SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
Girls’ School. State, 1878. On School Reserve, Darkie’s Terrace Road. Closed about 1893.
Boys’ School. State, 1880. On School Reserve, Darkie’s Terrace Road. Closed about 1893. In 1880 Mr. R. Delaney, the headmaster, opened herein a night-class for youths.
State School. 1893, for both boys and girls. In premises previously the Boys’ School. Still existing (1940).
Whether Moore’s or Mitchell’s was the first school is not certain; they opened within a few months of each other. A report by Mr. W. C. Hodgson, Inspector of Schools, dated 5th August, 1869, stated that a subsidy was being granted to “each of the two schools already established at Charleston.” These were Mitchell’s and Moore’s. The subsidy was the result of a recommendation by Mr. C. Broad, the Resident Magistrate, who therein referred to “two schools controlled by Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Moore.”
In the Inspector’s report of 1st August, 1872, it is stated that schools were then conducted at Charleston by Mr. Brown at Blackett Street and by Mr. Moore at Prince’s Street. It seems that the sites were transposed; and that Mr. Brown had taken over Mitchell’s School in Prince’s Street (West) and that Mr. Moore continued to conduct the school in Blackett Street. An advertisement in the Charleston Herald of 1st October, 1873, signed by W. J. Moore, notified that his school in Blackett Street was still being conducted by him.
The Inspector’s report of 1873 deals with only two schools, viz., Moore’s and St. Patrick’s, indicating that since the previous report (1872) Mitchell’s had been closed and St. Patrick’s opened; and that Moore’s still remained. In the reports of 1874 and 1875 Moore’s and St. Patrick’s are mentioned, showing that Moore’s did not close until late in 1875 or (as believed) early in 1876.
Among the pupils of Charleston schools who won scholarships were (all are not known nor are the dates or schools): Six members of the Enright family; Miss Teresa Fair; Dan Dennehy; J. W. Maloney; Lily Horner; Hugh Horner; Frances Horner; James Ogg; John Codrow; Henry Moore.
None of the Charleston schools had any distinctive uniform, tie, or cap. Some records of attendances are:
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