page_title: St George's School, Carlton
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St George's School, Carlton / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Fr O'Connell, photograph of St. George's Carlton, Parish Priest
context_page_description: St George's School, Carlton was a Catholic Church school located in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne and was part of a parish complex which included a church, a hall and a school for boys and one for girls each using the same or similar school name. The school and church opened around May 1856 and operated from a bluestone building which served as both church and school. It was considered a fine example of one of the earliest parish schools established in Melbourne.
context_section_description: Following the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s and the granting of statehood to the Colony, the population of Melbourne rose quickly from 177 at the time of settlement in 1836 to 80,000 in 1854 and just seven years later that figure had risen to 140,000. The needs of the ever-expanding population led to the establishment of places of worship, hospitals and schools.
  Over the years 1855 and 1856 a simple single aisled bluestone church, consisting of a nave and tower, was constructed on land granted to the Catholic Church in Carlton. This building, known as St George's, Carlton, was to serve a dual purpose as a church on Sundays and a school during weekdays and remained in use as a school for many years. In 1866 a transept was added to the church to cater for the expanding local population and its children. James Hennessy O'Connell was made pastor to the parish in 1881 and began raising funds to expand the complex which later included the erection of a new church, the Church of the Sacred Heart in 1899, new school buildings and a hall.
  Prior to the formal opening of the church in 1856, a small school, known as St. George's, operated from a nearby house. In the early years the children of St George's parish were taught by Catholic lay teachers and were mostly segregated into classes for boys, taught by males, and girls taught by women. Classes were under the charge of a teacher who had received their training and certification overseas, to a large extent in Ireland. These 'head' teachers were supported by one or two assistants and came under the auspices of the Parish priest. In 1857 the school enrolment totalled over 120 boys and girls; rising to 349 in 1870 and then to 579 in 1892. The first boy enrolled was William Levers who later became a member of local government.
  The period 1883 to 1884 saw the erection of a community hall and new schoolroom on the south-east corner of the site which was used by the girls school. The old church building was reconstructed solely for use as a boys school in 1897 when nearby St Brigid's church commenced services and in 1913 St. George's Infant School was established.
  Disaster struck in November 1924 when the original church building was guttered by fire. Although much of the roof had gone new rooms were constructed from what remained of the walls and after this point was used solely as a school.
caption: J.H. O'Connell, Parish Priest of St. George's for 40 years
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