspector of Schools
- Maurice Barton Isaac (1879-1949) : Taught at Lamplough from 1916 to 1918
- Irene Margaret (Lanfranchi) Jess (1894-1986) : taught Lamplough school from 1942 to 1949
Those who signed the school petition on 5 February 1873 and families mentioned (From the Lamplough name index compiled by Denis Strangman):
- Allen children
- John Borne
- Brown children
- George Cartwright (abt.1832-1885)
- Charles Constable
- Cross children
- William Fish (1831-1893)
- Patrick Fogarty (1820-1897)
- James William Trevah French (1825-1896)
- Goodridge children
- Hanson children
- Daniel Logue Joseph O’Neill (1821-1897)
- Joseph Stevenson (1810-1873)
- William Downing Strangman (abt.1831-abt.1880)
- Edmund Williams
- John Williams
- George Edward Young (abt.1822-1890)
