Salt Spring Island Archives

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Salt Spring Island Schools

Margaret Cunningham

Mrs. Cunningham talks about the various public and private schools on the Island, beginning in 1884 when her father, Raffles Purdy, taught on the Island, and ending in the 1970s.

Accession Number 989.031.036 Interviewer SSI HISTORICAL SOCIETY ADDRESS
Date unknown Location Cassette tapes box File #1A to File #23 Shelf 8C
Media Audio CD
ID 32:1
Location In the Old Creamery

32A_Margaret_Cunningham-Schools.mp3

otter.ai

18.01.2023

no

Unknown Speaker 0:00
Well, welcome to Saturday, I believe you're going to talk about early school days.

Unknown Speaker 0:12
Thank you very much for your nice introduction. I have to tell him well, I'd like to start by telling you that I got really interested in historical facts about the island. And when I went down to the archives in Victoria, and this was, in the early months of 1945, there were three or four other people, they're also taking them in preparing various subjects that they were working on, too. So the four was more or less met there every day for most of those a month. Anyway, I had party time trying to find the article that I wanted, which was particularly the document that had been brought up with the names of all the people who had first settled on the island, the 18, deviating colored people who had come to salt from Ireland. And none of the men in the archives is very helpful to me, and Mr. Ernest Protheroe, who searched up in the attic and down in the stacks, looking for this document. And finally, he came up with a copy of it. So I typed it out. So I had that which I was very pleased to have spent some time getting all kinds of information that type write it down and work there for one day when I was when I was writing in the morning, I used to go at nine o'clock because the buildings opened at nine and closed at five. So when there's one particular afternoon, when I, when I left there at five o'clock, I go down to the route there. I should say that in the morning when I arrived early in the morning, and I was a little later than usual. And it must have been about 15 minutes after nine o'clock, I think. And I got out of the streetcar right by the buildings at the side entrance. And I heard a man in the streetcar, say, this is what we're paying for those girls going to work late. And I couldn't help her. And I couldn't help hearing this. And I thought, well, I can't let him get away with that. So I turned around and faced him and I said, I'm not working for I'm not working for the government. But they're helping me to do some research. But anyway, when I want to tell you after all that work, unfortunately, when I was sick in the hospital one time and having an operation, when I came back, I found that my husband and had destroyed all the work that I had typed in I had two big boxes, one of papers, clippings that I've taken out of newspapers for years that I had to no pamphlets arrives actually able to save them because they hadn't got down as low as that. But they had, but he had burned all the other box full of all my type material. Now dried senders months getting it. If I could just go back to the hospital, and stay right there. However, I told the children, it's every day and the family they ever did that again, I wouldn't come home again. So that would be the end of it. No, I got to the state we're having lost all that material. I feel it was such a terrible loss because it is very is very destructive. And so finally, you know, so frustrating. And you've done all that work, and so very devastating. So I didn't really think I could ever have the time to do that again. So I thought I would compose an operatic musical because I've been interested in music all my life and so on based on the first 50 years history of Saltspring island. So when I heard you told me this now about this, there are other avenues going if you can have patience to wait till I get this produced. I think this were more or less covered things in a different way to what the pageant might have done if they had brought that over here. Now, just for a moment, I'd like you all to close your eyes for me forget everything that you know about Salisbury. And just close your eyes and imagine that there are no roads. No schools, no houses, no people, only rocks, mountains and trees. That he got that picture of a very Virgin Island where that grade was when the Negroes first came here. And