Bonza Schooldays

BONZA SCHOOLDAYS

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BONZA SCHOOLDAYS: An online bibliography and history of Australian school stories.
School stories are a particular genre of children’s fiction which originally developed in Britain and were very popular in the early 20th century. This website identifies 55 Australian school stories by 28 different authors. A comprehensive bibliography and history of the genre has been researched.

This is the first time a complete bibliography of Australian School Stories has been compiled.

No complete bibliography of the genre has previously been assembled, which has led to an incomplete history of the genre in Australia emerging, with scholars asserting that the genre never really existed in Australia, or that it merely mimicked the British model and subsequently was inferior to the British genre. With the compilation of a comprehensive bibliography of Australian school stories, an historical and thematic overview of the genre including an analysis of the British educational and literary legacy was undertaken, which provided an insight into the development of the genre in Australia.

The genre represented a small, yet significant element in the development of children’s literature in Australia.

Australian school stories were influenced by the British genre as Australian private schools modelled themselves on British public schools. The ‘playing the game’ ethic was endorsed in the stories. Broadly speaking, the genre contained some common characteristics; authors often introduced mystery or adventure plots, set their stories in real schools, portrayed the hero or heroine as a new boy or girl, and created series.

The school story was an important genre in Australian children’s fiction. A greater understanding of how the genre developed in Australia has been obtained through the definitive listing of all known examples. The examination of the stories within the genre has allowed a case study analysis, which would be difficult in the field of British school stories, because of the sheer volume of that genre. Outside of Britain, Australia was the leading Commonwealth country where the genre developed most extensively. The study provides a model for future research into other children’s genres in Australia, such as adventure or romance stories, which will provide a more complete picture of Australian children’s literary history.

What BONZA SCHOOLDAYS contains:
The Introduction examines the historiography of the school story genre and the methodology and rationale behind the research undertaken for the MPhil thesis which provides the information included in this web site.

The Bibliography lists every full-length Australian school story with full bibliographical details and with annotated entries discussing plots, themes and motifs with a biographical entry provided for each author.

The history of the genre is examined in several article length pieces: A History of Australian School Stories; The School Story World; The School Story in Australian Literary Culture and The British School Story Tradition. A Motif Guide classifies the titles according to various categories: school types, story types, plot motifs, and characters. References & Links contains a list of useful references which were used in conducting the research.

Short Bibliography

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Short Bibliography

Abbott, J. H. M. Dogsnose. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1928. 237 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Agatha, Miriam. Nellie Doran: A Story of Australian Home and School Life. Sydney: E. J. Dwyer, 1914. 240 pages. Not illus.

Boylan, Eustace. The Heart of the School: An Australian School Story. Melbourne: J. Roy Stevens, Printer and Publisher, 1920. 399 pages. Illustrated Colin Colahan, 4 b/w illus. & numerous small b/w illus. throughout text.

Bracken, Anne. Jancy Wins Through. Sydney: Jons Productions Pty. Ltd., [1945]. 253 pages. Illustrated, 4 b/w illus.

Bracken, Anne. Jancy Scores Again. Sydney: Jons Productions Pty. Ltd., [1946]. 250 pages. Illustrated, 4 b/w illus.

Bridges, Hilda. Bobby's First Term: A School-boys' story. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1924. 86 pages. Illus. 'J. M. Thomasson', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Bridges, Hilda. Connie of the Fourth Form. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, [1930]. 88 pages. Illustrated 'G. M. Richardson', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Britten, David. The Making of Stephen Hall. London: Children's Special Service Mission, 1953. 188 pages. Illustrated 'L F L', b/w frontis. & small illus. throughout text.

Bruce, Mary Grant. Dick. London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1918. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Clark, M. R. Hatherly's First Fifteen. Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd., 1930. 254 pages. Illustrated F(rancis). E. Hiley, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Clark, Mavis Thorpe. Dark Pool Island. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1949. 112 p. Not Illus.

Crist, Aice Guerin. "Go It! Brothers!!". Sydney: Pellegrini & Co., 1929. 155 pages. Not illus.

Dove, Castleden. Lowanna: An Australian School Story. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1925. 256 pages. Illus. J. Dewar Mills, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Honey, Ennis. Janey of Beechlands. Edgecliff: Bilson-Honey Pty. Ltd., [1947]. 287 pages. Not illus.

Jennings, R. G. The Human Pedagogue. Melbourne: Australian Authors' Agency, 1924. 345 pages. Not illus.

Little, M. I. Dunham Days: A Sketch. Adelaide: E. J. McAlister & Co., 1913. 106 pages. Illustrated Marian Alsop, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Mack, Louise. Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1897. 266 pages. Illustrated F. P. Mahoney, b/w frontis. & 13 b/w illus.

Mackness, Constance. Miss Pickle: the Story of an Australian Boarding-School. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1924. 280 pages. Illustrated M. D. Johnston, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Mackness, Constance. The Glad School. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1927. 244 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', 3 b/w illus.

Mackness, Constance. Di-Double-Di. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1929. 299 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Mackness, Constance. Clown of the School. London: Ward, Lock & Co. Limited, 1935. 254 pages. Illustrated 'Sutcliffe', 3 b/w illus.

Paice, Margaret. The Secret of Greycliffs. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1961. 147 pages. Illustrated author, b/w illus. throughout text.

Parker, Margaret. For the Sake of a Friend: A Story of School Life. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. Limited, 1896. 224 pages. Illustrated G. Demain Hammond, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. With Wendy at Winterton School. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1945. 128 pages. Not illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. Pam Pays Her Debt. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1945. 135 pages. Not illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. Margaret's Decision. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 149 pages. Not illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. Wendy Moves Up. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 189 pages. Not illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. Wendy in Charge. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 140 pages. Not illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. Althea's Term at Winterton. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1948. 152 pages. Not illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. A New Girl for Winterton. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 122 pages. Not illus.

Potter, Dora Joan. Helen's Inheritance. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 109 pages. Not illus.

Pyke, Lillian M. Max the Sport. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1916. 250 pages. Illustrated 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis & 7 b/w illus.

Pyke, Lillian M. Jack of St. Virgil's. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1917. 319 pages. Illus. 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Pyke, Lillian M. A Prince at School. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1919. 252 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Pyke, Lillian M. The Best School of All. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1921. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 5 b/w illus.

Pyke, Lillian M. Sheila the Prefect. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1923. 255 pages. Illustrated 'J. Dewar Mills', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Pyke, Lillian M. The Lone Guide of Merfield. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1925. 256 pages. Illustrated 'J. Dewar Mills', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Pyke, Lillian M. Squirmy and Bubbles: A School Story for Girls. Melbourne: Whitcombe & Tombs Limited, [1924]. 164 pages. Illustrated 'Perce Clark', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Richardson, Robert. Our Junior Mathematical Master, and, A Perilous Errand. Edinburgh: William Oliphant and Co., 1876. 95 pages. Not illus.

Richardson, Robert. The Cold Shoulder; or, A Half-Year at Craiglea. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co., 1876. 128 pages. Illustrated, 2 b/w illus.

Richardson, Robert. The Boys of Willoughby School. Edinburgh: Nimmo, 1877. 143 pages. Not illus.

Richardson, Robert. The Boys of Springdale, or, The Strength of Patience. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co., [1875]. 64 pages. Not Illus.

Roughley, Edna. Ellice of Ainslie. Sydney: Australasian Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd., 1947. 253 pages. Illustrated, b/w frontis.

Saxby, C. F. Argyll. Kookaburra Jack: A Story of Australian School Life. London: "The Boy's Own Paper" Office, 1924. 254 pages. Illustrated 'Arthur Twidle', b/w frontis. & 5 b/w illus.

Thompson, D. Lindsay. Blue Brander: A Story of Adventure and Australian School Life. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1927. 313 pages. Illustrated 'W. E/F? Wightman', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Thompson, D. Lindsay. The Gang on Wheels. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1930. 269 pages. Illustrated 'W. Edward Wigtall', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Turner, Ethel. Judy and Punch. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1928. 256 pages. Illustrated 'Harold Copping', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Turner, Lilian. Jill of the Fourth Form. London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1924. 256 p. Illustrated J. Dewar Mills, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Turner, Lilian. The Girl from the Back-Blocks. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, [1914]. 256 pages. Illustrated 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Walpole, Andrew H. The Black Star: A School Story for Boys. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1925. 226 pages. Illustrated, b/w frontis.

White, Paul & David Britten. The Ranford Mystery Miler. Exeter, Devon: The Paternoster Press, 1960. 158 pages. Not illus.

White, Paul & David Britten. Ructions at Ranford. London: The Paternoster Press, 1961. 156 pages. Not illus.

White, Paul & David Britten. Ranford Goes Fishing. Devon: The Paternoster Press, 1962. 151 pages. Not illus.

Wilson, Keane. Pip and Andrew - Schoolmates. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1949. 110 pages. Not illus.
Wilson, Keane. Pip and Andrew in Danger. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 111 pages. Not illus.

Alphabetical Listing of Australian School Stories

Althea's Term at Winterton. Dora Joan Potter. 1948.
The Best School of All. Lillian M. Pyke. 1921.
The Black Star: A School Story for Boys. Andrew H. Walpole. 1925.
Blue Brander: A Story of Adventure and Australian School Life. D. Lindsay Thompson. 1927.
Bobby's First Term: A School-boys' story. Hilda Bridges. 1924.
The Boys of Springdale, or, The Strength of Patience. Robert Richardson. 1875.
The Boys of Willoughby School. Robert Richardson. 1877.
Clown of the School. Constance Mackness. 1935.
The Cold Shoulder; or, A half year at Craiglea. Robert Richardson. 1876.
Connie of the Fourth Form. Hilda Bridges. 1930.
Dark Pool Island. Mavis Thorpe Clark. 1949.
Dick. Mary Grant Bruce. 1918.
Di-Double-Di. Constance Mackness. 1929.
Dogsnose. J. H. M. Abbott. 1928.
Dunham Days: A Sketch. M. I. Little. 1913.
Ellice of Ainslie. Edna Roughley. 1947.
For the Sake of a Friend: A Story of School Life. Margaret Parker. 1896.
The Gang on Wheels. D. Lindsay Thompson. 1930.
The Girl from the Back-Blocks. Lilian Turner. 1914.
The Glad School. Constance Mackness. 1927.
"Go It! Brothers!!" Alice Guerin Crist. 1929.
Hatherly's First Fifteen. M. R. Clark. 1930.
The Heart of the School: An Australian School Story. Eustace Boylan. 1920.
Helen's Inheritance. Dora Joan Potter. 1950.
The Human Pedagogue. R. G. Jennings. 1924.
Jack of St. Virgil's. Lillian M. Pyke. 1917.
Jancy Scores Again. Anne Bracken. 1946.
Jancy Wins Through. Anne Bracken. 1945.
Janey of Beechlands. Ennis Honey. 1947.
Jill of the Fourth Form. Lilian Turner. 1924.
Judy and Punch. Ethel Turner. 1928.
Kooaburra Jack: A Story of Australian School Life. C. F. Argyll Saxby. 1924.
The Lone Guide of Merfield. Lillian M. Pyke. 1925.
Lowanna: An Australian School Story. Castleden Dove. 1925.
The Making of Stephen Hall. David Britten. 1953.
Margaret's Decision. Dora Joan Potter. 1947.
Max the Sport. Lillian M. Pyke. 1916.
Miss Pickle: the Story of an Australian Boarding-School. Constance Mackness. 1924.
Nellie Doran: A Story of Australian Home and School Life. Miriam Agatha. 1914.
A New Girl for Winterton. Dora Joan Potter. 1950.
Our Junior Mathematical Master, and, A Perilous Errand. Robert Richardson. 1876.
Pam Pays Her Debt. Dora Joan Potter. 1945.
Pip and Andrew - Schoolmates. Keane Wilson. 1949.
Pip and Andrew in Danger. Keane Wilson. 1950.
A Prince at School. Lillian M. Pyke. 1919.
Ranford Goes Fishing. Paul White and David Britten. 1962.
The Ranford Mystery Miler. Paul White and David Britten. 1960.
Ructions at Ranford. Paul White and David Britten. 1961.
The Secret of Greycliffs. Margaret Paice. 1961.
Sheila the Prefect. Lillian M. Pyke. 1923.
Squirmy and Bubbles: A School Story for Girls. Lillian M. Pyke. 1924.
Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls. Louise Mack. 1897.
Wendy in Charge. Dora Joan Potter. 1947.
Wendy Moves Up. Dora Joan Potter. 1947.
With Wendy at Winterton School. Dora Joan Potter. 1945.

Chronological Listing of Australian School Stories

1875 Robert Richardson. The Boys of Springdale, or, The Strength of Patience.
1876 Robert Richardson. The Cold Shoulder; or, A half year at Craiglea.
1876 Robert Richardson. Our Junior Mathematical Master, and, A Perilous Errand.
1877 Robert Richardson. The Boys of Willoughby School.
1896 Margaret Parker. For the Sake of a Friend: A Story of School Life.
1897 Louise Mack. Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls.
1913 M. I. Little. Dunham Days: A Sketch.
1914 Miriam Agatha. Nellie Doran: A Story of Australian Home and School Life.
1914 Lilian Turner. The Girl from the Back-Blocks.
1916 Lillian M. Pyke. Max the Sport.
1917 Lillian M. Pyke. Jack of St. Virgil's.
1918 Mary Grant Bruce. Dick.
1919 Lillian M. Pyke. A Prince at School.
1920 Eustace Boylan. The Heart of the School: An Australian School Story.
1921 Lillian M. Pyke. The Best School of All.
1923 Lillian M. Pyke. Sheila the Prefect.
1924 Hilda Bridges. Bobby's First Term: A School-boys' story.
1924 R. G. Jennings. The Human Pedagogue.
1924 Constance Mackness. Miss Pickle: the Story of an Australian Boarding-School.
1924 Lillian M. Pyke. Squirmy and Bubbles: A School Story for Girls.
1924 C. F. Argyll Saxby. Kookaburra Jack: A Story of Australian School Life.
1924 Lilian Turner. Jill of the Fourth Form.
1925 Castleden Dove. Lowanna: An Australian School Story.
1925 Lillian M. Pyke. The Lone Guide of Merfield.
1925 Andrew H. Walpole. The Black Star: A School Story for Boys.
1927 Constance Mackness. The Glad School.
1927 D. Lindsay Thompson. Blue Brander: A Story of Adventure and Australian School Life.
1928 J. H. M. Abbott. Dogsnose.
1928 Ethel Turner. Judy and Punch.
1929 Aice Guerin Crist. "Go It! Brothers!!"
1929 Constance Mackness. Di-Double-Di.
1930 Hilda Bridges. Connie of the Fourth Form.
1930 M. R. Clark. Hatherly's First Fifteen.
1930 D. Lindsay Thompson. The Gang on Wheels.
1935 Constance Mackness. Clown of the School.
1945 Anne Bracken. Jancy Wins Through.
1945 Dora Joan Potter. Pam Pays Her Debt.
1945 Dora Joan Potter. With Wendy at Winterton School.
1946 Anne Bracken. Jancy Scores Again.
1947 Ennis Honey. Janey of Beechlands.
1947 Dora Joan Potter. Margaret's Decision.
1947 Dora Joan Potter. Wendy Moves Up.
1947 Dora Joan Potter. Wendy in Charge.
1947 Edna Roughley. Ellice of Ainslie.
1948 Dora Joan Potter. Althea's Term at Winterton.
1949 Mavis Thorpe Clark. Dark Pool Island.
1949 Keane Wilson. Pip and Andrew - Schoolmates.
1950 Dora Joan Potter. Helen's Inheritance.
1950 Dora Joan Potter. A New Girl for Winterton.
1950 Keane Wilson. Pip and Andrew in Danger.
1953 David Britten. The Making of Stephen Hall.
1960 Paul White and David Britten. The Ranford Mystery Miler.
1961 Margaret Paice. The Secret of Greycliffs.
1961 Paul White and David Britten. Ructions at Ranford.
1962 Paul White and David Britten. Ranford Goes Fishing.

Keane Wilson (Pseudonym for Moira Wilson)

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Moira Wilson was born on 27 December 1916. She received a B.A. but little is known about her. Moira worked as a Private Secretary for the Banque National de Paris, and a secondary teacher. She has contributed to Woman’s Day magazines in Australia and the Malay Times in Singapore (Who’s Who 729). Wilson wrote three titles in the Pip series, Pip and Andrew being the second. Other titles included Pip of Pynalong in 1949 and Pip and Andrew in Danger in 1950. She also wrote two other children’s stories in addition to the Pip series. All except one of her books was published by Oxford University Press.

Pip and Andrew - Schoolmates. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1949. 110 pages. Not illus.

The second title in the ‘Pip’ series sees Pip return to his school, Brooklands, with his neighbour, Andrew. Pip wonders how carefree Andrew will fit in as a new boy, and his suspicions are confirmed when Andrew soon finds himself in trouble with Simpson, the school bully, and the Headmaster, Dr Bean. The mystery plot of the story involves the mysterious new French master, Monsieur Dubois. Simpson spreads a story round the school that Monsieur Dubois is a spy, which is strengthened when the police visit the school to inform the Head that a German P.O.W. has escaped. British boys’ school stories published during and after the Second World War often featured adventure plots involving spies and war prisoners, and Pip and Andrew, is one of the few Australian boys’ stories to do this. While many Australian boys’ school stories dealt with the First World War, few stories looked at the Second World War. The Head suspects Andrew spread the rumour and punishes him. When Monsieur Dubois goes missing, Pip and Andrew search for him and find him trapped in a gully and rescue him. When the Head discovers that Simpson was the real source of the false rumour, Simpson is expelled. The portrayal of Simpson as the school bully and his ultimate expulsion, are standard of the bully characters who appeared in some boys’ school stories. Monsieur Dubois reveals that he is a scientist studying wildlife; hence his mysterious visits into the bush.

Pip and Andrew in Danger. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 111 pages. Not illus.

Pip and Andrew in Danger continues the adventures of friends Pip Raynor and Andrew James at Brooklands, the boarding school they attend. They quickly find themselves caught up in a mystery surrounding one of their schoolmates, George, who is being threatened by two dangerous looking men. Pip and Andrew and one of their teachers, Monsieur Dubois are given a wallet when they rescue a man from a capsized yacht. This wallet contains a valuable scientific formula which the two men are trying to steal. The two men kidnap Pip, Andrew and George and the trio are later rescued by Monsieur Dubois and the two men are apprehended by the police. The boys receive medals from the government in a ceremony at the end of term in recognition of their courage and loyalty. Pip and Andrew in Danger employs an adventure/mystery motif popular of contemporary school stories of the time. Other stories which deal with valuable scientific formulas include Potter’s Althea’s Term at Winterton.

Paul White and David Britten: Paul White (Paul Hamilton Hume White)

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Paul White was born on 26 February 1910, in Bowral, New South Wales, the only child of Richard Sibford White, a farmer, and his wife, Rose, née Morgan. Richard White enlisted in the A.I.F. in 1915 but died one month later of meningitis whilst in camp. (White, Alias Jungle Doctor 4). Paul was a sickly child, suffering from bronchitis, so the family moved to Sydney where Paul attended Heathford Grammar School and Gordon Public School before attending Sydney Grammar School. White became a Christian when he was converted at a meeting held by Irish evangelist William Petteson Nicholson, and decided he wanted to work towards becoming a medical missionary (White 25). Athletics Champion at Sydney Grammar School, he won an Exhibition to the University of Sydney to study medicine. He was actively involved in athletics, being awarded a ‘Blue’, and was a founding member of the Evangelical Union (White 51). He graduated MB BS in 1935 and worked in several hospitals before spending four years as Superintendent of the Church Missionary Society Hospital in Tanganyika from 1938 with his wife Mary. The couple had two children, a son, David, and a daughter, Rosemary Helen. Returning to Australia in 1942 he began radio broadcasts on his time in Africa. These broadcasts continued until 1975. His first Jungle Doctor book was published in 1942 by Paternoster Press and he quickly became a popular author. By 1959 over one million copies of his books had been published (White 134). He was best known as ‘The Jungle Doctor’. By 1977 his books had been translated into over 50 languages and sold over two million copies and his radio show ran for 32 years. Until 1973 all royalties from his novels went to Tanganyika for missionary and Christian work (White 136). His wife suffered from mental illness and died in the 1970s. Paul married his secretary, Ruth Longe, who was 25 years his junior. White died in 1992.

Despite his prolific writing career and widespread fame in both print and radio as ‘The Jungle Doctor’, Paul White has received little scholarly recognition in Australia. He does not appear in major Australian literature references like The Oxford Companion to Australian Children’s Literature. Perhaps this is in part due to the fact that the majority of his stories were set in Africa, but he deserves recognition for his extensive career and influence.

Further Reading

White, Paul. Alias Jungle Doctor: An Autobiography. Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1977.

Links

December 3, 1926: Jungle Doctor Signed a Decision Card Christian History Institute
Wikipedia article: Paul_White_(missionary)

The Ranford Mystery Miler Exeter, Devon: The Paternoster Press, 1960. 158 pages. Not illus.

The first of four titles in the evangelist school story Ranford series, co-written by Paul White and David Britten, The Ranford Mystery Miler, introduces Dick Hardy, a day boy, at Ranford College. As an evangelist school story, The Ranford Mystery Miler, follows the standard pattern of the conversion of a schoolboy, Dick, with the following titles focussing on a different boy’s conversion to Christianity. Dick is an orphan. When his parents were killed in a car accident he stopped believing in God. Dick is unable to play sports due to complications from a broken arm. He is befriended by Dr Norton, an African missionary, who recognises Dick’s promise as an athlete and offers to coach him and see about fixing his arm. Both Dick and Dr Norton are based on some of Paul White’s own experiences, he was a talented athlete, doctor and African missionary. The influence of Dr Norton on Dick remains the focus of the story. Other members of Ranford are introduced, friends, Horsey and Cowie, Irish boy McGarrigal, and the school bullies, Perkins, Passemore and Pugh, otherwise known as the Sweet Peas, who terrorise Dick. Dick’s operation is a success and after he attends a bible youth group meeting he gives his life to God, becoming a Christian, with Dr Norton’s help. The conversion scene is an important part of the evangelist school story plot. Typical school activities such as sport still play an important role in this story despite its religious themes. Dick continues training for the mile and Dr Norton believes he shows great promise. At the sports, Dick is mistakenly entered into the Open Mile, instead of the Under 16 event, but he manages to beat his seniors and win the race. The favourite, Doug Sherwood, surprisingly only finished fifth place. It is revealed that someone may have tampered with his shoelaces, and Horsey and Cowie are determined to investigate.

Ructions at Ranford. London: The Paternoster Press, 1961. 156 pages. Not illus.

Ructions at Ranford immediately follows on from The Ranford Mystery Miler. Horsey, Cowie and McGarrigal suspect that the Sweet Peas were involved with Doug Sherwood’s broken shoelace and set out to investigate the matter. Whilst the previous Ranford title examined Dick’s conversion, in Ructions at Ranford, Horsey becomes a Christian. His journey starts when he visits Dr Norton. After Dick’s victory in the Mile, Horsey is inspired to become an athlete. Horsey enters for a Music Composition Competition at Ranford. When Horsey attends a Bible Party he is deeply moved by one of the speaker’s stories about his conversion. For Horsey, his previous experience had made him think Christians would be pious and dull. The speaker, Captain Burns, is a brave heroic man and it is a revelation to Horsey. Horsey becomes a Christian and endeavours to live a Christian life. Horsey had been suffering at the hands of the Sweet Peas and they destroy his music entry. But with the help of Dr Norton’s wife, he recreates his entry and wins the competition. Christian activities such as prayer, influencing others, going to church and reading the bible are encouraged in this story. Horsey hopes to become an athlete, like Dick, but when he fails horribly in the Sports, he realises that each person has different gifts and his may not be running. During a holiday trip to the country Horsey discovers that he is a very good shot; he has found one of his gifts.

Ranford Goes Fishing. Devon: The Paternoster Press, 1962. 151 pages. Not illus.

The third story in the Ranford series, Ranford Goes Fishing centres on the conversion of Irish schoolboy, Pat McGarrigal, more commonly known as ‘Mac’. Mac is almost a masculine version of the Irish madcap heroine so favoured by British girls’ school story authors¹ which established the stereotype of a wild undisciplined yet kind-hearted schoolgirl – Mac is undisciplined, does not like school rules, regularly breaks bounds and has run away in the past. Mac is often in conflict with his chemistry teacher, Mr Mildwater. Mac had been friends with Horsey and Cowie, but becomes distant after Horsey becomes a Christian. Mac, a true Irish madcap, thinks there are too many rules in Christianity. Despite this, Dick and Horsey try to convert him. Mac meets a young man, Alan, during an illicit fishing trip, and when he later finds out that Alan is a Christian, he is shocked, as he had thought Alan was too much of a sport to be a Christian. White and Britten feature a similar attitude in Ructions at Ranford. Mac is moved to Griffith House under Mr Mildwater and begins a campaign of ragging against the master. When Mac learns that his father has lost his money and he will have to leave school after the current term and he becomes even more rebellious. After a rag backfires, Mac breaks bounds and becomes a Christian, realising the error in his ways. Mac is able to stay on at Ranford when he is rewarded by the grateful father of two girls he had rescued from the surf.

The Ranford series is continued in a fourth title, Ranford in Flames (1965), in which the wayward Perky becomes a Christian during an Inter-Schools Christian Camp. The story is set solely in the camp with no school action.

Related titles

White, Paul and Britten, David. Ranford in Flames. London: Paternoster Press, 1965.

¹See Pixie series by Mrs G Horne de Vaizey, Madcap Melody by Judith Carr, etc

Andrew H. Walpole

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Little is known about Andrew H. Walpole. Walpole only wrote one novel: The Black Star.

The Black Star: A School Story for Boys. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1925. 226 pages. Illustrated, b/w frontis.

The Black Star was one of the earliest Australian boys’ school story to incorporate a strong adventure plot. The story concerns the attempts of Deepwater College Sixth Former, Billy Faraday, and his friend, Jack Symonds, to protect the Black Star, a sacred Aboriginal emblem given to Billy’s father, from two crooks, Lazare and Tiger. This use of Aboriginal motifs was quite unusual. Lazare appears at Deepwater College pretending to be the new History Master. His accomplice, Tiger, had previously attempted to steal the Black Stone from Billy while he was travelling back to school after the holidays. Most of the story details how the attempts of the bogus history master to steal the stone are thwarted by the two boys. The Black Star was different to the other school and adventure stories of the 1920s, such as Blue Brander and Dogsnose, in that the story is predominantly set in school unlike the later stories which incorporated holiday periods. Walpole, however, includes a scene when Billy travels with a friend’s older brother in pursuit of a hawker. Billy’s study mate, Fane, had accidentally sold an old jacket to the hawker, unaware that Billy had hidden the stone in the lining. They manage to retrieve the jacket and Jack decides to hide the stone in the river. Billy is kidnapped by Lazare but is rescued from his island cave prison by Billy and his friends. When they return to school they inform the Head and Lazare and Tiger are captured by the Police. Billy decides to give the stone to an old friend of his father’s for safekeeping. Despite Walpole’s use of adventure and mystery in the story, The Black Star still contains typical school events including sporting matches and the clashes of two rival secret societies.

Lilian Turner

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Lilian Turner was born on 21 August 1867 in Lincoln, England, the eldest daughter of Bennett George Burwell and Sarah Jane, née Shaw. Lilian had a difficult childhood, her stepfather being much stricter with her than he was with her sister, Ethel. As an author, Lilian constantly wrote in the shadow of her sister’s initial successes and popularity (ADB 292). Lilian was educated at Sydney Girls’ High School where she and her sister ran a rival paper to the official school magazine edited by Louise Mack. Lilian was co-founder of the Parthenon with Ethel. Lilian’s first novel, The Lights of Sydney, won Cassell’s Novel Competition in 1894. From 1902 to 1931 Lilian wrote over twenty girls’ novels, the majority published by Ward, Lock & Co. Lilian married Frederick Lindsay Thompson on 22 February 1898. Thompson was a dentist but had difficulty finding employment, so Lilian supported her family through her writing. They had two sons, Dick, and Douglas, who later became a journalist and author. Ethel often helped her sister financially, especially after Fred died in 1924 (ADB 292). Lilian died on 25 August 1956 in Turramurra, New South Wales.

The Girl from the Back-Blocks. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, [1914]. 256 pages. Illustrated 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Turner uses a new girl storyline in both of her school stories. In The Girl from the Back-Blocks, Joan, a country girl, is sent unwillingly to Greythorpe School, in order to become a lady. A common motif in the new girl story was a new girl who had never been to school before and who is portrayed as a misfit, awkward and out of place. Other examples of this can be seen in Parker’s For the Sake of a Friend. Joan’s arrival is sensational, she has a screaming fit, and has trouble fitting in. Joan begins to idolise one of her classmates, Ellie Campbell, and when Ellie rescues Joan from drowning during a swimming lesson, they become friends (of sorts). Joan’s adventures cause the girls to view her as a heroine and they begin to accept her instead of mocking her because of her differences. Turner uses a slight variation on the falsely accused motif in an incident in the story. Some of the senior girls purchase a necklace for a teacher’s leaving present and the pendant is lost during a scrimmage in Joan’s dormitory. One of the girls accuses Joan of stealing it, and when Joan sees Ellie wearing a necklace she thinks her idol stole the pendant and decides to falsely confess her guilt to shield her. Most falsely accused plots do not involve the heroine falsely confessing. The Head decides that Joan will have to be expelled, but the appearance of one of the school maids with the pendant which had fallen behind a piece of furniture clears Joan, and also Ellie. The girls once more consider Joan a heroine and call her ‘Plucky Joan’ and ‘True Blue Joan’. Turner touches on the concept of the schoolgirl honour code through the Head’s thoughts: "a schoolgirl, like a soldier, can be sudden and quick in quarrel, passionate beyond control, and yet hold her honour dearer than her life" (254).

