Stawell School
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Stawell School was a short-lived (1927–1940) private school for girls founded by Mabel Hardy and
Patience Hawker Patience Hawker (28 March 1900 – 9 August 1994) was a teacher who with Mabel Hardy co-founded Stawell School for girls in South Australia. History Patience Constance Joan Hawker was a granddaughter of George Charles Hawker (1818–1895) and E ...
near the summit of
Mount Lofty Mount Lofty (, elevation AHD) is the highest point in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. It is located about east of the Adelaide city centre, within the Cleland National Park in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. The mountain's su ...
.


History

Mabel Phyllis Hardy (1890–1977) was born in
Malvern, South Australia Malvern () is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Unley. It borders the suburbs of Unley and Parkside to the north, Highgate to the east, Kingswood to the south and Unley Park to the west. Many Malvern streets are planted with b ...
, a member of the once wealthy Hardy family.Barbara Wall ''A Short History of Stawell School: The forgotten school on Mount Lofty'' published for Mount Lofty Districts Historical Society by Peacock Publications 2012 She was educated at several State schools and taught at
Tormore House School Tormore School was a private boarding and day school for girls in North Adelaide, South Australia. History Tormore House had its origins in a small school for girls set up by Elizabeth McMinn (c. 1840 – 26 December 1937) and her two sisters S ...
and Unley Park School to fund part-time studies at the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
, completing her BA in 1914. She then taught at elite girls' grammar schools in
North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...
and Sydney, and in 1923 was appointed senior mistress of the newly founded Woodlands Girls Grammar School in
Glenelg, South Australia Glenelg is a beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of ...
. In 1925 she met a new member of staff, Patience Hawker (1900–1994), who had ideas about forming a school of her own. The following year while on holidays in England and on the Continent, Mabel decided the time had come, and instructed Patience to secure a suitable premises in the
Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker, South Australia, Mount Barker, is one of Australia's fastest-growi ...
. Patience, whose grandfather was
George Charles Hawker Sir George Charles Hawker (21 September 1818 – 21 May 1895) was a South Australian settler and politician. Early life Hawker was born in London, the second son of Admiral Edward Hawker and his first wife, Joanna Naomi (née Poore). He was edu ...
(1818–1895), and whose family were in comfortable circumstances, purchased "Arthur's Seat", a large bungalow on near the summit of Mount Lofty and overlooking the Adelaide Plains. It was largely financed with a loan from her mother, and the school was named in her honour, she having been born Mary Stawell. :The land was for some time owned by Mabel's grandfather Arthur Hardy (1817–1909) and leased to
George Tinline George Tinline (28 October 1815 – 4 February 1895) was a nineteenth-century South Australian banker and politician. Tinline made his fortune when the Bank of South Australia created 25,000 guinea coins solving a currency crisis caused by a gol ...
, who started on the building before he abruptly left South Australia in 1863, and was completed by the next tenant, Gavin Young, who named it "Arthur's Seat", for a hill overlooking
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. The next owner was Henry Teesdale Smith, followed by Arthur Hugh Poole. It was decided to run the School as a company Stawell School Ltd., which was incorporated on 21 December 1926 with Patience Hawker as managing director. The two women made the house their residence, with rooms for boarders, and had classrooms built away from the residence. Mabel had considerable experience with a variety of institutions, but modelled Stawell on what she knew of Frensham, one of many schools at which Patience had studied, and one which had inspired her with the care and kindness given the students. Part of their philosophy of teaching was
Helen Parkhurst Helen Parkhurst (March 8, 1886 – June 1, 1973) was an American educator, author, lecturer, the originator of the Dalton Plan, founder of the Dalton School and host of ''Child's World with Helen Parkhurst'' on ABC Television Network. Parkh ...
's Dalton system which gives the student a great deal of control over her own work, where the teacher is a resource and adviser rather than a lecturer, and students are encouraged to aid one another's learning at large round tables. She believed students should feel safe, free, comfortable and well fed, in pleasant surroundings with access to good books, bright pictures and open air. Mabel went to some pains to assert the social acceptability of her school. The girls, almost without exception would have come from privileged backgrounds, and would be expected to enter into a comfortable marriage or through university into a profession, perhaps both. Habits of self-reliance, co-operation and consideration for others were inculcated. Domestic arts such as cooking and management of servants were part of life for the boarders. Stawell's curriculum was strong on social skills: dancing, music, drawing, needlework, public speaking, drama, sports, current events, domestic science, languages, Scripture but above all, English literature. Mabel had no love for public examinations, though many of her students performed well in English and History, but with Stawell offering only General Science and basic mathematics, many university courses were out of reach for the Stawell alumnus. Patience married in 1928 and henceforth had little to do with teaching or day-to-day decisions, though she retained the title and responsibilities of managing director. The school was highly successful for its first ten years, but in the early 1930s the Great Depression brought economic hardship to farmers, whose daughters made up a good percentage of students, and development of social graces for daughters was seen as an expendable luxury. Later in the decade fear of war and petrol rationing were disincentives to families having their daughters too far away from home. Enrolments declined and with declaration of war in 1939 the school shifted to 84 Mills Terrace, North Adelaide and closed in December 1940.


Postscript

Following closure of school on Mount Lofty, the property was leased to the Australian Army and used by the
Australian Women's Army Service The Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) was a non-medical women's service established in Australia during the Second World War. Raised on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units" the serv ...
then in 1943 sold by Patience Howard and Mabel Hardy to Basil Harford. The National Broadcasting Service purchased a substantial section for the ABC-TV transmitter building and mast. Nancy Harford still owned the place on 16 February 1983 when it was destroyed in the
Ash Wednesday bushfires The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a Bushfires in Australia, series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia in 1983 on 16 February. Within twelve hours, more than 180 bushfires, fires f ...
. "Arthur's Seat" and "
St Michael's House St Michael's House was an Australian educational institution in Crafers outside Adelaide, under the auspices of the Society of the Sacred Mission, established in 1947 and which was destroyed by fire in the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983 shortly ...
", the Anglican theological college and priory, were the only two significant buildings which were never rebuilt. The property is now part of Cleland National Park, owned by the South Australian Government. Patience Hawker married (Charles) Roy Howard (1891 – 17 August 1935), a grandson of W. R. Cave, at Bungaree on 19 September 1928. They had two daughters, Lucinda (1929– ) and Virginia (1 October 1931 – ). With the death of her husband in 1935, Patience sold their Crafers property and returned with her two children to East Bungaree, where she lived with her father and brother until 1940. Her daughters attended Stawell School until it closed. She joined the Labor Party and stood unsuccessfully for blue-ribbon Liberal seats in the Assembly in 1946 and the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
(the first woman contender) in 1953. Mabel retired, though taking the occasional teaching job. She changed residences several times, finally to
Fullarton Fullarton is a small area in Irvine, North Ayrshire. It is situated close to Irvine Bay and is next to several industrial estates, large supermarkets and retail stores and the town centre itself. Stagecoach Western buses operate the local bus ...
, where she died.


Sources

*Barbara Wall ''A Short History of Stawell School: The forgotten school on Mount Lofty'' published for Mount Lofty Districts Historical Society by Peacock Publications 2012


References

{{Reflist Educational institutions established in 1927 High schools in South Australia 1927 establishments in Australia 1940 disestablishments in Australia History of Adelaide Defunct girls' schools in Australia Defunct schools in South Australia Private schools in Adelaide