and Commander main wrote in his book, my four years on Vancouver's Island, he said this very same thing. That sauce behind was only rocks, mountains and trees. The only islands of any value were the same one group. And they had been left to or given to the American side when they when they decided that where the border should be between the two countries. This was in 1875. So as I'm saying just now this was a virgin islands, no one lives here. Coalition Indians used to come over and camp around the mud sets the base, or at least where they could do exams. And then of course, they ran into some unfortunate battles with other tribes that came down from the northern groups of Indians because they were much, much more warlike and they had battles with him all the time. But when the settlements actually started here, it was, as you can imagine, it would be at all points of the island that touched the sea such as safer and would just be the point. All these outlying areas were the places where people settled for First and last, since I'm going to talk on schools, I would like to tell you, you already heard the other one of your other previous meetings that I think my sister was telling you about it. Then my father taught, he came. Here's in the Ireland in 1884. He taught in 1885 until 1897, at the Central School, near where I live. And that was, and that was in 1885. Well, now, you will hardly believe this. But there was no such thing as Ganges until 19, six, when most movies go down from Central, and didn't cause me this talk from the series. And then to sort of the liberals, the motor liberals. And so the Trading Company was formed as they were conservatives. They didn't go as never. I never knew what what politics they had, but, but they also had the third store. And that's where it really started, started to develop and engages because it was a long harbor to come up there. And people just didn't live in Engadget until later on, which probably is your way of thinking it would seem rather strange. They did it that way. But that's the way it was. And so it was actually 34 years later, in 1919. Before there was again, a school. That is again, just public school, I'm going to talk about public schools first and then the private ones. But the public school really started the first one really started, I suppose you would say, up in around the central area because they had read a lot building up there, and they had another one. And when they colored people came, the teachers, Mr. John Jones taught to two days in one school and three days in the other school, and the children moved from one to the other. So no one had to walk any great distance. And the other school was somewhere in the vicinity between the north end road and the road. Later, of course, it was a better school built but that's really starting to unlock. Father came there, he immediately had this new school built Metro boards and everything like 80 years, and he had the school built right away. And the same time or shortly afterwards. The the score zero point was built, but it was opened on September 26 1885. So I think that my dad hadn't come in 1884. And the Stephens is the body with Kim two months later. That was in August when he came, we can see months later, Andy, and they were the first people you might say to settle over at the where the Scott Brian is that big white building, they settled over there. And so read my dad used to Sistina was Mrs Barris and so he had lived with him when he first came. So then he he went over to the steamed and boarded there and walk from there up to the central hall to to out to central settlement as it was called to teach school. And so that he did that for the 12 years that he was there, he did that and stayed with them all the 12 years that he taught because they didn't take very long to realize that that was the center of the island that could be developed and was developed then. And so Mrs. Stephens very shortly afterwards bought the property which we have now. And so that idea that there was a board with them there so we didn't have very far to go to school. But anyway, that's the beginning of the of the central they call it the Vesuvius school. And I've got a lot of information about every scope and I don't want to bore you I don't know how long you want me to talk about this because I have a lot of information about every school there is including private schools, and I don't really know how much you want have you got any time minutes

