School records - Armidale NSW

[DonL]

I have read that Australian school records are now on line.

My problem is that I believe that my paternal grandfather who claims to have been born in Armidale appears to have changed his name when he arrived in New Zealand in the early 1900s must have been at a school from about 1888, possible in Armidale or Newcastle.

Can the school records be browsed rather than searched? or can the rolls be copied so i could peruse them to find likely candidates?

Cheers

Don

PS I have searched under his name with no results -  also used the * to widen the search.

DonL

[Neil Todd]

School records in Australia as far as identifying a particular person are not as I am aware on line. Privacy laws restrict all records as such to what is a 100 year rule.

Some schools however have year books dating back many years and may be available on their own websites. You would need to know what school however.

Modern day school records are very zealously guarded by the education departments in each state, they are actually kept in Safes.

If you wish you could put up your grandfathers name and we could see what records can be identified that may point in the right direction. IE both his NZ name and what you believe could be his one in NSW. But I would be wondering why he would change his name?

Neil

[sparrett]

Hi Don,
Are you trying to locate the birth of your Grandfather?

Other than the school records, perhaps there are other ways we can help you if that is your goal.

What else do you know about him?

First  name, parents, siblings, occupation??


EDIT Sorry, Just found all your other inquiries on this subject, so no need to list again
Sue

[majm]

Hi Don

Me again .....Yes I still have your chap's names on my lists.  NSW School records with pupil names are NOT available and unlikely to become so.  The Queensland lists that FindMyPast has uploaded are not as informative as your NZ rolls.  NSW attendence rolls from late 19th century rural NSW were scant on info but many were not retained anyway.... As per my oral history from my elders ... Each colony had its own way of doing things.  Federation was not about  amalgamating our 19th c institutions.

Cheers JM

[DonL]

I don't believe my grandfather would have changed his name for a devious reason -  he was always a pretty straight forward man, well educated. What may have been the reason is that he did not like his surmae. His father was either Scandinavian or possibly German, and wanted a new name when starting off life in New Zealand. Hence my reason for looking at school rolls for the period 1887 - 1895.

On his first marriage records Armidale is shown as his place of birth but 34 years later for his second marriage Newcastle is shown as his birthplace. Nowhere  have I found his actual date of birth -  the records i have have him being born between 1879 to 1883 with 1881 being the one mentioned most.

Cheers

DonL

[majm]

I have read that Australian school records are now on line.

Hi Don,

Each State (former colony) has its own separate parliament, and each of these have their own Dept of Education, so there's  separate Departments of Education for each of the six states, and for each of the Territories (NT and ACT).     

So in respect of Armidale NSW in the 1880s and 1890s, the school records were the responsibility of the NSW colonial department of education.   The records for NSW government departments are archived at the NSW government's State Records Office.   Here is the link to their website:

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/collection-search

Here is a link to their Guide Department of Education subject files, 1875-1948
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/short-guide-6/short-guide-6

You will likely find that the NSW attendance rolls (which even in the 1920s  1930s and 1940s had scarce info - pupil's name, and dob, nothing else) once each school year had ended (calendar years in NSW) were kept until the following winter when they were likely a fuel source for the classrooms' fireplaces.    This is based on oral history from elderly family members of mine some of whom were NSW Public servants in their working lives. 

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

Have you contacted Armidale Public Schools to see if they can help you ?

http://www.armidalec-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/our-school

http://www.armidalec-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/contact-us

http://www.kellysplan-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/

http://www.armidaleregion.com.au/public-schools.php

(Public Schools cover from around age 5 to around age 11 or 12, and High Schools cover to about age 17/18)

Infants and Primary Schools are also known as Public Schools.

High Schools are also known as Secondary Schools. 


Cheers,  JM

[DonL]

  Thanks for that JM

I have emailed Armidale Public school which seems to date back to 1861, so well within the bounds of when my grandfather would be having his schooling.

Hope they can throw some light on this elusive grandfather of mine.

Once again -  thanks for your links and tips

DonL

[cando]

I have spent a bit of time searching in Australia - you have asked previously about your elusive grandfather in Aus and I agree with your quote on a previous thread.

I suspect that the Lindale name is a fiction and that he was known by some other name prior to 1908 in both Australia (which is where he claimed to have been born) and NZ.

I have searched under the names of his nominated mothers - different on the two marriage he had in NZ.

I trawled the births for all the Arthur's born Armidale and Newcastle in the period you suggested he may have been born [1879 to 1885]. Nothing with names like anything he gave on his marriage certifictes.


Cheers
Cando