This is a first edition copy of the Victorian School Readers (Eighth Book) issued by the Education Department of Victoria. These readers were first published in 1928 and became standard texts for all school children up to Year Eight. They complemented the School Paper which had been published monthly for different year levels since the end of the 19th century. Both the Readers and the School Papers were in widespread use until the late 1940s and the early 1950s. William McCullagh and his wife Margaret had the property Oak Grove at Yangery at the end of the 19th century and in the early decades of the 20th century. Yangery is an agricultural area situated between Woodford and Koroit. There is a record of Silvie Jean McCullagh (parents – William and Margaret) born in 1914 and this is probably the person who owned and used this reader. This book is of interest not only because it is a first edition copy of one of the well-known Victorian School Readers but also because it was connected to the McCullagh family of Oak Grove, Yangery. This is a hard cover book of 260 pages. The cover was originally a burnished brown colour but the book has been covered with a mottled patterned cloth material (red, green and brown). The cover is partly torn off at the bottom of the spine. The book has poetry and prose extracts and includes many black and white sketches, maps, photographs and illustrations. The inscription and some other annotations throughout the book are handwritten in pencil. ‘Sylvia McCullagh, Oak Grove, Yangery, Dennington P. Office’ history of warrnambool, oak grove, yangery, mccullagh family, school readers

This book was given in 1929 to Alma McCullagh by the Dennington Sabbath (Sunday) School with the teacher being R. Conn. The Dennington Presbyterian Church was originally established in Drummond Street in 1918. In 1951 it was moved to Lindsay Street and demolished in 1968. R. Conn may be Ruby Conn who was born in Warrnambool in 1890 to Joseph and Ann Conn. Joseph Conn was a blacksmith from Illowa in the late 19th century (today in that area we have Conn’s Corner and Conn’s Lane). The McCullagh family had a property in Yangery named Oak Grove.This book is of interest because of the 1920s connection to the Dennington Presbyterian Church, the Conn family and the McCullagh families.This is a hard cover book of 256 pages. The cover is green with red and black lettering and an image of two men and two women inside a building. The cover is torn away on the back right hand corner. There are five full page black and white illustrations scattered throughout the text. The inscriptions are handwritten in black ink. There is a stamp of a lion on the first page.‘Presbyterian Sabbath School Dennington, Prize awarded to Alma McCullagh, January 1929, R. Conn, Teacher’ ‘Alma McCullagh Dennington’ ‘Alma McCullagh’ alma mccullagh, joseph conn, illowa, history of warrnambool