Historical information

The Kew Common School, which had erected a new building in Peel Street only two years before the passing of the Education Act 1872, was retained and re-badged asState School No 1075, with numerous additions being made over the next few decades. This work forms part of the collection assembled by the historian Dorothy Rogers, that was donated to the Kew Historical Society by her son John Rogers in 2015. The manuscripts, photographs, maps, and documents were sourced by her from both family and local collections or produced as references for her print publications. Many were directly used by Rogers in writing ‘Lovely Old Homes of Kew’ (1961) and 'A History of Kew' (1973), or the numerous articles on local history that she produced for suburban newspapers. Most of the photographs in the collection include detailed annotations in her hand.

Significance

The Rogers Collection provides a comprehensive insight into the working habits of a historian in the 1960s and 1970s. Together it forms the largest privately-donated collection within the archives of the Kew Historical Society.

Physical description

School photograph - The Kew Common School, located on the west side of Peel Street, Kew.

Inscriptions & markings

"Common School - Congregational Church. No.356. Photo taken early 1860s. School 356. Peel St., Rear of Congregational Church. Photo taken in early 1860s"