Jill of the Fourth Form. London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1924. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Dewar Mills, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Jill of the Fourth Form centres on sixteen-year-old Jill Colville who lives with her Aunt while her father is a Colonel in the Army. Jill is increasingly dissatisfied with her life and when she overhears some party guests commenting on how spoilt and pampered she is, decides to write to her father begging him to let her go to school. Jill of the Fourth Form follows her adventures at Highcastle College and how she learns to fit in. To prepare herself for school Jill decides to buy some school stories, but getting only boys’ school stories, she teaches herself slang and tricks to survive the expected first night dormitory rags, only to find her dorm has a twenty-four hour rule of not interfering with ‘newies’. However she puts them to good use on her second night when she makes a dummy to put in her bed and foils their plans. She passes the series of initiation tests on the third night, including walking on the balcony railing. When she is caught the girls pretend she was sleepwalking and the next day Jill finds she has achieved instant fame for her heroic deeds, though this only lasts a week before it is eclipsed by a girl breaking her wrist. An adventure occurs during a Form Picnic to the Look Out at Mount Desolation. One of the girls, Joan, falls down the cliff side and Jill once again becomes a heroine to the girls, by rescuing her. Turner uses similar incidents in her other school story, The Girl from the Back Blocks, involving rescues. Authors often placed their heroines in dangerous situations and detailed thrilling rescue, either being the rescuer or being rescued.

Ethel Turner (Ethel Mary Turner)

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Ethel Mary Turner was born on 24 January 1870 in Doncaster, England, the second child of Bennett George Burwell and his wife Sarah Jane, née Shaw. When Burwell died Sarah Jane married widower Henry Turner and they had one daughter together, before Turner died in 1878. In 1879 Mrs Turner emigrated with her young family to Australia and in 1880 she married Charles Cope and they had one son. Ethel was educated at the Sydney Girls’ High School, where she formed a friendship with Louise Mack. For three years she founded and co-edited the Parthenon, with her sister, Lilian. In 1893 she edited the Children’s Page of the Illustrated Sydney News, then the Children’s Page of the Australian Town and Country Journal until 1919 (ADB 290). Her first book, Seven Little Australians, was published in 1894 by Ward, Lock & Co., and quickly became an Australian classic. Ethel’s sister, Lilian, also became a children’s author. Ethel married barrister, Herbert Raine Curlewis, in 1896. They had two children, a daughter, Jean, born in 1898, and a son, Adrian, born in 1901. From 1921 to 1931 she edited the Sunday Sun’s Children’s Page, ‘Sunbeams’. During her prolific career she wrote 34 novels, her last, Judy and Punch, published in 1928. Her daughter’s death two years later in 1930 marked the end of her writing career. Jean had written 4 children’s novels for Ward, Lock & Co. Ethel died on 8 April 1958 in Mosman, New South Wales.

Further Reading

Turner, Ethel, and Philippa Poole. The Diaries of Ethel Turner. Sydney: Lansdowne, 1998.

Yarwood, A. T. From a Chair in the Sun: The Life of Ethel Turner. Ringwood, Vic.: Viking, 1994.

Links

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Turner, Ethel Mary (1870 - 1958) by Brenda Niall

Ethel Turner from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Judy and Punch. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1928. 256 pages. Illustrated 'Harold Copping', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

More than thirty years after Seven Little Australians was published in 1894, Turner began writing a book about Judy Woolcott’s schooldays, at the request of two admirers, setting the story during the events of the previous novel. Judy and Punch was the last children’s novel Turner wrote, and the only school story out of some thirty-four titles. In Judy and Punch, Judy is sent off to Pinedale, a country boarding school with 40 pupils in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, run by three sisters, the Misses Burton. A number of other Australian girls’ school stories were set in private venture schools run by three sisters, three seeming to be the operative number of sisters to run a school, including the Misses Dimsdale in Mackness’ Di-Double-Di, and the Misses Maynard in Pyke’s The Lone Guide of Merfield. These small family-run private venture schools flourished in Australia in the early twentieth century. The three sisters in Judy and Punch and their varying personalities are colourfully sketched by Turner. The elder Miss Burton is a strict disciplinarian, sharing the teaching duties with the motherly Miss Marian, while the slightly eccentric Miss Flora manages the housekeeping.

The main incident of the novel is when Punch, a small boy Judy befriended on the train journey to school, attempts to run away, and Judy breaks bounds to deliver him safely back to school. She is punished when she returns to school as she cannot explain her absence since she had promised the boy’s master she would not tell anyone. She is eventually released from her punishment when the master intervenes on her behalf. This motif of keeping one’s word or promise despite risk of punishment is a typical school honour code ideal used in many school stories. The story concludes with Judy arriving back at Misrule after an adventurous journey home owing to a lost train ticket.

Judy and Punch was reprinted by Ward, Lock & Co. in 1948.

D. Lindsay Thompson (Douglas Lindsay Thompson)

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Douglas Lindsay Thompson, known as ‘Duncan’, was born on October 27, 1899, in Mosman, New South Wales, the eldest son of author, Lilian Turner, and her husband Fred Thompson (Turner & Poole 244). Thompson was educated at Sydney Grammar School, which he uses as a setting for his two boys’ school stories. As a journalist he worked for the Adelaide Advertiser, and the Melbourne Herald. At the Sydney Morning Herald, where he was a feature writer and chief of staff, his work as an investigative journalist led to an inquiry in the New South Wales Heath Service (Lees & Macintyre 414). He also wrote a history of the Smith Family organisation. It is not known whether he married or had any children.

Blue Brander: A Story of Adventure and Australian School Life. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1927. 313 pages. Illustrated 'W. E/F? Wightman', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Thompson’s first story in a series of two about ‘the Gang’, ‘Blue’ Brander and his friends, Johnson, Burton, Hyde and Warnecke, is part school story, part adventure story. Blue Brander neatly combines adventure with more traditional school story elements; a new master, ragging and a thrilling sporting victory, using the Easter Break for the adventure plot sandwiched between more typical scenes of school life. Blue Brander opens with Brander of the Middle Fifth leading a scrimmage against the Upper Fifth. As a result, the new master, Mr Doohan, unjustly punishes Johnson, the School rowing stroke, banning him from rowing for three weeks, meaning the school’s chances of winning the upcoming Head of the River Race are severely diminished. Brander plots revenge on Mr Doohan during the Easter holidays, even though Mr Doohan is dating his sister, Daphne. Blue Brander is similar to its contemporaries in that it sets the adventure storyline during a holiday period. The Branders, Mr Doohan and the Gang set off to the Jenolan Caves where Mr Doohan is going to search for his grandfather’s treasure hoard hidden years ago. When an old man the Gang befriended on the train trip turns out to be a bank robber, the Gang decide to foil his plans as well. They plan to find the treasure themselves, then hide a fake treasure and arrange so that the old man and Mr Doohan find it at the same time. Brander also enlists the help of a reporter to further complete Mr Doohan’s humiliation. The plan works well, with the Gang rescuing the bank robber’s stolen money too, though Brander is shot. The holidays over, the Gang return to school. Mr Doohan cancels Johnson’s punishment and Johnson helps Grantham win the Head of the River. When Brander learns that his sister and Mr Doohan are engaged he decides to end his feud with the master, and the Gang smuggle the treasure into Mr Doohan’s lodgings where he discovers it. It was not unusual for a master to unjustly punish a boy in a school story, or for the schoolboys to seek some sort of revenge, but the elaborate plans made by Brander and his friends and their success are remarkable.

The Gang on Wheels. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1930. 269 pages. Illustrated 'W. Edward Wigtall', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

The Gang on Wheels furthers the adventures of the Gang, Brander, Johnson, Burton, Hyde and Warnecke, started in the previous story, Blue Brander. They are now in the Upper Sixth and have returned to school after the summer holidays. In The Gang on Wheels Thompson employs a similar structure to his previous story, including an adventure story in a holiday setting while opening and concluding the novel in school. The story opens with typical school minutiae, a fight between Johnson, and Kidman, a newly appointed prefect. There is some antagonism between the pair as much of the school feels that Johnson, the popular sportsman, should have been made a prefect instead of Kidman. The adventure part starts when Hyde finds a roll of forged florins and with the school having to close due to the Influenza epidemic, the Gang decide to investigate. The inclusion of this real life incident is distinctive; Thompson would have been not many years out of school when the epidemic occurred. The Gang travel to the Wingecarribbe Swamp in Brander’s ramshackle car as Hyde thinks this would be the perfect location for a counterfeiting forge to be hidden. At the same time Kidman and his family are embarking on a holiday to the same area and the two groups meet when they are involved in an accident. Mr Kidman is kidnapped and it turns out that it is one of his employees, and his daughter and two men who are the forgers. The Gang rescue Mr Kidman and pursue the forgers but they manage to escape. Later the police capture them. As with other boys’ adventure stories the role of the police is somewhat limited due to the ample capabilities of the hero and his friends. With the epidemic over, Grantham School is reopened, Johnson is appointed to a vacant Prefect post and Burton is made Senior Prefect. Brander is left wondering what this new responsibility will mean for the adventures of the Gang. Thompson brings in a touch of romance, with Hyde falling in love with Kidman’s sister, quite an unusual element in a boys’ school story.

C. F. Argyll Saxby

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C. F. Argyll Saxby was born in the United Kingdom, the son of Scottish author, Jessie M. E. Saxby. She was born in June 1842 and became a prolific author, writing articles and stories for a wide number of publications including the Boys’ Own Paper and several children’s books but was best known for folklore, natural history and contemporary life on the Shetland Isles (Kirpatrick, Encyclopaedia 292). Saxby lived in Canada before teaching as a schoolmaster in places including Cyprus, Syria and India. He served in the First World War. He wrote adventure serials for the Boys’ Own Paper, several of which were published as full length novels (Doyle, Who's Who of Boys' Writers and Illustrators 62). Saxby spent some time living in Victoria. In total, Saxby wrote over ten children’s novels, mostly colonial adventures set in countries including Canada.

Kookaburra Jack: A Story of Australian School Life. London: "The Boy's Own Paper" Office, 1924. 254 pages. Illustrated 'Arthur Twidle', b/w frontis. & 5 b/w illus.

Kookaburra Jack is an Australian boys’ school story which utilises many British public school motifs such as sport, school politics, the role of the Head and discipline, to create a vivid portrayal of Melbourne public school life. The story follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Jack Hosgood, otherwise known as ‘Kookaburra Jack’, at Yarra Grammar School where he is a day boy. Jack is head of a secret society called ‘The Push’ or ‘The Kookaburra Push’. Secret societies were popular motifs that featured secret meetings and disguised identities. However the Push is unique in its aims and influence. In the past the society has used its power to remove unsuitable masters from the school and is currently engaged in a state of war with Mr ‘Dingo’ Cairns. The society is placed on hold when Jack is forced to leave school after his father disappears. Jack meets a mysterious old man in the park, ‘the old digger’ who offers to become his benefactor, and Jack returns to Yarra as a boarder, on a twelve-month probation as the old man’s heir. Jack immediately makes plans for The Push. In the upcoming school elections he wants a new Captain elected instead of the incumbent Webb, whom he thinks is too much of a bookworm, and not enough of a sportsman.

This view reflects the contemporary attitude of idolizing sports stars in school over academic success. The Push’s plans are successful, and Deane, a popular sportsman, is elected. However Jack’s opinion of Webb begins to change when Webb rescues Deane from the school flagpole after the traditional School Captain celebrations go horribly wrong. The Push intervene when Webb begins to mix with some of the undesirable types at Yarra. The old digger finds Jack’s father, who turns out to be his own son. Jack finally acknowledges Webb’s true sportsmanship and before he disbands the Push his last task is to see Webb elected Captain when Deane leaves.

Kookaburra Jack was reprinted.

Edna Roughley

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Little is known about Edna Roughley. She is thought to have been married, and had at least one child, a daughter, for Ellice of Ainslie is dedicated to her daughter Julia Beales. In addition to Ellice of Ainslie, Roughley wrote a book of songs (poetry), a novel for adults and a play.

Ellice of Ainslie. Sydney: Australasian Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd., 1947. 253 pages. Illustrated, b/w frontis.

Ellice of Ainslie tells the story of motherless, hot-tempered and uncontrollable Ellice Kinnard, who is sent from her island home to attend Ainslie, her mother’s old school. There her friendship with the aloof and unpopular Madelon Herriot transforms Madelon into a popular schoolgirl. The central focus of Ellice of Ainslie is the friendship between Madelon and Ellice, emphasising loyalty and trust. Ellice is fascinated by Madelon and her beauty yet apparent coldness, and is determined to be her friend, despite overtures of friendship from three girls, Silver, Diana and Lolo, who are very popular. Two incidents occur that make Ellice question her affection for Madelon: Madelon cheats during an exam and attacks Lola. Madelon is later accused of trying to hurt Silver in an accident during the form play. Despite these events Ellice invites Madelon to spend the holidays with her and learns that Madelon’s mother died when she was a baby so she lives with an aunt as her father does not want her. After an eventful holiday during which Madelon goes missing in a canoe, Madelon returns to Ainslie, invigorated and tries to turn over a new leaf in her behaviour, but finds it hard not to slip back to her old ways of sullenness, coldness, and antagonism. Ellice and Madelon quarrel, before the story ends dramatically with Madelon and Ellice rescuing a Second Former from a crazed dog. For Madelon, school is a success, she is elected Form Prefect and Ellice’s aunt is going to adopt her. Madelon’s transformation is different to the reformation of madcaps in Mackness’ stories for example. It is unusual for a character with Madelon’s faults and failings to reform, typically they would remain the black sheep of the school, e. g. Diana in Janey of Beechlands. Roughley stresses the importance of Ellice’s love and loyalty in Madelon’s transformation.

Robert Richardson

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Robert Richardson was born in 1850 in Armidale, New South Wales. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School before graduating in Arts from the University of Sydney in 1870. He became a journalist and moved to England in the 1870s working in London and Edinburgh, writing for publications including The Boys’ Own Paper, Chums, and Punch (1871-1875) (Gibbney and Smith 212). He wrote a number of children’s books, including 18 boys’ novels. In addition to his Australian school stories, Richardson also wrote two British school stories. He died in 1901.

The Boys of Springdale, or, The Strength of Patience. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co., [1875]. 64 pages. Not Illus.

The Boys of Springdale was the first Australian school story published. The story is set at Springdale, a small school with about forty pupils including twelve boarders, run by Mr Blaxland. This small private venture boarding school owned and run by the Headmaster was typical of the era, and all of Richardson’s stories are set in this type of school. The Boys of Springdale centres on a conflict that arises between the boarders when they are collecting a subscription for a new cricket ball, and one of them, Steven Kent, refuses to contribute. The boarders send him to Coventry, not realising that he has been saving money to buy a pet for Philip, an invalided boy he visits. Steven is teased and has tricks played on him. When the Head discovers the boys’ ill treatment of Steven he tells them at the School Prize Giving about Steven’s kindness to the sick boy. The boys realise their wrongdoing, and at Mr Blaxland’s encouragement, plan to give Philip a seaside convalescent holiday. Steven is given a special conduct prize, voted for by the boys, because of his good character. The Boys of Springdale features moral themes and motifs which were common in British school stories from this period, started in Tom Brown’s Schooldays. Richardson stresses noble character, moral purity, kindness and good deeds.

Our Junior Mathematical Master, and, A Perilous Errand. Edinburgh: William Oliphant and Co., 1876. 95 pages. Not illus.

This title contains two stories, Our Junior Mathematical Master, and A Perilous Errand.¹

Our Junior Mathematical Master follows the arrival of a new junior mathematical master, Mr Pottle, at Astor House. For many of the boys he is a poor replacement for his predecessor. One of the Sixth Formers, Fred, believes that Mr Pottle sneaked to the Head, and he begins a campaign of ragging against Mr Pottle which results in the teacher being asked to leave at the end of the half-year. When Fred and his friends discover that Mr Pottle gave up his plans to become a doctor when his parents died, instead starting teaching to look after a younger brother, they realise that they have behaved shabbily and resolve to make amends. Fred confesses to the Head and Mr Pottle is allowed to remain at Astor House, in time becoming senior Mathematical Master.

The second story, A Perilous Errand, contains a similar moral message. A new boy, fourteen-year-old ‘Watty’, comes to Grange House, a small boarding school near Sydney run by Mr Craig. Most of the boys like Watty, though one boy, Will, constantly teases him, thinking it will toughen him up. Watty angers Will by ticking him off for swearing. Both boys remain at school for the holidays and Will becomes very ill with scarlet fever. Watty makes a difficult journey to town to get medicine for Will, and goes missing. He is discovered the next day unconscious and when Will realises that Watty risked his life to help him, he thanks him.

¹ Some sources state they were published separately (e.g. Saxby Offered to Children 285 and Crotty 278), however Muir and bibliographic records from the National Library of Scotland, and the British Library confirm they were published in the one volume.

The Cold Shoulder; or, A Half-Year at Craiglea. Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co., 1876. 128 pages. Illustrated, 2 b/w illus.

The Cold Shoulder centres on the arrival of an impoverished new boy, Philip Freeling, at Craiglea, a small Sydney bay-side school. Philip’s mother is a widow, struggling to make ends meet. The School Captain, Frank, quickly realises that clever Philip could prove to be a future rival. Some of the boys tease Philip and when he refuses to participate in cribbing, he is further disliked. Philip accidentally damages one of the boy’s maps and he is sent to Coventry by the school. During a holiday boating trip, Philip shows his courage when he helps one of the boys, George, who has been bitten by a snake. When they return to school the boys think Philip has been very heroic and stop mistreating him. Frank and George feel guilty about their treatment of Philip and tell the Head, who urges Frank to make amends by helping Philip get a job after school. Philip, Frank and George remain lifelong friends.

Reprinted as The Craiglea Boys, Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 189?.

The Boys of Willoughby School. Edinburgh: Nimmo, 1877. 143 pages. Not illus.

The Boys of Willoughby School contains a moral message of a teacher being persecuted similar to that which appeared in Our Junior Mathematical Master. A new French master, Monsieur Flavelle, arrives at Willoughby School, a private boarding school on the bank of the Parramatta River, run by Mr Cubitt who is assisted by two masters. A trio of friends, Tom, Fred and Jack are in the top form, the fourth form, and Tom is Captain. The boys quickly discover Monsieur Flavelle’s weakness for gossiping and boasting and learn to distract him to miss out on lessons. A new boy, ‘Sandy’, is shunned by the boys when he refuses to pay a cricket sub, a motif Richardson also used in The Boys of Springdale. A trick played by some of the boys on Monsieur Flavelle backfires when he becomes angry and tells the Head, who punishes the form. The class decide to retaliate by snubbing the teacher whenever they can. Sandy is against the idea, as he learns that Monsieur Flavelle is very poor and supports two daughters, one of whom is an invalid. During a Cadet Corps camp, Monsieur Flavelle rescues Tom from drowning and the boys realise they have behaved badly to the Frenchman and with Sandy’s help they decide to show their gratitude by helping to obtain a governess’ post for his eldest daughter to help the family finances. This idea of schoolboys’ atoning for their misdeeds by helping the less fortunate to obtain employment is one peculiar to Richardson. The idea of social good works also appears in Richardson’s other school stories.

The Boys of Willoughby School was reprinted by Sampson, Low, Martson & Co. [1925].

Lillian M. Pyke (Lillian Maxwell Pyke)

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Lillian Maxwell Pyke was born in 1881, the youngest of ten children of Robert Mosely Heath and Susannah Ellen, née Wilson, who emigrated to Australia in 1862 (Heath). Lillian was educated at University High School under the Headship of L. A. Adamson, who later became Headmaster of Wesley College. In 1908 she married Richard Diamond Pyke and the pair moved to Kingaroy where her husband worked as a railway engineer. Lillian used these experiences for her novel, Camp Kiddies (1919) which is illustrated with original family photographs. The couple had three children, two daughters, Joyce Maxwell, and Phyllis Lillian, and a son, Lawrence Richard Diamond (born 1 November 1912). Her husband died in 1917 and Pyke supported her young family by writing children’s stories. She wrote 18 children’s novels, mostly for Ward, Lock & Co., from 1916 to 1927. She also wrote two adult novels under the pen name of Erica Maxwell, as well as a book on Australian Etiquette which was frequently republished. Lillian died on 31 August 1927 whilst in her mid-forties, leaving her children orphans. At the time her fourteen-year-old son was a boarder at Wesley College and he was adopted by L. A. Adamson (Meyer 138). L. R. D. Pyke later completed a BSc at the University of Melbourne and became a Rhodes Scholar. He was Headmaster of Newington College from 1952 to 1960, and had two sons and one daughter. He died in July 1987.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition: Pyke, Lillian Maxwell (1881 - 1927) by Beverley Kingston.
Heath Family Geneology Website by Clifford Heath.

Max the Sport. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1916. 250 pages. Illustrated 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis & 7 b/w illus.

Max the Sport details Max Charlton’s schooldays at St. Virgil’s School, the first of three titles Pyke set at the fictional Melbourne public school based on Wesley College. Pyke explores ‘playing the game’ themes in school, sport, study and war in the story. The opening of Max the Sport initially deals with Max’s childhood, in a manner similar to Pyke’s Jack of St. Virgil’s and Bruce’s Diick. It was quite common in early Australian boys’ school stories to detail the hero’s childhood. Max’s parents had wished to send their son to a public school, as they value the public school spirit, and ‘playing the game’ - they want Max to be a sport. When Max’s father dies whilst saving the life of a child, Max must compete for a scholarship to St. Virgil’s and is successful. He is immediately inspired by the Headmaster’s speech, urging school patriotism, unselfishness and playing the game. Max’s trials in striving to be a ‘sport’ include winning football matches against unfair competitors, and almost sacrificing his chances of winning the Senior Championship to allow a rival’s crippled sister some joy. In his last year, Max becomes ill and misses out on a scholarship, facing the prospect of having to leave St. Virgil’s until his mother learns that he is heir to an estate in England. Max returns to St. Virgil’s and wins a scholarship to Melbourne University to study medicine. This moving of the school story to university life is unique in Australian school stories.¹ Max becomes a doctor and is working in a hospital when war is declared. Max enlists, much to the dismay of his mother, until she realises that he is only being a ‘sport’, and to do otherwise would be against his upbringing of playing the game.

Pyke’s war motif touches on the contemporary divisions within Australia regarding enlistment and expands the ‘playing the game’ theme to the battlefields of war. Max is wounded, but is awarded the VC, and despite facing an uncertain future, he is still determined to be a sport. Max the Sport is the strongest of all of Pyke’s boys’ school stories in advocating the ‘playing the game’ ethic and leading an honourable sporting life.

¹Thomas Hughes wrote a sequel to Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Tom Brown at Oxford, which was less popular.

Jack of St. Virgil's. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1917. 319 pages. Illus. 'J. Macfarlane', b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

In Jack of St. Virgil's, Jack Brown is a fourteen-year-old boy, who lives in the country, and wins a scholarship to St. Virgil’s. He doesn’t know anything about his parents. The scholarship pupil was a conventional character in British school stories, though Pyke’s sporting hero somewhat fails to match the British stereotype of a ‘swot’; overly academic, weak at games, looked down upon and socially inferior. Jack engages with the typical school tussles, newie’s initiation and trying out for sports teams. The school receives a visit from an Old Boy and war hero, Captain Romaine, who deeply impresses Jack and he decides to try and model his life on the courageous ex-soldier. Jack discovers who his parents are during a holiday stint as a cabin boy. As a baby he was stolen from Captain Romaine and his wife. Jack is unable to tell Captain Romaine because of a promise he made to his aunt. Jack discovers his uncle trying to steal at St. Virgil’s and he is later blackmailed about this by an older boy. When Jack rescues Captain Romaine’s daughter from being trampled by a pack of horses, Captain Romaine discovers the truth and is reunited with his long-lost son. While British and Australian girls’ school stories often incorporated the finding of lost sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins and heirs this motif appears less frequently in boys’ school stories. Pyke still recreates St. Virgil’s atmosphere as a public school through descriptions of sport including the Head of the River, the courageous school captain, owing money, and Jack’s talk with the captain about illicit literature.

A Prince at School. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1919. 252 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Mr Lester, a middle-aged bachelor, is Head Master of Whitfield College, a boarding school, in A Prince at School. His ordered world is turned upside down when he receives news that an old lady friend has died leaving him guardianship of her two children, who currently live on Vilatonga. Mr Lester travels to Vilatonga to collect Arnold, a sixteen-year-old boy, and Lola, a twenty-year-old young woman and take them back to Australia. Their friend, Andi, the son of the deposed Island chief, stows away on the boat. Andi, a ‘prince’, can be seen as an equivalent of the Ruritanian princess motif which appeared in British girls’ school stories.2 Andi is allowed to go to Whitefield College, and though some of the boys are initially hostile to Andi, he soon gains popularity through his good nature. Arnold, Lola and Andi are worried they have been followed by Lola’s unwanted German suitor from Vilatonga, Mr Bernstein. Mr Lester secretly sends them to Queensland to recover from illness but Lola and Andi are kidnapped by Mr Bernstein. Mr Lester thinks they have been killed, as Mr Bernstein makes it look like they were mauled by an escaped lion. Mr Bernstein wants Andi to reveal where his father hid his tribe’s cache of guns and money, and he wants Lola to marry him. War is declared and Mr Lester is approached by the British navy to travel to Vilatonga to help the bases there and he takes Arnold with him. This direct involvement of some of the characters in the First World War is unique amongst Australian boys’ school stories. Bernstein threatens to kill Andi if Lola does not agree to marry him, but Andi manages to escape, and locating his father’s cache, is discovered by Arnold and some tribesmen. They form a party and rescue Lola and destroy the German boat. Lola and Mr Lester marry, while Arnold is to return to school. Andi’s father is restored as chief of Vilatonga.

² See Elinor M. Brent-Dyer A Princess at the Chalet School, Dorothea Moore Guide Gilly, F. O. H. Nash Kattie of the Balkans, etc.

The Best School of All. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1921. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 5 b/w illus.

The sequel to Jack of St. Virgil's, The Best School of All, centres on Jack Romaine, who is now seventeen years old and in the Sixth Form, and the ructions caused by two new boys, Theo, Jack’s younger cousin, and the mysterious Sixth Former, Smith, who is thought to have a secret past. Pyke follows a very classic British school story in plot, subject and characterization, focussing on themes of playing the game, school loyalty and schoolboy honour in a level of complexity not seen in her other school stories while for the most part she avoids romantic plots. The story centres on Smith, a strong sportsman who causes antagonism in the school when he refuses to play in any of the school teams. Jack discovers that Smith used to be a crack sportsman at Mervale, a rival school to St. Virgil’s, but had to leave after becoming involved in drinking and gambling. Pyke touches on the treatment that ‘bloods’, leading sportsmen, underwent at school, the idolisation they experienced, and the fierceness of the GPS sporting competitions. The school honour and loyalty motif also appeared in British school stories in which a schoolboy changes schools and faces dilemmas over conflicting loyalties.³ Jack’s friendship with Smith inspires Smith to ‘play the game’, and he agrees to play sport. But in a football match against Mervale, he appears to throw a pass to a Mervale player and is accused of disloyalty. Later he is cleared of any unsporting play. Smith learns that to be faithful to his loyalty to Mervale, he must play his hardest for his new school, and in the end he feels a strong sense of pride in St. Virgil’s traditions and achievements. Jack wins the Wentworth Scholarship, despite almost missing out when he shields his younger cousin. The title of the story is taken from Henry Newbolt’s poem of the same name.

³ See for example, Hylton Cleaver Captain of Two Schools.

Sheila the Prefect. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1923. 255 pages. Illustrated 'J. Dewar Mills', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Sheila the Prefect continues the schooldays of best friends, Sheila Chester, and Beryl Lindsay, who were introduced in Sheila at Happy Hills (1922) where the death of Sheila’s mother led to an impostor pretending to be a friend of her stepfather in an attempt to obtain her inheritance. In Sheila the Prefect Beryl is now Head Girl of Riverview and Sheila is a Probationer Prefect. It is the end of term and the pair are preparing to attend a Christian Union Camp with other schoolgirls in the school holidays. In British girls’ school stories, guide camps in the holidays were often described, but Christian camps were used more in evangelistic school stories. During the camp the girls discover one of their classmates, Dorothy Grant, had an older sister who died in a train accident, though no body was ever found. Beryl thinks that there may be some mystery behind it and soon the girls have an opportunity to investigate some startling coincidences. They find an older girl, ‘Fairy’, working at a nearby Children’s Home, who has lost her memory. They also learn that one of the Riverview mistresses was meant to be accompanying Dorothy’s sister, but forgot to give her the train ticket. The mystery is solved when one of the Children’s Home workers mistakes Dorothy for Fairy. Beryl and Sheila share their suspicions with Sheila’s guardian, Elizabeth, that Fairy and Dorothy’s sister are one and the same. Elizabeth is a doctor, and operates on Fairy, restoring her memory and she is later reunited with her family. This identity motif and use of lost memory was a favoured device to embellish school story plots. Despite the strong mystery plot, Pyke still describes activities of the Riverview girls, including sports matches, prefect duties, plays and scholarship exams. Pyke uses characters from her other series. One of Sheila’s friends, Lola, is engaged to Andi from A Prince at School, while the Riverview girls play tennis against Theo Cranville from The Best School of All.

