Historical information

This is an early school reader for junior classes. It was used by members of the Giles family at Wangoom State School. This book has the names Robert Giles and Stella Giles. The Giles family lives on the Allansford Road. Wangoom School commenced in 1865 as Wangoom Common School, No. 645. After 1872 the Common School system was abolished and it became Wangoom State School. It is now closed.

Significance

This book is of interest as an early 20th century example of a school reader used in Victoria. It has no Australian content. It is also of interest as a book used at Wangoom State School by members of the Giles family, early settlers in the Warrnambool area.

Physical description

This is a hard cover book of 190 pages. The cover is black with embossed lettering and ornamentation (much of which is now indecipherable). The front and the back of the book have missing pages. The text contains many black and white illustrations, some of which have been coloured in by hand. Some pages are torn and the spine of the cover is torn at the top. There is some scribble in the book, with the decipherable material handwritten in black ink.

Inscriptions & markings

‘Robert Percy Giles, Wangoom, November 5th 1903’
‘Stella Giles’