This extraordinary record of the student cohort in 1908 reveals many aspects of school life in the early 1900's. The fashions, hair coiffure and accessories and added costuming are fascinating. The sport detail from the basketball hoop is significant. This photograph has social significance because of its detail regarding female school activities in the early 1900s. Black and white photograph mounted on grey card of Clarendon Ladies College student cohort in 1908. The students are arranged in five tiered rows. The photograph is taken against wall of a timber building. There is a basketball net fixed to the wall above the last row. Many of the girls are wearing fancy hats, some decorated with birds. Two young girls in the front row wear poster boards over their clothing advertising an event not to be missed; something to do with a menagerie. All the students are dressed in white, some in dresses, some n skirts and blouses and many have aprons over their skirts. The photograph is accompanied with a typed list of namesPrinted on front righthand bottom corner of mount: 'Richards & Co/Ballarat'1908, uniform, richardson, clarendon ladies college, costume, menagerie, hilda farmer, avenel halls, sylvia eyres, ella morrow, florence sides, gertie owen, laela williams, lorna dowler, emma buchanan, phyllis doepel, daisy llewellyn, adeline purser, sophie anderson, helen mathieson, d brophy, lily wright, margaret dowler, dulce deardon, gladys small, marjory howe, jessie kelsall, erica mckay, pearl eyres, iris llewellyn, edith bishop, marjorie walker, violet howard, hazel wlls, effie white, mimi murphy, carrie miners, edith murphy, irene palamountain, miss allan, marjorie salmon, dollie snow, naomi franklin, elsie powell, rachael kennedy, rose paull, sylvia barnett, esther, lilah emblling, trixie kliender, chrissie anderson, agnes wheen, kitty dawbarn, hazel clements, m serjeant, dolly gill, beryl bach, dorothy nicholas, frances gill, meg moore, jessie eyres, blanche murphy, merle booth, melba mcconnel, edna clark, betty lester, bessie hoad, madge dearden, kate cameron, olive mathews, grace nicholas, mollie souter, isabel mctaggart, madge llewellyn, mollie mary buley, alice ralph, ruth tyler, rebecca abraham, joyce eyres, nellie salmon

Jessie McCleverty had a private ladies school in 2 locations in Surrey Hills in the early 1900s. She is not registered in teacher records at PROV. According to Jocelyn Hall's notes her school was located at 12 Durham Road from 1903-1905/6 and from then until 1933 at 44 Windsor Crescent.The earliest date in Sands & MacDougall is c1902 and according to the Victorian Government Gazette 1924, the school closed in 1923. [1933 may be a typo.] She was born in Melbourne in 1862 daughter of George McCleverty and Mary Gill. She had a brother William Edward, b1858, Ballarat East. Her parents may have migrated independently from Ireland. They married in 1856. By 1931 she was retired but still living in Surrey Hills. It is unclear exactly when she moved to Queensland, but she is listed on the electoral roll there for 1943 living with her niece Frances Victoria Shepperd and she died on 26 Jul 1943. She is buried in Toowoomba Cemetery. Fanny Wridgway (1890-1956) was born in Box Hill, the daughter of Frederick Wridgway and his wife Mary Ann (nee Young). She had an older brother Alfred and a younger sister Mary Ann. Box Hill Reporter entry gives her attending Banff Ladies' College in Box Hill in 1904 and she was dux of the school in 1905. Although the original donor indicated that Fanny was a teacher, she is not registered on the PROV Victorian Teachers' Roll. Electoral roll entries consistently indicate that her occupation was 'clerk'. She is buried in Box Hill Cemetery, along with her sister Mary Ann. No information found regarding W M Nance.This a fine example of the standard of work required of a senior student for examination purposes in 1907/1908.An exercise book with alternating lined and plain paper. The cover is beige in colour with a stamped illustration in the top LH corner. The binding is navy coloured cloth tape. it has rounded corners. The pages are numbered in neat black pen in the upper outside corner. An index on the front page indicates the scope of entries and the page number. The book is almost full. Each completed page has been signed by W M Nance. Illustrations and executed in black ink and the detail is very fine. in 2 places there are pressed rose leaves.Front cover in faded black ink: "(No. 1118 Passed in 1907) / Fanny Wridgway / Ladies' High School / Surrey Hills. / N0. 1366. present Exam. Dec. 1908" Back page in faded black ink: "J. M'Cleverty / Principal / Ladies' High School. Surrey Hills" jessie mccleverty, fanny wridgway, nature study, schools, private schools, w m nance, box hill cemetery