Hallam School, No. 224.

Our Archive gets many donations and these photographs of  Hallam School, No.244, were donated by Mr Jim Alexander. Mr Alexander was an inaugural Councillor for the City of Berwick from 1973 until 1982. James Alexander Reserve in Endeavour Hills is named in his honour.

Hallam School was established in 1858 as the Eumemmerring Denominational School. There were 44 students and the Head Teacher was Daniel Cusack. It is probable that this school was located on the corner of Heatherton and Hallam roads. In 1862, the School became the Eumemmerring Common School, No.244.  I n 1873, it was renamed Eumemmerring State School. At this time it was located on the Princes Highway, opposite the end of Olive Road, where the General Motors Holden factory is. Daniel Ahern was the Head Teacher from 1870 until 1890.

In 1894, it became an adjunct to Dandenong State School, No.1403 and only the infant School remained on the site. It wasn't until 1902 that the Education Department recommended that the School be separated from Dandenong. A new school building was erected and opened in November 1904, on the Princes Highway, just west of the Hallam Hotel. In 1906, the school changed its name to Hallam’s Road School. The School was enlarged in 1921 with the addition of a second class room. In 1923 it was renamed Hallam State School.

Opening of the second class room at Hallam's Road School in February 1921.

The Hallam's Road School Committee, 1921. Standing at back - left to right - Mr Wallace, Mr Service, Mr Kirkham, Mr Butcher. Front row - possibly Mrs Burton, Mr Carter.

I looked in the Electoral Rolls on Ancestry database to see if I could find out more about these people and this is what I found - Jeremiah Wallace, address - Main Road Hallam, occupation - farmer, wife - Augusta Emma Wallace; John Service, Berwick Road Dandenong, dairy farmer, wife Elizabeth Duncan Service;   Francis Edward Kirkham, Hallam's Road, farmer, wife Margaret Beatrice Kirkham; Alfred Butcher, Hallam, dairy farmer, wife Amy Louise Butcher; Elizabeth Burton, Hallam, home duties, husband  John Frederick Burton, farmer; I can't find Mr Carter in the Electoral roll.

The Hallam's Road School Mothers Club, 1921. Standing at back - left to right - Mrs Boles, Mrs Crean, Mrs Gatter (nee Wallace), Mrs J. Meehan, Mrs Rout, Miss T. Morgan (teacher) and Mrs Blackley (nee Wallace). Seated at front - Mrs Opperman, Mrs Butcher, Mrs Wallace, Mrs Service.

According to the Electoral Rolls - Mrs Boles - I can't find Mrs Boles in the Electoral roll; Annie Florence Crean, Hallam, home duties, husband Andrew, a farmer; Mrs Gatter - I can't find Mrs Gatter in the Electoral roll; Ruth Rebecca Meehan, Hallam's Road Hallam, home duties, husband James Joseph, farmer; Ellen Rout, Hallam, home duties, husband Charles Rout dairyman;  Miss Morgan - I can't find Miss Morgan in the Electoral Roll but she may not have been 21 years old; Mrs Blackley - I can't find Mrs Blackley in the Electoral roll; Bertha Opperman, Berwick Road Dandenong, home duties, wife of Adolphus Samuel Opperman, water carter; Amy Louise Butcher, wife of Alfred Butcher listed above; Augusta Emma Wallace, wife of Jeremiah Wallace, listed above; Elizabeth Duncan Service, wife of John  Service listed above.

The school population grew in the late 1950s, partly due to the growth of the area after the International Harvester, H.J. Heinz and General Motors Holden factories were established in Doveton. By 1958, the School had to use the Hallam Public Hall, on the other side of the Highway, for extra class rooms. Unfortunately this involved children crossing the Princes Highway and a tragic accident resulted in a student losing his life in a car accident in October 1962. Community agitation saw the construction of a new school on its existing site in Harmers Road and this opened in November 1963.

Hallam School in 1924.

Back row - Mr Webb (teacher), W. Hawksley, L.Vines, ? Hansen, unknown, A. Hyde, H. Knight, L.Dight, A. Kanes.

Second back row - B. Kirkham, R. Butcher, E. Wallace, W. Harmer, I. Hawksley, M. Hansen, O. Harmer, N. Douglas. 

Second row from front - G. Hawksley, C. Dight, I.Haines, E. Graham, I. Crean, G. Barnes, A. Vines, A. Kane, O. Grahame, M. Vines.

Front row - J. Kirkham, J. Rust, H. Kirkham, T. Kirkham, R. Sorenson.

Francis Edward Kirkham and Margaret Beatrice Kirkham (nee Moran) were the parents of the famous Kirkham Brothers - the show jumping team. They married in 1904 and had Honora  Margaret (born 1905), Alice Helen (1907), Francis Henry (1909), Charles (b and d 1910),  Margaret (b and d 1911), Bessie (1912), John Moran 'Jack' (1915), Edward William (1915),  Henry Alexander (1917),  Malcolm Frederick 'Mac' (1919). All the children were born in Dandenong, Berwick or Cranbourne.  John, also known as Jack, Kirkham was a City of Berwick Councillor from 1974 until 1980, when he retired due to ill health. Jack Kirkham  Reserve in High Street Berwick is named in his honour.

This photo of the Kirkham Brothers is from Oak Trees and Hedges:  a pictorial history of Narre Warren, Narre Warren North and Harkaway, published by the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society.