Unknown Speaker 8:46
that was 100 acre block at Central which was Crown land. And so that's where the school was built on the very corner of the two roads came together so there was a little target playground area between the the school itself and the two roads that came together there and I remember remote telling me years ago that he had his pupil there at school, one of my dad's pupils that he didn't like it at all when this whole was built later on later years because it took away from hoppier playground area. However, dad had a lot of old time families there as I guess you probably know, the bidding cores in them and the family and the Norton's all lived around in that vicinity. They can make an A five so that was later on, after about a year after my dad arrived there to this island. And then after that school there was there was this little tiny run up there at the north end where the colored men had been teaching and I the school and eventually

Unknown Speaker 9:50
were that capitalism or whatever, where

Unknown Speaker 9:58
I could physically They were the last to set the last north in school or not the city school was was in that flat area. On the right hand side. We're going north on the North End Road. And then it meets the Brentwood road and there was a there's a little white house there now and the school was there. That's where the that's where the officers. Actually there was a lady teacher who was there. Part of it. She came there some time when my dad was teaching at the Central School, but I can't tell you just exactly what year the two came but there wasn't a teacher there for a while. When that school, Dean mode, I believe it's the last June children she is now was the last one to be teaching at that Central School because when they had consolidation in 1940, April 1 1940 That is a new big school in Ganges. All the schools could possibly make it brought the children down to that for that opening, and then they all rock it was over then they all went back to their own schools and then finished out their term until they the new term started like in September. And then from then on, of course, all those schools eventually closed down except for the beaver point one. So they did some of the old families like the Samson's had a large family and there's jewelry coming in. And his children, he had three children and they also went there. And one incident I remember that there's no facility school was in 1919 33. I was working at Morris boarding house, which was a building just to cross promote store in those days. And over the many years, every school put on a Christmas card, so that you had to get all the screws contents in in one week. Of course, there was always one or two nights when, when, every when or when both when there would be two cars going in one. So you had to pick which 1am I going to go to. And this is granny Morris went out with Reverend Rittman the nature to minister up to the north and screw her see this Christmas concert. And while they were there, we got a dreadful storm and I've ever ever known on this island for wind. And I blew so furiously that to the tree, it blew all trees down in every direction. In fact, there are 28 trees down between Rock Road, I guess, a little bit of a hill on the other side of Rock Road between there and the house were 28 trees on road. And that will give you an idea of what happened that day. And so we're on their way back from this from this concept. There was this dreadful storm and so when they when they were coming back from the north end, they got to the cemetery. That's the Anglican cemetery below. Central and Mr. Rhythm Briskman stopped on the other side of the hill and he said, Shall we rate and she said no, I think we've got to keep going. So he started the car off again and a nurse and decided that she looked back and two trees came right down where they had been parked. So it was quite an accredited time. Now that the bigger points grew really was just about as old as we as the central screw because it was built by Sam Turner base and his son Charlie, and they admitted was opened on September 26. At five it's not a very large school. So it wouldn't have taken very long to build it most likely was built in the summer because dad was already teaching series, which was really the central store but they always call it the series raffles Augustus Robert pretty buid why

Unknown Speaker 13:27
then the next one is Fulford school. Mr. Sparrow Gabler, David and for the first school apparently there were two that it was just another one in the back, which was built in 1871. And Bob Aikman was telling me about it that it was a few feet behind the second school now that is the that is the house that you see on the way down in the valley. When you go down this hill. On your left hand side, you'll see the the holy farm and the house there the unusual type roof. And that is now when it was Maggie Lee's husband, a teacher who owned this place. And both them Bob Iger in the same book, his father and mother. One was born in 1871. The other one was born in 73. And they both went to school. So it is also quite it's quite a school. And he had a few pictures there of the search term. He had pictures of the of his family and Mr. Drives and some other old timers in 1996. Taken when they had to be clearing the site, Chris Newell days if you wanted to land you had to have a team of oxen and stone boats take away all the rocks free the way we wanted to get. This is as they call it, the blu ray book being broken down I suppose would be the proper name for it. And it was used right until the consolidation. Then, Isabella pointscore was also an early school. You may have read recently that Edie Lumley died and he had lived down in that area to develop Point Road. He was 8485 years old when he died, but he used to go there 75 years years ago, we'll ever do anything 80 or 99, I should say. Was it 96 He was about to go to school because it has to be six kids are always the if they have to be six, five is not enough yet, and he's given me the numbers, the date is 99. But if it's 96, and, and but this is what Bob says about says about school in those days, he said, I rather I quoted this because I thought it was very nice what he said and I agree with him. Bob Aikman, felt that the children were taught better, had more discipline, were taught to live properly, not only to read and write, but seldom, you seldom heard of children getting into trouble in those days, but it's a different age now. And in those days, he felt that they were better behaved and had more personal instruction. And he also felt that Jessie Toynbee was his favorite teacher, she had a lot of patience and explaining another wonderful way of teaching. We learned more from her than any other teacher now, and Jesse, Jesse taught in three different schools and she only had a short term and in different ones, apparently, she taught in it. It didn't say how long she taught there. But I think it was just for a short time. She taught in the cranberry cranberry and she taught in one of the school and have somewhere else to come to in a minute or two. She also taught up in the cranberry right and her and her cousin Winnie Mercer toward the divide

