John Street, Clarke Street and other Elwood Street Names

I have a friend who lives near John Street in Elwood and he wondered where the name of the street came from, so because I have a bit of  a fascination with street and place name origins, I did  some research.  But before we look at John Street,  this is what historian, J. B. Cooper, in his history of the City of St Kilda (1) wrote about the naming of streets in Elwood or South St Kilda as it was then called.
Three months later, October 28, 1857, the Council decided to name the streets lying to the "south of Balaclave Road," i.e., Carlisle Street. In accordance with instructions, the Public Works Committee submitted its report to the Council with a plan of the unnamed streets, and a list of the names the Committee proposed to call the streets. The streets in question were the roadways formed when the Government surveyed the Crown Lands for the purpose of selling the land in sections.

Councillor Sutherland moved, and Councillor Hale seconded, that the Public Works Committee's report be adopted. Councillor Mooney moved as an amendment that the names of British authors be given to the streets. Councillor Spicer seconded the amendment. Councillor Marshall moved a further amendment: "That the names of British and Colonial Statesmen be given to the streets." The Chairman, Councillor Cowderoy, seconded Councillor Marshall's amendment. The second amendment was lost, and Councillor Mooney's amendment was carried. A further amendment, that consideration of the names to be given to the streets be postponed for a week, was lost. After consideration, and much argument, it was agreed that the streets' names should be officially proclaimed as follows -

Original name as 

suggested in report         New name

Keogh                         Burns

Monaghan                 Scott

McCombie                 Byron

Willis                         Milton

Goldie                         Dickens

Emu                         Blessington

Nankerville                 Southey

Bennett                         Tennyson

Prell                       Mitford

J.B. Cooper continues with information about the namesakes of the rejected names for instance Monaghan, Nankivell and Prell were local land owners and McCombie was an auctioneer.

Probably the Council was wise in its generation when the majority of its members voted for naming the streets with non-contentious names. The amendment launched during the consideration of the street-naming question and seconded by the Chairman, Councillor Cowderoy, that the names of "colonial statesmen" be selected, had in it the elements of discord. Was the prevailing color to be green, O'Shanassy and Duffy? or of another color, Haines and Childers ? Harmony was preserved by the selection of the names of literary men for the streets' names. 

Since the poets' names were selected as the names of streets by the St. Kilda Council the number has been added to as new streets have been formed in the vicinity of the parent group. The poets' names are to be found in the southern portion of the city, as well as a place name called "Poets corner." The value of such group-name placing is obviously that of a finger post to their locality. A stranger in St. Kilda seeking a street is not long in doubt of his vicinity to it when he finds himself within the area containing the war, the poetical, or the official groups of street names.

Tennyson Street is one of the best known of the poetical named thoroughfares. Other street names after authors' names are Shakespeare, Chaucer, Spenser, Dryden, Coleridge, Wordsworth. Then we have in the South at Elwood Meredith Street, Addison Street, Ruskin Street, Goldsmith Street, Shelley Street, Beat's Street, Lytton Street, Hood Street, Cowper Street, and others, quite a full library edition of notable authors in English literature. Thackeray is not forgotten in Thackeray Street. Carlisle Street is supposed by some to have been intended to be called Carlyle Street, and that an error was made in spelling the dour Chelsea sage's name. Australian poets are represented by Kendall, Gordon and McCrae, and Australian story tellers very inadequately by Marcus Clarke, Clarke Street. The influence of the mid Victorian period throughout St. Kilda is very marked.  (2)

The origin of Clarke Street, is I believe incorrect, and it is connected to John Street, which was created in 1884 when the Tennyson Estate was sub-divided.

Elwood in 1973. The Poet and other Literary Streets are north of Glen Huntly Road. 

John Street and Clarke Street, run parallel to Byron Street.

