Anna Bay School

1979

This is the detailed history as provided in the 1979 Centenary Booklet.  

We acknowledge and thank each contributor and the Centenary Committee for their dedicated work in documenting the history of Anna Bay Public School and the Community.

School Centenary Introduction

Era 1 .. 1770 to 1870's  (Explorers and Pioneers)                                  Additional Historical Information

Era 2 .. 1870's to 1927  (The Early Years)                                             The History of the "Hannah"

Era 3 .. 1927 to 1979 (The Depression, War and Expansion)                 The "Hannah" Award

ANNA BAY PUBLIC SCHOOL                                       ANNA BAY PUBLIC SCHOOL

HEAD TEACHERS 1879-1979                                            ENROLMENTS & AVERAGE ATTENDANCE 1879-1904

Teacher Appointed                                                              Year        Enrolments            Average Attendance

Alfred Holmes                                  11.1879                          1879                 26                            18

John Blackwood                                 5.1882                          1880                 30                            18

Thomas Bowden                                3.1883                           1881                 28                            19

William Thompson                          11.1884                          1882                 27                            20

Walter Weiss                                     1.1889                          1883                  23                            19

John Emery                                       1.1894                          1884                  22                            16

William Rae                                     10.1899                          1885                  23                            18

Francis Goodman                               1.1916                          1886                  21                            17

Bessie O'Brien                                    3.1916                          1887                  26                            20

Charlotte Bowditch                          12.1917                          1888                  22                            17

Janet Smith                                        1.1920                          1889                  23                            20

Eliza McNeil                                      6.1920                          1890                  28                            21

Beatrice Anderson                              1.1923                          1891                  34                            23

Mary Holohan                                    4.1923                         1892                  36                            26

Beatrice Samuels                                 3.1924                         1893                  29                            18

Norman McLaren                             12.1924                         1894                  30                            23

Clarence Selden                                  2.1927                          1895                  32                            20

James English                                     5.1928                          1896                  29                            22

Roy Ford                                            9.1933                          1897                  37                            29

William Scott                                     5.1942                          1898                  29                            17

Alfred Diemar                                    2.1948                          1899                  33                            23

Loftus Chalmers                                 2.1954                          1900                  31                            20

Kenneth Fitzgerald (relieving)            4.1964                          1901                  31                            20

Loftus Chalmers (resuming)                9.1964                          1902                  33                            25

Joseph Palagy (acting)                        6.1975                          1903                  36                            27

John Cains                                          1.1976                          1904                  36                            30

                                                                                                Enrolments from 1905 to 1950 are not available;  

                                                                                                those from 1955 have been given in five year intervals.

                                                                                                1955                  ---                            68

                                                                                                1960                 106                           98

                                                                                                1965                 142                         133

                                                                                                1970                 125                         117

                                                                                                1975                 133                         123

                                                                                                1978                 137                         129

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

How did our district et its name? Most residents are aware that its original name was "Hannah Bay". Popular legend has it that Hannah Bay was named after the vessel "Hannah", alleged to have been wrecked at  One Mile Beach in the early days of Port Stephens.

Is this legend founded on fact? A schooner named "Hannah" is recorded by J K Loney in "Wrecks on the NSW North Coast", where he writes "The remains of a vessel were sighted near Port Stephens by he schooner 'Hannah' in September (1851) but they were never identified.  There is, however, no record of the wreck of a vessel of  this name having occurred in the area.  Early shipwrecks, of course, were not always recorded, and the vessel may well have been a small trader, well-known locally, but of no significance among the multitude of vessels of the early years.

If a wreck was the origin of the name, John J Emery, teacher, was not aware of the occurrence, for in 1896 he wrote "I cannot tell why the  Department adopted "Hannah Bay", because nearly every resident uses the word without the 'H'." (He was seeking to change the school name from "Hannah" to "Anna").

The Geographical Names Board cannot assist us, as it stats that he first official reference to the name was the name of the school. The origin of the name "Hannah" is therefore uncertain. Could it have  been named after a lady?

As John Emery noted, "Anna" gradually replaced "Hannah" in popular usage, so the postal authorities officially changed the name to Anna Bay on May 15, 1896, and the name of the school was altered shortly afterwards.

Whatever the facts, the legend of a shipwreck lives on in our school, for our badge depicts the wreck of a sailing vessel. The badge was designed by pupil Anneke Visser, and with it she won a competition sponsored by the P&C Association. "Hannah" also survives as the name of one of our two houses.  Birubi House is named after Birubi Point, the name chosen to replace Cemetery Point, and apparently it has no other historical significance. A famous pilot steamer at Newcastle has however, named "Birubi", so this name also has a nautical flavour, appropriate to a school located near a coastline rich in maritime history.

THE TOLL OF THE SEA

The inscription on the headstone of Captain William Cromarty exemplifies the tragedy so frequently associated with the sea in the early days of  the colony of NSW.