Unknown Speaker 16:37
but that's been rotated the divide divide school I get to get into significant Blackburn road. But the cranberry school was up repping, the cranberry and just passed Rajat place was on the right hand side and just past the gardener's, and then there was another event where the school was right on the edge of the road towards a great deal always building to come down probably now but but to teach you that they had at Granby, that particular year which would have been in 1919, lending 2019 9019, Senior as the as the Ganges schools 1919, they had only one child left in each county, these are all the older children from all those families had already gone to the primary school and grown up and gone. And so there was this one led to be fairly they only had five actually met and you had to have six had to screw open. And so when the last one from each one of these, each one of these families, there were, well, they're actually two in the garden, the family or the unfreedom of Ricardo, Lorna Rogers murder, Nazis are the last ones of that family. And so they came down to the, to their teacher, Hannah Freezy to the divide school. And that was 1923. ABS going back now to 22. Already when then we get to the divide school, really Mercer taught there at that school, and she had some of the biggest family and the Gilberts gardeners and Cartwright families. People probably you wouldn't know, maybe it may not have heard of me, I guess you would have heard of the bases anyway. And the weight limbs and we also went to the, to the school to divide and of course, years later, well, then in 1916, there was a very heavy snowfall, and the roof came in. And so the coast the school wasn't open again until 1920. That time it was when they brought down or had the first teacher there. That is when Mary and I had been going to or we've had gone to the Ranger School in 1919 when it opened, but that was in September, and then when they reopened the the device go we were closer to that. So we were told to go no, no, no. No, I'm not going to school, going to school number 1035 years later. So what I'm referring to it it didn't come until it wasn't open till much later.

Unknown Speaker 19:21
Where the Catholic Church was

Unknown Speaker 19:23
in the in the dirt on Brick Road. Yes. Good to that one in a minute. Yes. We had our first teacher was Miss bus 1920. And so we had our education up there to great including grade eight. At the divide school. It was a little red building. In fact, I think it was the only school on the island there was a little red schoolhouse. And it was situated on a flat piece of ground overlooking for the call Blackburn's Lake locally because the Blackburn's live down below and knowing the property there but at the back of it was all surrounded on three sides with trees and had this little playground area in front of the church. The church was sent It was really the little red schoolhouse. And we had no have been out. But that was laid out for someone to use and, and unfortunately to fire so we got burned down. Below sort of God's house there is only the only teacher it was only the School on the island where we had two sets of teachers who had twin sisters. And I don't think that ever happened to any of the other schools. But when, which is rather strange when we when we read their third teacher, our first one was Miss bass. And then we had Mr. Mayer, he had come from India. And of course, he kept us very interested all the time and telling us all kinds of stories about what to do when they're crossing a bridge, how they take their trunk on to save bridges safe and all this sort of thing. So we've made