Melway Street Directory of Greater Melbourne, Edition 7, 1973 (Melway Publishing P/L)

The Tennyson Estate was advertised as 60 Sea View Villa Building Allotments with frontages of 50 feet to 75 feet to Southey, Byron, Melford (it was actually Mitford Street) and the newly created John Street and William Street. It went to auction on November 15, 1884. (3)

Tennyson Estate advertisement, 1884. Melford Street is actually Mitford Street.

The Argus, October 11 1884 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6059280

The Auctioneer, E.J. Dixon was selling on behalf of Sir W. J. Clarke - William John Clarke, hence the names of the newly created streets - William and John.  Sir William (1831-1897) was the son of William John Turner Clarke (1805-1874), known as "Big" Clarke who was immensely wealthy. W. J.T. Clarke died in 1874 and William inherited all of his father's Victorian land holdings which were valued at  £1,500,000.  The newly rich William built the property Rupertwood at Sunbury and in 1887 he built Clivenden in Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, described as one of the largest private residences in the Colony. He was created a Baronet in 1881.  Sir William's second wife, Janet Snodgrass (1851-1909) was involved with many charities, was the President of the National Council of Women, and later the Women's National League. In a time when very few women could attend University in 1889, she funded the construction of  the Hostel for Women University Students, Trinity College at Melbourne University; this is now known as Janet Clarke Hall. (4)

A small part of the land holdings inherited by Sir William in 1874 were three parcels of land in South St Kilda, or Elsternwick as it was called in the Probate papers of his father, W.J.T. Clarke.  The City of St Kilda rate books show that Clarke senior had purchased the land in 1870 from Hugh Glass (1817-1871), the original owner as noted on the Prahran Parish Plan. In the 1860s Hugh Glass was said to have been the richest man in Victoria with assets of £800,000; however when his business empire collapsed leaving him with a debts of £500,000, he was forced to sell many of his properties and W.J.T. Clarke was a ready buyer. (5)

Extract from the Probate papers of W.J.T. Clarke, itemising his Elwood properties - 

called here Elsternwick - Allotments 112a, 116 and 124.  

Click on image to enlarge. Wm. J. T. Clarke: Grant of probate, Public Records Office of Victoria  VPRS 28/P0002, 11/607

https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/AD27053F-F1DE-11E9-AE98-EF972B65E2E8?image=1

The three allotments were located in the Parish of Prahran - Allotment 112a - just over four acres; Allotment 116, just over five acres and Allotment 124 of six acres. They are marked on the map, below, with stars. 

Prahran Parish Plan - the Clarke properties (ex Hugh Glass) are marked with a star and I have added the street names. 

As you can see, the land west of Mitford Street was still a Swamp at this time.

Click on image to enlarge. Part of the Parish of Prahran, June 25, 1857.Victoria. Department of Crown Lands and Survey.

State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/123955

It was Allotments 112a and 116, which were situated on either side of Byron Street, that became the Tennyson Estate in 1884 and which created John Street and William Street. (6) William Street, although featuring in the advertisements and the real estate flyer, was very quickly renamed Clarke Street, as we can see from the flyer below. This renaming was likely due to the fact that there was already a William Street in St Kilda, near the Balaclava Railway Station. 

The advertising flyer for the Tennyson Estate, 1884. 

William Street has been renamed Clarke Street. 

Mitford Street is incorrectly labelled as Milford Street.

Click on image to enlarge. Tennyson Estate, South St. Kilda, 1884. Crabb & Brotherton, Printers. 

State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/295990

The Auctioneer, Mr E.J. Dixon, could proudly report that the entire Tennyson Estate was sold at the auction on November 15, 1884 for a total price of  just over £7196. (7)

Sale result for the Tennyson Estate

The Age, November 17, 1884 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article191470641

The first reference I can find to John Street in the City of St Kilda rate books was in 1885 when four five-roomed weatherboard houses, all owned by builder F. Douglas, of Caulfield; and two vacant blocks of land, were listed. Only one of Mr Douglas' houses was occupied and that was by Edward Rogers, a labourer.  Clarke Street does not appear in the rate books until 1888 - there were nine vacant blocks of land and one six-roomed wooden house owned and occupied by William Robertson, whose occupation was listed as a Gentleman. Rate books don't always reflect the true position of land ownership, especially in times when there are a large number of  new estates being developed as was the case in the Elwood area in the 1880s; it seems to take a year or so for them to catch up. However, I like to think that Edward Rogers and William Robertson could be considered the first occupants of the recently created John and Clarke Streets. (8)