In September 1838, the captain of a whaling vessel reported to Cromarty that he had seen a ship's boat cast up on One Mile Beach (Anna Bay). It is believed that the boat was from the vessel "King William". In company with his son, William, a servant named Colton and an Aborigine, the captain set out from Soldiers Point with the intention of launching the boat and bringing it to Port Stephens. What happened is not known, for none of the four was seen again.  The headstone at Carrington records the last details of the tragedy.

The Newcastle Maritime Museum lists over 250 vessels which came to grief on the coast  from Newcastle to Port Stephens, a record probably unsurpassed by any other section of Australian coastline. What were the reasons for this appalling toll?

A major cause was the sheer volume of ocean traffic.  In the early days ships were the only means of transport, and small vessels, carrying stores, coal, timber and lime regularly traded from Newcastle, Morpeth and, to a lesser extent, Port Stephens.  Since then, Newcastle has constantly increased in importance as a port.

Secondly, the natural hazards of the coastline took their toll. The dreaded Oyster Bank, a shoal just to the north of the entrance to Newcastle Harbour, claimed many sailing vessels, until the building and subsequent extension of breakwaters largely eliminated this danger. From Newcastle, Stockton Bight sweeps north-eastwards to the rock-bound Morna Point, providing a lee shore to any vessel attempting to enter port in storms from the south or east. A lighthouse was constructed on Fingal Island in 1862 to warn of the dangers there.

Thirdly, many of the vessels were very small, and others were barely seaworthy. An example of this  was the old ship "Suzanne Godeffroy" of 1119 tons. She began to leak badly in a storm in 1880, and was deliberately run ashore in an effort to save her crew, but within 10 minutes she broke up, and 7 men were lost. Early steamers also came to grief, as they were underpowered and their stokeholds often flooded in a storm. In 1866 the paddle steamer "Cawarra" sank at the entrance to Newcastle Harbour during a gale, and about 60 lives were lost.

More modern vessels brought increased safety, but even they can be at risk in Stockton Bight. This was grimly illustrated on 27 May 1974, when the motorship "Sygna" was driven ashore in a severe gale, and broke her back. A bulk carrier of 30,503 tons, she was the largest vessel ever wrecked in Australian waters. Despite prolonged salvage attempts, her stern remains on the beach as a warning to other vessels which must anchor in the Bight. The bow section was refloated, and was anchored in Salamander Bay for some time.

Wrecks Near Anna Bay

Older Anna Bay folk recall a number of wrecks and residents at times assisted shipwrecked mariners. It is reported that a number of sailors are buried at Cemetery Point.

Among the more notable wrecks are:

"Drover" a  brig, was driven ashore on Stockton Beach on 10.11.1856. William Skilton, known as the 'superman of the lifeboat', was injured while rescuing the crew. The Skilton and Pain families of Anna Bay are related to him.

"Speculant", a brig of 102 tons, wrecked at Anna Bay in 1859.

"Telegraph", a small vessel which struck a shoal off Morna Point in 1865, and was repaired in Port Stephens. The shoal is still named Telegraph Shoal.

"Eagleton", a schooner of 95 tons, foundered in Anna Bay in 1869, and the crew of 6 were drowned.

"Mary Grant", a brig of 138 tons, wrecked at Morna Point in 1878.

"Schoolboy", a barque of 160 tons, driven ashore near Morna Point in 1881.

"Hebe" a brig of 214 tons, driven ashore near Morna Point in 1893.

"Karoola, a barquentine of 201 tons and "Condong", a heavy schooner of 103 tons, were both driven ashore during a heavy southerly gale on 24 May 1896. "Karoola" was blown onto the rocks of Morna Point and two of her crew drowned when their ship's boat capsized, while "Congdong's" crew launched a boat and reached safety. Mr Fred Blanch recalls seeing the vessels strike the shore, about a mile apart and within 10 minutes of each other.  Later he swam out to the "Karoola" with some other boys, including Joe Bagnall and Jack Lewis and they took in some sails which had been left set. After much difficulty, they got a large cask ashore, only to find it contained vinegar!

"Adderley", a barque of 1241 tons, broke away from her tug and was driven ashore several miles down Stockton beach on 23 April 1897. After six months of preparation, she was hauled from the beach by three  of Callen's tugs-the larges vessel ever to be salvaged from this beach.

"Fitzroy", a steel screw steamer of 870 tons, ran onto Stockton Beach about 400 m south of the rocks, of Morna Point at 1.20 am on 13 December 1897. The weather was moderate, and as the vessel was obviously off course, the certificates of the captain and second mate were suspended for six and three months respectively at the subsequent inquiry.

