Naughton, Eliza M A
Eliza Naughton was born in 1862 near Crookwell, one of eight children to farmer Edward Naughton and his second wife Ann nee Broderick, both from Galway. Eliza's father died in 1877 and later that year she applied to become a teacher, (the second of three Naughton siblings to pursue teaching). In 1878 she had three months training at Goulburn Public School, then after a temporary position at Pomeroy was appointed to Third Creek Provisional, relatively close to her family home and to her sister Frances, teaching at Golspie.
In June 1879 Eliza requested two weeks sick leave which was granted without pay because she was unable to find someone to replace her. When she asked for the matter to be reconsidered as she needed the salary to pay her medical expenses, she was initially rebuffed, but after some persistence received payment. The tenacity Eliza showed in this issue was repeated throughout her career. In May 1880, while still an unclassified teacher, she advocated her ability to manage a larger school, citing parental feedback that 'no other teacher could have done more for the advancement of their children or worked more diligently'. Although not instantly successful, her advocacy ensured she stayed in consideration for a better appointment. She was also an ardent petitioner to the Department on issues commonly faced in remote teacher appointments such as insufficient rental allowance, poor accommodation, and salary delays.
After four years at Third Creek, by then converted to a Public School, Eliza applied for removal, ostensibly due to issues with her lodgings and the poor condition of the school chimney. While she received permission to have the chimney repaired immediately, it was several months before she received a transfer. In September 1882 she commenced at Sherwin's Flat Public School (later 'Tarago') and soon after taking charge, requested the school's classification and her salary be upgraded to reflect her recent IIIB qualification. Her self-advocacy was not successful in this instance, nor a concurrent leave application for 'a short rest'. She was however effective in rectifying the withholding of her salary in May 1883 caused by her late submission of school fees. In arguing the injustice of this penalty, she highlighted recurrent postal issues in rural communities, reinforcing this by a postmarked envelope showing mail addressed to her at Sherwin's Flat had been erroneously delivered to her sister over 100km away.
During Eliza's next two years at Sherwin's Flat, the dilapidated state of the slab and bark schoolhouse and its inadequate capacity for the average enrolment of 40 pupils, was repeatedly reported. In 1883 a visitor noted that while Eliza was highly spoken of by parents, the building offered 'very little encouragement' for learning ['Southern Argus' (Goulburn), 24 July 1883, p.2]. This seemed to expedite Departmental plans to construct a new wooden building although it was not completed fast enough for Eliza to appreciate as she resigned, effective 31 January 1884, having completed five years' teaching service. Details of her later life are unclear.
[Biography prepared by Joanne Toohey, 2023. Sources consulted include NSW school teachers' rolls 1868-1908, NSW school and related records 1876-1979, historic newspapers, NSW births, deaths and marriages index, and 'Early Education and Schools in the Canberra Region', (1999) by Lyall Gillespie.]
Schools
- Tarago Public School
09/1882 - 01/1884