Clarke Reserve, on the corner of  Clarke Street and Mitford Street, may have been developed at the same time as Lindsay Avenue, which is north of and parallel to Clarke Street (see the Melway map further up this post).  However, the earliest date I have for Clarke Reserve at the moment is 1931. (9)  The Lindsay Estate with residential blocks facing both Southey Street and Lindsay Avenue, was sub-divided in 1912. (10)  Was Lindsay Avenue named for Adam Lindsay Gordon, as there is a Gordon Avenue which runs parallel to Lindsay Avenue on the north side?  (Norman Lindsay is another option, but I don't think he was famous enough in 1912). Lindsay Avenue is not listed in J.B. Cooper's list of Literary streets, but Gordon Avenue is. Neither appear on the 1905 MMBW plan, shown below, so Gordon Avenue was thus possibly established around the same time as Lindsay Avenue, but that's a story for another day. 

The state of John, Byron and Clarke Streets in 1905

Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works detail plan. no. 1394, City of St Kilda, 1905

Click on image to enlarge. State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/122579

In answer, then, to my friend's question as to the origin of the name of John Street in Elwood, it was named for Sir William John Clarke, the developer of the Tennyson Estate.  Clarke Street was almost certainly named for him as well and not, as J.B. Cooper noted, after Marcus Clarke the author. 

Footnotes

(1) Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a City and after, 1840 - 1930, v. 1 (City of St Kilda, 1931).

(2) Cooper, op. cit., pp 95-98.

(3) The Argus, October 11 1884, see here.  

(4) Australian  Dictionary of Biography -  Sir William Clarke -   https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clarke-sir-william-john-3229 W.J.T Clarke -  https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clarke-william-john-1902  Lady Clarke https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/clarke-lady-janet-marion-3224 ; Clivenden: - Illustrated Australian News, March 15, 1887, see here.

(5) Wm. J. T. Clarke: Grant of probate, Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 28/P0002, 11/607
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/AD27053F-F1DE-11E9-AE98-EF972B65E2E8?image=1; City of St Kilda rate books on Ancestry.com; Australian Dictionary of Biography - Hugh Glass - https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/glass-hugh-3620

(6) Map - Tennyson Estate, South St. Kilda, 1884. Crabb & Brotherton, Printers. State Library of Victoria http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/295990

(7) The Age, November 17, 1884, see here.  

(8) City of St Kilda rate books on Ancestry.com

(9) Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a City and after, 1840 - 1930, v. 2 (City of St Kilda, 1931), p. 331.

(9) The Herald, August 22, 1912, see here.

Lindsay Estate,  Elwood.

Bembridge State School, No. 4557

This is a history of the Bembridge State School, No 4557. The information, unless otherwise footnoted, comes from the two Bembridge School Building files at the Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557 (1936-1956 and 1960-1961) and two files of images - VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School and VPRS 14514/P0001, Bembridge Primary School. This is a companion piece to a post I have written about the general history of Bembridge, which you can read here.

On September 15, 1936 J. McAllister of Bungower Road, Somerville wrote to the Minister of Education -
Sir,
We the undersigned parents, through our representative (Mr J. E. Kirton, M.L.A.) desire to place before you a request for a school to be built in the district wherein we reside. Many of the children named in the attached list have to walk or be conveyed over 4 miles to the Somerville School. None of the children reside within 3 miles of that school.

We are prepared to provide a block of land in a suitable position for a school. We therefore pray that favourable consideration be given to this request.
Yours respectfully.
J. McAllister.