Sheila and her schoolmates’ adventures after school are continued in Three Bachelor Girls (1926).

Squirmy and Bubbles: A School Story for Girls. Melbourne: Whitcombe & Tombs Limited, [1924]. 164 pages. Illustrated 'Perce Clark', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Squirmy and Bubbles concerns thirteen-year-old twins, Theodora, known as Bubbles, and Dorothea ‘Squirmy’ Bonney, who are being educated on the family property by a series of unsuccessful governesses. Squirmy is a bit of a ‘madcap’, while Bubbles is sweet and quiet. Their Aunt Lizzie decides that she would like to have one twin, the good quiet one, with her as a companion, and send the other twin, the incorrigible one, to Riverside College as a boarder where she will have to learn discipline and restraint. However she mixes up the personalities of the twins, sending Bubbles to school whilst keeping naughty Squirmy as her companion. The use of twins was a popular motif in British school stories, which allowed plots involving mistaken identities, rags, jokes, punishments and other amusing incidents, and Pyke places this in an Australian setting. The girls face plenty of challenges and difficulties in adjusting to their roles. Bubbles must deal with the reputation of being a mischievous and troublesome child and finds herself in many scrapes as a result. Squirmy, on the other hand, has to learn to be a dutiful and considerate companion to her aunt, for whom she gains a real affection in the end. Pyke uses a school house motif. A new house has been established at Riverside, and there are tensions between the modern and up-to-date Raymond House, and Frensham, the original house with its traditions and customs, though this issue is not explored to the level of complexity present in some British school stories.⁴ The mistaken identity is discovered in the end by the aunt, just in time for Bubbles to be able to take her place in the Junior tennis team, which she had forfeited as a punishment for one of Squirmy’s pranks, and Riverside wins the match. Pyke’s girls’ school stories, for the most part, do no match their male counterpart’s enthusiasm and interest in sport and competition, yet Squirmy and Bubbles is an exception. Pyke portrays basketball and tennis house and school matches, and the annual sports days, in great detail.

⁴ See for example, Gunby Hadath The New House at Oldborough.

The Lone Guide of Merfield. London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1925. 256 pages. Illustrated 'J. Dewar Mills', b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

Despite its title, The Lone Guide of Merfield, bears little resemblance to British girl guiding school stories of the period.⁵ The heroine is fifteen-year-old Mary Gaunt, a pupil teacher at Merfield College, a small private venture school of about 40 boarders and day girls, run by the three Maynard sisters. Mary used to be a boarder but became a pupil teacher when she was abandoned by her relatives, which leaves some of the pupils, including the wealthy Enid Hayfield, to look down on her as a charity pupil. Pupil teachers were a feature in private schools, though this is their only appearance in an Australian school story. Mary becomes a lone guide when there is not enough interest to form a company at Merfield. Pyke moves the story to the school holidays, as the Misses Maynard arrange for Mary to act as a companion to one of the younger pupils, Linda Sterne, when Linda’s family travel to Vilatonga aboard the ‘Palmetto’. Enid and her father are also travelling aboard the ship and Enid is often rude to Mary. The ‘Palmetto’ is caught in a tropical cyclone and sinks. Mr Hayfield, Mary, and one of the Sterne children, Bobby, manage to make it to an island, where they discover Enid. The value of guiding is illustrated through Mary’s use of her training to help the others survive, and gradually Enid overcomes her dislike of Mary. This classic storyline of how a schoolgirl heroine is looked down upon by an enemy, whom she later wins over, is used by Pyke with a guiding and adventure background. The group are rescued by a Natural History professor and his son, and taken back to Vilatonga where they meet Prince Tui Andi and his wife Lala, characters from A Prince at School, and Sheila the Prefect. The story concludes with a romantic identity motif. Mr Hayfield discovers he is Mary’s father, and adopts her. The girls of Merfield are inspired by Mary’s courage, and a company of Guides is established.

⁵Eg. Dorothea Moore: Judy Patrol Leader, Brenda of Beechhouse.

Dora Joan Potter (Joan Potter)

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Joan Potter was born in 1915, the daughter of Irene Florence Potter (b. 1876, d. 1967). She had at least two sisters, Yootha Heath Cooke and Brenda Sandercock (she dedicated two of her novels to them). She was educated, also dedicating one of her novels to her headmistress. Joan began to train as a nurse, but stopped her studies due to ill health. Joan then worked as the Maths Department secretary at the University of Adelaide, becoming the Mathematical Secretary for Pure Maths when the Department divided, as she had developed into an expert maths typist. She retired in 1976 (Austlit). Joan never married and lived with her mother. In the 1940s they lived in Toorak, in the 1950s Blackwood and Lower Mitcham, and in the 1960s Joan lived alone in Fullarton. Joan died of cancer at the Fulham Retirement Village in South Australia in February 1987. Joan is thought to have been "very shy, highly strung, and with definite moral opinions", which is evident in her ten Australian girls’ school stories (Austlit).

Pam Pays Her Debt. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1945. 135 pages. Not illus.

In addition to her six Winterton titles, Potter wrote three other single school titles. Pam Pays Her Debt was the first published. Each of these single titles focuses on particular themes: duty and honour in Pam Pays her Debt, bravery and courage in Helen’s Inheritance, and sacrifice in Margaret’s Decision. Pamela Bryant is the heroine of this story, a boarder at St. Catherine’s School. Pam’s ‘debt’ is a promise to the man, Captain Harvey, who saved the life of her P.O.W. father, to look after his daughter, Janita, who is starting as a new girl at Pam’s school. Pam has a difficult time with Janita, who is shallow and spoilt, and finds herself torn between her best friend Judy and her duty to look after Janita. Matters come to a head when Pam is caught at a nightclub during a police raid. Pam had discovered that Janita was going to break bounds and followed her to try and stop her, remembering her promise to Captain Harvey. The Head decides not to expel Pam, despite the seriousness of the offence. Instead her punishment will be a public explanation of Pam’s disgrace to the entire school. Pam does not tell the Head about her reasons for going to the night club: ‘not sneaking’ was an important part of the public school code and often an entrenched theme in school stories. A plot involving Janita’s identity provides the means for Pam to repay her debt. The local Reverend and his family claim that Janita is their long lost daughter who disappeared when she was three years old. Captain Harvey admits that his own wife left with their child, so when he found Janita in the country he kidnapped her. Janita is overwhelmed and runs away, and Pam with the help of a police constable from the nightclub raid, tracks her down. Potter’s coincidence-filled plot concludes when the adopted daughter of the police constable turns out to be Captain Harvey’s daughter. Both girls are reunited with their new families, and Captain Harvey tells Pam she has repaid the debt a hundred-fold.

With Wendy at Winterton School. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1945. 128 pages. Not illus.

The first title in the ‘Winterton’ series written by Potter in the late 1940s, With Wendy at Winterton School, introduces new girl, Wendy Murphy, a rebellious fourteen-year-old High Schoolgirl entering Winterton School, the "leading girls’ school in Australia" (9). With six titles the Winterton series was the longest Australian school story series. The series is significant for a number of reasons. They were the first real ‘public school’ girls’ school stories written. While prolific authors of the 1920s and 1930s, Pyke and Mackness, had set their stories in public schools, they did not wholeheartedly embrace the British public school model. Winterton is described in great detail, emphasising the traditional components of an English public school, the school chapel, the division of the school into houses, a boarding school, the use of prefects and emblems of school identity such as a school motto and song. With Wendy at Winterton School follows Wendy’s progression from a rebellious new girl to a valued member of the school who loves it. Wendy, the daughter of a butcher, is initially concerned the school will be full of snobs, showing her dislike for Felicity, the Head Prefect. When the Head compares Wendy’s disloyalty to that of war traitors, Wendy begins to change her attitude and reconciles with Felicity, realising her error in judgement. With Wendy at Winterton School, while not featuring many of the elements of evangelistic school stories, places a strong emphasis on religious character. When Wendy is near death after saving the life of the Head’s young daughter, the school gathers in the chapel to pray for her. In a moving ceremony Wendy is presented with a stained glass window in the chapel in recognition of her bravery.

With Wendy at Winterton was reprinted in 1947, 1948 and 1949.

Margaret's Decision. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 149 pages. Not illus.

Margaret's Decision combines Christian themes of sacrifice and service with romantic adventure plots. Margaret Forbes is a pupil at Wirra-Warra School and is faced with the biggest decision of her life when her father is forced to sell the family farm and can only afford to pay for the education of one of his children. He chooses to let the pair make the decision between them; either Margaret can stay at Wirra-Warra, or her brother, Bob, can continue studying medicine at university. This motif of parents facing new financial conditions was used in some depression-era British school stories, where pupils changed schools or had to leave school to look for work. Margaret, anxious to stay at her beloved school lets Bob make the sacrifice, much to the dismay of her father. When Bob enlists in the Airforce and is later reported killed in action, Margaret is overcome with guilt. Potter’s religious overtones are reinforced when Margaret resolves to make a fresh start after visiting the school chaplain. Margaret is caught on a ship when she visits one of Bob’s friends, who is a sailor, and gets knocked out. When she regains consciousness, the ship has left port and has been torpedoed. Margaret and five sailors are put in a life boat and drift until they sight land and swim ashore. They discover two men on the island, and Margaret is amazed to find Bob. Their plane had been shot down. The group are rescued and return home, and Margaret resolves to spend her life always in God’s service, always to choose her family first. She puts this into practice at Wirra-Warra, where she wins an award for the girl who most closely followed the life of Jesus. Margaret’s Christian behaviour influences the Head to abandon the typical custom of holding school elections for the posts of Captain and Prefects, instead choosing the girls who show the most Christian virtues. Margaret is appointed Head Prefect.

Wendy Moves Up. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 189 pages. Not illus.

Wendy Moves Up is set two years after With Wendy at Winterton School. Wendy Murphy is now sixteen years old and is returning to her home at Karrinyup Plains for the school holidays, with her best friend, Marjorie. Wendy hopes that her old high school friend, Mary, will be able to win a scholarship to Winterton. When Marjorie spends time coaching Mary, Wendy becomes jealous, but is pleased when Mary wins the scholarship and returns to Winterton with them. Wendy is hoping she will be elected Head Prefect in the upcoming school elections. Problems arise when the Head moves Wendy and Mary to Waratah House as there were no vacancies in Wendy’s current house, Gums, and Mary’s mother wanted the two girls to be together. The motif of being moved to a different house and the ensuing tensions that arise in loyalties has been explored in some British school stories. Wendy is furious at the change, and makes no effort to help her new house. This leads to suspicion falling on Wendy when the Waratah Garden is sabotaged and soon the whole house think she is a traitor. Anxious to ensure her friends are not also ostracised, Wendy falsely confesses. This false confession is uncommon in school stories; another example appears in Lilian Turner’s The Girl from the Back Blocks. Wendy is cleared when the Head’s daughter, Fairlie, confesses and the whole school realises Wendy was innocent. Potter’s religious motifs are reinforced with the Winterton elections. At Winterton the Head decrees that the girls must vote for the girls they think are the most Christian for the post of Head Girl and Prefects. As each girl votes, they make an oath on the bible. Wendy is elected as Head Prefect, by one vote, over Marjorie. Many of the girls voted for Wendy as they admired the way she has overcome her difficult temper and jealous nature.

Wendy in Charge. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1947. 140 pages. Not illus.

The third title in the Winterton series, Wendy In Charge, follows Wendy Murphy’s first term as Head Girl of Winterton School. There are only a handful of Australian girls’ school stories which portray the heroine in the role of head girl, such as Lowanna and Dunham Days, though this role was popular for heroines in British girls’ school stories. Potter’s use of Wendy’s role as Head Girl allows the discussion of some of the typical duties, responsibilities and privileges of the position. The Head Girl plays an important role in the tone and discipline of the school. Wendy In Charge follows the problems that arise when the Headmistress, Miss Lethbridge, appoints a new girl, Venetia Kirby, to the vacant post of Senior Prefect, against the traditional school custom of holding elections. The post was made vacant when Wendy’s best friend, Marjorie, the elected Senior Prefect, has an accident in the holidays and will not be returning to school until later in the term. The Headmistress decides to appoint Venetia as Venetia has leadership experience, she was Captain of her previous school, and she is worried the Prefecture is weak despite the girls promising to vote for the most Christian girls. Wendy’s old jealousy returns, she is very unhappy with the change and views Venetia as an interloper, a view shared by many of the prefects, and the school in general. Some members of the Remove form a society against Venetia and Wendy refuses to intervene. Waratah House loses the Sports Shield and Wendy blames Venetia. When Venetia reports some of the Remove for breaking bounds, the Headmistress learns of the girls’ refusal to obey Venetia as she is an unelected prefect and decides to hold an election, so the school can decide whether or not to vote for Venetia. Wendy In Charge displays Wendy’s faults and her attempts to overcome them, and explores promises and vows, promises by the Remove to their society not to obey Venetia, and promises by the girls to vote for the most Christian girls, within a religious context.

Althea's Term at Winterton. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1948. 152 pages. Not illus.

An English girl’s arrival at Winterton causes mixed reactions in Althea’s Term at Winterton, the fourth title in the Winterton series. Most of the girls like the tall fair-haired fifteen-year old Lady Althea St George, but one girl, Lesley Douglas, is convinced the new girl will be an unbearable snob. Lesley’s dislike of Althea is further intensified when she discovers that her father knew Lord Lannon, Althea’s father, when they were young, but recently Lord Lannon has snubbed Mr Douglas. On two more occasions Lord Lannon meets Lesley’s father but snubs him. The mystery surrounding Althea’s father is a central theme in the story. Lesley accuses Althea’s father of theft, when a wool formula of the Head’s husband is stolen, and papers subsequently report a scientific discovery made by Lord Lannon to improve wool. Althea’s father is cleared when Fairlie, the Headmistress’s daughter, admits she took the formula. Althea reveals that her father and the Head’s husband worked together in the past, hence the similarity of their work. The mystery surrounding Althea’s father is resolved when Lord Lannon is caught in a field with a bull and Althea rescues him, revealing that he is blind but too ashamed to let anyone know. Lesley realises why he snubbed her father and apologises to the pair. Potter’s treatment of snobbery and dislike stems from British girls’ school stories which examined the prejudices that scholarship pupils, working-class girls, and aristocratic girls alike, could face at school. Althea’s Term at Winterton concludes with Althea being enthusiastically farewelled by the girls as she returns to England to attend her mother’s old school, while her father has obtained a post in a school for the blind.

The fifth title in the Winterton series, Winterton Holiday Cruise (1946) , describes a Christmas school holiday cruise in Western Australia, and apart from Winterton schoolgirls features characters from Those Summer Holidays (1949) and Margaret’s Decision. It is not strictly, or even partly, a school story.

A New Girl for Winterton. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 122 pages. Not illus.

The final title in the Winterton series, A New Girl for Winterton, introduces new girl, Jill Bentley. Leonie Filmore-Danvers, sister of Felicity from With Wendy at Winterton School, is now Head Girl. The mystery surrounding the Head’s missing husband Hugh Lethbridge, is finally resolved in an identity motif. This identity motif, of lost relatives being recovered, is used in another of Potter’s school stories, Pam Pays her Debt, and earlier used in Lillian Pyke’s Sheila the Prefect. The story opens introducing fourteen-year-old orphan, Jill Bentley, who lives with her aunt and uncle on their family farm. A stranger, who calls himself Hugh, comes to the farm looking for work, and helps the family make a success of their struggling farm. Hugh reveals that he was in a P.O.W. camp during the war. He had lost his memory and has no idea who he is, so he assumed the name of Hugh Lethbridge, a dead soldier. Potter was one of the few authors to use plots and events involving the Second World War, with her school stories containing Japanese spies, ex P.O.W.’s, and missing soldiers. Hugh offers to send Jill to Winterton, and she is placed in Form Five A, where she becomes friends with a girl called Elizabeth Hathefield. Elizabeth had spent some time in the same P.O.W. camp as the Head’s husband, and when she spends the holidays with Jill, she recognises Hugh as Hugh Lethbridge, though he looks like a different person. The mystery of Hugh Lethbridge is finally unravelled when Hugh travels to Winterton, and upon seeing the Head regains his memory, He had worked in Intelligence during the war, and was reported Killed in Action so he could work undercover. The reason his appearance is changed is that the Germans experimented with plastic surgery techniques on him. The Head and Hugh make plans for the future after Miss Lethbridge finishes her appointment as Head of Winterton

Helen's Inheritance. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1950. 109 pages. Not illus.

Helen’s Inheritance examines themes of bravery, courage and overcoming timidity from a Christian perspective. British girls’ school stories used this motif of introducing a weak and timid schoolgirl who shows her true pluck and bravery, and in the end becomes a heroine to the school (e. g. Ethel Talbot The Bravest Girl in the School), and Potter follows this model. Helen Browne’s inheritance is the George Cross she receives, awarded posthumously to her mother for her service during the Second World War. Helen’s mother had gone to Evanmore School, the school Althea was to attend in Althea’s Term at Winterton. Potter enjoyed creating common links and threads in her stories, either explicitly or implicitly as in this case. Helen starts at Christchurch School, a school founded by Marmion Tregonning, who was formerly the Head of a famous British public school, but who felt it was his duty to found a new school in Australia, with a motto of ‘Trust in Him’. The girls quickly discover Helen’s famous relation and she gains a reputation for bravery based on her mother’s actions. However following an incident during her dormitory’s attempts to lay a ghost, Helen is accused of cowardice and ‘funking’, a low schoolgirl act, and she spends a day in the sickroom suffering from nervous exhaustion. The Head reveals that she went to the same school as Helen’s mother, who used to be timid and was teased as a result. The Head also reveals that Helen’s mother, Clyda, changed when she became a Christian. Potter usually gives religious reasons for positive changes in character. Helen falls down a cliffside and is dramatically rescued. Authors enjoyed involving their heroines in events such as rescues, near drownings, fires, cliff falls, and so on. Helen becomes a Christian and reveals her true courage when she is hit by a car and bravely endures the suffering caused by horrific injuries.

Related Titles
Potter, Dora Joan. Those Summer Holidays. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1946.
---. Winterton Holiday Cruise. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1949.

Margaret Parker (Margaret MacDonald Parker)

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Margaret MacDonald Parker was born in Scotland, one of (at least) two daughters of the Reverend Professor Murdoch MacDonald. The family immigrated to Australia in 1875 where her father was employed at Ormond College at the University of Melbourne (Murphy 19). Margaret and her younger sister Isobel were educated at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne. Her sister, Isobel, was the first woman to win First Class Honours in Arts at the University of Melbourne and she returned to the College in 1899, teaching until 1915 when she became Headmistress of St. Cuthbert’s, Auckland. Later she was Headmistress of Fintona and PGC Adelaide (Reid 127). Margaret and Isobel were founding members of the Magpie Club in 1885 at PLC, a club which included amongst its members, Mathilda Monash, sister of future General Monash, and Vida Goldstein. ‘Henry Handel Richardson’ applied for membership but was blackballed as she was not always "invariably truthful" (Reid 221-22). Parker held the distinction of being the first Old Collegian to have a novel published. She wrote two novels, and two girls’ stories. She is said to have been a teacher, but little else is known about her later life.

For the Sake of a Friend: A Story of School Life. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. Limited, 1896. 224 pages. Illustrated G. Demain Hammond, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

The first Australian girls’ school story published, For the Sake of a Friend, features a plot involving a new girl, a stolen essay and a false accusation motif. For the Sake of a Friend introduces Susannah Snow, a fifteen-year-old orphan, who lives with her maiden aunt in Melbourne. She is sent to Stormont House, "the very grandest and most fashionable school in Melbourne", when her aunt has to travel to America. Stormont House is run by Mrs Lorraine and her daughter Miss Lorraine, and has built up a reputation for academic achievement as well as the traditional accomplishments and deportment favoured by Mrs Lorraine. Susannah has had a very sheltered upbringing, and finds school rather bewildering. She is befriended by pretty, popular and rich Trix, but the pair fall out when Susannah refuses to post a clandestine letter for Trix, and she is sent to Coventry. Susannah is further ostracised when a secret dance, organised by Trix and her friend Nelly, is discovered by one of the teachers, and the girls suspect Susannah sneaked. Susannah is further persecuted when the girls believe she stole Trix’s Essay Prize entry, and plan a trick which causes Susannah to have an accident and become seriously ill. The doctor fears she may develop brain fever. When the real culprit is revealed to be Nelly, all the girls regret their actions and Susannah recovers. This plot involving the heroine being falsely accused was used in early British girls’ school stories.

The trio’s story is continued in Trefoil (1900). Here the girls are in their last days at Stormont House and resolve to form a society, ‘Trefoil’, and meet again in five years’ time.

Margaret Paice (Margaret D. Paice-Harriss)

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Margaret was born on 1 September 1920 in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of Sydney Cantle, an engineer. She had at least one sister, Stella. Margaret spent much of her childhood living in central Queensland though she did spend one year at Moreton Bay High School in Wynnum, Brisbane (McVitty, Authors and Illustrators of Australian Children’s Books 164). She moved to Brisbane following the outbreak of the Second World War and joined the Women’s National Emergency League. In 1942 she met Herbert Paice, Supervisor of the Telegraph Section of the Post Office. They married soon afterwards, living in Townsville for the remainder of the war. They had two children, Jeanette, and Peter who was born in 1946 (McVitty, Authors and Illustrators 164; Anderson 77).

In 1955 Hubert died and Margaret moved with her young family to Sydney where she finally realised her childhood ambition of being an artist. She enrolled at East Sydney Technical College to study illustration. Paice-Harriss is also credited with having studied illustration at the National Art School Sydney and painting at the Royal Art Society (Adelaide, Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographical Guide 150). Colin Roderick, the editor of educational publishing at Angus & Robertson was impressed with an illustrated story she wrote about an Aboriginal girl which was later published in 1955 (McVitty, Authors and Illustrators 164). In 1960 Margaret married high school teacher, Wilfred Harris, and they had one son, Christopher. The family lived in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. Wilfred died in 1975. Paice-Harriss has written over 20 children’s novels and her Depression-era trilogy, Colour In The Creek, was made into a children’s television series in 1985.

The Secret of Greycliffs. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1961. 147 pages. Illustrated author, b/w illus. throughout text.

The Secret of Greycliffs is the sequel to The Lucky Fall (1959). In The Lucky Fall, heroine Kathy Brown, discovered a gold rush. Paice mixes mystery plots with school routines. Fourteen-year-old Kathy Brown arrives as a new girl at Greycliffs, which Paice modelled on her own experiences of schooling at Moreton Bay High School in Brisbane. Kathy makes friends with two of the girls, Gerry and Peg, and they meet a local girl, Julie, who had saved Kathy’s life in the previous summer. Kathy learns that Julie’s Great-Grandfather, Christopher Alroyd, built Greycliffs, but when he died penniless, the property was left to a distant cousin because of a family dispute. Julie thinks that he hid money somewhere in Greycliffs, and Kathy and her friends promise to look for it. The trio find an old book of Alroyd’s detailing where he hid his fortune, but suspect one of their classmates, Jane, is trying to find the treasure too. The girls search in some old cellars but are locked in by Jane. A fire breaks out and the girls manage to escape through a secret passage, but the wing is destroyed. The treasure is discovered when workers are demolishing the ruined wing. A new will is found which leaves Alroyd’s estate, including a large sum of money, to Julie’s family. This fairly standard school story plot prevalent in the period contains unconventional realism through the portrayal of Julie’s family. Her drunken father has fits and rages and struggles to look after his family.

Constance Mackness

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Constance Mackness was born on 17 June 1882, in Tuena, New South Wales, the second child of James Mackness, a goldminer, and his wife, Alice, née Brown. Her childhood was later fictionalised in her first novel Gem of the Flat (1915). She was educated at Fort Street Model School, where she became the first female Dux. She matriculated with Honours in French and secured one of the three scholarships to the University of Sydney which were available to women. She graduated with a B.A. in 1902 with first class Honours in English, French and History (ADB 318). She began teaching history at Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Croydon, where she taught for thirteen years before being promoted to Senior Mistress at PLC’s new branch school in Pymble in 1916 (Macfarlane 31-34). Mackness became the founding Headmistress of the Presbyterian Girls’ College, Warwick, in 1919, a position she held until her retirement in 1949. During her time she gave the school its motto and uniform, and started the school magazine, giving the school a distinct Scottish infused identity. In addition to her four school stories, she wrote another six children’s novels and wrote articles and short stories for local papers and the Bulletin, as well as a local history of Clump Point. In 1959 she was awarded an M.B.E. She moved to a Presbyterian nursing home in Brisbane and died on 13 December 1973 in Corinda. Just before her death she had started writing an autobiography.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Mackness, Constance (1882 - 1973) by Nancy Bonnin.
Australian Children's Literature: 1830-1950: Constance Mackness

Miss Pickle: the Story of an Australian Boarding-School. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1924. 280 pages. Illustrated M. D. Johnston, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Miss Pickle is the first of Mackness’ four school stories, and she dedicated it to the former students of the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Croydon, where she taught. Miss Pickle centres on the arrival of Lola Sinclair, a new girl, at a Sydney church boarding school, known as ‘the College’. Lola’s roommate is Trix Carr, called ‘Miss Pickle’ by classmates and teachers alike, due to her propensity for mischief making. Brillant and virtuous, Lola forms a strong friendship with Trix, influencing her to do well in class. Miss Pickle focuses on the development of the friendship between Lola and Trix, rather than a moral tale of a ‘good’ schoolgirl reforming a ‘wicked’ schoolgirl. Lola is not portrayed as being excessively pious, and Trix is more of a ‘madcap’ schoolgirl, fond of ragging teachers and having fun, but thoroughly straight. Madcap schoolgirl characters were very popular in British girls’ school stories, where they were often Irish. Mackness uses madcaps in all of her four school stories. Trix becomes almost a model pupil, being appointed a Prefect, where she has to learn to work for the good of the school. Lola reforms the school’s character by influencing the wayward juniors. Compared to contemporary British girls’ school stories which often show the development of school honour through games, in Miss Pickle it is the behaviour of the pupils and what the school makes of them that is important.

This is shown with one pupil who had cheated at the school but who later earns the respect of the schoolgirls she had wronged when she saves another girl’s life, losing her own. Mackness, for the most part, avoids the romantic styled plots favoured by the other major authors of the period, e.g. Lillian Pyke, with no lost relatives or fortunes being found.

Miss Pickle was reprinted in The New Ensign Series (OUP) in 1930 and 1933. An Australian edition by Oxford University Press was published in 1948.

The Glad School. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1927. 244 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', 3 b/w illus.

The Glad School is set at Mackness’s own school: the Presbyterian Girls’ College (PGC) in Warwick, which was nicknamed The ‘Glad School’. Mackness dedicated the story to her pupils, describing it as a faithful picture of the school’s spirit, traditions and activities. The Glad School centres on the adventures and misadventures of two madcap friends, Frances ‘Wuzzie’ and Dorothy ‘Twinkle’, who are both fond of pranks. The story starts with their midnight feast being interrupted when one of their schoolmates, dressed as a ghost, steals their food. The girls are determined to discover the culprit and seek retribution, though they target two innocent girls before discovering the real culprit. The Glad School contains many chapter-length vignettes of school life and activities. Treasure hunts, netball matches, the annual Scots PGC dance, Good Luck Tea for Exam Sitters, Michaelmas Break, etc, are described with Mackness including poems and stories taken from PGC’s actual magazine Miss Thistle. This makes The Glad School’s portrayal of boarding school life, lessons, amusements and sport very authentic. Mackness based some of the minor characters, such as Alison, the Head Girl, on real PGC pupils. The Glad School is also distinctive in its treatment of the schoolgirl honour code, which typically discourages sneaking. An episode occurs when Dorothy discovers one of her classmates cheating in an exam, and she decides to tell the Head Girl, "a class’s honour lay in its own hands, and no member of a class must tolerate dishonesty in another" (23). The culprit is punished by the School Council; as the Head of PGC gave much of the day to day disciplinary powers to the prefects and school council. Dorothy is initially upset at the apparent leniency of the punishment until the Head Girl reminds her that to encourage reformation one must be merciful to ensure that the school remains a "big happy family".

Di-Double-Di. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1929. 299 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Di-Double-Di follows Mackness’ previous school story, The Glad School, in using two madcap friends as the main characters. Di-Double-Di is the story of two friends at Brentwood College, a boarding school with 65 boarders in Hornsby, run by the three Misses Dimsdale. Diana Morton, otherwise known as ‘Buzz’, is a new girl who is befriended by madcap pupil, Diana Brand, otherwise known as ‘Monkey’. Most of the teachers at Brentwood College like Monkey despite her mischievous behaviour, though one teacher, Miss Templeton finds Monkey difficult in class. Di-Double-Di is different to Mackness’ two previous school stories in that she introduces a romantic plot involving the school’s neighbours. Buzz and Monkey make friends with Clive, a crippled author, who lives in the house next door to the school, with his mother in law, two maiden sisters in law, and his niece. Clive encourages the girls to be nicer to Miss Templeton. Despite Monkey’s resolve to do so, she finds herself in trouble when the teacher accuses her of playing a trick in class. When the real culprit acknowledges her guilt, Miss Templeton is ashamed of her actions and Monkey endeavours to end the feud. Because of Mackness’ profession as a Head mistress, many of the teachers in her school stories are a given a human side, and often the school is viewed through the eyes of the teachers, not just the schoolgirls. Miss Templeton is sympathetically portrayed as an ill-suited teacher. Though she is a brilliant scholar she lacks the temperament for teaching, but has to work to support an invalided father. Mackness ends Di-Double-Di with a happy romantic ending, resolving the problems of the girls’ neighbours. Clive is cured, the maiden aunts are freed of their oppressive mother, Clive is to marry one of Brentwood’s teachers and Miss Templeton becomes engaged.

