Historical information

This book was given as a prize to Dorothy Donalson who was a pupil at the Warrnambool State School. No. 1743. This school was opened in 1876 in Jamieson Street, Warrnambool, following the 1872 Education Act bringing free, secular and compulsory education to Victoria. Several other Government- sponsored primary schools that existed in Warrnambool in the early 1870s closed when the school in Jamieson Street opened. The school still operates today. The name, ‘Dorothy Donalson’ may be a spelling mistake and may be meant to be Dorothy Donaldson who was living in Derby Street, Warrnambool at that time. Her father Cyril and his brother had a timber yard in Raglan Parade.

Significance

This book is an excellent example of the type of book given as a prize to school girls in Victoria in the 1930s. The author, May Wynne was a popular and prolific writer of the time. If the book belonged to a member of the Donaldson family, then this is of interest as the Donaldson timber business was a prominent one in Warrnambool at the time.

Physical description

This is a hard cover book of 255 pages. The cover is grey with black lettering on the front and the spine and an image of two schoolgirls in black and grey on the front cover. The book also has a dust cover with a multi-coloured image of the same two schoolgirls on the front cover. The dust cover has been reinforced with white paper pasted on the inside of the cover. The name plate is blue-coloured and has an ornamental edging with the information handwritten in black ink. The book contains 18 chapters and has a full-page black and white illustration at the front of the book.

Inscriptions & markings

‘S.S. No. 1743 Warrnambool
Presented to Dorothy Donalson, First Prize, Grade V11 Girls, 1934’