In 1911, Clifford Stanford wrote to the Secretary for Education in Melbourne, complaining that his current teaching post was 'an out-of-the-way place, and ... far from being a pleasant place to live'.¹ Stanford was head teacher at Otway Saw Mills School 3601, at Henry's No. 1 Mill in the Otways Forest of south-west Victoria. His comments were typical of almost all the teachers who taught at the school during its existence. They complained about the cold, the isolation, the cramped accommodation, their health problems, and how much they wanted to be transferred elsewhere, as soon as possible. Their views, and the response of department bureaucrats, are preserved in the rich records of the Education Department now held by PROV. The correspondence offers a unique insight into the experiences of teachers posted to isolated settlements in Victoria in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this paper I use this material to explore how young teachers responded to living and working in a remote, mountain forest environment, and the rewards and challenges that went with the role.

The completion of railway lines to Forrest in 1890, and to Beech Forest by 1902, stimulated a major timber industry in the Otway Ranges.² Dozens of bush sawmills were scattered through the forest, linked by timber tramways to roads or rail lines. The steep terrain, wet weather and thick forest meant that many mills formed small, isolated settlements. Henry's No. 1 Mill was typical of such places, established in 1904, deep in the watershed of the West Barwon River.³ It was connected by a timber tramline to the railhead at Forrest, ten kilometres to the north, but the mill's isolation meant that a permanent population of around 100 people lived on site. The mill settlement featured rough timber huts for single men and modest wooden houses for married men and their families, along with a boarding house, stables, post office, school and store. In 1927 the mill shed was destroyed by fire, resulting in the gradual abandonment of the site.

Photograph of Henry's Mill, c. 1900. Courtesy of Birregurra District Historical Centre

Agitation for the establishment of a primary school for the children at Henry's Mill commenced within months of the mill's opening in 1904. A range of arguments were made in support of the proposal, including the rent-free provision of a school building and toilets, accommodation for a male teacher, and the availability of pure water at the site. The likely initial attendance was cited as around twelve pupils, but likely to increase to twenty, a margin well above the Education Department's typical minimum of nine children for establishing a school. It was also argued that the timber available to the mill was likely to last at least eight years, and that more married people with children would move to the mill settlement if a school was provided, thereby increasing pupil numbers even further. It was pointed out that the nearest existing school was at Barramunga, five miles away over 'very precipitous country' without roads, and that the parents were willing to accept even an unclassified teacher.⁴ In June 1905 the matter was still unresolved, with the mill children 'running wild' and receiving no formal education at all.⁵ A few months later, however, the mill community agreed to let the matter stand over, as alternative arrangements appear to have been made, with parents sending older children to Melbourne and elsewhere for their schooling.⁶

Similar arguments were made several years later in 1908 when a formal petition to establish a state school at the mill was prepared.⁷ It included the names and birth dates of children likely to attend and details of the proposed school building. The isolated nature of the settlement was again stressed, along with the likely longevity of the sawmill, the number of intending pupils, and the willingness of the mill proprietors to erect a building. Although negotiations took several months to complete, the Education Department eventually agreed to the proposal. It leased the building from the mill owners for a nominal yearly rent of £1, and appointed Leo O'Kelly as head teacher to open Otway Saw Mills School No. 3601 in January 1909.⁸