Clown of the School. London: Ward, Lock & Co. Limited, 1935. 254 pages. Illustrated 'Sutcliffe', 3 b/w illus.

The Clown of the school is Mary Trevor, an incorrigible thirteen-year-old Fourth Former at Fairview College, a girls’ school in Hornsby, in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney. Mary plays the fool in her classes and is such a disruptive influence that the Head, Miss Maxwell, enlists the help of prefect Rosalie Melrose, to try to reform Mary. Rosalie decides to take Mary along with her when she visits her Uncle and his family. Like Di-Double-Di, Mackness employs an older male author character who tries to help in the reformation of the madcap. Mary continues to play the clown in class so the Head decides to try to occupy Mary’s time and keep her from mischief, by making her work for a scholarship and appointing her as head of the newly formed Junior Dramatic Club. The Clown of the School illustrates the trend of girls’ schools in Australia to adopt public school elements. Before the end of the first term, Miss Maxwell announces the introduction of houses and house competitions in work and sport, dividing the school into four guilds. Mary finds herself in Rosalie’s guild. Mary’s reformation begins again in earnest when Miss Maxwell encourages her to help her mother during the holidays. In the new term the whole school, including Mary, returns with a new keenness for work and sport. Mary’s efforts for her guild to win the Gardening Prize are more out of spite against a despised Sixth Former in another guild. Mary’s friend, Dell, is accused of thieving from the boarders’ pantry, but is cleared when Mary discovers an old tramp helping himself to food. This ‘falsely accused’ motif is a recurrent theme in Australian girls’ school stories. Mary’s reformation is complete when on the final day of term she is voted by the teachers as the "girl most improved in her conduct for the sake of her guild". This reformation for the sake of her house theme and ideas of British public school honour make this title quite different to Mackness’ other school stories.

Louise Mack (Marie Louise Hamilton Mack Creed)

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Louise Mack was born on October 10 1870, in Hobart, Tasmania, the eldest daughter of 13 children of the Reverend Hans Hamilton Mack, a Wesleyan Minister, and his wife, Jemima, née James. The family moved several times during Louise’s childhood, living in Hobart and Adelaide before settling in Sydney, where Louise spent five years at the Sydney Girls’ High School (Miller 71). At Sydney Girls’ High School she formed a lifelong friendship with Ethel Turner. In 1896 she married Sydney barrister John Percy Creed, and worked on the Bulletin until 1901. She travelled to England in 1901 and spent some years living in Florence from 1904 to 1907 where she edited the Italian Gazette. Her husband died in 1914. She was in Belgium for the outbreak of the First World War, where she reported for the Evening News and the Daily Mail. Her experiences were later recounted in A Woman’s Experiences in the Great War, published in 1915. In 1916 she returned to Australia and undertook charitable work for the Red Cross. She lectured in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. In 1924 she remarried, marrying Allen Illingworth Leyland, who died in 1932. She wrote a number of girls’ stories, and romance stories for publishers, Rivers, in the 1900s and Mills and Boon in the 1910s. Louise died on 23 November 1935 in Mosman New South Wales of cerebrovascular disease.

Further Reading
Phelan, Nancy. A Kingdom by the Sea. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1969.
---. The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack. St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 1991.
---. Setting out on the Voyage: The World of an Incorrigible Adventurer. St Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 1998.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Mack, Marie Louise Hamilton (1870 - 1935) by Nancy Phelan
Jessie Street National Women's Library Scroll down the list of women to access a link to a pdf Fact File on Louise Mack.

Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1897. 266 pages. Illustrated F. P. Mahoney, b/w frontis. & 13 b/w illus.

Teens is the only Australian school story to be set in a high school. Teens is the story of thirteen-year-old Lennie Leighton and her schooldays at the Girl’s High School in Sydney. Lennie becomes best friends with Mabel James, a classmate. The friendship of Mabel and Lennie and their characters were based on the author’s own friendship with Ethel Turner at the Sydney Girls’ High School. Mabel is fifteen and shares the same birth date as Lennie. Lennie and Mabel’s friendship is tested when they both forget their lunch and quarrel with each other, but they later make it up. Mack writes about their friendship, and the incidents and events that occur in a girls’ school at the turn of the century with great understanding and detail. When Mabel writes a poem, ‘The Schoolgirl’s Dream’, they decide to start a school magazine, calling it The Chronicle . The school is excited about it and the Headmistress plans to have the next number printed. They work hard on their paper but are dismayed when a Sixth Former, Leah Cohen, starts a rival paper. The professional looking rival paper is a sharp contrast to their effort. When the Head questions them Mabel becomes hysterical and Lennie faints and when the schoolgirls realise it is because they are worried about their paper they endeavour to buy all the remaining copies of The Chronicle to help them. In real life, Louise Mack and Ethel Turner were the rivals in the newspaper incident. At the end of Teens Mabel is planning to go to Paris with her Aunt and Uncle for two years and Lennie decides to study hard for the Matriculation. When they say goodbye Lennie realises she will never find another friend like her, and mourns their lost friendship.

Lennie’s adventures are continued in two sequels, Girls Together (1898) and Teens Triumphant (1933) In Girls Together Mabel returns to Australia after spending two years in Paris and her friendship with Lennie is renewed. Mabel becomes engaged to Lennie’s older brother, Bert. When Lennie fails her Junior and her mother falls ill, Lennie takes her mother’s place in their family. In Teens Triumphant, Lennie is studying art in England.

Teens was reprinted frequently; an abridged edition was published by Angus & Robertson in 1924; a new edition by Cornstalk Publishing appeared in 1924 and was reprinted at least four times. There were also editions by several English publishers, Melrose (1904), and Pilgrim Press (1934).

M. I. Little (Maud Isabel Little)

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Maud Isabel Little was born in September 1867, in Darwin, Northern Territory, the daughter of John Archibald Graham Little, the Northern Territory Post and Telegraph Superintendent, and his wife Matilda Cecily, née Johnston. Matilda died soon after Maud was born, and her father sent his children south to be educated. She had at least one sister, Edith, who was nine years older, and was educated at Miss Brunskill’s School, Semaphore, South Australia before attending Sydney University. Her sister later married a Mr Lawrie (Austlit). Maud learnt the violin and the piano, and public performances by the sisters are recorded in Northern Territory newspapers between 1895 and 1901. When Maud’s father died in 1906, Maud went to live with her sister in Mount Gambier, South Australia. She died in 1961 in Victoria. Dunham Days in part portrays Subiaco, which has led to suggestions that Maud was educated there (Austlit). Subiaco was a Benedictine girls’ convent school founded near Parramatta in 1858 (Sherington 22).

Dunham Days: A Sketch. Adelaide: E. J. McAlister & Co., 1913. 106 pages. Illustrated Marian Alsop, b/w frontis. & 3 b/w illus.

The second of only two Australian girls’ school stories to be set in Catholic schools, Dunham Days concerns the final term of best friends. Helen Scott and Marian Dance attend Dunham, a convent school on the Parramatta River in Sydney. The two girls are dual Heads and about to sit for the University examinations. Dunham Days contains similar moral themes to the ones explored in the other catholic girls’ school story, Nellie Doran . One of the girls, Inez, loses her temper and accidentally hits another girl. Inez has a passionate temper which she constantly has to control. According to school rules Inez will be expelled unless the whole school petitions against it. One of the girls, Eleanor, refuses to comply until her friend threatens that she will tell the Nuns about the illicit books she reads. Inez is saved from expulsion and vows she will never forget the incident, praying to God to help her control her temper. When one of the girls falls violently ill, Eleanor’s misdeeds comes to light and she is punished. She has to make a public apology to Inez and she is stripped of her monitor’s privileges and can no longer wear the ribbon which signifies that she is a Child of Mary. These storylines encourage good Catholic morals in the readers. In Dunham Days ’ conclusion, Helen and Marion have finished their exams and are contemplating their respective careers. Helen is going to live in New Guinea to play the role of daughter to her widowed father while Marian would like to become a Nun. Unlike British girls’ school stories which offered careers at University, there were few fictional Australian schoolgirls who pursued this path. The traditional catholic careers of family, convent, service and home life also appear in Nellie Doran where the heroine chooses to remain with her family instead of pursuing a musical career in Europe.

R. G. Jennings (Reginald Gellibrand Jennings)

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Reginald Gellibrand Jennings was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1879 and was educated at Cumloden, St Kilda, and St. Peter’s College Adelaide. He worked briefly in business before teaching at the Queen’s School, Adelaide, and then Melbourne Grammar School from 1909 to 1913 (Bate 147). Jennings had no university degree. In 1914 he was appointed as the first Junior House Master at Geelong Grammar, a position he held from 1914 to 1932, when Junior House was transformed into Junior School with Jennings remaining as Master until he retired in 1941 due to ill health. Jennings made two visits to the United Kingdom, in 1908 and 1923. He is described by Geelong Grammar historian, Weston Bate, as being something of a legend at Geelong Grammar. Under Jennings, Junior House, then Junior School, became an institution at Geelong Grammar. During his reign Jennings implemented a "manners maketh man" policy. Boys wore Eton collars and Jennings ensured strict discipline in dress, manners and speech. Jennings divided the House into three sections which competed for points against each other in all aspects of school life. Jennings’ policies of gentrification and socialization led to mixed feelings among old boys about their schooling (Bate 147-50). Jennings died in 1943.

Jennings wrote two collections of short stories, Told in the Dormitory in 1911, and Stories of a House Master in 1933. Stories of a House Master contains selections from Told in the Dormitory and The Human Pedagogue. Both contain a number of short school stories though they amount to less than one quarter of the total contents. He also wrote a play, and an adult novel: The Threads of Yesterday. In addition to his novels, he wrote articles for Australian newspapers and education stories.

The Human Pedagogue. Melbourne: Australian Authors' Agency, 1924. 345 pages. Not illus.
The Human Pedagogue is a rich and detailed boys’ school story, modelled on classic British school stories, concerning the arrival of a sixteen-year-old English boy at an Australian public school. The Human Pedagogue is one of the few Australian school stories to be written in the first person, the only other examples were by Robert Richardson. The use of this style of narrative allows the narrator to discuss his school experiences intimately. Despite the title of the story, suggesting an emphasis on the teacher, in this case the Housemaster, Bolt, the book focuses on the narrator’s experiences at school and his friendships with contemporaries, Spider and Barney, and Sixth Formers, Linacre and Farr. The latter two were close friends but fell out when Farr was made House Captain. At times the unnamed narrator plays a background role in the story, an observer of the people and events around him. Typical scenes of public school life including school discipline, chapel and sport as well as its darker aspects such as smoking and cribbing are explored in detail by Jennings, who draws on his experience as a longstanding House Master at Geelong Grammar School to provide one of the most comprehensive portrayals of fictional public school life in Australia. The narrator of The Human Pedagogue is often used as a mouthpiece by Jennings to discuss his views on the adaptation and practice of the public school system in Australia. In common with boys’ school stories of the period, Jennings explores the impact of war on public schools with several Sixth Formers enlisting in the war.

Castleden Dove

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Little is known about Castleden Dove; the name may well have been a pseudonym. In addition to Lowanna the author wrote at least two short stories, ‘The Push’ for the Bulletin in 1927 and ‘Finishing Her Husband’ for The Lone Hand in 1919.

Lowanna: An Australian School Story. London: Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press, 1925. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Dewar Mills, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.

Lowanna is the story of Lowanna Laurenson, a popular Sixth Former at Elaroo College, and her friendship with Joan Grantham, a new girl. The contrasting personalities of the two girls are shown. Lowanna is rich, popular and worldly, and has recently been elected to the position of Warden (similar to Head Girl). For one of her special privileges she chooses Joan to be her roommate. Joan, old-fashioned and lonely, secretly adores Lowanna. Joan quickly realises that Lowanna is manipulative when Lowanna keeps a cruel sketch Joan made of one of the teachers. Some of the other Sixth form girls view Lowanna as a tyrant. Dove does not overtly condemn Lowanna’s behaviour. Despite sabotaging Joan’s hopes for a career in art, Lowanna genuinely likes Joan and attempts to reform her character to a degree. Lowanna is re-elected as Warden for another year, narrowly defeating Joan. But when the Head discovers she starred in a movie, she almost loses her post and later quarrels with Joan as Joan believes that Lowanna gave the sketch to a teacher out of revenge. After Lowanna saves Joan from drowning, she is cleared of giving the caricature to the teacher, and their friendship is renewed. Lowanna concludes with some description of their activities after school. Lowanna returns to Australia after spending two years in America, travelling with her Aunt and working in films. When she returns she is reunited with Joan’s brother, Philip, and the pair declare their affection for each other. This romantic element was rare in girls’ school stories, only appearing elsewhere in the Sheila series, and Mack’s Teens trilogy.

Ennis Honey (Ennis Josephine Honey)

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Ennis Josephine Honey was born on 23 April 1919, in Victoria, the eldest of 12 children of Joseph O’Callaghan and Ennis (Irene), née Angus. Ennis had an impoverished childhood as her father struggled with alcoholism, unemployment and supporting a large family (Honey, Nymphs and Goddesses 14) Ennis attended Elwood Central School before going to Melbourne Girls’ High School in 1932 (now MacRobertson Girls’ High School). After finishing school she became a student teacher and then taught drama and speech part-time in two private schools. Winning a Melbourne radio station acting contest, she moved to Sydney in 1942 and had several small radio parts. During the war she worked as a governess in northern New South Wales (Honey, Nymphs and Goddesses 236). She returned to Sydney, working in a private library where she met publisher Bill Honey, a widower. She taught at Cranbrook before the pair were married in 1944 (Honey, Nymphs and Goddesses 237). Returning to radio she was involved in the Argonauts in 1964 and school broadcasts from 1964 to 1966. In 1965 she was appointed sub-editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly, a position she held for ten years. During her writing career she wrote articles for publications including the Daily Mirror, New Idea, Sydney Morning Herald, Home and Family and 24 Hours (Whos’ Who 324). Honey wrote four children’s picture books and a book of poetry in addition to her school story, Janey of Beechlands. In 1985 she wrote a biography of Violet Somerset, an Australian singer and artist teacher, and in 1994, a memoir, Nymphs and Goddesses, describing her schooling at Melbourne Girls’ High School. In the 1990s she was living at Balgowlah in New South Wales.

Further Reading
Honey, Ennis. Nymphs and Goddesses: The Story of a Girlhood. Balgowlah Heights: Beaufort Books, 1994.

Janey of Beechlands. Edgecliff: Bilson-Honey Pty. Ltd., [1947]. 287 pages. Not illus.

Janey of Beechlands is an example of the trend of 1940s Australian girls’ school stories to delve into mystery and adventure plots. It features an impoverished heroine who recovers her family fortune. Thirteen-year-old Janey is a new girl at St Clares, having won a scholarship. She lives with her parents on their struggling station property, Beechlands. Janey’s Grandfather died penniless two years earlier despite rumours that he was very wealthy, and Janey’s parents are trying to keep Beechlands from being sold. Janey discovers an old diary of her grandfather’s, which mentions hidden diamonds. Janey’s efforts to locate the diamonds are thwarted by a fellow school mate, Christine, whose father is trying to buy Beechlands and find the diamonds himself, which is the key action plot of the story. Janey and her friend Wendy try to find the diamonds but Christine and an accomplice plot to search a secret passage on the property. They tie Janey up but she is rescued by Wendy and the police arrest Christine. Janey and Wendy find the diamonds in an old perfume bottle, meaning Beechlands will not have to be sold. Honey’s romantic storyline is continued with Janey’s parents adopting orphaned Wendy. The adventure storyline is interspersed with more traditional school details. Janey faces both trials and triumphs at St Clares: she wins a place in the First Eleven, but is later accused of theft and threatened with expulsion (a popular theme in school stories), until the real culprit is revealed. Janey’s resourcefulness and popularity are shown when she helps her form win the Boat Race against the Sixth Form, and is awarded the Raymond Prize, voted for by her peers, for the girl who has done most for the school.

Alice Guerin Crist

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Alice Guerin Crist was born on 6 February 1875, in Clarecastle, Ireland. Her family emigrated to Australia when she was a child. She became a pupil teacher at Upper-Coomera School in Queensland, where her father taught, before teaching at a one teacher school at Blackall Range until she was dismissed. Alice married Joseph Christ, a German farmer, on 4 October 1902, in Toowoomba, and they had 3 daughters and 1 son. When her children reached school age she returned to writing. She started working for the Catholic Advocate in June 1927 and remained with them for twelve years (Dornan 142). Her first book When Roddy Came to Ironbark was published by Cornstalk. In the early 1930s she was made Children’s Editor of the Catholic Advocate, writing the weekly Children’s Corner as ‘Betty Bluegum’ (Dornan 163). She also wrote for the Toowoomba Chronicle and the Bulletin. She received recognition for her literary career. In 1935 she was awarded the King’s Jubilee Medal for her outstanding contribution to Australian Literature, one of the few women to do so; and in 1937 she received the Commemoration Medal of the Coronation of the new King George VI and Queen Elizabeth for her service to literature (Dornan 185). Crist died from pneumonia in a Toowoomba hospital on 13 June 1941.

Further Reading
Dornan, Dimity, and Sue Hayne. Alice with Eyes a-Shine. Virginia, Qld.: Church Archivists' Press, 1998.

"Go It! Brothers!!" Sydney: Pellegrini & Co., 1929. 155 pages. Not illus.

"Go It! Brothers!!" was originally published as a serial for the Brisbane paper, the Catholic Advocate, proving so popular that it was published as a full-length novel by Catholic publishers, Pellegrini, in 1929 (Dornan 191). The novel follows new boy, Cyril O’Hara, or ‘Ginger’ as he is otherwise known, for three years as he attends St Mary’s, a Christian Brothers School. Crist based "Go It! Brothers!!" on her two sons, Dick and Terry’s schooling at St Mary’s Christian Brothers College in Toowoomba, incorporating many local characters and events into the story. Crist dedicated "Go It! Brothers!!" to the Christian Brothers order and the core values of their Catholic education of moral, mental and physical training play a central idea throughout the novel. Cyril, the hero, is a delicate boy from a troubled home. His overly strict father is away in America, and his frivolous mother is being led astray by her irreligious neighbours. An accident causes Cyril to overcome his delicate constitution and leads to a change in his mother’s behaviour. When Cyril’s father returns from America he regrets his hardness and they reconcile. This treatment of marital problems is unusual in a school story. Cyril makes friends with his new neighbour, a boy called Jim O’Brien, and spends his holidays with them at their family property, Weeronga Station, having some adventures. Crist contrasts differing family values, emphasising the godliness of Catholic families. Tom Healy, the school captain, and his friendship with a girl, is described as "sweet, wholesome and invigorating", a rare touch of romance in a boys’ school story. In the novel’s conclusion, the author highlights the values of Christian Brothers’ teaching, "whose human, even earthly value to Australia can never be fully calculated or adequately compensated" (155).

M. R. Clark/ Mavis Thorpe Clark (Mavis Rose Latham)

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Mavis Rose Latham, who wrote predominantly as Mavis Thorpe Clark, was born on 26 June 1909, in Melbourne, Victoria, the youngest of five children of John Thorpe Clark and his wife, Rose Matilda. Mavis was educated at the Methodist Ladies’ College, Melbourne. She wrote her first story when she was in her Intermediate year at school, which was later published as a serial in the Australasian (Anderson 11). Her first book, Hatherley’s First Fifteen, was written when she was eighteen. Mavis married Harold Latham on 19 December 1931. The couple had (at least) two daughters, Ronda and Beverley. Mavis returned to writing in the 1940s, using the pen name of Mavis Thorpe Clark, working on serials, short stories and articles before returning to writing books in 1949. She continued to write children’s novels including family and historical stories from the 1950s to 1980s gaining acclaim as an Australian children’s author. Her 1967 story, The Min-Min, won the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award. Clark died on 8 July 1999 in Melbourne, Victoria.

Further Reading
Clark, Mavis Thorpe. Trust the Dream: The Autobiography of Mavis Thorpe Clark, Author of 'the Min Min'. Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2004.

Links
MS 7847: Papers of Mavis Thorpe Clark at the National Library of Australia

Hatherley’s First Fifteen. Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd., 1930. 254 pages. Illustrated F(rancis). E. Hiley, col. frontis. & 4 b/w illus.
Hatherley’s First Fifteen is part school story, part holiday or mystery story. The opening and closing chapters are set in the school, but the main part of the mystery plot occurs in the country during the holidays. The school part centres on sport and Hatherly’s attempt to win an unprecedented fourth straight Rugby premiership, whilst the holiday plot involves two boys being reunited with their long lost father in a lost relative motif, and the curing of one boy’s blindness. The novel opens with eleven-year-old new boy, Tom, watching Hatherly win the final in the Rugby Union Cup against Hamilton College. His idol, Jim Manning, scores the winning try, meaning that Hatherly have won the premiership three years straight. For the past twelve years four different schools have each won the cup consecutively three times each, but have not been able to hold it for a fourth year. How Hatherly are able to break this spell is the main thrust of the school story. In the holidays Tom returns to his country home where he lives with his older blind brother, Bob and an old nurse. They are orphans. They meet Jim Manning, who is staying with relatives, and become good friends with him and his sisters. One of the sisters, Jeanne, asks her father to help Bob. The story then moves forward six months. Bob has agreed to the Manning family’s offer of help and his eyesight is restored in an operation. At Mr Manning’s suggestion, Bob goes to Hatherly with his brother, eager to experience public school life. Bob shows natural talent in athletics and sport, and plays in the First XV against Welton in the final for the Cup. The spell is broken when Bob scores the winning try. Bob and Tom are reunited with their father, whom they thought was dead. A friend of Mr Manning’s turns out to be their father. His wife had taken their children to Australia and he had been trying to trace them when he learnt of their whereabouts from Mr Manning’s. Clark uses quite a romantic plot in reuniting the family.

Dark Pool Island. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Geoffrey Cumberlege, 1949. 112 p. Not Illus.
Dark Pool Island, part of Oxford University Press’ post-war growth in Australian publishing, features four pals at Gillman College, who are caught up in a mystery involving a rogue Headmaster, and a hidden fortune. Gillman College was founded fifty years earlier by Doctor Winston, and when the Doctor dies, his nephew, Albert Smith, takes over the school. However the new Head has been causing problems, leaving both pupils and teachers contemplating leaving. When the Head puts a nearby lake, Dark Pool, out of bounds, the four pals, Ted and his friends, Bill, Thomas, and the Nipper, wonder if it has anything to do with the rumours of the original owner of the property leaving a hidden fortune. The Nipper breaks bounds at night and discovers the Head and a couple of men searching near the lake. The boys’ suspicions are further aroused when they discover a bound and gagged stranger in a cave. The stranger claims he is Albert Smart, the Doctor’s nephew, and that the Head is an impostor, George Whitby, intent on stealing the fortune. They join forces and make a plan to capture the crooks and after some near misses manage to do so. They return to Dark Pool Island and find a safe hidden in an abandoned hut. Mr Smart is restored as the real Head of Gillman College, and the money is enough to solve the college’s financial difficulties. Dark Pool Island is a late example of the 1920s Australian boys’ school and adventure story, involving a rogue Headmaster.

Mary Grant Bruce (Minnie Grant Bruce)

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Minnie Grant Bruce was born on 24 May 1878, in Sale, Victoria, the daughter of Eyre Lewis Bruce and Mary (Minnie) Atkinson, née Whittakers. She was educated at Miss Estelle Beausire’s Ladies’ High School in Sale where she matriculated with honours in English, Botany, and History. In 1895 she was awarded first prize in the Melbourne Shakespeare Society Essay competition, after being encouraged by her French teacher to enter for it (Anderson 7). She continued to win first prize for the next two years. In 1900 she moved to Melbourne where she began working as a journalist for the Age and the Leader, and wrote articles for a number of other publications. A story which appeared as a serial for the Children’s Page in the Leader was later submitted to Ward, Lock & Co, who published the The Little Bush Maid in 1910, the first in the Billabong series. She wrote under the name of Mary as her publishers thought it was more marketable than ‘Minnie’ (ABD 452). In 1913 she visited England where she met a distant cousin, Major George Evans Bruce, whom she married in 1914, the pair living in Ireland during the war before returning to Australia. From 1927 to 1939 they lived in Ireland, Europe and England before returning to Australia in 1939. She later returned to England in 1948 and died in Sussex, England, on July 12 1958.

Bruce was best known for her Billabong series which concerns the adventures of Mr Linton and his two children, Norah and Jim, on their family property, and follows their progression to adulthood. There were fifteen titles in the series. Bruce predominantly wrote family stories. Between 1910 and 1942 Bruce wrote 38 novels during her career, and after Turner retired from writing in 1928, she became Ward, Lock & Co.’s leading author (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 124-5).

Further Reading
Alexander, Alison. Billabong's Author: The Life of Mary Grant Bruce. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1979.

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Bruce, Minnie Grant (Mary) (1878 - 1958) by Lynne Strahan
Mary Grant Bruce from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dick. London: Ward, Lock & Co., 1918. 256 pages. Illustrated J. Macfarlane, b/w frontis. & 7 b/w illus.

Dick was originally published as a serial in the Leader. Dick Lester lives on Kurrajong Station in rural Victoria with his mother whilst his father is working in England. Dick is going to be sent to school as his father wants him to grow up "straight and square", to learn to "do the decent thing". Similar motivations for sending a son to a public school are explored in Max the Sport. The first half of the story concerns his last week at home and his subsequent journey to school. At school he is introduced to two of his dormitory mates, Teddy Raine, and Willie Glass ‘Bottles’, who take him up so he is not as lonely as he might have been as a new boy. Dick warms to Melville, the Captain of the School, a "jolly good all-round man", who is down on bullying and becomes Dick’s idol. Various school incidents are shown, a first night dorm raid, bathing and midnight feasts. Dick is unique in exploring the problem of bullying in some depth. Dick discovers Barry, a new boy, crying because he has been bullied. Against the traditional schoolboy honour code of not sneaking, Teddy and Bottles make Barry confess who has been bullying him, as "bullying’s a thing this school doesn’t go in for". Barry reveals it was Bayliss and Ahearne, two older boys, and when the boys see Barry’s bruises, weals and cigarette burns, they decide to take action, forming a Committee of Public Safety and launching an attack on Bayliss and Ahearne when they catch them bullying Barry. Melville interrupts them and agrees not to tell the Doctor if Ahearne and Bayliss promise not to bully anymore. The figure of Melville, the decent School Captain and his endeavours to ensure there is a good moral atmosphere in the school is comparable to the figure of ‘Dreamy’ Howard in Jack of St. Virgil’s. Dick faces a dilemma popularly used in school stories, when he is accused of a rag. A master is hit by an ink bomb hidden in his desk and Dick remembers seeing his friend, Nugent, fiddling around with the teacher’s desk the night before. Dick himself is accused but keeps silent, wanting to shield Nugent. When a schoolmate returns from an impromptu holiday and reveals he is the culprit, Dick is cleared. Dick and Nugent make up and Dick invites Nugent, the ‘school orphan’, home with him for the holidays.

Dick’s adventures are continued in Dick Lester of Kurrajong (1920) where Dick travels to Fremantle to meet his father’s ship but is injured by a spear and faces the prospect of being crippled until he is cured by a specialist in Melbourne.

David Britten

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Little is known about David Britten, who wrote one boys’ school story as well as co-authoring the four Ranford titles with Paul White, author of the Jungle Doctor stories. Paul White, in his autobiography Alias Jungle Doctor, records that he met Britten at the University of Sydney where White helped Britten become a Christian and the two became close friends (55).

The Making of Stephen Hall. London: Children's Special Service Mission, 1953. 188 pages. Illustrated 'L F L', b/w frontis. & small illus. throughout text.

Britten’s The Making of Stephen Hall is the first Australian example of an evangelist school story, promoting the duties of an active Christian life against a school background. In the beginning of the story Stephen Hall is a successful athlete at Westlake School who develops polio during the holidays, and is forced to spend months recovering in a hospital, questioning his faith in God. When he returns to school he is befriended by a classmate’s father and becomes a Christian. The story skips seventeen months, and Stephen and his friend, Brian, have been transferred to a different house, McIvor, and appointed School Prefects. The new Head wants the pair to try to reform the troublesome house which doesn’t take an interest in sport and runs an illicit smoking club. Stephen’s and Brian’s struggle with the wayward house is the central theme of The Making of Stephen Hall. The plot of an errant house being reformed was frequently used in British boys’ school stories. The Making of Stephen Hall is an Australian example of this motif but is different to the standard plot in the Christian approach the two Prefects take in trying to reform the house. The pair regularly pray for guidance and actively attempt to convert their schoolmates, typical aspects of evangelistic school stories. The two have good success, setting up a House Rowing Team, and converting four boys, but Stephen feels somewhat disappointed until one of his troublesome young charges asks to help him become a Christian.

