White, Mary
Mary Whyte* nee Murphy was born around 1851, marrying John Joseph Whyte in 1869 in the Cooma district. In the first half of 1872 she was nominated to take charge of Wyanga Provisional school, replacing Samuel Elphinstone Plumb who had lost the support of the school's majority Roman Catholic parents. Although untrained, Mary was officially recognised as Wyanga teacher in August 1872 on recommendation of the district inspector, who judged her 'reasonably competent'. Her pupils came from a small community largely comprised of struggling selectors, which likely accounts for falling attendance resulting in the closure of Wyanga school less than two years later. Prior to closure, one event briefly brought Wyanga and Mrs Whyte to attention as this excerpt from the 'Queanbeyan Age', 13 February 1874, recounts:
'A Kangaroo Killed by Four Young Ladies -
Last Thursday evening as Mrs J. J. Whyte, teacher of the Provisional public school of Wyanga, near Bungendore, and the Misses Smith and Miss Murphy were quietly conversing, a monster kangaroo was seen to pass the window hopping along very quietly, when the ladies ran out making a cry ... the kangaroo became so alarmed that it immediately bounded off at top speed ... (into) a very deep waterhole just in front of the school door'.
The report gives an account of how the women, who were armed with heavy sticks in the belief they were in danger, then killed the kangaroo. While contemporary views are unlikely to commend the women as 'female gladiators' ('Gippsland Mercury', 27 Feb 1874), this episode nonetheless offers some historical context.
After Wyanga, Mary Whyte was appointed to Hovell's Creek Provisional school, commencing February 1876. She replaced Mrs O'Connor, wife of a school board member, who had recently resigned. Unlike Mrs O'Connor who had given Catholic instruction to her pupils in the evening in addition to regular duties, Mary although Catholic, refused to do the same. Tensions over her appointment soon surfaced, with Burrowa's Catholic priest, Rev John Dunne, a key member of the school committee although residing 30 miles away, protesting that the Council of Education had ignored a more suitable nominee. According to the Yass district inspector, the issue at Hovell's Creek was not an isolated incident. Rather, there were several localities where local committees would only accept a teacher nominated by the priest.
Conflict escalated at Hovell's Creek when Rev Dunne called Mary to a school committee meeting in May 1877, where he alleged she had falsified school records and been absent without permission. He suspended her instantly and she seems to have left Hovell's Creek straightaway. The matter was referred to educational authorities who instigated an inquiry upon receiving Mary's refutation of the charges. Two months later the investigation concluded the evidence did not support the priest's charges, and that Mary Whyte had been unfairly tried by the school board who had exceeded their authority. Despite these findings, it does not appear Mary returned to teaching. Details of her later life are unknown.
*Although some records spell her surname as 'White', Mary herself used 'Whyte'.
[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
- Wyanga
06/1872 - 12/1874