Historical information

This book was given as a school prize to Walter Wright by the Wangoom School in 1873. The name ‘Wangoon’ is on the printed book plate – is this a misprint or an alternative spelling of ‘Wangoom’? Wangoom State School, No. 645, on the Warrnambool/Wangoom Road was opened in 1865 as a Common School. The school is now closed. The Hon. William Bayles, a Melbourne businessman with property near Macarthur, first became a member of the Legislative Council for Villiers and Heytesbury in 1864 and continued until 1880. He was a prominent and popular politician in Warrnambool, regularly giving prizes to pupils of schools in his electorate and in 1872 he offered a £10 prize for the best student in the district. No specific information has been found on Walter Wright or any family named Wright residing in the Wangoom area. There was a piano tuner named W. Wright in the Warrnambool area in the 1870s. Was this Walter’s father?

Significance

This book is of interest because of the connection with Wangoom School, the Hon. William Bayles and Walter Wright. More interest will be created if information comes to light on water Wright.

Physical description

This is a hard cover book of 333 pages plus 32 pages of advertisements for books published by Henry S. King and Co. The cover is dark red with an ornamental pattern in black on the front cover and lettering in gold on the front cover and spine. The book has three full page black and white illustrations with the illustration next to the first page missing. There is a printed book plate pasted onto the inside of the front cover with blue printing and ornamentation and a handwritten name and date. The cover is partly detached from the binding and the cover and pages are somewhat stained and the cover is frayed.

Inscriptions & markings

‘State School, No. 645 Wangoon (sic), Class 3rd, Prize Presented to Walter Wright by the Hon. William Bayles, M.P. for Villiers and Heytesbury, Christmas 1873’.