Hilda Bridges (Hilda Maggie Bridges)

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Hilda Maggie Bridges was born on 19 October 1881, in Hobart, Tasmania, the eldest daughter of 3 children of Samuel Bridges and Laura Jane, née Woods. Hilda’s younger brother was author, Roy(al) Bridges. He was educated at Queen’s College and the University of Tasmania, before beginning a long career as a journalist and author. He wrote a total of 36 novels during his career. Hilda was educated at Scotch College, Hobart. She was an accomplished pianist and taught music for a number of years before joining Roy in Melbourne to keep house for him (Giordano & Norman 120). She never married, living with her brother for most of her life, working as his housekeeper and secretary. Hilda’s first novel was published in 1922 and she wrote 13 novels in total (mostly romances and mysteries), 3 children’s books and hundreds of short stories and articles (ADB 405). In 1935 the pair moved to Woods farm, a family property. When Roy died in 1952, Hilda arranged for his manuscripts to be presented to the University of Tasmania Archives. Hilda died on 11 September 1971 in a Hobart nursing home (Giordano & Norman 112).

Further Reading
Bridges, Roy. That Yesterday Was Home. Sydney: Australasian Publishing Co., 1948.
Giordano, Margaret, and Don Norman. Tasmanian Literary Landmarks. Hobart: Shearwater Press, 1984.
University of Tasmania. Library., D. H. Borchardt, and Bonnie Tilley. The Roy Bridges Collection in the University of Tasmania : A Catalogue. Cremorne: Stone Copying Co., 1956.

Bobby's First Term: A School-boys' story. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1924. 86 pages. Illus. 'J. M. Thomasson', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Bobby's First Term is one of the few Australian school stories to be set in private prepatory schools. Robert Richardson’s earlier school stories were set in small schools for younger pupils. Dick Holloway is a pupil at Rockley School when he learns that his father cannot afford to let him stay another year. He and his younger brother, Bobby, are sent to spend a year with their aunt, uncle and cousin. His uncle is initially disappointed with Dick’s apparent cowardice, but is reconciled with Dick when the latter saves a drowning man, praising Dick’s bravery, heroism and courage. Their father has a change of luck and is able to send the two boys to Rockley. Dick is determined to swot and try to win a scholarship to the Grammar School. Bobby and another boy, Dalton, plan a revenge on one of the seniors but Bobby steps on a tack and his foot is poisoned. Dick is suspected of stealing from one of the teachers when he wakes up at night looking for his brother. Dick is questioned, but his schoolboy honour prevents him from giving up Bobby. The new Head turns out to be the man Dick rescued, Dalton confesses to the trick, and the real thief, a former employee, is caught. Bobby's First Term is one of a number of boys’ school stories to be written by women. Other female authors of boys’ school stories include Lillian Pyke and Mary Grant Bruce.

Bobby's First Term was reprinted in 1933 and 1940.

Connie of the Fourth Form. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, [1930]. 88 pages. Illustrated 'G. M. Richardson', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Connie of the Fourth Form incorporates standard school motifs such as the persecution of a new girl, the importance of playing the game and sports scenes with a plot involving hidden treasure and a wicked teacher. Adventure plots were quite common in British girl’s school stories of the period, yet in Australia they were more prevalent in boys’ school stories, Connie of the Fourth Form being one of the earliest Australian girls’ school stories to use plots such as hidden treasure. It was not until the 1940s with the stories of Anne Bracken and Dora Joan Potter that they appear again. When Constance Somerley, an orphan, arrives as a new pupil at Lowbanks College in dowdy, old-fashioned clothes she is ridiculed by some of the girls, including the rich and spoilt Ella Myers. One of the teachers, Miss Spotswood, also makes things difficult for Connie. One night Connie discovers the existence of a secret door in the school. Miss Spotswood is very interested in the discovery and tries to find it. Miss Spotswood had heard of a hidden treasure left by the original owner of Lowbanks and came to the school to try and discover it. Connie, and another girl, Mollie, explore the school and find the secret door which leads to a passage and a hidden room, just as Miss Spotswood is trying to follow them. When the two girls disappear the Head calls the Police in and they find the girls in the hidden room with old papers and money stored in an old desk. The Head discovers Miss Spotswood’s intentions and she is asked to leave. Connie and Molly learn that they will be rewarded for their discovery. A title in the Whitcombe’s Story Books: Stories for Girls series, this slim volume story contains a glossary of words and two pages of questions to test silent reading.

Anne Bracken

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Anne Bracken was born in England and immigrated with her large family to Australia at the age of ten. Though she initially studied music, she began writing and pursued it as a career. She spent much of her life on the South Coast of New South Wales before returning to England after writing the ‘Jancy’ and ‘Twins’ series, later returning to Australia after five years, realising she didn’t belong in England (Anderson 7). Bracken wrote a number of illustrated children’s books and two elder series for girls: the four ‘Jancy’ titles’ and two ‘Twins’ titles. In Singing Roads she refers to a new series about a twelve-year-old girl called Pim, to be published by Sydney Ure Smith, but these remain untraced.

Jancy Wins Through. Sydney: Jons Productions Pty. Ltd., [1945]. 253 pages. Illustrated, 4 b/w illus.

Jancy Wins Through, is the first title in the Jancy series, which ran to four titles in the late 1940s, depicting the schooldays and adventures of heroine, Jancine Mitford. Jancy Wins Through mixes adventure and mystery plots against a school background and was part of the post-war revival in girls’ school stories. Twelve-year-old Jancy is sent to live with a friend of her father’s family, while she attends Miss Grey’s School. Jancy’s mother had suffered a nervous breakdown following the disappearance of her husband during the war. Jancy gets intro trouble when an older girl tells the school that Jancy’s father was a deserter, and most of the girls avoid her. When Jancy’s aunt accuses her of stealing a necklace, Jancy decides to run away, hitching a ride with a lorry driver who encourages her to return home and sort things out. Plots involving the heroine or hero being falsely accused of theft or some other misdeed were commonly used in school stories. When the lorry is involved in a collision with another lorry, Jancy shows her bravery and courage in rescuing both drivers from the burning wrecks. Jancy returns to school a heroine, where she is no longer an outcast. When the Head discovers the real culprit in the theft of the necklace, Jancy is cleared and the thief expelled, an unusual occurrence in an Australian girls’ school story, another instance occurring in Janey of Beechlands. The story concludes with the mystery surrounding Jancy’s father being resolved. He is found, having been on an undercover mission, and the family are reunited. The finding of lost relatives was a fashionable motif in girls’ school stories

Jancy Wins Through was reprinted three times: 2nd edition: 1946; 3rd edition: 1947; 4th edition: 1952.

Jancy Scores Again. Sydney: Jons Productions Pty. Ltd., [1946]. 250 pages. Illustrated, 4 b/w illus.

Jancy’s schooldays are continued in Jancy Scores Again, which mostly centres on the mysteries surrounding two new girls at Jancy’s school. As with Bracken’s previous Jancy title, Jancy Wins Through, the school provides a background for mystery and adventure plots. The two new girls who arouse interest at the school are Giralda Channing, a glamorous American teenager, and twelve-year-old Brigid O’Brien, a pianist prodigy. Giralda rouses Jancy’s interest when she appears to go into hysterics when Brigid is playing, while Brigid and her Nurse seem to be hiding from someone. When Giralda breaks bounds to visit a gypsy camp they ask her for information about Brigid. The gypsies follow the girls during an island picnic and attempt to kidnap Brigid. The girls hide in a cave and are eventually rescued, though Giralda falls down and becomes unconscious in the drama. The mysteries surrounding the two new girls are finally revealed. It turns out that one of Brigid’s guardians was trying to track Brigid down to make her return to her musical studies. She had been a child star but had stopped performing due to ill-health. Giralda had developed a split personality resulting from the emotional shock caused when her beloved Spanish grandmother died. Whenever she heard Spanish music she became unstable, but the fall in the caves had provided the sufficient shock to reverse the damage and cure her. Many authors enjoyed using brain diseases of various types.

Jancy Scores Again was reprinted twice: 2nd edition: 1948; 3rd edition: 1952.

The adventures of Jancy are continued in two further adventure/mystery stories which are not set at school: Jancy in Pursuit (1950), and Jancy Stands Alone (195?). In Jancy in Pursuit, Jancy and Rusty spend their Christmas holidays with Rusty’s grandmother, rescue an author from a gang of kidnappers, and help clear a woman’s deceased husband who was wrongly convicted of embezzlement. In Jancy Stands Alone, Jancy is now fifteen and spends an action-packed Christmas holidays with three spinster sisters. A girl is saved from her evil stepmother, missing family money and jewels are found and a difficult uncontrollable son reforms. Jancy finds romance with a teenage boy called Geoffrey.

Related Titles
---. The Twins to the Rescue. Sydney: Jons Productions, 1947.
---. Jancy in Pursuit. Sydney: Jons Productions, 1950.

Eustace Boylan

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Eustace Boylan was born on 9 March 1869 in Dublin, Ireland. At the age of seventeen he entered the Society of Jesus, and due to ill-health was sent to Australia where he taught at Saint Ignatius College (Riverview) and St. Aloysius College, in Sydney, New South Wales. Boylan was a scholastic at Riverview. After an initial period as a novice, a Jesuit would become a scholastic, where they studied philosophy and taught as a school master (Lea-Scarlett 69). He later returned to Ireland, becoming a priest and being appointed editor of the Catholic publication, Messenger. Under his editorship circulation of the paper increased from 75000 readers to 300000 (Austlit). In 1907 he returned to Australia and was appointed Prefect of Studies at Xavier College. The Prefect of Studies looked after all matters relating to classes and studies. He held that position from 1907 to 1917 during an important period in the school’s history. Boylan was one of the longest serving Prefects of Studies. (Dening, Xavier 57) After leaving Xavier, Boylan edited two Catholic publications from 1918 to 1949, Madonna, and Messenger of the Sacred Heart. He was also Rector of St. Patrick’s College, East Melbourne from 1919 to 1921 (Auslit). In 1949 he moved to the Jesuit House at Pymble, New South Wales, and died there on 17 October 1953 (Austlit).

The Heart of the School: An Australian School Story. Melbourne: J. Roy Stevens, Printer and Publisher, 1920. 399 pages. Illustrated Colin Colahan, 4 b/w illus. & numerous small b/w illus. throughout text.

The Heart of the School was the first Australian boys’ school story to be set in a Catholic school, one of only two, the other being "Go It! Brothers!!". The Heart of the School follows the experiences of new boy, Peter Jackson, at Xavier College in Melbourne. The Heart of the School was also the first Australian boys’ school story to be set explicitly in a real school. Peter is ill-prepared for school, having been educated by a series of governesses on his family’s country station property. He is given some school stories to read by his uncle, who also tells him about his own experiences at a great English public school, leaving Peter to fear the worst. When Peter arrives at Xavier, school life is much better than he expected. Peter’s arrival occurs soon after Xavier had joined the GPS sports competitions, but are struggling to win matches against their more experienced rivals. The growth of Xavier as a public school through sport is illustrated. Xavier wins the Football Premiership and ties for the Cricket Championship, marking a new era for the school, which parallels real events Xavier experienced. Boylan celebrates the coming of age for Xavier as a public school on a level with its protestant counterparts. Boylan concludes the story with an epilogue set seven years later in 1918. Peter has returned from the First World War, wounded, and is dying. Father Brownless, the Prefect of Studies from Xavier, is with him when he dies, and his last words are, "dear old school". While other authors sent their schoolboy heroes to war, (see Max the Sport) Boylan alone allows his to die.

Miriam Agatha (Pseudonym for Agatha Magdalen Le Breton)

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Agatha Magdalen Le Breton was born on 28 June 1886 in Maryborough, Queensland. She wrote under the name of Miriam Agatha. Le Breton wrote a series of stories for the Australian Catholic Truth Society Penny Publications series produced in 1910. She also wrote a romance novel and a history of Australia for Catholic schoolchildren.

Nellie Doran: A Story of Australian Home and School Life. Sydney: E. J. Dwyer, 1914. 240 pages. Not illus.

Nellie Doran is one of just two Australian girls’ school stories to be set in a Catholic school, the other being M. I. Little’s Dunham Days. Nellie Doran concerns the arrival of a new girl, fifteen-year-old Nellie Doran, at St. Mary’s Convent High School. The character of the new pupil was a popular device used in many girls’ and boys’ school stories in Australia. Nellie quickly becomes a favourite amongst her school fellows, arousing jealousy in one of the girls, Milcie, who had formerly been the most popular girl in the school. Milcie’s jealousy is increased when Nellie outshines her in music lessons. When Milcie discovers that she is related to Nellie she is ashamed to be related to a ‘bushie’, but during the Annual Retreat, a Catholic reflection exercise, she regrets her attitude towards Nellie and endeavours to be good to her. Nellie’s musical talent is discovered by a visiting German music teacher, Herr Hartmann, who offers her the opportunity to study in Europe, but Nellie declines the offer, choosing to remain with her family on their property, instead of pursuing possible fame and fortune. A preface by James Duhig, Archbishop of Brisbane, praises the tale of convent school life as presenting a beautiful moral. Nellie Doran faithfully depicts Catholic convent boarding school life, and the role religion played in these schools in the form of ceremonies and events including Shrove Tuesday, St Patrick’s Day, Lent, May Day, the Retreat and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

J. H. M. Abbott (John Henry Macartney Abbott)

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John Henry Macartney Abbott was born on 26 December 1874, in Haydonton, New South Wales, the eldest son of Sir Joseph Palmer Abbott, and Matilda Elizabeth, née Macartney. His father was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Abbott was educated at The King’s School, Parramatta, where he was part of the 1892 Premiership winning First XV (Waddy 94). He later attended classes at the University of Sydney. In 1900 he served in the Boer War, using his experiences to write Tommy Cornstalk in 1902. He then worked as a journalist in England, writing articles and a number of books. He returned to Australia in 1909 and began a forty year long career in Australia, writing hundreds of articles, series and serials, for publications including the Bulletin and the Lone Hand (Australian Dictionary of Biography 2). His novels were mostly historical novels set in colonial New South Wales. In addition to Dogsnose he published a book of short stories about the King’s School, The King’s School. Despite his prolific writing career he experienced financial difficulties, becoming bankrupt in 1923, but then in 1924 his financial situation was eased with an annuity from his uncle, W. E. Abbott (ADB 2). He married fellow author and journalist, Katherine Wallace on 2 August 1926 in Sydney (ADB 2). They had no children. Ill health forced him to stop writing in 1946, and he died from vascular disease on 12 August 1953 at Rydalmere Mental Hospital (ADB 2). His most significant work was Tommy Cornstalk, which presents a view of Australian soldiers which preceded the Anzac legend but contained many aspects later associated with Australian soldiers (ADB 2).

Links
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition: Abbott, John Henry (Macartney) (1874 - 1953) by B. G. Andrews.

Dogsnose. Sydney: Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1928. 237 pages. Illustrated 'Edgar A. Holloway', b/w frontis. & 2 b/w illus.

Dogsnose details the adventures of fourteen-year-old schoolboy, Bill Carfax, otherwise known as Dogsnose, because of his extreme sense of smell, when he teams up with a detective to track down a couple of criminals during the school holidays. Dogsnose is representative of the trend of 1920s and 1930s boys’ school stories to introduce adventure and mystery plots. Like two other boys’ school stories, Blue Brander, and The Gang on Wheels, Abbott sets the adventure part of the story mostly within the holidays. When Bill arrived at Birmingham House School as a new boy, he was christened with his nickname in the school’s traditional initiation ceremony in the Parramatta River. A master’s room is burgled a week before the start of the holidays and a valuable antique gold cup is stolen. Bill initially trails the burglars to the Parramatta River and the Head calls in the Police. Detective Marlinspike asks Billy to team up with him in the holidays to track the burglars because of his amazing sensory powers. Billy accompanies Marlinspike as he interviews ‘Conkey Ike’, a prisoner, and they head off to the Newcastle Steelworks to track down a suspect, Sam Considine. The duo pursue them to Port Stephens eventually capturing Sam and Ikey. Abbott effectively portrays the search for the criminals against various New South Wales north coastal locations. While many British boys’ school stories used schoolboy detectives as characters, Dogsnose varies this with the teaming up of a detective and a schoolboy on the case.

References and Links

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Australian Literature

Adelaide, Debra. Bibliography of Australian Women's Literature 1795-1990: A Listing of Fiction, Poetry Drama and Non-Fiction Published in Monograph Form Arranged Alphabetically by Author. Port Melbourne, Vic.: Thorpe in association with National Centre for Australian Studies, 1991.

Adelaide, Debra. Australian Women Writers: A Bibliographical Guide. London: Pandora, 1988.

Arnold, John, and Bibliography of Australian Literature Project. List of Australian Writers. Clayton, Vic.: National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University, 1995.

Arnold, John, and Martyn Lyons. A History of the Book in Australia 1891-1945: A National Culture in a Colonised Market. St Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 2001.

Eyre, Frank. Oxford in Australia, 1890-1978. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Gibbney, H. J., and Ann G. Smith. A Biographical Register, 1788-1939: Notes from the Name Index of the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian dictionary of biography, Australian National University, 1987.

Hay, John, and John Arnold. The Bibliography of Australian Literature. F - J to 2000. St Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 2005.

Hay, John, Sally Batten, and John Arnold. The Bibliography of Australian Literature. A - E. Kew, Vic.: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2001.

Kirsop, Wallace, and D. H. Borchardt. The Book in Australia: Essays Towards a Cultural & Social History. Melbourne: Australian Reference Publications in association with the Centre for Bibliographical and Textual Studies, Monash University, 1988.

Lock, F. P., and Alan Lawson. Australian Literature: A Reference Guide. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Lyons, Martyn, and Lucy Taksa. Australian Readers Remember: An Oral History of Reading 1890-1930. Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Lyons, Martyn. "Britain's Largest Export Market." A History of the Book in Australia 1891-1945 : A National Culture in a Colonised Market. Eds. Martyn Lyons and John Arnold. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2001. 19-26.

Miller, E. Morris. Australian Literature from Its Beginnings to 1935: A Descriptive and Bibliographical Survey of Books by Australian Authors in Poetry, Drama, Fiction, Criticism and Anthology with Subsidiary Entries to 1938. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1940. National Library of Australia. Australian National Bibliography 1901-1950. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1988.

Pike, Douglas, et al. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966-2005.

Ritchie, John, and Hilary Kent. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Index: Volumes 1 to 12, 1788-1939. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1991.

Who's Who in Australia. Melbourne: Information Australia., 1933-2006.

Wilde, W. H., Barry G. Andrews, and Joy W. Hooton. The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia, 1994.

Australian Children's Literature

Anderson, Hugh. The Singing Roads: A Guide to Australian Children's Authors and Illustrators. 3rd ed. Surry Hills [N.S.W.]: Wentworth Press, 1970.

Crotty, Martin. Making the Australian Male: Middle-Class Masculinity 1870-1920. Carlton South, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 2001.

Lees, Stella, and Pam Macintyre. The Oxford Companion to Australian Children's Literature. Melbourne: Oxford University Press in association with ALIA Press, 1993.

McLaren, Ian F., and George J. Griffiths. Whitcombe's Story Books: A Trans-Tasman Survey. Parkville, Vic.: University of Melbourne Library, 1984.

McVitty, Walter. Australian Children's Authors. South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1986.

McVitty, Walter. Authors & Illustrators of Australian Children's Books. Sydney: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989.

McVitty, Walter. A Life in Children's Books. South Melbourne, Vic.: Lothian, 2004.

McVitty, Walter. Innocence and Experience: Essays on Contemporary Australian Children's Writers. Melbourne: Nelson, 1981.

Muir, Marcie, and Kerry White. Australian Children's Books: A Bibliography. 3 vols. Melbourne, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1992.

Niall, Brenda, and Frances O'Neill. Australia through the Looking-Glass: Children's Fiction 1830-1980. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press, 1984.

Niall, Brenda. Seven Little Billabongs: The World of Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce. Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1979. O'Neill, Terence, and Frances O'Neill. Australian Children's Books to 1980: A Select Bibliography of the Collection Held in the National Library of Australia. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 1989.

Saxby, Henry Maurice. A History of Australian Children's Literature 1941-1970. Sydney: Wentworth Books, 1971.

Saxby, Henry Maurice. Images of Australia: A History of Australian Children's Literature 1941-1970. Lindfield, NSW: Scholastic Australia, 2002.

Saxby, Henry Maurice. Offered to Children: A History of Australian Children's Literature 1841-1941. Sydney: Scholastic Australia, 1998.

Saxby, Henry Maurice. A History of Australian Children's Literature 1841-1941. Sydney: Wentworth Books, 1969.

Scutter, Heather. "Children's Literature." A History of the Book in Australia: A National Culture in a Colonised Market. Eds. Martyn Lyons and John Arnold. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2001.

British Children's Literature

Bratton, J. S. The Impact of Victorian Children's Fiction. London: Croom Helm, 1981.

Bristow, Joseph. Empire Boys: Adventures in a Man's World. London: Harper Collins Academic, 1991.

Cadogan, Mary, and Patricia Craig. Women and Children First: The Fiction of Two World Wars. London: Gollancz, 1978.

Cox, Jack. Take a Cold Tub, Sir!: The Story of the Boy's Own Paper. Guildford, Surrey: Lutterworth Press, 1982.

Doyle, Brian. The Who's Who of Children's Literature. London: Evelyn, 1968.

Doyle, Brian. Who's Who of Boys' Writers and Illustrators, 1964. London: B. Doyle, 1964.

Eyre, Frank. British Children's Books in the Twentieth Century. London: Longman, 1971.

Forrester, Wendy. Great-Grandma's Weekly: A Celebration of the Girl's Own Paper, 1880-1901. London: Lutterworth Press, 1980.

Lofts, William Oliver Guillement, and Derek John Adley. The Men Behind Boys' Fiction. London: Howard Baker, 1970.

Mitchell, Sally. The New Girl: Girls' Culture in England, 1880-1915. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.

Orwell, George. "Boys' Weeklies." Critical Essays. London: Secker and Warburg, 1951.

Richards, Jeffrey. Imperialism and Juvenile Literature. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989.

Tinkler, Penny. Constructing Girlhood: Popular Magazines for Girls Growing up in England, 1920-1950. London: Taylor & Francis, 1995.

Trease, Geoffrey. Enjoying Books. London: Phoenix House, 1963.

Turner, E. S. Boys Will Be Boys: The Story of Sweeney Todd, Deadwood Dick, Sexton Blake, Billy Bunter, Dick Barton, Et Al. London: Penguin Books, 1976.

School Stories

Auchmuty, Rosemary. "The Encyclopaedia: Origins and Organisation." Children's Literature in Education 31.3 (2000): 147-58.

Auchmuty, Rosemary. A World of Women: Growing up in the Girls' School Story. London: The Women's Press, 1999.

Auchmuty, Rosemary. The World of Girls. London: Women's Press, 1992.

Cadogan, Mary, and Patricia Craig. You're a Brick, Angela!: A New Look at Girls' Fiction from 1839 to 1975. London: Gollancz, 1976.

Cadogan, Mary. Chin up, Chest out, Jemima! Haslemere: Bonnington Books, 1989.

Clare, Hilary. "Lifting the Veil: Researching the Lives of Girls' School Story Writers." Children's Literature in Education 31.3 (2000): 159-66.

Freeman, Gillian. The Schoolgirl Ethic: The Life and Work of Angela Brazil. London: Allen Lane, 1976.

Kirkpatrick, Robert J. The Encyclopaedia of Boys' School Stories. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000.

Kirkpatrick, Robert J. Bullies, Beaks and Flanneled Fools: An Annotated Bibliography of Boy's School Fiction, 1742-1990. Robert J. Kirkpatrick, 1998.

Musgrave, P. W. From Brown to Bunter: The Life and Death of the School Story. London ; Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.

Quigly, Isabel. The Heirs of Tom Brown: The English School Story. London: Chatto & Windus, 1982.

Richards, Jeffrey. Happiest Days: The Public Schools in English Fiction. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1988.

Sims, Sue, and Hilary Clare. The Encyclopaedia of Girls' School Stories. Ed. Rosemary Auchmuty & Joy Wotton. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000.

Trease, Geoffrey. Tales out of School. London: Heinemann, 1948.

Watson, Benjamin. English Schoolboy Stories: An Annotated Bibliography of Hardcover Fiction. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1992.

British Educational History

Avery, Gillian. The Best Type of Girl: A History of Girls' Independent Schools. London: Andre Deutsch, 1991.

Bamford, T. W. Rise of the Public Schools: A Study of Boys' Public Boarding Schools in England and Wales from 1837 to the Present Day. London: Nelson, 1967.

Honey, John Raymond de Symons. Tom Brown's Universe: The Development of the Victorian Public School. London: Millington, 1977.

Mangan, J. A. The Games Ethic and Imperialism: Aspects of the Diffusion of an Ideal. London: Frank Cass, 1998.

Mangan, J. A. Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School: The Emergence and Consolidation of an Educational Ideology. London: Frank Cass, 2000.

Australian Educational History

Barcan, Alan. A History of Australian Education. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Barcan, Alan. A Short History of Education in New South Wales. Sydney: Martindale Press, 1965.

Bate, Weston. Light Blue Down-Under: The History of Geelong Grammar School. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Blainey, Geoffrey, James Morrissey, and S. E. K. Hulme. Wesley College: The First Hundred Years. Melbourne: The President and Council,

Wesley College, Melbourne, in association with Robertson and Mullens, 1967.

Dening, Greg, and Old Xaverians' Association (Vic.). Xavier: A Centenary Portrait. Kew, Vic.: Old Xaverians' Association, 1978.

Dening, Greg, Doug Kennedy, and Old Xaverians' Association (Vic.). Xavier Portraits. Kew, Vic.: Old Xaverians' Association, 1993.

Elton, Godfrey Elton. The First Fifty Years of the Rhodes Trust and the Rhodes Scholarships, 1903-1953. Oxford: Balckwell, 1955.

Hughes, Rosemary. 75th Anniversary (1912-1987): Memories of St. Hilda's School Southport. Southport: St. Hilda's School, 1986.

Judd, Tom. Fifty Years Will Be Long Enough!: A School Porter's Story. Melbourne: National Press, 1971.

Lea-Scarlett, Errol. Riverview: Aspects of the Story of Saint Ignatius' College & Its Peninsula 1836-1988. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1989.

Lemon, Andrew. A Great Australian School: Wesley College Examined. Wahroonga: Helicon Press, 2004.

Macmillan, D. S. Newington College 1863-1963. Newington College, 1963.

McFarlane, John, and Presbyterian Ladies' College (Croydon N.S.W.). The Golden Hope: Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney, 1888-1988. Croydon, N.S.W.: The College, 1988.

Meyer, F. Adamson of Wesley: Story of a Great Headmaster. Melbourne: Robertson and Mullens, 1932.

Persse, Michael D. de B. Collins, and Geelong Grammar School. Well-Ordered Liberty: A Portrait of Geelong Grammar School, 1855-1995. Armadale, Vic.: Cliffe Books, 1995.

Quirke, Noel. Moreton Bay College: The Centenary History 1901-2001. Brisbane: Moreton Bay College, 2001.

Reid, Marion Olive. The Ladies Came to Stay: A Study of the Education of Girls at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne, 1875-1960. Melbourne: Authorised by the Council of the College, 1960.

Shaw, Basil, and Scots PGC College. Council. The Lion and the Thistle: A History of the Scots Pgc College, Warwick, 1918-1992. Warwick: Council of the Scots PGC College, 1993.

Sherington, Geoffrey, R. C. Petersen, and Ian Brice. Learning to Lead: A History of Girls' and Boys' Corporate Secondary Schools in Australia. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1987.

Strong, David. The College by the Harbour: The History of St Aloysius' College, Milson's Point, New South Wales. Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1997.

Turney, C. Grammar: A History of Sydney Grammar School, 1919-1988. Sydney: Sydney Grammar School in association with Allen & Unwin, 1989.

Waddy, L. D. S., and King's School (Parramatta N.S.W.). Council. The King's School, 1831-1981: An Account. Parramatta: Council of the King's School, 1981.

Zainu'ddin, Ailsa. They Dreamt of a School: A Centenary History of Methodist Ladies' College Kew, 1882-1982. Melbourne: Hyland House, 1982.

Links

for individual author links please see each author's biographical entry

AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature
Austlit describes itself as a "non-profit collaboration between eleven Australian Universities and the National Library of Australia providing authoritative information on hundreds of thousands of creative and critical Australian literature works relating to more than 94,000 Australian authors and literary organisations. Its coverage spans 1780 to the present day." This extensive and informative electronic database offers subscription only access, however, subscribers include all state libraries and most university libraries.

Collecting Books and Magazines: Australasian Authors

Lu Rees Archives of Australian Children's Literature

Australian Children's Literature: 1830-1950

Site Info and Acknowledgements

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My name is Rachel Crawford and this website is based on the Master of Philosophy (English) thesis, Bonza Schooldays: An annotated bio-bibliography of Australian School Stories, I completed in 2006 in the School of English, Media Studies & Art History at the University of Queensland. My supervisors were Professor David Carter, Director of the now defunct Australian Studies Centre and Dr Chris Tiffin. The thesis in its original format can be examined at the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland Library: Library Record.

Prior to this I completed a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in History at UQ in 2002. My supervisor was Dr Geoff Ginn Director of the Centre for Applied History and Heritage Studies. I hope to be publishing this research electronically sometime in the future.
My Honours thesis, An all-round girl: Girls’ private secondary schooling in Queensland, 1870s-1930s, examined the nature and development of girls’ schooling in Queensland. My supervisor was

I studied my Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Wollongong majoring in History and European Studies having won a University of Wollongong Undergraduate Scholarship
I completed my Higher School Certificate at Smith’s Hill High School a selective government high school in Wollongong.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my principal supervisor, Associate Professor David Carter and my assistant supervisor, Dr Chris Tiffin for their invaluable guidance, advice and knowledge, without which I would not have been able to complete my research.