The letter from Mr McAllister, September 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

These are the names and ages from the list provided by Mr McAllister. The information in the square brackets after the names comes from information I found on the Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com.
Jean Coghlan, age 7
Lawrence Coghlan, age 6
James Coghlan, age 6
Dulcie Coghlan, age 3½

Five miles from nearest school. J. Coghlan. [James Coghlan, Somerville. Farmer. Wife: Marguerite Madeline Elizabeth Coghlan]

Joan E. McAllister, age 10 Nov 2nd 1935
Keith W. McAllister,  age 8 May 17th, 1936

4 miles nearest school. J. McAllister. [John James Duncan McAllister, Somerville. Labourer]

Gwendoline M. Roach, age 11 Oct 1935

Margaret A. Roach, age 9, Aug 1936

Lyall L. Roach, age 7, March 1936

Elizabeth M. Roach, age 2, Feb 1936

4 miles nearest school. Lyall L. Roach. [Lyall Linwood Roach,  Somerville. Farmer]

Donald R. Dixon, age 7, July 1936
Kathleen J. Dixon, age 5, August 1936

Shirley D. Dixon, born 18 June 1936.

4 miles nearest school. R.J. Dixon. [Reginald John Dixon, Almond  Grove, Somerville. Farmer]

James A. Bradley, age 7, 24 Jan 1936

Laurence Bradley, age 9, 23 Jan 1936

4 miles nearest school. Harriet May Bradley. [Harriett May Bradley, Bungower Road, Somerville. Home Duties]

Joyce Eicke, age 14, Aug 1936

Wilma Eicke, age 6, Nov 1936

3½ nearest school. E. Eicke. 

Hazel Christy, age 8 March 1936

Tasman Henry Christy, age 6, Sep 1936

2½ nearest school. H. Christy. [Henry Christy, Somerville. Labourer]

Verna Unthank, age 10, Feb 7 1936

Marshall Unthank, age 4, July 19, 1936

3½ nearest school. Thos Unthank. [Thomas Unthank.,Somerville. Orchardist]

Edward Victor, 22 months, Oct 1935

3½ miles. W.J. Victor. [William James Victor, Tyabb. Orchardist]

Graeme Triggs, age 3½, Jan 19 1936

3 miles. W. Triggs. [William Henry Triggs, Tyabb. Orchardist]

Leonie Rye,  age 9 years. May 25 1936

3½ miles. C. Rye. [Ernest Charles George Rye, Cranbourne Road, Tyabb. Orchardist]

Lilian E. Barber, 10 years Jan 16, 1936

George W. Barber,  8 years, Oct 4, 1936

Georgina Barber, 6 years Aug 22, 1936

Isabel Ann Cowell, 2 years Apr 2, 1936.

Nearest school 5 miles.  Lilian Cowell.

Application for a School at Bembridge, September 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

A few weeks later on September 29, 1936, the official application (reproduced above) for the establishment of a State School was completed by John McAllister. It lists the students who would attend the school, if established. All the children listed above are on this official application, as well as the following four children - 

F. N. Gregory 8/5/32. Distance from nearest school 2¾ miles.

Amy Harding 2/9/1932

Lesley Harding 14/6/1936

Distance from nearest school 2½ miles.

Vera Spizzo 2/6/35. Distance from nearest school 3 miles.

On October 20, 1936 Mr K.K. Leinonen of Tooradin Road, Somerville offered a 1½ acres site "as a free gift for the purpose of erecting a state school building" - part of allotments 32 and 33, on the triangle of land formed by Tooradin -Tyabb Road and Whitneys Road. The donor was Kalle Kustas Leinonen, a carpenter, born in Finland and who had arrived in Melbourne in 1914;  he was naturalised in 1921. (1)

Mr Lienonen's donation, November 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Also around this time a list of potential teacher accommodation was supplied - Mrs Sullivan, 20 yards away; Mr Perrotte ¼ mile away;  and  Mr Unthank 1½ miles.  As well, it was suggested that the school be named Bembridge or East Somerville.