the lessons quite interesting. And then we had done. Then we had the death of carnuba Vancouver, who was a very wonderful teacher. And then probably then we had Ruth hold, I should say, and then Anna frasi. From the diverse she came down with all the children that she had had up at the end when they put the two classes together and had to come down to the divide. And then we had Volker new. And that was of course, when I left after that because my great teacher. But when we had these other major routes, Holt was the first one of the twins. And they're sometimes their sister. Ruth has disturbed Mary would come up from Victoria and we couldn't tell her apart tonight, and then Lucia married Mr. Gregory D live on the island here for a while and Ruth Holt married Stanley red. And then the next one teacher that they had was named Paul Harris. And she had a twin who was also identical Margaret Harris, and she also used to come round. Students couldn't tell them apart. Now getting to the Ganges score, which as I say came 34 years later, opening in September 1919. Now, it did strike me as very strange when I read through my notes to find out how much later it was that all the other schools had been in existence. And then we're going to school we're finally built. And Miss Arlene Burns was the first teacher when it was screwed up, Nexon. Drake wrote on the left hand side of the road, Miss burns, and now has now returned to the island and she's in Greenwich and I went in to see her the other day and she was very pleased when I told her I was your very first student that you had that first year, but I got sick and I had to and you know, I lost a lot of times of course, a few months later we went up to divide school. But she's She seems very well I was very pleased to see here. Now the first high school in Ganges within the jail, which was right beside again to school and just just a very roomy between the two. And it was very small school. I think Mr. Brand and Mr. Park have the names of the first two high school teachers that we had there. I know my cousin, DC Barisan another friend of ours, Adams cut right down the road from us went to that school, on their bicycle. Of course in those days, you had to ride a bicycle or walk wherever you were going. There were no buses. It was a permanent job. It was never really used. They didn't really have anybody to put it aside. I remember one day going there. When when my mother went to visit this lady Jimmy Rogers was the policeman then. And of course, they lived in this house and this lady in his jail was proud of it. And so she had put all her all her bottles and stuff that she made, she put on the shelves of this, use the jail as a storage for her or her bottle food and everything. And so so she was showing mother this and then she locked the door and locked me in it. And she said now you can never say you hadn't been in jail. I was about five or six years and about six years old. And anyway, then then the second high school was our first high school. And then our second high school was the they moved over to the exhibition building, which was next to the mind Hall. You know where the mind Hall was and you're going towards the main school. There's a big tree on your left and you can drive either side of it with your car, and right beside that tree with the entranceway and the cloakroom for the school visit the big long run school and it had been what the exhibition building what they're used for all the chickens and rabbits. And then the main hall, the main purpose of mine Hall, really but this was the extra building and they used to have shows every year pretty well. So it was quite a

