Millard, Sarah Jane
Sarah Jane Millard, born in Yass in 1855, was the youngest of three daughters to William Millard and Margaret nee Maloney. Her father died when she was eleven, leaving her mother with very limited means. The family was by then living in Goulburn, where Sarah Jane was eventually accepted as a candidate for teaching in a small school. In 1874, aged nineteen, she undertook three months training at Goulburn Public School and was then appointed to Ginninderra Provisional where two teachers had been removed in rapid succession. Despite her minimal training Sarah seems to have managed her duties at Ginninderra satisfactorily until after eighteen months she asked for removal stating the school 'does not suit me'. Although she was not offered an alternate appointment, she left Ginninderra in April 1876, asking to be informed of any vacancies in the Yass district.
A month later Sarah was appointed to Shaw's Creek Provisional (also known as Boxers Creek) close to Goulburn, which had been operating for two years. The school was a typical rough slab hut with bark roof but being divided into two rooms offered a small living space that Sarah Jane shared with her mother. The school enrolment was around thirty however wet weather and sickness caused erratic attendance. Sarah Jane appears to have managed her duties at Shaw's Creek unproblematically for two years until undergoing the first school inspection of her career, where significant fault was found with her record keeping and the state of the school. It was recommended that her services be immediately 'dispensed with' and although she argued that poor attendance and meagre school facilities were largely responsible for the defects and stressed her need to work to support her mother, her appeal was unsuccessful.
Sarah Jane left Shaw's Creek in May 1878 and returned to Goulburn with her mother but was soon called to answer charges from the Shaw's Creek school board over damage to the schoolroom door. She explained that as the door was roughly made it had been necessary to cut it to let it open properly and allow light into the schoolroom. Her explanation was not accepted by the board and the matter postponed her final salary cheque, which she was then 'greatly in need of' due to her mother's ill health. Sarah asked the Department to reconsider her dismissal, again stressing her economic need and offering to accept a three-month trial at reduced salary, but her entreaty failed.
A year-long correspondence between Sarah and the Department reveals the powerlessness of her position regarding the issue of the door and her salary. She eventually had two doors made but neither satisfied the Shaw's Creek board. Understandably frustrated, Sarah suggested the price of a door be deducted from her withheld salary. The matter was ultimately resolved after eighteen months when a Clerk of Works inspected the Shaw's Creek school door (still in situ) and concluded there was 'no necessity whatever for a new door', so Sarah finally received her withheld salary in full.
Not surprisingly, Sarah Jane Millard did not return to teaching. Two years after leaving Shaw's Creek she married John Craddock, a Cornish miner. They initially settled in Goulburn but later moved to Melbourne with their three sons. Sarah was widowed in 1913, then lived with a married son until her own death in 1940.
[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
- Ginninderra School
05/1874 - 05/1876