Potential accommodation for a teacher, undated but c. October 1936

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

On November 14, 1936, Mr Rowe, the District Inspector recommended the School be established. This good news was reported in December 1936, in the Frankston and Somerville Standard -
The efforts to have a school established in Bungower road, SomerviIle, by parents whose children have to travel a great distance to attend the Somerville State School have been brought to a successful issue by Mr. A. J. Kirton, M.L.A., who has received the following letter from the Education Department:
With reference to your representations on behalf of Mr. J. McAllister, Bungower road, Somerville, and to previous correspondence, I have to inform you, that the Department has decided to establish a school at Bembridge near Somerville. Steps are being taken to obtain the site recommended by the District Inspector and the Public Works Department has been asked, to furnish an estimate of the cost of erecting a school building on the land. When this information is supplied the matter will have further attention. (2)

Another letter from McAllister regarding the School, March 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

However by March 15, 1937, as we can see by the letter above, there was still no school in Bembridge and in the June the Bembridge Progress Association  (3) took matters into their own hands and found some suitable rooms on a property owned by the Roach family. The rooms were described as 19 ft long by 14 ft 6 inches wide and 11 feet high; 12 feet by 9 feet and the third room 9 ft by 7ft. Also available was a 2000 gallon corrugated iron water tank; a toilet and a verandah over the back door.

Letter from Mr Rolfe, on behalf of the Progress Association, regarding a temporary school, June 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

This offer was approved by the Education Department and on July 6, 1937 -  Charles Wingfield Roach, Lyall Lynwood Roach and Charles Wingfield Roach, jnr. accepted the Department's offer but they reserved the right to use the rooms for meetings, social evenings etc as at present which will not interfere with the school work, but will help the district. The Education Department would provide the furniture of the school as well as another toilet (or out-office as they were called). 

Information regarding the lease of the temporary school, July 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Location of the temporary school site, the permanent school site and the Hall. 

Read more about the hall and the mail run, here. 

Click on image to enlarge. Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

All seemed promising, but months later a teacher still had not been appointed and on September 14, 1937, Mr Roach, on behalf of the Bembridge Progress Association wrote the following letter to the Education Department, outlining the lack of progress.

Dear Sir,
We wish to bring before your notice the long delay that had occurred in opening the temporary school at Bembridge. Our Assn at its last meeting reviewed the position and found it most unsatisfactory, as follows:-
15 May - Rooms offered as temporary school
2 June - As requested sent measurements of rooms etc
6 July - Accepted rent offer by Dept. £12 p.a
12 July - Lease signed by left undated
23 July - Extra out office supplied by Dept
28 July - Inspector of Public Works Dept called
2 Sept  - Desks, blackboards etc placed in rooms ready.

Four months have gone by and the members cannot understand the cause of the series of long delays that have occurred and ask that the matter be treated as urgent.

A letter outlining the lack of progress of the school, September 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Vision and Realisation (5) the history of the Education Department, notes the school finally opened on October 1, 1937, however the teacher wasn't appointed until the November (6) so possibly the school was opened towards the end of 1937. 

Opening of the Bembridge School, 1937

Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

The teacher appointed was Clement Joseph Greenwood, born October 21, 1912. His first appointment was a  Junior Teacher in January 1929 at Eaglehawk North. He was only at Bembridge for a year and at the end of 1938 was appointed to Spring Road, Malvern State School; and after a number of other appointments in January 1942 was appointed to Rushworth. He resigned from the Education Department on February 2, 1943 to join the Royal Australian Air Force. (6)  In August 1944 he was promoted to the rank of  Flying Officer and in October he moved to No. 463 Squadron, and was with that unit when he was killed on the 22nd December 1944, during air operations in Lincolnshire. (7)

Flying Officer Greenwood, the first teacher at Bembridge State School

The Herald, December 30, 1944 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246009264

The Bembridge community still hoped for a permanent school, however in December 1937, Mr Moore, a Department Inspector decided that the block donated by Mr Leoninen was unsuitable as it was low lying, so a new site was purchased by the parents, a quarter of a  mile from the Leoninen site. It was of  1½ acres on Tyabb Tooradin Road, and purchased from James Sullivan for £10. Mr  Leinonen's land was returned to him.

