The Grammar Schools Act 1860 was passed by

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

's first parliament in 1860 and allowed for the establishment of a grammar school in any town where £1000 could be raised locally. Between the years 1863 and 1892, ten

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

s were opened under the auspices of the Act. The first of these was

Ipswich Grammar School Ipswich Grammar School is a historic, independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Ipswich, a local government region of Brisbane on the Bremer River in South East Queensland, Australia. The school is situate ...

, which opened in 1863. Brisbane First Grammar School

History of the Act

The Grammar Schools Act was the fourth bill of the first

parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

. Along with the ''Primary Schools Act (Qld)'' 1860, it aimed to bring

under one general and comprehensive education system without prejudice. In the early years of Australian education, denominational schools (particularly

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

schools) had a large influence. By the time of the first

in 1860, there was a general feeling that any system of education established in

should be free of

denominationalism A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition, among other activities. The term refers to the various Christian denominations (for example, non-Chalcedonian, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, ...

. The Act received little opposition in either House of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

– revealing its popularity. It found the approval of the public in general, and even among sections of the

community. The Act marked a departure from the education systems in place in

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and

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, where schools were generally tied up with respective religious bodies or (in the case of schools such as

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

) being provided massive, ineffective endowments, with little effort required from the community. The main points of the Act are summarised below. Basically, the Act allowed for the establishment of a grammar school in any town where £1000 could be raised locally. The

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

then matched that figure. The Schools were to be administered by a seven-member board of trustees, of which four members were appointed by the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

. The Act also made provision for public scholarships for students to attend university in

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or the southern states of

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. The act was repealed in 1975 and replaced with the Grammar Schools Act 1975.

Schools opened under the Act

There were ten grammar schools opened under the Act – eight of which remain open today. In chronological order, they were: #

for boys (1863) #

Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) is an Independent school, independent, fee charging, non-denominational, day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, Queensland, Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Austra ...

for boys (1868) # Toowoomba Grammar School for boys (1875) # Brisbane Girls Grammar School (1875) # Rockhampton Grammar School initially for boys and girls, later only for boys (1881) # Maryborough Grammar School for boys (1881) # Maryborough Girls Grammar School (1883) #

Townsville Grammar School Townsville Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, day, International Baccalaureate and boarding school, located in Townsville. Established in 1888, it is the northernmost member of the Queensland grammar schools. From its foundati ...

for boys and girls (1888) # Ipswich Girls Grammar School (1892) # Rockhampton Girls Grammar School (1892) When it opened in 1881, Rockhampton Grammar School was

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

. Only four years later, the board of trustees decided to exclude females from the school, leading to the construction of Rockhampton Girls Grammar School. The latter opened on 11 March 1892 – one day after the official opening of Ipswich Girls Grammar School. (Females were readmitted to Rockhampton Grammar School in 1977 after a 92-year absence). In 1936, hit hard by the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the Maryborough Grammar School and Maryborough Girls Grammar School were forced to close. They were subsequently taken over by the Department of Education,

, and renamed the Maryborough State High and Intermediate School for Boys and Maryborough State High and Intermediate School for Girls. In 1974, these schools merged to become the Maryborough State High School.

Main points of the act

The main aspects of the act were as follows: *That where £1000 was raised by donation or subscription in any district for the purpose of establishing a grammar school, then the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

(with the advice of the executive council), if satisfied with the proposed school, paid to the trustees "a sum not exceeding the amount raised". *That when fees to the amount of £250 per annum were promised for a period of not less than three years, the

(with the advice of the executive council) shall pay out of the general revenue of the colony £500 to the credit of the trustees, towards the upkeep of the school. * A body of seven persons, to be called the trustees of the school, were to be elected. Four of those seven were to be nominated by the

(with the advice of the executive council), whilst the other three were to be elected by vote of subscribers of over £5 to the funds of the school. *The

(with the advice of the executive council) was permitted to, in any one year, reserve 10% of the amount payable to a school to provide for scholarships to any

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Such scholarships were awarded after public competitive examinations.

References

The grammar schools era (1860-1912)
– provided by the State of Queensland, Department of Education and the Arts {{reflist 1860 in law Queensland legislation Repealed Australian legislation 1860 in Australia 1860 in British law Education law 1860 in education 19th century in Queensland 1860s in Queensland History of education in Australia Education in Queensland