Unknown Speaker 24:46
deal.

Unknown Speaker 24:49
Well, they didn't use it out to ask me once got it his school was kept in the school never had any chickens in there again. No, Norway. No that didn't allow that. Well, I think they may. They may know Haven't had as many shows as they did before, perhaps people, maybe the things were changing a lot and they weren't getting as many reps and chickens but anyway, no once it was as good remained as the school and we had a marvelous teacher there, Mr. Archie Robertson, he taught 10 subjects in grades 910 and 11. And he also was junior matric and he also taught grade eight and he had 25 pupils. No, he was simply a wonderful teacher. And this is what we had to learn. We had a lot of homework too, but this is what we had to learn geometry, algebra, arithmetic, physics, Latin, French composition, French grammar, English literature, English Composition, world progress, history, drawing and painting and subtract geography as well. So no button to that was a fantastic for one teacher to teach all those grades and all those subjects. Talk about the work today. I don't think there's a teacher today that could excel. Anything that he did. We really thought he was a wonderful teacher.

Unknown Speaker 26:00
Is this the man that had?

Unknown Speaker 26:05
Robertson? I don't know. I don't know. Well, I think you might mean, Mr. Dodds, what do you mean, Mr. Dog? Because he, he may have company and my mother came from Cambridge to and her father was a professor met with he was an appointment. I was given a position up there at the University of Durham. And he died, unfortunately, because he went over on a trip. My grandmother had the three children, she couldn't go and he took a trip or a holiday or vacation to Switzerland, and he dreamt he was a nun. You know, he's a teetotaler didn't begin his wines and things that they have there and in Europe, and he drank some of the water and he got typhoid and died right there and his big bearded Chardonnay and make Geneva so he never did get back home to England. It was such a loss because he was a young, very brilliant young man. Anyway. But this did teach you rose Archie Robertson, he was an excellent teacher. And he told us afterwards he was his first school to which is more amazing still. Then now we come to the consolidated school, the new element mentary. I think they call it the elementary now, but it was a new consolidated school because it meant the closing down of all the other schools, except for the appointment, which I think was developed. And it didn't get chosen right away. Anyway. And so John Purvis Duquesne here is the principal and he was the principal of this new consolidated school, but as soon as the war started, and he joined up and so we told him who had been this teacher to divide school and became the president. And I wonder boy years. So old gangster schools are used man halls, Christmas concerts versus old schools. And of course, that was the beginning of the school buses. Two schools versus now the third High School, which is now called the government. The Gulf and secondary is on top of the hill above the elementary, and that opened with a t 1964. I don't need to tell you much about anything like that presents are new, and so is the new Furman school, the North, which is the second north in school, and I understand they're looking for a name for it now because the name from that school would conflict with the brimstone Victoria. So I don't know what they'll call it, but it actually reads the second north in school. And it was opened in September 1978. Maybe we should go back to that because it was the original name and the new Fulford school that's pending now, but I guess that'll be before. But they were but they were originally my dad was only really central. I don't think he ever moved. Because at some time during his his teaching, no, no, at some time during the teaching, he noted I think it was Mr. Jones who did that. He went back and forth between when they had the good Lord building, and then that was taken down and then they eventually a bit a bit better schools and

Unknown Speaker 28:51
maybe for the first I've got some information on this man because he graduated from a private school in Ohio. Oberlin College, got it

Unknown Speaker 29:14
of Xerox material from the archive, about this German stamp. So if anybody were to pursue that idea of naming Fernwood school after that original original teacher, I think that would be kind of interesting myself could help him out

Unknown Speaker 29:36
and now they're just personal. You know, there's more to Nathan's gonna make on the, on the teaching of small classes in small schools because that's what we gave up when he got the new school, really. Every new every little school had his own board of trustees. And Eric was every school had an annual visit from the inspector. I remember one time and inspector came around, and I was just in little girl in this when I was in the divide schools in Britain, the beginning and the first reader or second reader or something like that anyway, and he asked me what seven and eight were and I told him 15. And then he walked around some more. And after I came back and said, What are eight and seven were so scattered, that I didn't know what to say. And he gave the teacher most rifle drilling after which we're not, we're not drilling the students on in both ways. It turned out the math is one of my good subjects out there. And then we have always had a visit every year from Dr. Sutherland, who was the lead doctor here. And she had come here to take over the practice of Dr. Allen beach. Dr. Allen Beach was the son of Dr. Ronald Beach, who now beach had the was the one who was responsible for building the first lady mental hospital. And then his son went to join up and that was the first week I'm talking about. And so Dr. Selim came well then, when he when he, when the war was over, he came back to get his practice back. She didn't want to get it back to him. So then he had to move off the uneven up to the Okanagan, somewhere. However, Dr. Sutherland was very deaf, and she didn't hear very well. And so he used to come around to all the schools and test everybody's, you know, everybody's lungs and so on. Schools, and all the rest of it, because it's probably the only time they ever got tested. And when we were at the high school, I remember all of them when he came out from being tested, you know, she touched on just checked it out. Like this, you see, and through all remote came up and he said, he said when she said the shorted out I said under my breath to