Receipt from James Sullivan for his block of land for the school, December 1937

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

Location of School as marked on the Parish Plan

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

In April 1938 tenders were advertised for the new school on the new site at Bembridge (8).

Tender advertisement for the new school, April 1938

Dandenong Journal, April 27, 1938  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201303675

By July, the Frankston and Somerville Standard could report that the school was in the course of erection. (9)  On August 2, 1939 Mr Greenwood asked the Education Department for permission to engage a truck to transfer school property and furniture from a leased building to the new building, approx a quarter mile distant. By August 26 the boys 'out office' was removed from the leased school to the new school, and Mr Greenwood complained to the Department that for the previous two week 12 girls and 11 boys had to share the one toilet, and it was most inconvenient.  The school community moved into the new building on September 6, 1938.

Photos of Bembridge State School, undated.  

Click on image to enlarge.

You can see four of the individual photos at the end of this post (before the footnotes).

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Mary Clifford took over as the Head Teacher at Bembridge after Mr Greenwood left, I presume at the start of 1939.  Mary had been born April 15, 1914, and appears to have had a number of short term appointments before Bembridge. She resigned from the Education Department March 8, 1941 and I have no other information about her. (10)  During her time a shelter shed was erected at the cost of £19 10 shillings, of which the Education Department would pay £9/15, and the school community had to pay the rest, as well as engage the contractor. 

Bembridge School Committee - Robert Storey, James McAllister, Ralph Colwell, Thomas Unthank (President) and Mrs Alice Roach (Secretary). 

Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

In June 1939, the Frankston Standard reported on Empire Day activities at Bembridge  - Twenty-seven adults were present at the Bembridge State School on May 19, when Empire Day celebrations and a bazaar were held. The children sang Empire songs and formed a pageant. During the celebrations the school committee presented a new flag to the school. The bazaar, organised in conjunction with the Junior Red Cross, raised £3/1/2. The amount will be sent to the Children's Hospital. A memorable day closed with afternoon. (11)

Bembridge School, 1939

Image: The Way We Were by Leila Shaw (4)

Mary Clifford left at some unknown time and a Miss Conole appears in the 1939 photo, above, this is possibly Grace Eliza Conole. (12)  However, in July 1939, Miss  Edna  May Fitzgerald, was in charge.  Edna was born August 6, 1917, and in common with Mary Clifford had also held a number of temporary positions within the Department; she resigned from the Department on November 22, 1942, due to her marriage to James Lemmon. (13) One of Edna's first duties was to write to the Education Department about the water tank, as the overflow was too high and it leaked onto the porch and flooded it.

Interestingly enough, the 1939 photograph, above, shows 19 children at the School but three years later in February 1942 there were only five students attending the school. This sharp and fast decline in numbers confirms Education Department District Inspector Bacon's description of the area -  this is not  a very "stable" area.   In the February of 1942,  Head Teacher D. M. Tyzack (14) wrote a three page letter to District Inspector Bacon of  the Department with a list of the children, their dates of birth and distance from school -

Lyall Roach March 8, 1929 2¼ miles  
James Bradley January 24, 1929 3 miles
Marshall Unthank July 19, 1932
Betty Roach February 28, 1934 2¼ miles
Bonny Spizzo June 1935

The children were in Grades 8, 6, 4, 3 and one.

D. M. Tyzack's report to District Inspector Bacon, March 1942

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

D. M. Tyzack's report to District Inspector Bacon, March 1942

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

D. M. Tyzack's report to District Inspector Bacon, March 1942

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

In response to the Tyzack report, on February 11, 1942 District Inspector Bacon wrote in his report that due to the small number of pupils and the fact that no accommodation for the teacher could be found within four miles of the school the teacher has been withdrawn owing to boarding difficulties and has been placed elsewhere. Recommendation that the school be formally closed.

