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Mayne, Mrs Emma

Family background

Emma Mayne was born c.1834 in Middlesex, England, to James William Wells and Elizabeth nee Gale. In 1855 she married printer James Bowker at St. Bride's, London, but was widowed sixteen months later. In 1857 she arrived in Sydney as an assisted immigrant, her occupation given as housemaid. Four years later she married widower Arthur Mayne, government architect for Goulburn and surrounding districts, who was almost thirty years her senior. They settled in the Braidwood area where Emma had three children, one dying in infancy.

Bell's Creek Provisional/Public School

By 1870, Emma, now thirty-five, was employed as teacher of Bell's Creek Provisional School, likely due to financial necessity. The school was apparently conducted in her own house. In 1875, residents applied to have a Public School established with an expected enrolment of 73 students, including Emma's two children. One activist for the new school was Quong Tart, who would later become a noted Sydney businessman and philanthropist.

The Bell's Creek community agreed to raise a third of the funds needed to build and furnish a schoolroom and teacher's residence, the completion of which took almost a year, by which time attendance had declined significantly as the waning gold yield forced families from the area. Despite the lower enrolment, in October 1876 Emma was appointed teacher at Bell's Creek Public School, conditional on obtaining a teaching classification within six months. In 1878, her husband, who appears to have been absent for a while, died in the Parramatta Government Asylum, his death seemingly bringing no change to Emma's life. A more obvious change came with her transferral from Bell's Creek, perhaps caused by her delay in gaining a classification.

Jembaicumbene Public School

In October 1879 Emma was moved to Jembaicumbene Public School, which had been without a teacher for months and was in a very poor condition. She spent three years there, eventually gaining a classification, before being transferred again, this move coinciding with her son beginning his teaching career at a provisional school near Braidwood.

Yarralumla Public School ('Bulgar Creek')

Emma commenced duty at Yarralumla Public School in March 1883, reporting upon arrival that the school building, which had once doubled as a Catholic Church, was in very bad repair. Both the school and teacher's residence were rented, with an ongoing dispute over who was liable for repairs seemingly stalling maintenance. In 1886, falling enrolment threatened Yarralumla's public-school status, and the Department began plans for alternate premises. Meanwhile Emma repeated her request for repairs, the situation so bad that parents were unwilling to send their children to school in winter. Yarralumla's isolation was also an issue for Emma, adding the burden of keeping a horse to traverse 'thirty miles to obtain the common necessities of life'. A proposed decrease in her rental stipend prompted her to protest that she would 'suffer severely in consequence'. Around this time, Emma's daughter began teaching at a provisional school near Young.

In 1887, a new Yarralumla school building was completed and Emma requested the furniture from a recently closed school be sent over since the fittings of the old building remained the property of the Catholic Church. In early 1888 she received notice to vacate her accommodation and with no other option available she was 'compelled to live and sleep' in the new schoolroom, an unlined wooden building completely inadequate for the cold winters. The district inspector, concerned about Emma's situation, sought an alternate appointment for her. She declined his first offer, Hoskingtown, as 'one of the poorest and most uncomfortable schools in the district' but accepted his next offer, Nelanglo Public School.

Nelanglo Public School

Emma commenced teaching at Nelanglo Public School in November 1888. The school and residence, although relatively new, were in a poor state, and over the next twelve months she was authorised to have repairs to the doors, walls, floor, downpipes, and water tank, which hopefully made the situation more comfortable than her previous position. Emma taught at Nelanglo for seven years, the only female teacher in the school's eventual seventy-year history. In 1895 she retired, aged 61, having completed twenty-five years of service, and was granted a pension of £47.13.0 per annum. Ten years later, a brief notice reported, 'Emma Mayne, late Public School Teacher, Nelanglo' died at Young [Goulburn Evening Penny Post, 30 September 1905, p.2].

[Biography prepared by Joanne Toohey, 2023. Sources 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.]

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