Unknown Speaker 31:46
say number syllables, so she could have

Unknown Speaker 31:57
also been going to the schools because not any any bus. Everybody had to walk or bike, riding a bike to school, and everybody carried their lunch and allowed yourself in we used to have all kinds of games, particularly Rounders outside, and we also used to do some drill work too. And I remember I wrote a play once and gotten on Rogers to acting and I was the prince she was the princess and as I didn't have any male attire, she went to go her brother's brown suit for me to wear as the prince. And then we're talking about the linchpins to my sister's, the eldest boy was walking up the hill from the Goodwin road and there was a girl working in front of him and treating the lunch pail nerdy like this, and caught him on the front tooth and kicked off his front tooth. Of course, it was an accident. And I also used to compose stories and tell the rest of the family. Several other members like the badasses, Stevens is used to work with us, and stories to tell him stories on the road coming and going the Droid or nobody were anything like that, because he couldn't leave it at the school for a day or anything like that. We had a variety of different teachers here. There was one teacher I was going to tell you about earlier, when we were talking about the Central School. She's she bought it at the bronze at the golf course and the Wilsons read it Norman Wilson. And he was a great one for playing pranks, and, you know, having lots of parties and so on. So it took they took this girl out to sell this for with this good pitcher, and all the credit numbers, I mean, because they like to have these things and they'd have that this what they call the paper chase, and somebody would go around ahead and put the paper here and there and touch into some of the bushes and different things around the trees or anything. And they would follow one too after another where to go to next. And so they went round after this thing. And they went through all this bush land, which is on the left hand side of the upper Ganges road and my husband bought it after the war and so belongs to us now, but anyway, they went all through that and when they got to the end of the replace there was a fence you see. And so when they got there this girl was going alive is getting dark in the evening and trying to follow these signs. And when they got to the very end it just got to the end and non Wilson was bleeding in the bush and he sent over shock from his father from his gun and this poor girl would collapse no good things they had a terrible time you're biting

Unknown Speaker 34:22
little boys and girls.

Unknown Speaker 34:25
These are these are adults regarded.

Unknown Speaker 34:35
And then the most is he moved here in 19 in 1885. That was and so that day was along with these other people I think I mentioned in the beginning cause and the motivation and Norton's a lot of these larger families practically filled with stool, although there were other children too. Now that I've covered all the all the public schools and private schools heavy If it was such a long time before Ganges had a school, you can understand that there would have been a lot of private schools. Now Mr. Tolson is Deanna Tilson was the head, the first private school on the Ganges Hill opposite Dean road. And it's at the corner of bingo road is that large houses you see in the Seabreeze article, it used to be called mega years with the Bardwell family lived there later but anyway, he had his as a boy school was very strangely there. Later on, there were two more boys, private schools, and in each case, every school to do came here, was married and he had one daughter and no sons, but he had all these needs. All three are the same. They all had just one daughter. They had all these boys schools. So this was Mr. Tolson. And then there was an English governance out there and this is private you going across to my level, which was her name, and she taught the two daughters of Luna and she her Wilkinson, major green mountains and sunny point, right to those ponds where they used to be so bad in mosquitoes, but I think they've done something about it now. They're in it out somehow or doing something really confused to be dreadful. Mosquitoes. And anyway, later, more money and ever since married Joe. So any, any of you who know? No, Dick Roy, he was inducted he was their adopted son and they brought him in he just the baby. And anyway, this is where I used to come down to our place on Saturdays and teach us three girls singing. And then Mrs. Dunn Haley, she had a private school she lived out at the north end. Shadows featuring to teach students Betty and Sheila She also taught violin and George Halle was Mr. Donnelly, still appellees brother, and he left the property with the best use and the most of you will know the best. And he also built the castle on castleisland, which had hardwood floors and the snake roof. Unfortunately, you know, when they left it, the seagulls came in knew to drop all their clam shells, they could pick up the cones and drop the shells on that slick move and they broke the roof and it ruins the house, which was unfortunate. And this is done. Haley had the school and he was Mr. And her brother in law Mr. George Halley, who rather are betting on Mr. George Haley who built the castle around castle and I thought you might like to know that well in the same house had a lot of different people in it because that's where this lady doctor started selling at and did you go with this practice of duck down beaches and then she had a sister who came out here and this morning. She was the sister and she was very good at to theatricals. And so she and Mr. Wilson a number of other people got together and formed the first spin players now I don't think they call it that they didn't have a different name for it. It's something like the sauce behind players but the most fantastic dramatic things and Mrs. Smith Mrs. AJ Smith was the one who directed she had been I think she'd been to New York anyway she she did a fantastic job of it so I thought maybe you might like to know that this started when I was about a girl five or six years old. And when they first had to they used to have these wonderful marvelous scenery they had painted and then from Duncan nice scenery. They were stored under mount hole for years and whether they've seen is still there. Finished. I don't know what's happened. Well, the projections were all knothole Yes, yes. It was used to use for that purpose. It's