On July 14, 1943 Mr C. Roach wrote to the Department asking for the school to be re-opened on September 1 as they had eight eligible children who could attend - Mrs Felmington - 3, Mrs Peterson - 2, Mrs Roach, Mrs Spizzo and Mrs Unthank - one child each. There were also other children in the area who were underage, but could attend in a few years - Mrs De Bernardi - 2, Mrs King 3, Mrs Walker and Mrs Bradley who had three children who boarded with her. All the parents, wrote Mr Roach, are most anxious that the school reopen  at once, because of  the eight children ready, only three are attending school. 

A week later, Mr Roach, filled out an official form listing all the children who could attend the school, and their date of birth and distance from school.

Marshall Thomas Unthank 19/7/1932  1½ miles.

Elizabeth Mary Roach 28/2/1934 ¼ mile

Bonnie Vera Spizzo 1935 1 mile

James Patrick Walker  9/10/1930 2 miles

Raymond Michael Walker 26/7/1932 2 miles

Rosemary Thornell  22/8/1937 2 miles

Elizabeth Mary Petersen  15/5/1936 2 miles

Robert Nelson Petersen  1/9/1938 2 miles

James Edward Felmingham  26/8/1934 1 mile

David Ronald Felmingham  21/6/1936 1 mile

Alice Marie Felmingham 6/8/1938 1 mile

There were also four children who could attend school in the future

Ivan Albert Thornell 16/7/1939 2 miles

John Bremner De Bernardi 19/1/1939 1½ miles

Georgina Barker  22/8/1931 1¼ miles

Isabel Cowell  2/4/1934 1¼ miles

There was a question on the form regarding whether board was available for a female head teacher and the answer was Yes, - Mrs Skerry, half a mile from the school.

Mr Roach's application to have the school re-opened, July 1943

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

On September 24, 1943, Mr Roach wrote to Mr Kirton, his local M.L.A on importance of school to the district.
Dear Sir,
Last July we made application for the reopening of the Bembridge State School No 4557. Time is running on and the school is still closed and the parents are very disappointed. Some say that if the school does not reopen they will have to leave the district and others are quite sure that with the school reopened more people will come to our district. It's an old saying, no school, no progress or prospects for the family man. Bembridge is an isolated district not served by rail or motor bus service, and with petrol and other restrictions some of the residents are without transport and are unable to take their children to other schools which are too far away, and walking is out of the question. We appeal to you, sir, to think of the children's future and what education, or lack of it will mean to them in later life, and to help us to have the school reopened at the earliest possible date.
Yours truly
C.W. Roach.

Mr Roach's letter stressing the importance of the need for a school in Bembridge, September 1943

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

The Bembridge community was successful and on September 27, Mr Bacon D.I recommended that the school reopen and that he understands that a married woman now employed temporarily by the Department, lives within a reasonable distance...she could manage this school, if available. 

On September 29, 1943 it was announced that "a teacher will be appointed as soon as practicable" The school did reopen, but I don't have the exact date. The School file at PROV provides some statistics of the enrolments over the next four years - 
October 1944 - Average attendance 10, net Enrolment 13
February 1945 - Average attendance 9, net enrolment 14
February 1946 - Average attendance 5, net enrolment 9 - 4 boys, five girls.

April 1947 - Enrolment was 9 -  4 girls, 5 boys.

Undated photograph of Bembridge State School pupils

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 14514/P0001, Bembridge Primary School

By March 1946, the school committee wrote to the Education Department about the need for the school to be repainted; they had asked requested this also in September 1944 and mentioned that the school has a neglected appearance externally. A year later  (1947) they complained again about a continual stream of water coming through the ceiling  and flooding the porch. In December 1948 the Department could report that General repairs and external painting had been completed.

Some of the teachers during this time were Zoe Barbara McRobert, she was there April 1950; and D. MacKenzie, who was there in April 1951 (15). It appears that the teachers did not stay for long at Bembridge. In August 1952, Stanley John Spencer transferred  to the Bembridge school (16)  and less than a year later in June 1953,  Stanley was transferred to Frankston East and the Education Department ruled that owing to the small enrolment of seven pupils  it will not be possible to appoint  a successor  at once. This effectively closed the  Bembridge School.  

