Sullivan (Mrs Glennan), Margaret
Family background
Margaret Sullivan was born in 1871, fifth of ten children to farmer and grazier John Sullivan, and Margaret nee Maher. She grew up near Gunning, having a desire to be a teacher from an early age, and was recognised as the best scholar in the girls' department of Goulburn Public School at the completion of her schooling. In 1889, following the example of an older sister, she obtained a certificate of competency for teaching in a small school and soon after acted as substitute teacher at Shaws Creek for several weeks. In 1890 she was a considered for appointment to Nerrabundah, her Catholicism as well as her practical skill making her suitable for the position, but was ultimately not chosen, and waited another two years for appointment.
Gurrundah Public School
In January 1892, Margaret was temporarily appointed to Gurrundah near Breadalbane, with residents under caution to ensure school attendances improved. This warning appears to have had some effect, but after 18 months the school was closed.
Bedellick Public School
In July 1893 Margaret was temporarily appointed to Bedellick, which was also struggling to meet minimum attendance requirements, the residents being asked to guarantee an average of 12 pupils and supplement the teacher's salary if needed, or assure the equivalent through board and lodgings. Shortly after arriving, Margaret attempted a classification exam but was unsuccessful in three subjects so failed to gain promotion. A few months later she asked to return to Gurrundah, which was expected to reopen as a Provisional School due to the establishment of a butter factory. While her entreaty was eventually successful, she was obliged to remain another year at Bedellick, earning a minimal salary and suffering from ill health, which she attributed to the quality of her board and lodgings.
Gurrundah Provisional School
In January 1895 Margaret was reappointed to Gurrundah, where the school was reportedly 'toppling over' due to termite damage. Fortunately, repairs were completed by the end of the year. Meanwhile Margaret, whose skills were now rated as 'Tolerable to Fair', applied to sit another classification examination but subsequently withdrew as ill health prevented her from doing the necessary study. Around this time, Gurrundah residents requested a water tank and guttering for the school, the closest water source then being a mile away, and the sustained enrolment prompted a proposal to return the school to Public School status. After two years, however, Margaret applied for removal to Currans Creek near Crookwell, stating her appointment there 'would be agreeable to the residents'.
Currans Creek Public School
In October 1896 Margaret, now aged 24, was appointed to Currans Creek which then had 22 pupils, but variable attendance as children were often kept at home to assist with duties such as 'gathering in the potato crop'. After three weeks at Currans Creek Margaret was able to report increasing attendance in direct response to her efforts to convince parents to send their children. This positive relationship with the community was later shown when, due to overwhelming residents' support, she was granted leave to attend her sister's wedding. Soon after this, clearly contemplating matrimony herself, Margaret inquired whether a teacher 'may get married and retain her school' and was promptly informed 'Yes'. In July 1898, she married auctioneer Anthony J Glennan at Cullarin near Gunning, requesting a week's leave after the ceremony, but as she was unable to find a substitute teacher she returned to duty. Her commitment to teaching was further demonstrated by a seven-mile daily journey through bush to school in all weathers. She soon contracted a 'feverish cold' after a 'severe wetting' and was granted a week's sick leave. In mid 1899 she again experienced ill health, eventually requiring several weeks of 'complete rest'. Although she returned to work, she retired six months later, having achieved eight years' service.
Khalangan Provisional School
After fourteen years in retirement, Margaret returned to teaching, perhaps prompted by financial need as she now had care of an orphaned niece. In August 1914, she took charge at Khalangan near Galong, which had been closed for a year after struggling to maintain minimum enrolment. She seems to have settled readily to her duties and maintained good health, her only leave over the next two years due to her father's death, and a court attendance when a parent failed to send a child to school the requisite number of days. In mid 1916, as falling attendances caused Khalangan to be converted to half-time, Margaret was transferred.
Redground Provisional School
Margaret's next appointment was to Redground, a small village near Laggan, where 16 pupils were enrolled. She was able to lodge with her widowed sister, walking three miles to school and back each day. The enrolment at Redground gradually increased and by 1919, there was insufficient space in the old slab schoolroom, so a more suitable building was moved on site. Over the next twenty years Margaret continued in charge of Redground. As was typical of the time, outbreaks of infectious diseases including chicken pox, ringworm and whooping cough periodically reduced attendance. In 1925, Margaret slipped on a 'frosted board' while leaving her lodgings, striking her head on a door jamb, and was taken to Crookwell for medical attention. In 1926 she required a few days leave due to her widowed mother's illness. In recommending the leave, the inspector described her as 'a most conscientious and reliable teacher'. A year later she needed two weeks leave due to a torn ligament sustained while trying to avoid a snake on her way home from school.
In 1931, as she approached her 60th birthday, she told the Department she wished to continue teaching in order to maintain her mother as well as herself. This was approved, with the inspector recognising Margaret as 'mentally and physically capable of satisfactorily performing the duties'. She remained on a yearly contract until July 1935, her twenty-ninth year of service, when her mother's deteriorating health forced her to retire.
The Redground community farewelled Margaret with a function that acknowledged her dedicated service and enthusiastic engagement in social and civic affairs, noting that she was '...never away from school owing to bad weather, nor even later than 8.30 in the morning, despite the fact that she had to walk nearly three miles and often in the winter months with a mantle of snow on the ground. She was regarded by school inspectors as one of the most conscientious and efficient teachers in Goulburn inspectorate. For years her pupils were successful exhibitors at the Crookwell Show and generally beat all-comers in the writing section. It might be truthfully said of Mrs Glennan, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" ['Crookwell Gazette', 31 July 1935, p. 2].
<b>Later life
Margaret returned to care for her mother who died three years later, then lived the rest of her life in Cullerin, dying in 1959, aged 87. She was buried in Kenmore Cemetery, Goulburn.
[Biography prepared by Joanne Toohey, 2024. Sources include NSW school teachers' rolls 1868-1908, NSW school and related records 1876-1979, historic newspapers, NSW births, deaths and marriages index, probate documents, and 'Early Education and Schools in the Canberra Region', (1999) by Lyall Gillespie.]
Schools
- Bedellick
07/1893 - 11/1894