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Narre Warren - the early years

The first township of Narree Warren was surveyed in 1860, and is now known as Narre Warren North and the township which developed around the Railway Station became Narre Warren Railway Station and later just Narre Warren. When the large squatting runs were broken up and sold off, farmers moved into the area, some of the earliest being Thomas & Eliza Walton who arrived in 1852 and built Holly Green, where Fountain Gate Shopping Centre is now located. Walton held ploughing competitions, grew tobacco, flax and grapes – he had 2 acres of vineyards and made a ‘good dry wine”. Around 1855 the Mornington Hotel was built on the Walton’s property, you can read more about this, here.

Holly Green, built by the Waltons, was demolished in 1937, by John Lloyd who built Brechin on the site.

In 1853, Daniel & Kathleen Crowley purchased 632 acres around Prospect Hill Road and built their home where the Fountain Gate Primary School is now located. They also had 160 acres, called Granite Hills, due to the Granite outcrop. This was sold to Cornelius Killeen then to Anthony and Mary Kent who arrived around 1875. Other early settlers were John & Daniel Sweeney who arrived around 1860.

Kent's General Store, situated on the north east corner of the Princes Highway and Webb Street. The photograph was taken around 1912.
Image: Oak Trees and Hedges: a pictorial  history of Narre Warren, Narre Warren North and Harkaway

In 1877 the Railway line went through to Bunyip and, by 1879, all the way to Sale, but the seminal event in the development of Narre Warren, was the arrival of Sidney and Ann Webb. Webb is listed as owning “house and land” in the 1876 Rate books and in 1880 they purchased Holly Green. Sidney Webb (1844-1920) was a Newsagent, who founded the Victorian Authorised Newsagents Association. One book says When he retired from business he purchased Holly Green, which would have made him 36 years old. Webb agitated for a Railway Station at Narre Warren, which opened in 1882 and he collected money to purchase land for a road to connect the town to the Station. According to the Shire of Berwick Rate Books, in 1888 and1889 a number of businesses were established in Narre Warren. Albert Raduchel, a blacksmith; Thomas Woodley, a baker; Thomas Stones, a butcher and James Middleton, a storekeeper. They all leased their premised from Sidney Webb. By 1891, Richardson’s, who also had a business in Berwick, had taken over the Butchery. Later on, Alfred and Alice Kent had a General Store. Alfred was the son of Anthony and Mary Kent and Alice was the daughter of Sidney and Ann Webb. These families had a double connection as Ada Kent married Harry Webb. The Webb’s had also married into another prominent local family, the Baileys. William & Fanny Bailey settled in Narre Warren North in 1894 established the first orchard in the area on Bayview Farm. Their son James married Lucy Webb and their eldest son, George had a General store in Narre Warren. George was first listed as a Storekeeper in the Rate Books in 1914 and it was operated by family members until the 1970s.

This photograph also shows Kent's General Store, and Thomas Woodley's bakery. The sign on the fence says "High class pastry cook" and "Hygenic bread factory". Further down the hill is Raduchel's Blacksmiths and also shown are the oak trees planted by Sidney Webb in 1890.
Image: Oak Trees and Hedges: a pictorial  history of Narre Warren, Narre Warren North and Harkaway

Narre Warren further consolidated as a town with when Sidney Webb donated land for the School which opened in 1889 and the Mechanics' Institute which opened in 1891. Sidney Webb’s lasting legacy is the row of oak trees along the Princes Highway which he planted in 1890 and of course, Webb Street.

The Webb Family, taken around 1890.
Image: Oak Trees and Hedges: a pictorial  history of Narre Warren, Narre Warren North and Harkaway

Before we end, Sidney Webb gets a lot of well deserved credit for the development of Narre Warren but in the back ground was his wife Ann Hart. They married in 1866 and she bore him fourteen children from 1866 to 1886. Ann died in 1914, aged 70.

Here is  a list of their children and any information I know about them -

• Sidney - born 1866, married Lilias McKenzie Blackwood in 1893, died 1933. You can read his short obituary from The Argus of October 14, 1933, here.
• Annie Ellen - born 1868, married William Davison Oliver in 1902, died 1955.
• Amelia Mary - born and died 1870
• Howard - born and died 1871
• Alice Isabella - born 1872,  married Alfred Ernest Kent in 1898, died 1951.
• Edith Hannah - born 1873, married Charles James Dellar in 1908. 
• Jessie Maria - born 1874, died 1875.
• Lucy Agnes - born 1877, married James William Bailey in 1903, died 1945.
• Florence Emily - born 1878, never married,  died 1947.
• Henry Liston - born 1880, married Ada Evelyn Kent in 1903, died 1964.
• Robert - born  1881, died 1957.
• Bertha Eliza - born 1883, married Alexander Moran in 1911, died 1958.
• Walter Edwin - born 1885, died 1897.
• Percy John - born 1886, married Muriel Amy Isabel Heywood in 1911. 

The photographs in this post come from the book Oak Trees and Hedges: a pictorial  history of Narre Warren, Narre Warren North and Harkaway. It is published by the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society. They operate a Museum, open on Sundays, from 2.00pm until 4.00pm, in the Old Shire Offices, corner of McGregor Road and Main Street in Pakenham (enter from the Highway service road off James Street)

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