Bembridge School is unstaffed, June 1953

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

As a matter of interest, in Vision and Realisation it states that in 1953 the departure of a family of seven so depleted the dwindling attendance that the school closed.  (17)  I don't believe this is correct, that a family of seven attended the school at this time. In March 1955 District Inspector Walker wrote a report about the Bembridge School and stated that there seems to be no likelihood of the building be required for school purposes, in its present position. He also wrote that two of the last students had transferred to Pearcedale, two to Somerville and three had left the area. If they had all come from the same family, as noted in Vision & Realisation, then you would expect that they would all would have moved on to the same school.

Bembridge School no longer required, March 1955

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

District Inspector Walker's report also recommended that the buildings - the school room, shelter shed and lavatories -  be shifted to Baxter, No. 3023 as their enrolment was increasing.  This was done by March 1956; in July 1961, the Bembridge School site reservation was officially revoked and the school site was sold by the  Education Department. 

Bembridge School site officially revoked.

Public Records Office of Victoria - VPRS 795/P0000, 4557

So this was the end of the Bembridge State School and even though it was short-lived, we need to recognise the years of  hard work the local community put into establishing and maintaining the school for the education of their children.

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

Bembridge State School, undated. 

Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 10516/P0003, Bembridge State School  

This post on the history of Bembridge State School is a companion piece to a post I have written about the general history of Bembridge, which you can read here.

Trove list - I have created a list of articles from Trove, on Bembridge. Access it here. 

Footnotes

(1) Kalle Kustas Leinonen - Naturalisation record - National Archives of Australia   https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=39954

(2) Frankston and Somerville Standard, December 4, 1936, see here.

(3) Bembridge Progress Association, I have written about this group here.

(4) Shaw, Lelia The way we were: adventures, feats and experiences of pioneering families of the Mornington Peninsula (Somerville, Tyabb & District Heritage Society, 1998), p. 191.

(5) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake.  (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3, p. 475. This is the entry from Vision and Realisation for Bembridge (even though, I don't believe it is all correct)

Bembridge School opened on 1st of October 1937 in three rooms on Roach's farm, which the Department rented for £1 a month. During the stay of HT Mary Clifford the Department purchased 1½  acres of land from James Sullivan for a token payment of £10, and commenced building a new school. HT Greenwood established  the new school in October 1938. At the outbreak of war, this young man enlisted in the RAAF, and was killed in action over Germany. In 1953 the departure of a family of seven so depleted the dwindling attendance that the school closed. Two years later, the Bembridge school room was moved to Baxter No. 3023.

(6) I found out about Clement Greenwood's military service from Vision and Realisation (see footnote 5). Clement Joseph Greenwood - Public Records Office of Victoria Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3DA1AA46-F7E4-11E9-AE98-2958C879CFD5?image=290

(7) Education Department, Victoria War Service Record, 1939-1945. (Education Department, 1959), p. 35.

(8) Dandenong Journal, April 27, 1938, see here.   

(9) Frankston and Somerville Standard, July 8, 1938, see here. 

(10) Mary Clifford - Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3DAAD20D-F7E4-11E9-AE98-A7A45B914C07?image=23

(11) Frankston Standard, June 2, 1939, see here.

(12) Grace Conole - Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001    https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3D91F3CA-F7E4-11E9-AE98-077F27427057?image=473

(13) Edna Fitzgerald - Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books, VPRS 13579/P0001 https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3DAC319E-F7E4-11E9-AE98-D93307599BA2?image=235

(14) D. M. Tyzack - no other information, as does not have  a file at Public Records Office of Victoria Teacher Record Books

(15) Zoe McRobert and D. MacKenzie - do not have  a file at Public Records Office of Victoria, Teacher Record Books. 

(16) The Argus, August 5, 1952, see here.  

(17) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, op. cit., v. 3, p. 475.