I would also like to thank the Document Delivery Staff at the University of Queensland Library
for their assistance in obtaining copies of some of the school stories and the many reference texts I required; and the staff of the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland for the examination of some of the novels and works held in their collection.

I would like to thank my lovely mother for her support, encouragement and patience.

I would also like to thank my great employer, who by employing me on a casual basis, made it possible for me to be able to support myself financially whilst studying full time at university and realise my dream of finishing my research degree. A shout out to Sue, Pat, Josh & Amy, Jessie, Jenny, Nat, Franki, Danny, Anna and everyone else.

A big thank you to everyone!!!!

Rachel: August 2007

The British School Story Tradition

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Introduction

The school story genre developed in England. It is a commonly held misconception that the first school story written was Thomas Hughes’ Tom Brown’s Schooldays in 1857.¹ Yet the first school story was Sarah Fielding’s The Governess in 1749. Some sixty school stories preceded Tom Brown’s Schooldays (Kirkpatrick, The Encyclopaedia of Boys’ School Stories 1). Tom Brown’s Schooldays, however, was significant for a number of reasons. The early school stories had typically been set in small private day or village schools. Hughes set Tom Brown’s Schooldays at Rugby, a public school. Due to its portrayal of Arnold, the famous Headmaster of Rugby, Tom Brown’s Schooldays "consolidated the foundations of the public school story" and "popularised the genre as a whole" (Kirkpatrick, Encyclopaedia 2). Tom Brown’s Schooldays can be seen as the birth of the public school story, which espoused public school values and ethics.

The development of public schools is worth examining, because many school stories were set in public schools and share their characteristics and atmosphere. Secondary schools like Rugby had been established in England in the Middle Ages, with Winchester founded in 1382, Eton (1440), St. Paul’s (1509), Shrewsbury (1557), Westminster (1560), Harrow (1567) and Rugby (1567). The schools were endowed schools in that they were established with endowments in order to provide education for a number of pupils at no charge. These schools, later known as public schools, provided education for the upper-classes. Middle-class families sent their sons to endowed grammar schools like Uppingham (1584) and Manchester Grammar (1515). In addition, private individuals operated schools. At the beginning of the 19th century many of these schools were in decline. Endowed schools were in financial difficulties, and were forced to enrol more paying pupils due to the decline in value of their endowments. Public concerns about ‘moral decay’ at the schools were influenced by lax discipline, poor educational standards and brutality and bullying. Schoolboys often revolted, as late as 1832 a rebellion occurred at Eton.

A series of important developments and reforms occurred in the 19th century which changed the nature of private education, and are still influential today. The first reforms were made by the Headmasters of the schools. Dr Thomas Arnold became Headmaster of Rugby in 1828 and remained so until his death in 1842. Arnold was not the only Headmaster to implement reforms but became the most famous, symbolising the public school transformation, although other later Headmasters played a significant role in public school reform. J de S. Honey describes it as the legend of Arnold (2), in part promoted by the success of Hughes’ Tom Brown’s Schooldays.

Arnold’s transformation of Rugby can be summarised into several key points: Arnold placed an emphasis on Christian values; the Headmaster enjoyed independence from the school governors; assistant masters played an increasing role in the school; the corporate identity of the school was promoted; unsuitable pupils were removed, and Arnold developed and transformed the prefect system, placing emphasis on the older pupils’ active role in the discipline of the school (Newsome in Honey 7). In addition Arnold ended the practice of dame’s houses, instead creating houses under the supervision of masters, and personally assumed the duties of chaplain to the boys (Honey 11). Arnold intended moral change to address the ‘moral decay’, which he achieved by increasing closer control over the boys’ daily lives (Crotty 42).

Arnold’s influence was spread through former pupils who became teachers and Headmasters at other schools and implemented his reforms (Honey 26). From 1840 to 1870 there was a high growth in the number of new schools established (Bamford 270). The middle classes increasingly required schools to educate their sons for future roles in the clergy, army, and civil service. New schools such as Marlborough (1843) and Cheltenham (1841) offered both a classics and civil service oriented education. Later schools such as Brighton (1845), Clifton (1862), Haileybury (1862), Rossall (1844), Taunton (1847), Epsom (1855) and Malvern (1865) followed this style of education (Bamford 20-27). The development of the railway network allowed new boarding schools to be established that could attract pupils from a wider geographical area (Honey 33).

The most important part of public school education established in this period - school games - was not implemented by Arnold but by later Headmasters. Arnold had emphasised godliness (moral strength), which evolved under later Headmasters into ‘muscular Christianity’. Initially school games had been established at Harrow to improve school discipline, but later in the 1850s, Headmasters of new schools, such as Nathanial Woodward at Lancing in 1857 and Edward Thring at Uppingham in 1853, adopted school games to emulate and identify their schools with the great public schools (Crotty 42). ‘Incidental’ sport developed into highly organised competitive games, in part due to the increasing preference of schools from the 1850s to appoint lay Headmasters who embraced the ‘games ethic’ and athleticism instead of clergymen. The idea of ‘playing the game’ developed as an alternative to godliness (Bamford 80-83). By the 1880s games were compulsory at all of the major schools (Crotty 43) and reached their zenith in the 1910s and 1920s (Bamford 83).

Two important investigations into secondary education occurred in the 1860s. The 1864 Report of the 1861 Clarendon Commission examined the nine public schools: Westminster, Eton, Shrewsbury, Winchester, Charterhouse, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, St Pauls; and Mechants Taylors. The term ‘public school’ developed from the Commission (Bamford x-xii). The Taunton Commission, which was established in 1864 and reported in 1868, examined a wider number of schools, distinguishing between private, proprietary and endowed schools. The report praised the reforms the schools had undertaken. Following this report, many schools, including old grammar schools, reorganized themselves and there was moderate growth in new schools being established. The new and old schools called themselves public schools, and a typical public school was Anglican, boarding and exclusive, having prefects and games. This was the educational legacy which influenced the development of school stories.

Following the initial success of Tom Brown’s Schooldays, three main types of school stories began to emerge: penny dreadful type school stories which were full of melodramatic plots; evangelical school stories which were often written by women; and moral school stories in the style of Tom Brown’s Schooldays which utilised the setting of the typical aspects of a public school life, such as sport, fagging and prefects (Kirkpatrick, Encyclopaedia 3). The first author to combine elements from the three main types was Talbot Baines Reed with his successful school stories in the 1880s (Kirkpatrick, Encyclopaedia 3). Reed’s success came initially from writing serialised school stories for the popular Boys’ Own Paper weekly which were later published in a book format. Reed had not attended a boarding school himself, being educated at day schools, yet he realistically portrayed boarding school life, writing the classic school story The Fifth Form at St. Dominic’s (1887). Reed’s significance was not only in affecting the style of school stories. Through his popular serials in the Boys’ Own Paper he attracted a wider audience to the genre (Kirkpatrick, Encyclopaedia 272-75).

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¹ An example is Quigley’s 1982 study, The Heirs of Tom Brown, which implies this in the title.

Girls' School Stories

The first girls’ school stories were set in small schools, and were evangelical or didactic in style. They were part of the moral or family story and did not constitute a genre in their own right (Sims & Clare 379). The early stories were written in a time when the genre did not substantially exist; rather they were family or moral stories using schools as a setting or background. These early school stories, from the 1850s to c. 1900, had a number of common characteristics: they were moral and religious in tone, set in small schools, and had little emphasis on games, although plots involving madcaps being falsely accused were popular (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 3-5).

During this period, important educational developments occurred which resulted in the girls’ school story emerging, with novels from the 1880s actually being called ‘school stories’ (Sims & Clare 3). The development of girls’ schools occurred somewhat differently to boys’ schools with few girls’ schools being established before the 19th century. In contrast to boys’ schools which were mostly public trusts, a large number of girls’ schools were private venture schools which later evolved into trust schools (Avery 5). The 1868 Taunton Commission also examined girls’ schools, and while it criticised the smaller private venture schools it praised educators Frances Buss and Dorothea Beale and their respective schools: the North London Collegiate School (1850) and Cheltenham Ladies’ College (1853). The two schools were quite different. North London Collegiate School was a day school, whilst Cheltenham Ladies’ College was the first girls’ proprietary school formed by a company. The Taunton Commission recommended that schools like the North London Collegiate School be established in cities throughout England, and in June of 1873 the National Union for the Education of Girls created the Girls’ Public Day School Company and began to establish girls’ high schools in major cities. These schools had an academic curriculum and were non-denominational. By 1900 there were 32 GPDCS schools with 7000 pupils (Avery 76).

In addition to day or high schools, public boarding schools were created. Cheltenham Ladies’ College had been one, and was an influential school. Dorothea Beale was Headmistress for 48 years from 1858 to 1906 and pupils became Headmistresses of more than 40 English and foreign schools (Avery 93). St Leonard’s was a public school founded in 1863 in St Andrews, Scotland, and was significant because of its early use of a form of prefects, allowing schoolgirls an active role in maintaining the discipline of the school. Roedean, founded in 1885 by three sisters from the Lawrence family, was the first girls’ school to model itself on boys’ public schools. The school was divided into houses, prefects were implemented and compulsory games introduced, all features of British public schools. Many schools later copied Roedean’s example, so that after the 1900s girls’ schools increasingly resembled boys’ schools and embraced public school values.

A wide variety of private schools also existed: home schools, suburban schools, finishing schools, etc. These schools catered for the middle classes as they were a cheaper alternative to the expensive boarding schools. The curriculum was not academically based; in many schools emphasis was placed on music, arts, etc, and the schools were often run by members of a family. Between the wars these schools flourished but they declined after the Second World War, as state secondary education developed (Avery 3).

The first school story set in a high school was Mrs Henry Clarke’s The Ravensworth Scholarship (1894), and L. T. Meade wrote an early public school story in 1895 with Girls New and Old (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 7). Increasingly school stories were being set at large high schools and public boarding schools and included Headmistresses, University educated Teachers, Prefects, Houses and Head Girls. An important development in school stories was the use of games, which became linked to ideas of loyalty and honour. Sims argues that school became an institution with values, and this resulted in a decline of the moral and religious messages which had appeared in earlier school stories, with religion being replaced by honour (‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 9). Girls’ school stories have often been criticised as being imitations of boys’ school stories, copying the importance of games and school honour in stories. More accurately, they merely reflect the fact that girls’ schools developed later than boys’ schools which resulted in games appearing later in girls’ schools (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 3, 9).
Impact of World War I

Superficially the First World War affected the publishing industry in terms of book production. In 1913, 23 boys’ and 13 girls’ school stories were published.² With the outbreak of war this dropped to 8 boys’ and 9 girls’ school stories. Typically less than ten school stories for each gender were published per year during the war years, as displayed in Table 1.

Table 1: School Stories published during the First World War period

The end of the war marked the end of the dominance of the boys’ school story. Prior to the war more boys’ school stories were published per year than girls’ school stories, but this changed almost immediately after the war with a higher number of girls’ school stories published each year which lasted until the 1970s. Purely in quantity, the interwar period is the era of the girls’ school story.

One reason for the decline in boys’ school stories could be the impact the war had on boys’ public schools, the public school ethos and athleticism. War had been viewed as a great adventure, a chance for men not much older than schoolboys to ‘play the game’ in life on the battlefield. The soldiers expected a quick war and were not prepared for the massive casualties due to trench warfare tactics; the "ideals formulated in the schools and on the parade grounds were destroyed in the mud and the trenches" (Crotty 230). The public school ideology of athleticism was challenged. Some schools reacted by winding down the emphasis on games. Male authors struggled to comprehend the horrors of war and the implications this had on the public schools and the ethos of ‘playing the game’. Some authors sent their heroes to war where a few died, paying the ‘ultimate sacrifice’: Ernest Raymond’s Tell England is one example, another is Alec Waugh’s The Loom of Youth, an adult school story written after he was expelled from Sherbourne School and was serving in the First World War. Perhaps the girls’ school story was able to recover more quickly after the end of the war because women played a different role in the war compared to men, and girls’ school ideology was not challenged in the same way as boys’.

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² Note on publishing statistics: Numbers include only new school stories published, not reprints, etc. and have been compiled and calculated from the author bibliographies recorded in the Encyclopaedia of School Stories which to date are the most accurate and complete listings of school stories published.

The Interwar Years

The interwar years mark the ‘golden age’ for both girls’ and boys’ school stories. Boys’ school stories peaked in 1929 with 35 published, consolidating their earlier growth whereby the school story tradition had been established and was continued. Popular weeklies of this period were the Magnet, and the Gem which published Billy Bunter stories by Frank Richards. For girls, the girls’ school story peaked in the mid 1920s, reaching 62 school stories published in 1926. 43% of all new girls’ books published in 1924 were school stories (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 10). The great authors of the era, Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, Dorita Fairlie Bruce, Elsie J. Oxenham, and a cast of other authors produced formidable numbers of school stories. The Chalet School series by Brent-Dyer ran to 59 stories, while the Abbey series by Oxenham ran to 38 stories. Many authors created careers as full-time writers. For Sims the 1930s marked the formularisation of the girls’ school story, with little innovation in structure, plot or characterisation, in part due to an exhaustion of possible school scenarios (‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 12).

This exhaustion led to authors beginning to look to other genres such as crime, adventure, detective, career, satire, and romance to merge with the school story. Trease argues that Arthur Ransome’s success with his ‘Swallows and Amazons’ series influenced writers from the 1930s to abandon school stories for holidays stories, with school story writers increasingly broadening the classic school story plot by adding mysteries, spies, twins, royals, and so on (Trease in Hope-Simpson 11-12). Girls’ authors too began to dip into other genres for inspiration, introducing ballet, ponies, spies and criminals into their school stories from the 1940s (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 13). By the end of the interwar period for both boys’ and girls’ school stories writers had introduced mystery, adventure, detective, and spy elements, though a number of authors still produced more ‘classic’ public school story plots and scenarios.

Impact of World War II

As with the First World War, the Second World War witnessed a reduction in book publishing. With the Government requiring resources for the war effort, paper was rationed and publishers had to issue books in accordance with war economy standards. War-time publications are a stark contrast to the large thick ornate pre-war volumes. War-time books were thin, with thin greyish paper, black and white illustrations and cheap dust jackets. In terms of the impact of the war on the content of school stories, some conclusions may be drawn. School stories featured whole schools being evacuated, sometimes having to merge with another school, and plots based on espionage and European war refugees were introduced. The figures in Table 2 below show the reduction caused by the war, from 20 boys’ and 39 girls’ school stories published in 1938, to 4 boys and 6 girls’ school stories in 1942.

Table 2: School Stories published during the Second World War period

George Orwell, in a 1939 essay, commented on the formularisation, nostalgia and romance of contemporary British school stories:

The year is 1910 - or 1940, but it is all the same. You are at Greyfriars, a
rosy-cheeked boy of fourteen in posh tailor-made clothes, sitting down to tea in
your study on the Remove passage after an exciting game of football which was
won by an odd goal in the last half-minute. There is a cosy fire in the study,
and outside the wind is whistling. The ivy clusters thickly round the old grey
stones... Lord Mauleverer has just got another fiver and we are all settling
down to a tremendous tea of sausages, sardines, crumpets, potted meat, jam and
doughnuts. After tea we shall sit round the study fire having a good laugh at
Billy Bunter and discussing the team for next week’s match against Rookwood.
Everything is safe, solid and unquestionable. Everything will be the same for
ever and ever. (Orwell 76-77)

Post-War 1950s revival and 1960s decline
After the war ended publishers began to resume normal publishing. Girls’ school stories peaked in the post-war period in 1949 with 53, and boys’ in 1946 with 18. Again, as during the interwar period, girls’ school stories out-numbered boys’ in new stories being published. The reasons for the higher numbers of girls’ school stories published over boys’ stories have not been fully investigated by scholars. Substantial statistical research would be required in order to ascertain whether boys’ school stories declined at the expense of other genres such as adventure stories. The impact the war had on public school ideology following the First World War may have been catastrophic. Another issue may be the author’s preferences for writing other genres. In comparison, girls’ school stories may have been far more popular than other girls’ genres, or fewer girls’ genres may have existed. There are not many girls’ stories equivalent to Henty’s adventures stories or the Biggles series for example.

During the 1950s, the highly popular Jennings series were published and Billy Bunter, who had originally appeared in Magnet short stories, appeared in numerous full length-novels, marking a revival in boys’ school stories (Kirkpatrick, Encyclopaedia 5). Despite this there was a considerably smaller number published compared to the interwar period, resulting in a decline which really marked the end of the genre. Sims argues that by 1957 publishers were refusing to publish school stories, citing girls’ authors Patricia Caldwell and Constance M White recording that they had school stories rejected by their publishers (Chambers and Hutchinson respectively) after 1957 (‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 13). However there was a growth in evangelist school stories through Christian publishing houses from the 1950s (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 15).

In terms of what was responsible for this decline, a combination of a number of possibilities has been suggested, including a rise in criticism of the genre, a decline in its quality, changes in reading preferences towards mystery and adventure stories, and decisions taken by libraries not to purchase school stories in preference for ‘quality’ children’s literature and as they purchased the bulk of novels this could have influenced publishers (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 13-14). There may have been a decline in children’s publishing in general, due to a drop in popularity of reading as a pastime with the introduction of television.

The School Story in Australian Literary Culture

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Apart from examining what Australian school stories reveal about Australian schoolboys and schoolgirls and the school world, the place of Australian school stories in Australian literary culture can be examined. The career of an author is studied briefly as well as the process of writing a school story from conception to publication using the example of Mavis Thorpe Clark’s boys’ school story Hatherly’s First Fifteen. The reception and consumption of Australian school stories is analysed using a range of contemporary responses, from public opinion to reading habits.

Authors of Australian school stories ranged from teachers and headmistresses, medical missionaries, to professional authors. Authors can be divided into two groups: those who worked as authors for a career, and those who had another career, profession or occupation. The first group includes authors Mary Grant Bruce and Ethel Turner who edited Children’s Pages in major weekly newspapers and wrote over thirty novels each, and significant journalists such as D. Lindsay Thompson, J. H. M. Abbott and Louise Mack. The second group includes teachers such as R. G. Jennings, and Constance Mackness. There were fewer professional children’s authors in Australia compared to Britain. The most prolific Australian children’s authors were able to have an extensive publishing career, namely Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce. Women writers were more likely to write professionally for children. Some supported their family through writing. Lillian Pyke became a widow in 1917 and published roughly one novel a year for the remainder of her life to support and educate her family, but found it a "long hard struggle" (Meyer 138). Ethel Turner often aided her sister, Lilian, and her family, with the income obtained from her writing. The lack of professional authors influenced the resulting style of school stories. Often stories were set or based on real schools. 17 of the 28 authors published only a single school story. Roughly half of the authors who had at least two school stories published wrote titles which formed part of a series, school or otherwise.

The process from conception to publication of a school story can be illustrated using the example of Mavis Thorpe Clark’s boys’ school story, Hatherly’s First Fifteen. This aspect of literary history is often neglected due to the lack of available records and evidence. Ward, Lock & Co. who published novels by Bruce, Turner, Pyke and many other Australian children’s authors, lost many of their records in a London air raid in 1940 (Lees and Macintyre 440). Only fragmentary correspondence exists in Bruce’s and Turner’s papers held in libraries, meaning details about Australian school story authors’ publishing careers often remains vague.¹ The researchers of The Encyclopaedia of Girls’ School Stories commented on the difficulty of researching authors and their publishing careers, describing the rare discovery of the correspondence of author, Evelyn Smith, "the only substantial correspondence known of any school story writer" (Clare 164).

Australian author, Mavis Thorpe Clark, detailed her experiences in writing her first novel in her autobiography, Trust the Dream, which provides an illuminating insight into the publication of Hatherly’s First Fifteen, a rare example of an Australian children’s author’s perspective on publishing in the early twentieth century. Clark wrote her first full-length book when she was just fifteen and still a pupil at the Methodist Ladies’ College, Melbourne. Peggy’s Adoption was sent to publishers, Whitcombe & Tombs, who suggested Mavis contact Mr Edward A. Vidler, the secretary of the Institute of Arts and Literature. Changing the name to Peggy’s Rival the manuscript was then sent to other publishers including the Religious Tract Society, but rejected. She decided to return to the immediate world of home and school: "my ambition now was to write a novel for boys, with sport and manliness, and stirring deeds on the footy field" (53). She wrote the story in two to three months making a chart and marking off 1000 words a day. To gain an understanding of the sport which was to feature in her story, Mavis used Bill Arnott, a Scottish rugby player, whose family came from the same Scottish town as her father and who stayed with the Clarks in Australia. The pair played the sporting scenes on the dining room table using match sticks for players (57). She consulted the doctor of her older sister, Dr McMahon, on how sight could be restored to sixteen-year-old Bob in the story (57-58). Just One Term, as the manuscript was titled, was given to Mr Vidler who submitted it to Angus & Robertson who rejected the manuscript stating:

We are returning Just One Term. Opinions are divided about it. Our reader urges
rejection, our bookseller adviser (who does not pretend to criticism, but simply
booksellerises) thinks that it would do alright. If the writer of this letter
had time to read the manuscript, he would arbitrate but unfortunately that is
physically impossible - he can’t find the time. So we are sending it back and
hope, for the author’s sake, that the bookseller is right. (Angus and Robertson
in Trust the Dream 55).

Later it was accepted by Whitcombe and Tombs and Mavis was offered 30 pounds for the complete rights. Authors could sell the copyright outright or receive an advance and an amount of royalties. Ethel Turner, for example, received 15 pounds and 2.5 percent royalties for Seven Little Australians (Niall 172). The title, Just One Term, was changed by the publishers to Hatherly’s First Fifteen. This was a common practice. Lillian Pyke’s school story, Squirmy and Bubbles, also published by Whitcombe and Tombs, was originally titled A Twin in Paradise (McLaren 182). Hatherly’s First Fifteen was published in England under the name of M. R. Clark, as Mavis had submitted it under her name Mavis Rose Clark. Mavis recalls she received little correspondence from the publishers:

I had no further contact with the publishers. There was no proof reading, no
discussion of the change of title or the abbreviation of my name. Nor was there
an accounting so I have no knowledge of how many copies were sold or how many editions were printed. (56)

Mavis recalls that there was a long delay between acceptance and publication of the book, and eventually she received six copies by post. Exchanges of correspondences between the London and Australian branches of Oxford University Press, for example, took three months until airmail between Australia and England was introduced in 1932 allowing quicker communication (Eyre, Oxford in Australia 23). Mavis saw a copy of Hatherly’s First Fifteen in Robertson’s Elizabeth Street shop in Melbourne and when the sales assistant told her that the author was an eighteen-year-old Melbourne girl, Mavis replied "That’s me!" (58).

As Clark’s experience reveals, publishers played a significant role in the growth of Australian school stories. 29 of the 55 Australian school stories were published in Australia. Ward, Lock & Co. published 13 of the 26 which were published by British publishing houses. Oxford University Press was one publisher that established a branch in Australia. Prior to the Second World War Oxford University Press (OUP) had not conducted an extensive program of printing titles in Australia. The war meant British publishers faced severe paper rationing and consequently there was a shortage of books in print and as a result the Australian branch was allowed to publish its own titles (Eyre, Oxford in Australia 25). The influx of American servicemen was one of the impetuses for an increased demand for Australian novels. OUP published Australian editions of Captain W.E. Johns’ Biggles books and Dorita Fairlie Bruce’s Dimsie school stories which sold well (Eyre, Oxford in Australia 27). Other publishers who began a program of issuing Australian reprints of popular foreign children’s authors included Angus & Robertson who published a number of Enid Blyton titles including the Naughtiest Girl in the School series, and Dymocks who published many titles in Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s Chalet School series.

OUP also began a substantial local publishing programme publishing Australian authors (Eyre, Oxford in Australia 27). Authors published included Dora Joan Potter, Keane Wilson, and New Zealand author, Clare Mallory’s school stories. This growth in Australian publishing was in part responsible for the resurgence in Australian school stories. All of the school stories published in the 1940s were published by Australian publishers, mostly OUP, but also smaller publisher such as Jons, and Bilson-Honey. These children’s books were very popular at a time when they were otherwise very difficult to obtain through importation (Eyre, Oxford in Australia 28). This is evident with many of Potter’s stories being reprinted. With Wendy at Winterton School ran to four editions.

To gauge the public and private reception of a particular genre can be difficult and in this case the area has been broadened slightly to include British school stories. In terms of official responses, in Great Britain, some Headmistresses went so far as to ban school stories, for example, the Headmistress of St Paul’s School in 1936 decreed a public burning of all Angela Brazil books (Avery 199-200). Australian Headmistress and author, Constance Mackness, undoubtedly did not disapprove of school stories as she herself wrote four. The famous Headmaster of Wesley College, L. A. Adamson, made a habit of collecting school stories, although:

He thought it was extremely difficult for anyone to write a true school story.
In the first place he did not think one could really make a plot out of the
school years of a boy. It was easier to show the development of a boy’s
character during his years at school. The more modern English school stories
also dealt with sides of school life which did not touch Australian schools at
all. (Meyer 116)

As for the readers of school stories, children could obtain books from libraries, as presents or awards, or buy them. Various libraries including public or municipal libraries, school libraries and private libraries stocked children’s novels. The Library at the Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School stocked school stories and reported that they were very popular with the Lower School: "sad to relate they are always clamouring for school stories, and as they are few in proportion to the demand we are not always able to satisfy their wants" (Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School Magazine 1921:6). Books were sold at stationers, newsagents, large books stores such as the Queensland and Sydney Book Depots, department stores and Church-run book shops. Children obtained books as presents or Sunday school or school awards. Many original editions of children’s books still contain presentation plates which detail the recipient and the award for which it was given. Because of the popular market, publishers introduced ‘Rewards’ series, uniformly designed series of books under a series name such as OUP’s New Ensign Series. Constance Mackness’ Miss Pickle was reprinted in this series.

Lyons and Taksa’s Australian Readers Remember: An Oral History of Reading 1890-1930 included a section in which Australian readers discuss their childhood reading. The authors concluded that the popularity of Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce’s Billabong stories signify the "Australianization of the reading public" (Lyons & Taksa 89). 28 percent of the 60 participants interviewed were familiar with the British weekly, the Magnet, and its famous schoolboy, Billy Bunter (Lyons & Taksa 92). In the 1957 study Growing up in an Australian City: A Study of Adolescents in Sydney, the reading habits of Sydney adolescents were examined. When the participants were asked to rank their 6 favourite genres from 11 different types, school stories were read, but ranked behind other genres such as adventure stories, and were more popular with younger adolescents. The authors found that school stories ranked second most popular for 13 year old girls, equal third for 14 year old girls and equal fifth for 15 year old girls. For boys, the school story was far less popular, with the Biggles stories featuring prominently in the lists of books read. The school story ranked eighth for 13 and 14 year old boys, and equal ninth for 15 year old boys (Connell 196).

For Audrey Baxendale, who started as a new girl at St. Hilda’s School in Southport, Queensland, in 1917, a love of Angela Brazil school stories led to a friendship with another new girl (Baxendale in Hughes 50). In 1930 the boarders at Toowoomba Grammar were having E F Benson’s school story, David Blaize, read to them on Saturday evenings, and found it was "only occasionally ultra-English", and a "natural enough story of Prepatory and Secondary school life" (Toowoomba Grammar School Magazine and Old Boys’ Register Vol XXI May 1930 No 1, p 15) .

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¹ Ethel Turner’s dairies, which have been published, however do provide extensive information on her writing career and some of the trials and financial matters pertaining to writing.

History of Australian School Stories

2010-01-23T12:42:00.000+10:00

Introduction

Fifty-five Australian school stories were published between 1875 and the 1960s. A number of factors influenced the small number of Australian school stories published in comparison to the British genre including the prevalence of British imported fiction in the Australian book-selling market and the slow development of Australian publishing. The first Australian school story appeared in 1875, with Robert Richardson’s The Boys’ of Springdale, or, The Strength of Patience. Though The Boys’ of Springdale was written after Tom Brown’s Schooldays, it and Richardson’s later stories bear only a slight resemblance to it. They are set in small private schools, not a large public school like Rugby. Richardson’s own schooling experience at Sydney Grammar School preceded the Australian implementation of public school ideas from the 1870s. Nonetheless in plot and character terms Richardson’s stories do borrow somewhat from Hughes’ novel in the moral reform of the characters.

In the late 1890s two girls’ school stories were published, but it was not until 1913 that another girls’ school story appeared and 1916 for a boys’ school story. Every year from 1916 to 1930 (except for 1922 and 1926) at least one Australian school story was published. The long gap and the subsequent rapid growth from the 1910s is explained by Martin Crotty as occurring for three main reasons: public schools were enjoying an increased public profile particularly through sporting competitions; there was an increasing demand for and rise in production of Australian nationalist literatures; and lastly the impact of the First World War and the Anzac experience with its notions of Australian heroism could be used by authors in their stories (104).

