And even more of carpentry, blacksmithing and rural arts
My brother inherited the bush and carpentry gene, and I the pedagogical one… Carpentry etc. is a Whitfield thing going back close to 200 years here in NSW, but I managed at 11 to even mess up making a teapot stand! So the Christison gene of teaching passed from John Hampton Christison, self-appointed but often successful “Professor” of Scottish Dancing and Etiquette — he even wrote a book on these subjects — to his son Roy Hampton Christison, to his grand-daughter, my Aunt Beth, to me and to several of my cousins.
A picture on the Facebook Shellharbour History Page prompted this chain of thought today.
Long Trek – Kids riding their horses to Shellharbour Public School in 1930.
I commented: “My mother would have been able to identify them! Her father Roy Christison was Headmaster in 1930.” Indeed, that is when he commenced his appointment.
Grandpa Roy and Grandma Ada, Shellharbour c. 1932
He began his career in 1904 as a pupil-teacher — the training method in those days — at Plunkett Street Public School in Woolloomooloo. That must have been interesting!
Bloody annoying when they do that! But do go and see. I wonder what Grandpa would make of it now!
His first appointment was to Spencer Public School on the Hawkesbury River, in those days accessible only by boat. The story goes he built the first toilet in Spencer and the locals thought this was a bit crazy given the nearness of the river, but I can’t document that story! See also On my grandfather Roy Hampton Christison and his career and More tales from my mother 1 — Spencer, NSW.
So there you have it — 120 years in the teaching game!
Neil's Commonplace Book 