Physical description

Book, hard cover. First edition. Melbourne, Vic., Melbourne University Publishing, 2009. By David Baillieu. 389 pages.
BMDHS Location: AR/SU63/S2

Publication type

non-fiction

Summary

Robert Lawson was the first Principal of Scotch College in Melbourne. He was Principal of Scotch College from 1851 until 1856. He later acquired land in the Pentland Hills near Bacchus Marsh and operated a school at Blackwood which he called the Landsberg Mains School. It was also known as the Landsberg Academy. The school opened in 1857 and operated under Lawson's direction until 1868. The school building was an imposing bluestone structure which came to be known as Landsberg House.The school was very successful for a time in the 1860s attracting students from across Victoria. Lawson died in 1869 and the school continued to operate until 1880 under a different Principal. Lawson is considered a pioneer educationalist in Australia. This is a substantial and scholarly biography about Lawson and his wife Isabella Wilson. Several chapters explore the time Lawson spent operating his school at Blackwood.