The existence of public schools, which provided the models and settings for the stories, had been steadily growing, so that by 1918 each church generally had at least one girls’ and one boys’ school in the state’s capital cities and major regional areas (Sherington 37). The 1910s and 1920s marked the golden era of Australian school stories with 25 stories in total. The Australian experience parallels a similar explosion in growth for the British genre. British publishers, through their Australian branches, were publishing more Australian school stories. In addition local publishing firms began to publish school stories, all offering increased opportunities for authors. Ward, Lock & Co., published 11 out of the 25 school stories published between 1913 and 1930. Key authors during this period included Lillian Pyke, who wrote 7 school stories in total, Constance Mackness, a Headmistress, and members of the Turner Circle: Ethel Turner, Lilian Turner and D Lindsay Thompson (Lilian’s son). Some authors merged school stories with mystery and adventure plots. From 1930 to 1944 only 4 school stories were published. The Depression and the impact of the Second World War with its paper restrictions are two factors which influenced this scarcity. Following the end of the Second World War, a revival occurred in Australia school stories. Some characteristics of the stories published during this period were that they are series based, evangelist and mostly girls’ stories. Three key authors were responsible for the majority of the output: Anne Bracken (Jancy series), co-writers Paul White and David Britten (Ranford series) and most significantly Dora Joan Potter who wrote 8 school stories, including the Winterton series.

Australian Boys’ School Stories: ‘Growing up with the public school spirit’

The majority of Australian boys’ school stories were set in either public schools or private venture schools, with only a few exceptions, including two stories set in Catholic schools. As stated earlier, the first Australian school stories, by Robert Richardson, were set in small private venture day and boarding schools. In Richardson’s stories the school is run and owned by the Headmaster who is assisted by several masters. In the majority of his stories the school extends only to the Fourth Form, with the eldest boys being about fourteen years of age. The exception is Our Junior Mathematical Master which does have a Sixth Form. The schools are small: Grange House in A Perilous Errand has 20 pupils, whilst there are 40 pupils including 12 boarders in The Boys of Springdale. These types of small private venture schools run by individuals which provided a basic further education were very common. In 1838 there were 67 private venture schools in New South Wales, by 1867 there were 67 boys’ and 96 girls’ secondary private venture schools (Barcan A Short History of Education in New South Wales 75 & 159).

The first Australian school story to be set in a public school was Lillian Pyke’s Max the Sport (1916), set at St. Virgil’s, a fictional public school, although Mary Grant Bruce’s novel, Dick (1918), which was set in a public school, had been published earlier in a serial format in The Leader. Though many Australian private schools faithfully emulated the English public school model their development and subsequent characteristics differed in a number of ways. The first corporate secondary school was the Australian College. established in Sydney in 1831. With the establishment of the University of Sydney in 1852 and the University of Melbourne in 1855, more advanced secondary schools were needed. The Victorian government led the way offering grants to establish grammar schools. The first of these, Scotch College, was established in 1851, followed by St. Patrick’s in 1854, Geelong Grammar in 1857, and Melbourne Church of England Grammar in 1858.

In the 1860s to 1880s new schools were established in other states by churches. Typically the pattern of development that emerged in each state was that each denomination established a boys’ school in each of the capital cities then in the major regional areas. Whereas in England trusts, charities and companies established schools, in Australia this rarely occurred, with the majority of schools established by the denominations including the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist churches.

These new schools did not really resemble British public schools in their early years. Prior to 1872, no Australian boys’ school had implemented more than one or two elements of the Arnold public school system (Sherington 30). They had not adopted the whole machinery of the public school ethos. The adoption of the public school ethos began in earnest first in Melbourne, in an Anglican school, Melbourne Grammar, then in two other schools. Three Headmasters played a vital role in its initial execution. Edward Morris, Headmaster of Melbourne Grammar from April 1875, who had been a pupil at Rugby; Wesley’s Headmaster, Henry Arew, from 1876, and James Cuthbertson at Geelong Grammar in 1874 (Sherington 47). Morris established prefects, a school magazine, a school flag and an Old Boys’ Society at Melbourne Grammar School (Barcan 127). The system then spread to Sydney and other states, first appearing in Anglican schools, then other Protestant schools, then lastly Catholic schools, taking roughly forty years to be universally implemented (Sherington 41-47). In New South Wales, Sydney Grammar School, first under Headmaster Bean, then Weigall, started a cadet corps, magazine, sports, and prefects (Sherington 47, Barcan 127 187).

Organised games appeared at Anglican schools first because they came from English public school teachers who had been imported from Britain (Sherington 50). Gradually most boys’ schools instigated organised games, prefects, uniforms, houses, formed sporting competitions, and constructed school identity and school spirit, and implemented the public school honour code. One of the differences between Australian and British schools was that Australian schools were mostly day schools, not boarding schools, and local institutions rather than national schools drawing pupils from across the country (Sherington 40).

The adoption of public school ideals first occurred in Melbourne and the first school stories set in public schools were set in Melbourne also. Three of Pyke’s boys’ school stories were set at the fictional Melbourne public school, St. Virgil’s, and embody the public school spirit. Pyke attributed her sense of public school spirit to Wesley College Headmaster L. A. Adamson, dedicating her second boys’ school story, Jack of St. Virgil’s, to him: "to whose teaching I am indebted for whatever understanding of the "public school spirit" I may have acquired" (7). Pyke had been educated at University High School where L. A. Adamson taught before he was appointed Headmaster of Wesley. St. Virgil’s is a thinly disguised version of Wesley College. The Headmaster, Mr Thompson, ‘The Chief’, is based on Adamson. St. Virgil’s has royal blue and gold for its colours based on Wesley’s purple and gold, and uses Wesley’s ‘Leaving Song.’ In the last two books St. Virgil’s competes against six other public schools in sporting competitions: St Andrews (based on Scotch College), St Joseph’s (Xavier), Victorian Grammar (Melbourne Grammar), Western District Grammar (Geelong Grammar), and Mervale College (Geelong College) (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 157). In Jack of St. Virgil’s, Jack is surprised to find St. Virgil’s different from his expectations, which are based upon British school stories. Pyke explains this by stating that in a new country like Australia it was possible to "choose what is best in the Public School system, rejecting those traditions which perhaps tend to conventionality" (132). Pyke asserted that only the best aspects of the public school system were adopted and the boys received more freedom and developed a strong sense of self-government. While Lillian Pyke wrote four boys’ school stories, other female authors also wrote boys’ school stories, including Mary Grant Bruce, Mavis Thorpe Clark and Hilda Bridges.

The value of a public school education is echoed in M. R. Clark’s Hatherly’s First Fifteen by Bob who is looking forward to accompanying his brother to Hatherly for just one term, which in his opinion "will be worth a lifetime" (209). In R. G. Jennings’ The Human Pedagogue the hero’s father is determined to send his son to an Australian public school, despite losing his wealth, because he has a high regard for the education public schools provide:

The public schools of England are the moulds of what is best in our national
character, not merely training a man to play the game and play it cheerfully,
but cultivating in generations of clean-living Englishmen that sober, solid
public opinion which is the soul of a nation. (13)

Even though a school might be privately owned it could still claim to adopt public school ideals. Pyke’s sole boys’ school story not set at St. Virgil’s, A Prince at School, is set at a private boarding school, Whitefield College, run by a Mr Lester, which, though not a public school still has "its traditions and history, and was regarded as unequalled for character building and for the class of boys it turned out" (17). Catholic boys’ schools copied their Protestant counterparts in adopting public school values. In most states important Catholic schools competed in the GPS sports competitions. The two Australian boys’ school stories set in Catholic schools, Eustace Boylan’s The Heart of the School (1919), and Alice Guerin Crist’s "Go It! Brothers!!" (1929), reflect this trend. In The Heart of the School, Boylan explores the inclusion of Xavier College into the Melbourne Public Schools’ sporting competitions, the transition of Xavier from a Catholic school to a public school, and the importance of sporting successes in constructing school identity. Xavier’s official centenary historian, Greg Dening, argues that Boylan was one "who exploited the incorporation [into the sporting competitions] to construct a distinctive spirit for the school" (Dening, Xavier 3). Published ten years later, Alice Guerin Crist’s "Go It! Brothers!!" has overtones of the muscular Christianity doctrine. The Christian Brothers education is viewed as the ideal type of education for young men, and the school in the story is seen as the ideal Catholic school, even to the point of attracting the praise of an old Harrovian who had believed that all public schools were feeble imitations of Harrow. He is deeply impressed with the school and the values it espouses, with its moral, mental and physical training. The school captain, Healy, is "tall, manly and vigorous", the idol of the school (9). The Heart of the School is also significant because it is representative of the trend of Australian school stories of the period to set the story within a well known school (Saxby, Offered to Children 292). In Boylan’s preface he stated he wanted a story with the real happenings of real boys rather than the typical sensational school stories with mysteries, adventures, ghost, villains and burglars (5). Boylan was Prefect of Studies at Xavier College. His novel influenced a forumer colleague of Boylan’s at Riverview College to write a school story based on Riverview. Father Connell’s By the River remained unpublished. Connell’s story depicts Riverview life faithfully with only the two schoolboy heroes being fictitious and has been described as possessing some similarities with Horace Vachell’s famous British school story, The Hill (Lea-Scarlett 278). The use of real schools and people and events was quite common in Australian school stories. Other novels set in well known schools include R. G. Jennings’ The Human Pedagogue set at Geelong Grammar, and D. L. Thompson’s stories set at Grantham School which was based on his childhood school, Sydney Grammar School. Girls’ authors such as Constance Mackness, Margaret Paice and Louise Mack also followed this trend. Roughly twenty percent of Australian school stories were either set at, or loosely based, on real schools. This was not the case in Britain, where school stories using named or identifiable schools were typically limited to adult novels (Kirkpatrick, Encyclopaedia 379). There is one reason why such a high proportion of Australian school stories were set either explicitly or implicitly in real schools. Compared to Britain, there were fewer professional or career authors who wrote a large quantity of school stories; many Australian school stories were one-off novels by authors, who had different motivations in writing. Several teachers and former pupils wrote nostalgic school stories reminiscing or celebrating past school days, such as Boylan’s The Heart of the School, Jennings’ The Human Pedagogue and Paice’s The Secret of Greycliffs.

Australian boys’ school stories employed a number of plots with an emphasis on recreating authentic school life combined with mystery and at times sensational adventure plots.¹ In this they were following the tradition of British school story plots and devices, but with an Australian setting. From Richardson’s first stories to the school stories of the 1920s and 1930s, the traditional character of the new boy and moral dilemmas they faced was often used. Roughly half of all Australian boys’ school stories portrayed the hero as a new boy. Crotty has summarised the narratives of Richardson’s early school stories:

In all of his school stories one character is excluded from the favour of the
dominant group of boys within the school, this group generally comprising the
best sportsmen, the wealth, the wags, and often the school captain. However, in
acts which involve a blend of forgiveness, courage, self-sacrifice and humility,
the ostracised turn out to be the real heroes. The villainous boys, in the
manner of Tom Brown, reach moral enlightenment through the example set before
them. All ends in happy reconciliation and the morally superior character,
through various devices, usually receives some earthly reward for his goodness.
(Crotty 99)

Richardson’s school stories were written as first person narratives, usually by one of the popular boys at the school, who is in a position to witness the ostracism of the new boy.

Some school stories focussed less on descriptions of school activities, lessons, sports and amusements, introducing mysteries and adventures as the more explicit adventure plot merged with the school story in the 1920s. Niall attributes this occurrence to the failure of the public school story to flourish in Australia in its purest form (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 168). Pyke’s A Prince at School (1918), Walpole’s The Black Star (1925), Thompson’s Blue Brander (1927) and The Gang on Wheels (1930), and Abbott’s Dogsnose (1928) are examples of stories which combined school and adventure or mystery plots. What these stories have in common is a shift in setting outside the bounds of the school. In four, the stories are only set in the school briefly before the holidays and subsequent adventure starts. Mysteries including counterfeiting gangs, discoveries of lost treasure, tracking criminals, and war were used. Niall comments that The Black Star has a mystery plot which is "worked into the school story pattern with no more or less incongruity than the smugglers’ caves and secret passages with which many British writers varied the schoolboy formula" (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 168).

Whilst Australian boys’ school story series could not match their British counterparts in volume (e.g. Bunter and Jennings), some substantial series were created. Pyke’s aforementioned St. Virgil’s stories ran to three novels, D. Lindsay Thompson wrote two stories concerning the adventures of Blue and his school friends. Wilson’s Pip and Andrew Schoolmates was one of three stories about Pip, while Paul White and David Britten wrote four Ranford titles.

Paul White and David Britten’s Ranford titles and Britten’s The Making of Stephen Hall (1953) are examples of evangelistic school stories. Evangelist school stories developed in England with typical plots featuring a girl or boy rejecting Christianity and God, then repenting and converting, becoming a model of Christian virtue who attempts to convert his or her friends (Sims & Clare 385). The Making of Stephen Hall follows this classic storyline. Stephen is angry with God when he develops polio, but after becoming influenced by a schoolmate’s father he becomes a Christian, and with his friend, attempt to make their House, which has a terrible reputation, more Christian by actively attempting to convert boys. British publishing houses such as Pickering & Inglis, Lutterworth and Victory Press played a significant role in post Second World War school story publishing at a time when the genre was in a state of gradual decline. Sims & Clare calculate that the proportion of (girls’) evangelistic school stories was only 4% in the 1930s but had grown to 20% in the 1960s and 70s (388). The Ranford series - Ranford Mystery Miler (1960), Ructions at Ranford (1961), Ranford Goes Fishing (1962) and Ranford in Flames (1965) - feature the description of a schoolboy’s conversion in each story. The stories also feature details on school life including sport events, competitions and pranks. The series is unique in being the only major boys’ evangelistic school story series. While there were several British girls’ evangelistic school story series, such Helen S. Humphries’ St. Margaret’s series, P. Catherine Cole’s Glendorran series, and Mary Alice Faid’s Trudy series, there were no comparable boys’ series.

Go to The School Story World to find out more about the fictional school world.
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¹ Refer to The Australian School Story Motif Guide which classifies the titles according to plot motifs, story types, school types and characters.

Australian Girls’ School Stories: ‘bonny specimens of Public Schoolgirlhood’

Australian girls’ school stories reflect the educational developments that occurred for women in Australia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Prior to the 1870s girls’ schools consisted mostly of private venture establishments and Catholic convents. Two major developments that occurred in girls’ secondary education were the admission of girls to the examinations held by the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne, and the admission of women to University from the 1880s. Secondary education offered girls the opportunity of university entrance education, and accordingly new types of schools were established. The first ‘academic college’ for girls was the Presbyterian Ladies’ College established in Melbourne, Victoria in 1875 (Sherington 43). This new style of academic education diverted from the traditional accomplishments-based education which emphasised feminine and ladylike qualities such as music, art, needlework, etc., and the cultivation of social graces. Churches established new secondary schools for girls in capital cities and major regional areas.

Despite the establishment of church schools, private venture schools still flourished, providing secondary education for the daughters of middle-class families. Important private venture schools included Ruyton (founded 1878), and Lauriston (1901) in Melbourne, and Redlands (1884), Abbotsleigh (1885), Wenona (1886) and Ascham (1886) in Sydney. In the 1920s many private venture schools were sold by their owners, often to churches. In this way the Church of England acquired Kambala, Redlands, Abbotsleigh and Tara in Sydney. Other private venture schools did not survive beyond the founding principal’s ownership. Two sisters, Marion Clarke and Ellen Clarke respectively established separate schools in Sydney, Abbotsleigh and Normanhurst, but whilst Abbotsleigh was sold to the Church of England in the 1920’s, Normanhurst closed in 1941 after its founder was unable to continue running it (Kyle 104-5). Compared to surviving institutions which maintain archives to collect and preserve historical material, these short-lived private venture schools left only fragmentary evidence, so they remain elusive subjects in educational history.

Many private venture schools were run by families or sisters. The Lone Guide at Merfield features a small private venture school run by the three Misses Maynard. Merfield is described as being:

Not perhaps the most modern of schools, but the Misses Maynard were fine, clever
women, who believed in educating girls to become good citizens, and though
perhaps not many Merfieldians figured in the public examination lists, there
were numbers of homes which had cause to bless the sound sense and high
principles of the mistresses. (15)

Ethel Turner set Judy and Punch at a small private venture boarding school in the country also run by three sisters. The use of three sisters in the fictional schools mirrored the reality. In Brisbane, the Moreton Bay Girls’ High School (1901) was founded by the Misses Greene, three sisters. Ethel’s sister, Lilian Turner, set Jill of the Fourth Form at a first-class modern boarding school of 100 pupils whose Headmistress prides herself on the school’s discipline and spirit.

The distinction between private venture and public schools was less marked for girls’ schools than it was for boys’ schools. Gradually girls’ schools began to adopt public school elements too. During the 1920s school uniforms, prefects, the house system, and school emblems such as badges and magazines were introduced (Sherington 72-74). The delay in girls’ schools adopting public school elements is evident in the early Australia girls’ school stories.

The adoption of the English house system is explained in detail in Constance Mackness’ The Clown of the School. The Head, Miss Maxwell, introduces a modified form of the house system, dividing the school into four ‘guilds’ and introducing competitions for work and sport. She believes that "any healthy, friendly rivalry that will make work and rule-keeping more palatable should be encouraged" (155). The importance for character building is outlined:

More fully than in the past, you must learn the lesson of effort and
self-control for the sake of your fellows, of esprit-de-corps which in the later
school of life will transform itself naturally into good citizenship and true
patriotism. (158-59)

The introduction of the house system has the desired effect of instilling esprit-de-corps into its pupils. There is an increased ‘keenness’ at Fairview, and the clown of the school attempts to reform through feelings of loyalty to her guild, ending up winning the award for the girl who has most improved for the sake of her guild. Mackness also used prefects in her school stories. In The Glad School the school implements the prefect system and establishes a school council, with each party having very full disciplinary powers, as the Principal believed in self-government by the girls. Mackness’ school stories have been criticised. Niall states that there are "dozens of feeble and imitative Australian schoolgirl stories, like Constance Mackness’ Miss Pickle..." (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 188). However Lees and Macintyre assert that Mackness "provides insights into the more advanced educational theories of her time and creates school life with authenticity" (278). Lees and Macintyre’s two claims are quite valid. Because of Mackness’ career, first as a teacher at PLC Sydney, and then later as the Headmistress of PGC Warwick for thirty years, her books are full of incidents, events, traditions and activities based on actual events at her schools. It was not until the 1940s that a large British based girls’ public school appeared in an Australian girls’ school story, with Dora Joan Potter’s school stories. Potter’s fictional schools, especially Winterton, resemble English girls’ public boarding schools in minute detail. Winterton has a chapel, is divided into houses, has prefects and house captains, and even a school song which the girls sing in chapel:

There’s a School in Australia
Land of the free-
Where the young girls of Australia
All learn the decree:-
That God’s Love is the highest
Of gifts on this plane,
Much higher than any
Material Gain (With Wendy at Winterton School 125)

Catholic convent schools continued to provide secondary education for girls though many resisted the public school transformation. Sports took longer to be adopted, and Catholic girls’ schools did not compete in the predominantly Protestant sports networks unlike their brother schools, instead forming their own competitions between Catholic schools. Two Australian girls’ school stories were set in Catholic schools; M I Little’s Dunham Days (1913), and Miriam Agatha’s Nellie Doran (1914). They are different to the two Catholic boys’ school stories in that sport plays almost no role. Both depict Catholic religious ceremonies and traditions within the school environment. In Nellie Doran, the girls celebrate Shrove Tuesday, refrain from eating sweets during the seven weeks of Lent, celebrate May Day, participate in the Retreat, take turns in decorating statues of Mary with flowers, receive sodality ribbons and the more pious among them receive the honour of being Children of Mary at the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Both also have a strong moral message; each book features a girl who has her misdeeds discovered and who seeks forgiveness for her sins. Nellie’s good behaviour is a moral conduct model for readers. An Australian girls’ school story is set in a high school. Sydney Girls’ High School is fictionalised in former pupil, Louise Mack’s novel, Teens (1897) and its sequel Girls’ Together (1898). Heroine, Lennie Leighton, goes to school for the first time where she forms a strong friendship with another new girl, Mabel James, which is the centre of the novel. Mack based some of the events in Teens on her experiences. Lennie is Mack, and Mabel is based on her best friend Ethel Turner. In the novel, Lennie and Mabel run a school newspaper and another girl forms a rival paper. In real life Mack ran the school newspaper and Ethel Turner started the rival paper with her sister, Lilian. Teens has gained much critical acclaim for its realistic portrayal of schoolgirls, but despite this Mack denied that Teens was about the Sydney Girls’ High School and requested that her publisher, Angus & Robertson, cease advertising it as a "story of Sydney Girls’ High" (Lees and Macintyre 414).

Other authors who based some of their school stories on real schools included Constance Mackness and Margaret Paice. Mackness set The Glad School at her own school, The Presbyterian Girls’ College (PGC), Warwick. In the story’s preface she stated that she tried to "paint a faithful picture of the school, as regards its spirit, its traditions, and its activities". She only thinly disguises some of the girls. The Glad School’s Head Girl, Alison Leigh, is based on PGC pupil, Alison de Conlay, and a schoolgirl photograph of Alison clearly matches her description in the novel (Shaw 56). Margaret Paice, who had spent some time at Moreton Bay High School in Brisbane, uses events and details from her school life in The Secret of Greycliffs (1961). In the story the girls sleep in the Astronomers Dormitory and participate in the annual Indian Fete organised by the Head to support her brother’s charitable work in India, events which occurred at Moreton Bay High School (Quirke 22-25).

Many girls’ school stories contain mystery or thriller elements. The classic storyline of the heroine being falsely accused was used in the first Australian girls’ school story, Margaret Parker’s For the Sake of a Friend (1896), where the heroine is accused of stealing an essay prize entry and develops brain fever before the real culprit admits her guilt. Other stories featuring similar plots include Jancy Wins Through, Janey of Beechlands, and The Girl from the Back Blocks. Heroines are often rescuing people from fires, drowning, and even capsized ships. The first Australian girls’ school story to introduce adventure plots was Hilda Bridges’ Connie of the Fourth Form (1930). One of the most prolific authors of school stories involving mysteries was Dora Joan Potter. The Encyclopaedia of Girls’ School Stories describes Potter as a "most fertile creator of plots: her books, though short are crowded with incidents" (Sims & Clare 277). Her stories usually number less than 180 pages, but are full of lost parents being found, children and parents being reunited, spies, brain diseases, and so forth.

Potter is also responsible for the longest Australian girls’ school story series. Her Winterton series ran to six titles between 1945 and 1950. Sims & Clare state that Potter created "the only real Australian girls’ school story series", for two reasons: Pyke’s Sheila series and Mack’s Teens sequence are mainly set away from school while the Winterton books focus on the school, not just on heroine Wendy. This is evident in that she plays only a background role in Althea’s Term at Winterton, and the last book A New Girl for Winterton occurs after Wendy has left school (Sims & Clare 276-77). Some contemporary British girls’ school story series included a description of the heroine’s university life, career or motherhood and family, such as Dorita Fairlie Bruce’s Dimsie series, and Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s Chalet School series. Potter prefers to centre her series on the school.

Anne Bracken also wrote a school story series, featuring schoolgirl Jancy Mitford. The four titles were part adventure, part mystery stories. Pyke wrote three Sheila stories and Niall has claimed that they are the Australian equivalent and exact contemporary of Dorita Fairlie Bruce’s Dimsie series (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 179). The Sheila series follows the Riverview girls after they finish school in Three Bachelor Girls, but it would be hasty to draw this conclusion. The Dimsie series ran to nine novels, with seven tracing the entire schooling of Dimsie Maitland at the Jane Willard Foundation and two following her adult life and marriage. The Dimsie series is very extensive in detail and length and the Sheila books are not really comparable to it. Both Pyke and Potter each created loosely connected series. Potter used characters from Margaret’s Decision and Those Summer Holidays in Winterton Holiday Cruise, while Pyke used Andi from A Prince at School, and his future wife Lala who appeared in the Sheila series in The Lone Guide of Merfield. There are no female equivalents of White and Britten’s evangelist stories. While Potter’s stories have Christian morals they are different in plot and values to evangelist school stories. Sims & Clare explain this difference, stating that because Potter came from the Anglican tradition ‘her girls do not undergo conversion experiences; they realise what prayer and forgiveness mean and begin practising as a rule of life’ (276).

Go to The School Story World to find out more about the fictional school world.

Conclusion

This historical study of the school story in Australia confirms that the genre existed in Australia and in a substantial form, despite scholarly assertions otherwise. The existence of the Australian genre owed much to the literary and education traditions of Britain where the school story originated. In Britain the school story became an institution in children’s publishing: over 2500 school stories were published between the 1750s and the 1960s. British public schools, with their concepts of athleticism, ‘playing the game’, prefects and houses influenced the content and style of school stories. Standard themes, plots, characters and motifs were used. Girls’ school stories developed as secondary education increased for women. The impact of the First World War and other factors led authors to look to other genres such as mystery and detective stories to provide fresh plots for school stories. A brief revival occurred in the 1950s, helped by the Christian publishing houses, before a decline occurred in the 1960s.

While Australian school stories never achieved the kind of saturation experienced in Britain, due to the smaller domestic market, limited Australian publishing industry and the presence of British exports in the Australian market, nonetheless a significant number were produced, fifty-five Australian school stories by twenty-eight authors. They form a substantial part of the history of early Australian children’s fiction.

The first Australian school story, Robert Richardson’s The Boys of Springdale, was published in 1875. The genre flourished in Australia with the First World War, which fostered a growth in public school ideology. The Australian branch of British publishers Ward, Lock & Co. helped through their publishing of authors such as Constance Mackness, Lillian Pyke and D. Lindsay Thompson. The portrayal of the fictional school world reflects the extent to which Australian schools emulated British public schools and the influence of British traditions and values. Boys’ school stories feature vivid descriptions of sporting matches, the dilemmas of school captains and prefects, and the desire to ‘play the game’ in school and in the larger world in the First World War. Girls’ school stories were slightly less vigorous than their masculine counterparts. Madcap schoolgirls, friendships, school incidents, mysteries and growing up feature more prominently than sport. Australian schoolgirls were still encouraged to ‘play the game’ and maintain a strict sense of schoolgirl honour, which was best realised in Dora Joan Potter’s eight school stories.

As a genre, Australian school stories drew on the established British traditions of plot, character and story types, and the ethical themes endorsed. However they were not mere imitations, but were adapted to suit local conditions, for example in terms of school settings. When examined as a whole, the Australian genre contains shared characteristics, some of which differ from the British genre. While for the most part Australian private schools were influenced by the British public school legacy, and therefore most Australian school stories were set in schools which emulated these ideals, there were some notable exceptions. Four school stories were set in Catholic schools, and one in a girls’ high school, representative of the development of secondary education in Australia which included Catholic schools and government single sex high schools, as well as the church public schools and private venture schools.

In Australia a significant proportion of school stories were set at or based on real schools, some 20 percent. Schools which were fictionalised in some way included Wesley College, Sydney Grammar School, Sydney Girls’ High School, Presbyterian Girls’ College Warwick, Geelong Grammar, and Xavier College. This is a much higher proportion than in Britain, where "named or identifiable" schools were largely limited to adult novels such as Alec Waugh’s The Loom of Youth (Kirkpatrick Encyclopaedia 379). In Britain there were more ‘professional’ authors, such as Harold Avery and Elinor M. Brent-Dyer who had significant writing careers which spanned decades. In Australia, amateur and ‘one-off’ authors played a larger role. A number of Australian school stories were written by former pupils or teachers who had different motivations for writing from professional authors and created school stories which drew on their own experiences.

The standard character of the new boy/girl, borrowed from British school stories, proved very popular amongst Australian school story authors. Roughly half of all Australian school stories portray the hero/heroine in this role. As no research exists which calculates the number of British school stories which employed this character type it is difficult to ascertain its popularity amongst British authors.

A substantial number of Australian school stories were part of a series, either a school series such as Dora Joan Potter’s Winterton series, or a general (non school) series such as Anne Bracken’s Jancy series, which consisted of two school stories and two adventure/mystery stories. Almost 40 percent of Australian school stories were part of a series. Again no figures exist for the relevant proportion of British school stories, but an examination of titles listed in The Encyclopaedia of Girls’ School Stories reveals that many of the most prolific authors (Angela Brazil, Nancy Breary, May Wynne, Winifred Darch, etc) favoured single unconnected titles, leading to an estimation that the figure may not be as high in British school stories. Paralleling the British experience, Australian authors increasingly expanded the school story by introducing adventure and mystery plots, particularly in the later stages of the genre’s development.

It has only been possible to draw these conclusions through the comprehensive study of the genre allowed by the compilation of the annotated bio-bibliography of Australian school stories.

In terms of its cultural significance, the genre emphasized the legacy of British educational and literary traditions in Australia. Out of all Commonwealth countries, it was in Australia that the genre developed most extensively. The place of school stories in Australian literary culture reveals the role British publishers played in the Australian market and the growth in domestic publishing because of the Second World War. Before 1945, only 13 of the 35 Australian school stories published were published by Australian publishers, though the majority of titles published in Britain were through publishers who had branches in Australia, namely Ward, Lock & Co and OUP. After 1945, 16 of the 20 school stories published were published in Australia. Australian school stories were part of the growth in domestic Australian children’s publishing that occurred after the Second World War, and as such contributed to the development of Australian publishing. Australian authors adopted a British genre with its traditions and values to create stories about Australian schools and Australian schoolboys and schoolgirls, emphasizing their achievements, ideals, characters and qualities.

