page_title: Gowrie, New South Wales
section_title: Gowrie Public School
hierarchical_section_title: Gowrie, New South Wales / Gowrie Public School
caption_attribution_description: English: Gowrie Public School (in NSW, Australia) in 1887. The two ladies near the fence in the background are sisters, Mrs. Henry Whitten (nee Elizabeth Mason) and Mrs. Alec Barthgate (nee Grace Mason). The teacher is David Edward Rhind with his wife and baby. Most of the children, including the girls were wearing elastic-side boots which were the fashion.
context_page_description: Gowrie is a locality situated 1.6km to the West of the New England Highway and approximately 29 km South of Tamworth in the New England area of New South Wales.
  Australia Post identifies the district as a 'Delivery Area' within NSW post code area of 2340. Australian Bureau of Statistics identifies the area as a Community with a population of 92 as at the 2016 census.
  The district is the area bounded by the New England Highway in the east, from Bartons Lane south to Mt. Sugarloaf. From Mt Sugarloaf the boundary follows the Peel Range in a north-westerly direction to Mt. Emblem, Mt. Heath and to where Heath Road meets the Werris Creek Road. It then follows Heath Road back to Bartons Lane, which forms the northern boundary. This is the area generally regarded as Gowrie. The land North of Gowrie between Bartons Lane and the Duri-Dungowan Road was once part of Walhallow Station, whose headquarters was at Caroona. All connections with Walhallow were severed when the last of the land not settled on, was sold off in 1910 - refer Early Settlement below.
context_section_description: The residents of Gowrie made an application for the establishment of a school in 1880 and appropriate land had been identified by July 1881. A 0.8 hectare block was formally dedicated for school use on 12 January 1883 and a further 8 hectares were added on 21 August of the same year. Inspector Mr W. F. Thompson recommended the building of a weatherboard school to accommodate forty-five pupils and a residence with three rooms and a kitchen at an estimated total cost of £650. His recommendation was adopted and tenders were called in August 1882. The school opened in February 1884 with John Reily as its teacher. He was to remain there until August 1886.
  "The school was fortunate to have a residence built to accommodate the teacher and his family (even if it was inadequate). But even then conditions were severe; chimneys that did not draw properly, very little drinking water, often times children had to carry their own ‘drink’ to school. Most children rode horses or drove sulkies in the pre-car days, some walked 3 or 4 miles, and often in bare feet, winter and summer."
  The original brick building and residence was condemned and demolished after many years of service and replaced with a weather board building brought up from Willow Tree. 
  The school finally closed December 1969 (officially 21 January 1970)
caption: Gowrie Public School in 1887. The two ladies near the fence in the background  are sisters, Mrs. Henry Whitten (née Elizabeth Mason) and Mrs. Alec Barthgate (née Grace Mason). The teacher is David Edward Rhind with his wife and baby. Most of the children, including the girls were  wearing  elastic-side boots which were the  fashion.
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