Unknown Speaker 38:34
been on my mind about writing an article because I know about this Mrs. Smith lady. Anyway, you can get pictures or you know any kind of details on

Unknown Speaker 38:45
that he has that pictures on

Unknown Speaker 38:53
there in the mall? Yes. She did wonderful pictures, telling you. She's wonderful, a wonderful place to live from Bloomsbury and then she did that one opposite when she didn't and then we also don't. I started later in Victorian production better. Roll they did all kinds of us. Charlie's out was one of them. But there was another one. That was another one here. What was that one? Then Mrs. There were a lot of different people in in different times, of course and this is how he was Mr. Cropper, the teacher. Mr. Coffee was good. He was another copper he was another friend. No, he wasn't the reason he didn't know Mr. Cropper. You have to be the vendor. The road nerd near kept loose. And he had he had a private school to Africa. Thanks for reminding me. That's another one I've got. Let's see no and he has missed already. So they started really quite early with all those productions. And Mr. Case, Mauritius The next step is father Debbie Bradley's father. This was the case MERS was it there were a lot of major Turner. Yes. Now then there was the oxen school was the other. They didn't give him a significant Miss Nichols? Yeah. Miss Nichols. She had a. She had a school at all. And by the way, Dr. Sutherland also had a housekeeper whose name was Mrs. Hardy and she had the two daughters, Marjorie and Joan. Joan is Mrs. Melt John Millman now. And they went to the friendship School, which is that one you see when you come down, you know where the creamery Hill is, which is just the hill by the bakery now, but it used to go around in a curb over to that fence and the gateway you see Ferncliff on it at the gate, it went all around the curb and then came back against the bottom of the hill. And all that was all brushy and trees and things. And you couldn't use it. You know, you couldn't you drove right around. right angles circle preternaturally in the old days, and then we're Ferncliff is the gateway going into that phase where the ravine is and there's a bridge going over in three trees in the house. That's where this Nichols had her school. And she had, right. Yes, right in that house there. Yes. And that. That was it was she had hers. And then there was the alternative school, which was perhaps the biggest one of all of them. And this was when Mr. Tolson retired to go to VidCon. Again, Does he miss Ashton had her school there and she sent her this Mr. Oxman from England who came up to me and told the boys in the end it was a boy school, then she then they got married, and then she had this daughter. So as I say, again, we had another another person, teacher who had just one daughter, but he had this boy school. And then there was maybe getting them who came she had a private girls school, she lived over and taught in an apartment over the trading company. And she was, I don't know what you want here really very long with the 1924 1925. And she was to come down on Saturdays, and give us them dancing lessons. So she told us to waltz and Foxtrot and we were just like 12 or so. Mr. Cropper, I forgot about him. I think he was in a marksman phase but Deimos is Edie was the deputy

Unknown Speaker 42:25
Mr. Cockrell, yes Mr. Sun

Unknown Speaker 42:46
I didn't know anything about the children. Anyway he thought he I thought he lived out there at kindergarten there

Unknown Speaker 43:01
were made the Dean's house would have

Unknown Speaker 43:09
been one

Unknown Speaker 43:12
yes, yes. We knew we knew village out there. Yes, yes. We knew each other we couldn't think where his school was. Was all Israel anyway. Well,

Unknown Speaker 43:27
the funeral parlor is in today is in

Unknown Speaker 43:37
a corporate tug of war. Your students are moved. They moved from there they were they were originally they got the oxygen dig up the teeth up there. But then they moved from there and they went down to the patient to was good is the funeral parlor. Right on Jackson Avenue. I think they call it