Vertical file containing information about Woodbury College, Cotham Road, Kew (Vic). The file includes historically significant primary sources relating to the former Woodbury College [c.1898-1920] and Lillsden Ladies' College, Edgevale Road, Kew (Vic) [c.1891-1903]. In addition to manuscripts, the file also includes photographs and ephemera such as a metal school badge, a hatband and printed programs and school magazines. The file [as of 2020] includes materials donated between 1986 and 2005 by descendants of the second principal (Miss Macey), and by former students and or their descendants.
The contents of the vertical file include:
1. School origins : undated handwritten manuscript [2pp];
2. Annual Reports : Handwritten manuscripts for the years 1908, 1909, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920 by Miss LJ Macey;
3. Prize List : undated manuscript [3pp];
4. School Magazine ; undated handwritten manuscripts about the origin of the school's magazine;
5. Woodbury Chat [school magazine] : printed booklets from the years 1918, 1919, 1920 x 2;
6. Correspondence [sundry] : handwritten letters from a parent [1916] and a former pupil (sic) [1938] to Miss Macey;
7. Exercise Books : one containing a handwritten history of the school(s) and the names and addresses of former students and teachers; and the other containing information relating to the National Home Reading Union, Kew Circle [1912-c.1916].
8. Metal school badge and photographic negative of students.
The names of various donors are listed in the file: they include Ann Ransom, Muriel Coghlan, Helen Lade, and Lilian McRae (nee Houston).
Historical information
Woodbury College is an indirect predecessor of Preshil School in Kew. Woodbury College was founded in c.1898 in Glenferrie Road by a Miss Harcourt, former principal of Sydenham College, Moonee Ponds. Miss Harcourt maintained the school until the goodwill was purchased in 1908 by Miss LJ Macey, who had previously operated Lillsden Ladies' College in Edgevale Road, between c.1891 and c.1903. The first school was in a rented building on the south side of Cotham Road between Atkins and Davis Streets. In 1910, a new school building was built on the corner of Uvadale Grove and Cotham Road [the building is still extant as of 2020]. Woodbury College was operated by Miss Lizzie J and Miss Harriet J Macey until 1920. In 1921, the school amalgamated with the newly formed St Andrew's College, Mont Victor Road, Kew (Vic) under the leadership of Rev JT Lawton [who had previously been principal of St Andrew's School of the 'Pathfinder' in South Yarra]. Miss Macey was for a period the Headmistress of the amalgamated school. Another teacher at the school was Miss Margaret JR Lyttle, who in 1931, left St Andrew's to form the Preshil School.
Significance
The file includes historically and socially significant manuscripts pertaining to the former Woodbury College in Cotham Road, Kew (Vic). These records provide a significant and unique perspective of the aims and practices of privately-provided education in the first two decades of the 20th century. The most important sections of the file are the handwritten annual reports by Miss LJ Macey, Principal of Woodbury College between 1908 and 1920. The latter were donated by Ms Doretta Bucknell in 1989.
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