The research presented in this thesis has several implications for future study. The model of an annotated bio-bibliography with an historical and thematic introduction could be used as a prototype for the study of the development of other genres in Australian children’s fiction (including genres which do not have the chronological limitations which were placed on this study). Whilst research has already been conducted on girls’ family or domestic stories because of the popularity and importance of Mary Grant Bruce and Ethel Turner², other genres, such as the adventure story, girls’ romances and career stories could be studied to enhance knowledge of the history of the development of children’s literature in Australia. The findings of how Australian school stories developed can provide insights into the history of the British genre. Because of the large number of British school stories, this study has provided an examination of the genre’s development in Australia as a case study. Statistical analysis of British school stories would yield interesting details on the numbers published yearly, the most prolific publishers and the most popular motif and theme types. It also highlights opportunities for comparative studies of colonial school stories. Two recently completed Australian theses in the field indicate increasing scholarly interest in school stories in Australia. Susan Finlay completed a Bachelor of Arts honours thesis in the School of International Studies at the University of South Australia in 2005 about colonial schoolgirls: "She's only a Colonial, you see": The Australian Girl in the English Girls' School Story, 1909 - 1920. Pamela Macintyre, co-author of The Oxford Companion to Australian Children’s Literature and academic in the Department of Language, Literacy and Arts Education at the University of Melbourne completed a PhD thesis in 2004 on the life and work of author and educator Constance Mackness: Girls making good: Constance Mackness and her literary constructions of the Australian Girl.

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² See Kerry White’s PhD thesis: Founded on Compromise: Australian girls’ family stories, 1894-1982, University of Wollongong, 1985

Australian School Story Motif Guide

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The motif guide anaylses various aspects of Australian School Stories according to the following criteria: story types, school types, character types, and plot motifs.

Please note This file image size is 796kb. and is an image of a spreadsheet created in Excel. Please click on the thumbnail to view a large image shot.

The School Story World

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The Australian Schoolboy

Australian boys’ school stories depict the Australian schoolboy and the school world. The typical school world as represented in the stories involves lessons, games, extra-curricular activities and amusements; teachers; and the school divisions of houses, forms, classes and dormitories, against which the friendships, rivalries, incidents, dilemmas and excitements are portrayed.

Some boys’ school stories provide more complete images of the school world; The Human Pedagogue contains vignettes dealing with various aspects of the schooling experience such as midnight feasts, sporting matches, outings, going to chapel, and lessons. In The Human Pedagogue Jennings employs the same points system he had implemented in the Junior School at Geelong Grammar, including points for work and athletics, though being awarded colours for ‘The Stew Shield’ was an honour not quite appreciated by the boys. Other school stories contain unique or interesting features. Kookaburra Jack, for example, details the influence of a group or gang of boys led by ‘Kookaburra Jack’, known as the Push, which almost terrorizes the prefects and school in its ability to get rid of undesirable teachers and influence school elections. Other school societies are shown in The Best School of All and The Black Star, but these portray more standard rival societies which wage warfare on each other and do not play an active role in school management. The darker side of school life is also explored in some boys’ school stories. Often the hero has to battle against enemies and frowned-upon activities such as ‘cribbing’. Cribbing is discussed in The Heart of the School and The Human Pedagogue. Bullying reprobates who are unable to reform receive their comeuppance, and expulsions feature in a number of stories including Pip and Andrew and The Human Pedagogue. The ideal Australian schoolboy is shown as a sport who is courageous, straight, honourable, athletic, and a bit of a larrikin. This ideal of a schoolboy who was straight, decent without being priggish, yet fond of a spree or a rag was not distinctively Australian, as these were traits that were also held by fictional British public schoolboys. In The Best School of All, Mr Thompson, the Head of St. Virgil’s, comments on the ideal boy when he announces the result of the Wentworth Scholarship, a scholarship which cannot be ‘swotted’ for:

To obtain it a boy must be judged from the whole tendency of his nature: he must
be a good all-round athlete, a sincere and capable student, and an influence for
good in the school. This is not a case for mediocrity in any shape or from, but
for excellence in every department of school life. (253)

In Kookaburra Jack the School Captain is disliked because he is viewed as being too bookish and not enough of a sport, but he shows his strengths of leadership when he rescues a boy from a flagpole and earns the respect of the whole school. Headmasters in particular could be responsible for the tone of the school. Headmasters are usually portrayed as figures of leadership, just disciplinarians yet respected by the school. The figure of the Head in Pyke’s St. Virgil’s stories, who was based on L. A. Adamson, allows Pyke to expand on the value of public school ethics. The Chief is portrayed as a man deeply devoted to his school. Russell ‘Dreamy’ Howard comments that "he is very sensitive about us living up to his ideals of what a Public School should be" (Pyke, Jack of St. Virgil’s 93). In Max the Sport the Head tells the new boys, "You can only get the best out of the school by giving your best to it - by remembering that you are one of a band of brothers and that ‘what you are the school will be’" (68). Teachers often only play a peripheral role in the school story. The spectrum ranges from difficult, unjust or incompetent teachers, to the valued, typically sporting teachers who play an influential role in their pupils’ lives.

With the importance of ‘playing the game’, sport plays a prominent role in Australian boys’ school stories, as a means of character building, constructing school identity, and creating plot excitement. School sport was divided into inter and intra school competitions such as GPS events and form and house matches. Sports include rowing, football, cricket, athletics, and tennis. Often the schoolboy hero is a member of the school teams, and detailed descriptions of important sporting matches feature heavily in the stories. St. Virgil’s Headmaster stresses the importance of playing the game, "the greatest chance that is given to you boys is to ‘play the game’, not only in the sporting world, but in the ordinary routine of school-life" (Pyke, Max The Sport 68). The idea of school and collective identity is an important part of the public school ethos. At St. Virgil’s the Headmaster favours rowing as a sport because no selfishness is allowed. The individual has to strive for the collective glory of the whole crew. In The Best School of All Smith struggles with the conflicting loyalties between his old school and his new school, St. Virgil’s. In the 1920s and 30s the emphasis some boys’ schools placed on sport and winning was questioned, which is portrayed in some boys’ school stories. In Max The Sport a rival college employs underhand tactics when they use overage players and try to poison one of St. Virgil’s star footballers. Boylan’s Heart of the School shows the transformation of the Catholic boys’ school into a Melbourne public school, culminating in the school winning the football premiership.

The concept of ‘playing the game’ was advocated beyond the school years, and the First World War was one area where this was emphasised. The impact of the First and Second World Wars on Australian society is reflected in the Australian boys’ school stories of the period. As stated earlier, the First World War had an influence on the growth of boys’ school stories. Authors of the period including Lillian Pyke, Eustace Boylan and R. G. Jennings used the war in their school stories to reinforce public school values and the games ethic, exploiting Australian heroism and the Anzac experience (Crotty 104).

All of Pyke’s boys’ school stories feature the war. In Max the Sport Max enlists in the war despite his mother’s fears. For the schoolboy who had been taught to play the game, the war offered the chance to realise this ideal on a larger scale, and many Australian schoolboys enlisted:

What college boy with sporting blood in his veins would listen for a moment to
such reasoning? What ‘sport’ that had played for the honour of the school could
hear such sophistry without doubling up his fist and strike the bully? What use
all the talk about ‘playing the game’ if it only applied to small things of life
and was not incorporated in the nation’s body politic? (235)

Max pleads with his mother to give him her blessing, asking "have you not trained me from infancy to play the game? Now when the test comes, would you have me fail my country, and would you fail me?" (238). Max’s Headmaster talks of how schoolboys can "win their colours on a wider oval", and offers Max the advice to "‘Play the game’ as you have always played it and England and the school will not forget" (246). The public schools viewed the war as a way of emphasizing Australian and imperial loyalty, and as a vindication of the public school system and the Australian national character (Crotty 89). Schoolboys did not do their duty just by enlisting. In Jack of St. Virgil’s the popular school captain leaves school to look after the family farm when his older brother enlists for war, knowing his duty is to his family.

The war also allowed Australian boys’ school story reprobates the chance to redeem their characters. In The Best School of All ‘Skeeter’ Leighton, who had blackmailed Jack in Jack of St. Virgil’s, enlists in the war and "‘playing the game’ which St. Virgil’s had taught on the field of France, and there made the supreme sacrifice" (9). In Jennings’ The Human Pedagogue, Linacre, the school bounder, finds the words of ‘The Bugles of England’ by J. D. Burns so compelling that he leaves school to enlist. The Human Pedagogue also explores the feelings of schoolboys towards the outbreak of war. When war is declared the whole school congregates in the quadrangle and sings the Marseillaise, "it was the response of an unseeing youth to the clarion call to battle - wild and feverish and in the first impulse of an experience too great to comprehend" (289). In contrast to Pyke’s and Jennings’ stories which emphasise colonial loyalty to England, Boylan’s The Heart of the School is interesting because of the author’s attempts to reconcile the opposing loyalties of public school spirit, which in protestant schools translated to loyalty towards mother England and the British Empire, and Catholicism in Australia (Niall, Australia Through the Looking Glass 162-66). Peter, the schoolboy hero, dies after being wounded in France. On his death bed Peter praises the Scotch College and Wesley boys who had saved him, "Oh! they’ve great hearts, these boys" (392).

The Australian Schoolgirl

The Australian schoolgirl and her school world are explored in the stories. The schooling experiences of boarders and daygirls were different, as boarders lived a highly regulated life in and out of school hours whilst day girls gained some reprieve at home. Australian schoolgirl heroines were often all-round girls, who were bright, sporting and interested in all school matters. Boarding school life followed the friendships, rivalries, dilemmas, incidents, and excitements at school.

In the school world, the Head Girl is an important figure who maintains the discipline and tone of the schools. In Sheila the Prefect, Beryl Lindsay is Head Girl and has a reputation for "justice tempered with mercy which made her a much loved head" (9). A strong, yet fair and just nature were good qualities of leadership. At Ellaroo College in Lowanna, the Head Girl is called ‘Warden’ and the role comes with many privileges and much prestige. In the Winterton series the girls vote for the School Captain, but with a difference to normal elections. Each girl makes an oath to vote for the most Christian girls for the prefecture. This is shown in Wendy Moves Up when the girls elect Wendy Murphy as Head Girl. But despite the girl’s pledge, the Head is so concerned about the calibre of girls elected she installs a new girl as prefect in Wendy in Charge, which leads to a revolt amongst the Fifth Formers. In Margaret’s Decision the school powers decide to abandon the normal tradition of seniors voting for the Captain and other posts; instead the Head chooses the most Christian girls.

There are no specific Australian Girl Guide school stories like the British stories by authors such as Ethel Talbot and Mrs A C Osborn Hann. One of the few mentions of guides is in The Lone Guide at Merfield, when guides are established at Merfield after Mary’s heroic acts and sterling qualities as a guide impress the whole school. The madcap was a popular figure in British girls’ school stories, and she also makes an appearance in Australian school stories. In all four of Constance Mackness’ school stories the heroine is a madcap, or as the title specifies, a ‘pickle’ or a ‘clown’. In The Glad School Mackness states that she decided to put a scapegrace and a madcap as her two chief characters in her story instead of the ordinary true girls who were in reality the backbone of the school, which "prides itself on scholarship and sport, and even more on the sterling character of its typical girl-products" (The Glad School np). She did this because she was writing a tale to amuse and please, not to present a history of the school in minutiae. Schoolgirl friendships feature prominently in Australian girls’ school stories, with their rivalries, quarrels and passionate friendships. In Ellice of Ainslie Ellice’s loyalty and friendship help reform a girl. Castleden Dove’s Lowanna and its depiction of the friendship between Lowanna and Joan is described by H. M. Saxby as the "closest analysis of schoolgirl friendship in the fiction" apart from that of Evelyn and Laura in Henry Handel Richardson’s adult school story, The Getting of Wisdom (Offered to Children 308).

Sport also features in Australian girls’ school stories but it occupies a less vigorous role than it does in the boys’ school stories. Organised sport and sporting competitions were introduced despite initial Victorian concern for women playing vigorous masculine sports. In Australia girls began to play sports at schools from the 1880s, and from the 1900s sporting competitions were organised for interschool sport. In Sydney, the Girls’ School Tennis Association was formed in 1902, in Melbourne, the Girls’ Schools’ Hockey Association was formed in 1905 (Sherington 52 & 104). Similar structures were established in other regions. Schoolgirls often played tennis and netball, with some playing cricket, rowing, hockey and swimming. In Sheila at Happy Hills, despite Riverview College being the oldest girls’ school in Victoria, sport has only been recently introduced, as "even old-fashioned mistresses must move with the times and now tennis, hockey and baseball were played by the Riverview girls" (8). There are no Australian equivalents of British author Ethel Talbot’s games-filled school stories.1 Even in Potter’s school stories, despite her school’s adoption of English public school values, sport does not play a very prominent role. Perhaps for Potter religion plays the role of sport in moral character building. In Sheila the Prefect a group of ‘swots and duffers’ make a plan to play sport as generally only team members get a chance to play and they want the benefit of "health and exercise" (33). They decide to play baseball rounders as it "develops concentration, observation, memory, judgement, quickness, accuracy, and moral qualities" (35). Sheila coaches them secretly, and the Duffers shine when it is discovered that a visiting group of girls from Chatsford School play baseball rounders, and the Riverview team draw with their more experienced rivals.
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1 See The New Centre-Forward; The Girls of the Rookery School, etc.

Introduction & Project Background

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INTRODUCTION

On that day Max had taken an all-embracing look at the beautiful green cricket oval, the neat tennis courts, and the grey stone buildings, which held so much unknown romance and so many hidden wonders for him. The name "Tuck-Shop" on an outbuilding gave him quite a thrill ... for it called up visions of the heroes in the innumerable schoolbooks he had absorbed. (Pyke, Max the Sport 62)

The school world was first fictionalised in England in 1749 with Sarah Fielding’s The Governess, yet it was more than a century later that the success of Thomas Hughes’ Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857) helped establish the school story as a popular genre in British children’s fiction. Tom Brown’s Schooldays, set at Rugby, endorsed public school values and ethics. The genre’s development and form is strongly linked to the rise of the English public school system and its traditions and values. As a particular genre, the school story established certain conventions, involving standard plots, character types, and ideals and themes. With the majority set in either public schools or smaller private schools, daily activities such as lessons, sport and boarding school life feature prominently. Plots and themes are based on ‘playing the game’, school honour, sport, friendships and rivalries, though increasingly from the 1930s mystery and adventure plots became common. From the late 19th to the middle of the 20th century, the school story was an important genre in British children’s fiction, with over 2500 British school stories published between 1749 and 1970.¹ In its hey day in the 1920s, 43% of all new girls’ stories published in 1924 were school stories (Sims ‘Introduction’ in Sims & Clare 10). Certain authors, series and characters became part of British popular culture, including Billy Bunter, Jennings and Darbishire, the Abbey Girls and the Chalet School.

Australian children’s fiction was still in its infancy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. British imported fiction remained prevalent in the Australian market, and Australian publishing and the establishment of Australian branches of British firms developed slowly. From 1889 to 1953, Australia was Britain’s largest market for book importations and during the interwar period Australian publishers accounted only for ten percent of all book sales in Australia (Lyons 19-20). Some fifty-five Australian school stories were published from the 1870s to the 1960s², yet a lack of knowledge of the history and extent of the genre has led to contemporary scholarly dismissal of its existence or significance. As recently as 2001, Heather Scutter stated in her article on children’s literature in The History of the Book in Australia that the boys’ school story never developed in Australia (298). This is just one of a number of examples of the critical dismissal of the Australian school story (which will be discussed in the ensuing literature review), that is comparable to the treatment of British school stories. Perhaps the successes of Ethel Turner and Mary Grant Bruce, who wrote 44 and 38 children’s novels respectively, with their family and domestic stories which came to define early 20th century Australian children’s fiction, overshadowed the development of other genres in Australia. Another reason may be the massive volume of British school stories produced which make the number of Australian school stories seem unimportant.

The school story did exist in Australia despite assertions to the contrary and its numbers make it a significant genre in Australian children’s fiction. The aim of this thesis is to definitively pinpoint the extent and history of the school story in Australian children’s literature, through the compilation of an annotated bio-bibliography identifying all known examples of Australian school stories. This will be the first time a complete bibliography of Australian school stories has been compiled. The bibliography consists of annotated entries on every full-length Australian school story, listing the title, publisher, place of publication, year published, illustrator and number and type of illustrations. The annotations discuss the plots, themes and motifs and style of the novel and include brief details about subsequent editions. Each author’s career and life is discussed in a biographical entry, allowing the recognition of forgotten or lost authors. A substantial introduction presents a history of the genre, contextualising the topic with a study of British school stories and their educational and literary legacy followed by a history of Australian school stories with a particular emphasis on boys’ school stories, girls’ school stories, educational developments, and the school story in Australian literary culture.

¹Figures calculated from an examination of titles listed in The Encyclopaedia of School Stories and do not include reprints.

² Refer to Alphabetical Listing of Australian School Stories and Chronological Listing of Australian School Stories.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review charts the research that has been conducted on the Australian school story genre in order to establish what has been studied and is known about the genre, what themes and methodologies have been used, what interpretations and conclusions reached, and to highlight any existing gaps in the field. In discussing the historiography of Australian school stories, the historiography of British schools stories needs to be examined as well. The British genre had an important influence on the content and style of Australian school stories. In addition, the research done on the British genre has been at the forefront of school story research and has affected subsequent research on the Australian genre.

The school story was a very significant genre in British juvenile publishing, though its importance and value has not always been recognised, it has typically been "ignored or deplored" (Auchmuty "The Encyclopaedia: Origins and Organisation" 149). Over 2500 British school story novels were published between the 1750s and the 1960s, and between the 1850s and the 1950s the genre came to dominate juvenile publishing over other children’s genres such as mystery, adventure, career and family stories. Rosemary Auchmuty comments on the negative treatment of school stories:

School stories have long suffered from critical dismissal and public derision and it is only recently that their influence and merits have been re-valued... In general, however, school stories continue to be absent from mainstream criticism, being regarded as unworthy of serious criticism. Where included in comprehensive studies of children’s literature, references are often grudging and, in the case of girls’ school stories in particular, characterised by ignorance and error. (Auchmuty in Sims & Clare vii-viii)

The negative conclusions reached on British school stories by British researchers were also apparent in the early research on Australian school stories with some additional concerns. The Australian genre has often been dismissed for two main reasons. Firstly, because of its small numbers in comparison to the British genre and the domination of British imports in the Australian market, there are questions as to whether the genre ever developed or existed in Australia. Secondly, when the genre is acknowledged, the authors are assessed as having merely copied the British model with little or no Australian input and a consequent lack of literary value. While Australian school stories owe much to the British tradition, this charge of imitation fails to recognise Australia’s educational history. Australian private schools emulated the British public school system, copying their structures and traditions which accounts for overtly British overtones in Australian school stories.

There have been two main movements in the historiography of school stories. In the early period, the main method of analysis was evaluative literary scholarship or criticism, in which the genre received much negative criticism. Children’s literature in general only became part of mainstream academic research after the Second World War, particularly from the 1960s and 1970s. Research into children’s literature examined literary quality and merit and applied the methods of evaluative textual criticism in critiquing poor style, plot and characterisation, commenting on formulaic plots and stereotyped characters. Following this early research was a movement towards a more positive assessment of the school story after a realisation of the genre’s cultural significance rather than literary quality or lack thereof, and increasing interest from a number of academic fields other than english, including gender, education, history, cultural studies and history of the book.

The first major study of the history of Australian children’s literature was H. M. Saxby’s A History of Australian Children’s Literature 1841-1941 (1969). Saxby did examine some of the Australian school story authors in the 1920s and 1930s, and attempted to contextualise the genre against its British influences, but he studied only a limited number of authors and concluded that there were few outstanding Australian school stories (160). Research was characterised by a lack of knowledge about the number of Australian school stories and their authors. Although Marcie Muir’s A Bibliography of Australian Children’s Books (1970-76) improved knowledge on Australian children’s novels, information about the school story genre remained vague.

It has only been from the 1970s and 1980s that there has been a movement towards more comprehensive research into school stories and consequently a more positive reappraisal with a shift away from evaluative textual criticism with other disciplines becoming interested in school stories: firstly historical approaches followed by feminist and gender studies, and studies in the interdisciplinary field of history of the book. Brenda Niall’s Australia Through the Looking Glass (1984) adopts a cultural history approach, undertaking a more detailed analysis of the genre than had been previously attempted, devoting a chapter to each of the boys’ and girls’ school story novels. Niall examined Australian children’s fiction to see what it revealed about Australian society and the process by which British literary traditions were transplanted into Australian children’s literature (xi). While Niall did much in examining an increasing number of school story titles and authors, she discusses 8 novels in the chapter on boys’ school stories and 5 in the girls’ school stories chapter, she concluded that Australian school stories failed in a literary sense because of their conflict in attempting to give the British genre an Australian identity without compromising its traditional form. She argued that public school stories in their purest form could not flourish in Australia and had to merge with the adventure story (168), failing to understand that this characteristic was not peculiarly Australian. In Britain school stories were adopting mystery and adventure elements too. As with the boy’s genre her main criticism of girls’ school stories was their similarity to English school stories, concluding that there were "dozens of feeble and imitative Australian schoolgirl stories" (188). It is interesting to note that while she claims there were dozens of feeble and imitative Australian girls’ school stories, only six titles are listed in her bibliography.

One of the most important developments that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s was the emergence of research on the girls’ school story. In England research on school stories tended to focus solely on the boys’ school story genre, ignoring the girls’ genre as an inferior imitation of the boys’ stories (Auchmuty in Sims & Clare vii).³

The impetus for re-examining girls’ school stories stems from the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s which resulted in Women’s history emerging as an academic discipline which sought to include women as objects of study. The emerging field of social history which examined marginalised social groups (peasants and workers, etc) added legitimacy to integrating women into history and mainstream scholarship (Scott 42-66). This is evident in Cadogan and Craig’s pioneering study of British girls’ fiction, You’re A Brick Angela (1975), which included chapters on school stories. More research on girls’ school stories followed which sought to bring them out of obscurity and place them on a level with boys’ school stories. Feminist research evolved into gender based research which examines the construction of femininity and masculinity. Sally Mitchell’s The New Girl (1995) looked at girls’ culture in England before the First World War examining school, career and college stories. In Australia Martin Crotty’s Making the Australian Male (2000) explored the construction of middle-class masculinity and the transformation of the Australian boy through education, literature including adventure stories and school stories, and organisations such as boy scouts and religious youth groups.

Increasing quantitative research into Australian school stories occurred in the 1990s. The Oxford Companion to Australian Children’s Literature (1993) extended the bibliographical and biographical research into school stories. An entry on the school story genre is included and many previously forgotten or unknown authors and their works are presented, which significantly increased knowledge on the genre. Following a similar method were revised editions of H. M. Saxby’s A History of Australian Children’s Literature studies, Offered to Children (1998), and Images of Australia (2002). Saxby’s studies are the most comprehensive survey to date, listing the largest number of authors and novels, undertaking a detailed study of the early development of the genre, though its post-war treatment is sketchy.

The increasing academic and popular interest in British school stories was consolidated and highlighted in The Encyclopaedia of School Stories (2000). The Encyclopaedia is indicative of the shift in attitudes towards the genre that occurred in the 1990s (Auchmuty "The Encyclopaedia: Origins and Organisation" 150).The Encyclopaedia was a pioneering work for several reasons. Equal importance was given to both boys’ and girls’ school stories, with a volume dedicated to each, The Encyclopaedia of Boys’ School Stories, and The Encyclopaedia of Girls’ School Stories. Each volume listed every known British school story providing biographical information on many of the authors and bibliographical details. The girls’ volume contained the first comprehensive bibliography compiled, including many ‘forgotten’ authors. The Encyclopaedia is an example of the genre’s push into mainstream research and marks a significant period for research and study into the history of the genre, paving the way for future studies.

The Encyclopaedia is also significant because of its collaborative author approach and the contribution of non-academic research to the volume. Auchmuty, co-editor of The Encyclopaedia comments on the role of ‘grass-roots’ research by fans in the field:

It is amateur booklovers who have made the most substantial contribution to knowledge about both boys’ and girls’ school stories, setting up networks and journals to exchange information about the books and their authors. (Sims & Clare viii)

There are significant fan networks which maintain an interest in the genre though journals, societies, publications, websites, discussion lists, events and boutique publishers such as Girls Gone By who republish collectible school stories.

My analysis of the historiography of Australian school stories has outlined the major developments in research, but has also highlighted the opportunity for further research in the field. Saxby’s Offered to Children and Images of Australia are the most comprehensive in their treatment of school stories but whilst their study of the genre in the early 20th century period is strong, the post World War II section is weaker. No complete bibliography of the genre has been published. Whilst The Encyclopaedia of Girls’ School Stories included Australian authors in its entries the boys’ volume did not. Until an exhaustive bibliography of Australian school stories is assembled, historical or thematic studies of the genre will remain deficient because they fail to understand the size and extent of the genre. The compilation of the bibliography will also allow the correct identification of some stories which have been previously labelled school stories in earlier studies. In both Saxby and Lees & Macintyre, The Ferneythorpe Choristers (1876) and The Four School Mates (1896) have been classified as school stories but closer examination contradicts this. Despite its title, The Four School Mates, which concerns the lives of four former school friends, contains few details about their schooldays. Rather it is a Victorian tale on the evils of alcoholic and moral temptation with many characters dying because of their misdeeds. Its interest is that it was written by P. D. McCormick who later composed Australia’ national anthem Advance Australia Fair. The Ferneythorpe Choristers is slightly less didactic concerning schoolboy choristers, but the story is mostly set in the church and choir with little in school.

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³ See for example Quigley, Musgrave & Richards.

PROJECT OUTLINE

This thesis assembles an annotated bio-bibliography of all Australian school stories published up to the end of the 1960s. The stories must be full-length novels (short stories are not included), featuring Australian schoolboys and schoolgirls and set in Australian schools. The 1960s has been chosen as the limiting date, because the bibliography is concerned with what might be termed the traditional school story (i.e. set in single sex private schools) and it is concluded that stories written after the 1960s were generally set in modern schools and bore little resemblance to the English public school inspired models. Some stories were considered for inclusion, but for a number of reasons have been omitted from the final bibliography. Some authors used characters from school stories in non school stories, e.g. Lillian Pyke’s Sheila at HappyHills and Dora Joan Potter’s Those Summer Holidays. There is also at least one ‘adult’ school story, Henry Handel Richardson’s The Getting of Wisdom, and another, Vera G. Dwyer’s A War of Girls, which is set partly in school, but concerns the romance of two rival school teachers. Because of the merging of the school story with other genres such as mystery and adventures stories from the 1920s, there are a number of ‘part’ school stories which have been included.

Two bibliographical studies of British school stories have provided models for the compilation of a bibliography of Australian school stories. Benjamin Watson’s English Schoolboy Stories: an annotated bibliography of hardcover fiction (1992) lists over 700 English boys’ school stories with some annotated entries including a plot summary. The Encyclopaedia of School Stories (2000) is an excellent example of a genre-based bibliography. The authors of the volume on girls’ stories, The Encyclopaedia of Girls’ School Stories, discuss the content of their bibliographies and some of the issues that arose in compiling such a bibliography. Sims & Clare stated they provided only basic bibliographical details of each book as their intention was to give readers a checklist of each writer’s output. Initially they had hoped to provide a brief plot summary of every school story in an annotation but they realised this would prove too lengthy to allow for publication. Their compromise was to discuss each author who had published at least three full-length school stories. The Encyclopaedia of Girls’ School Stories lists over 400 authors and 1500 school stories. With the relatively small number of Australian school stories, fifty-five by twenty-eight authors, in this thesis it is possible to prepare a substantial annotation for each school story including a discussion of motifs and themes and provide more detailed bibliographical information which will increase its research value.

The history of the genre is presented both chronologically and thematically with a clearer understanding of the extent of the genre in Australian obtained through the compilation of the annotated bio-bibliography. First the legacy of the British school story and British private education is examined, as the content and form of school stories reflect the contemporary education practices of private schools, showing the changes and developments. Australian private schools were modelled on British public schools and many Australian schools followed the British tradition. Second the novels are studied to understand how the genre evolved over time in Australia with the development of private education in Australia. The Australian schoolboy and schoolgirl are investigated. Lastly, the place of school stories in Australian literary culture is studied by examining the process of having a manuscript published and design and payment issues. The readership for school stories is also considered.

Explanation and Arrangement to the Annotated Bio-Bibliography

The bibliography will be arranged alphabetically according to the author’s surname. The name listed will be the name the author wrote under, including pseudonyms, in which case the author’s real name will be listed underneath. Following will be the biographical outline provided for each author where possible. It has not been possible to obtain details on some authors, but these remain in the minority, and for some forgotten authors, detailed information has been collected which does not appear in standard literary reference works. Biographical outlines include details of parentage, education, career, and families, etc. School stories are listed chronologically with the following details provided: title, place of publication, publisher, date published, number of pages, illustrator and type and number of illustrations. A copy of each school story has been physically examined, except for some rare titles such as Robert Richardson’s school stories for which photocopies or microfiche copies have been studied, to obtain these details. Marcie Muir & Kerry White’s definitive Australian Children’s Books: A Bibliography has been used as an aid in the identification of first editions, and for clarification in areas such as illustrative content.

Three shorter bibliographies will also be provided in addition to the annotated Bio-Bibliography: a Short Bibliography, and an Alphabetical Listing and a Chronological Listing .

Postscript
After my Master of Philosophy thesis was finalised I located another Australian School Story: Pip and Andrew in Danger by Keane Wilson. This title has now been included in the annotated bio-bibliography, the motif guide and the relevant sections which pertain to the number of school stories published (now 55 not 54).