At dawn, she was found to be broadside on, about 75 m from the beach, and all passengers and crew were landed safely. A passenger, interviewed later by a Newcastle Herald reporter, stated, in language beloved by newspapers of those days, that "the poor women were terribly distressed" and " the cries of the little children were also heart rendering".

Once on  the beach,  the passengers made their way to the nearest house, that of Mr Charles Blanch. The Herald continues, "Immediately the conditions of the castaways was discovered, both Mr and Mrs Blanch did all in their power to make the shipwrecked people as comfortable as possible."  Other farmers also assisted and "Several days were brought into requisition, and in these the women were conveyed to Nelson's Bay, over seven miles of rough country."

The remains of the "Fitzroy" still lie in the approximate position indicated in the report, and are now often explored by skin-divers.

"Kingsley", a steamer of 61 tons struck Morna Point in 1902. No lives were lost, and the vessel gave her name to Kingsley Beach.

"Oimara", an iron barque of 1354 tons, approached too near Stockton Beach in rain and storm on 27 September 1903. because the  strong southerly wind, the Captain was unable to haul the vessel out, so he "slewed the ship round to the west, and ran her onto the  beach, a little to the north of the Fitzroy wreck. . . and the ship went ashore alongside the ledge". (NMH). The crew reached shore safely and headed towards Stockton, and after some hardship met the Rocket Brigade, proceeding to the wreck. The plight of men revived an earlier proposal to erect at telephone line along the beach, and huts containing food and water. The Herald deplored that this proposal had not been acted upon, but, "like many other humanitarian schemes, had to stand aside because it involved expenditure". At the inevitable inquiry into the  wreck, Captain Brown was "censured" for not taking soundings as he approached the shore, and was ordered to pay seven guineas, the cost of the inquiry. Part of the iron hull of the "Oimara" still remains in the position reported, and is visible in the wave troughs at low tide.

"Dauntless",  a steamship of 55 tons, drifted ashore on One Mile Beach on 22nd March 1921, after breaking her propeller shaft.

"Williams",  a coastal steamer of 88 tons, was deliberately run aground some 8 km down Stockton Beach after springing a leak off Morna Point (25.11.1922). The crew walked to Stockton. She could not be towed clear by a tug, and was soon battered to pieces.

"Wallamba", a wooden steamer of 331 tons, struck rocks at Morna Point at 10 pm on 11 July 1923, shortly after leaving Newcastle. Much of the bottom was torn from the vessel and she sank in four minutes. The crew of 16 managed to lower two  boats and scramble into them just before she went down. It was impossible to land near Morna Point because of the high seas which were running, so the men pulled for five hours until they reached Point Stephens Lighthouse. Meanwhile, miners camped near the point had seen the vessel go ashore and they informed Mr Neil Robinson, who notified the lighthouse keeper.

The wreck of the Wallamba caused something of a sensation in Anna Bay and many residents and campers visited the  scene. Mr Magnus Cromarty remembers seeing pieces of the vessel on the beach as she broke up next day, and his wife was in the group of Anna Bay School pupils who crossed the sandhills with Miss Holohan to see the wreck. As well as coal, the steamer had carried a varied general cargo, so items of all descriptions washed up on the shore. The Sydney Morning Herald sent a reporter, who wrote "the scene there would have been satisfied the heart of a Cornish wrecker, for hundreds of tins of benzine and kerosene in cases had been washed up". Mr Cromarty says "If you wanted cigarettes you could find them, if you wanted chewing gum, you could find it." Many locals and visitors found a good number of things. Mrs Asquith remembers walking from Nelson Bay and catching flannelette on a fishing line! Some of the cargo was insured, and the insurance company appointed Mr Cromarty's father, Donald to salvage their undamaged property, which was stacked on the verandah of Upton's Store. An enterprising fellow crept over at night, drilled a hole in a keg and departed with some of it's contents-which proved to  be vinegar!

The boilers of the Wallamba, covered in kelp, are the only remains to be found at Birubi Point today.

"Alice", a wooden hulk of 352 tons, and formerly a steamship was wrecked about 2 kilometres south or Morna Point, after breaking her towline on 17 November 1927. Some timbers remain buried in the sands of the beach.

"Uralla", a steel steamship of 592 tons, was buffeted by a heavy gale after leaving Newcastle on 13 June, 1928. Her steering gear was disabled by an enormous sea, and anchors would not hold her, so Capt O'Beirne skilfully drove her ashore some 7 km south of Morna Point. The vessel was seen by Messrs H Upton and F W Holloway of Bobs Farm, and the captain made contact with them by throwing a note in a sealed bottle into the surf. The crew were safe, and were able to walk ashore at low tide, as she was only some 30 m from shore. Many attempts were made to refloat her, and one purchaser actually had her afloat, but she  drifted back before tugs arrived, and became a total loss.

"St John Star" and  "Lady Beauty", trawlers, went aground side by side in fog about 10 km down Stockton Beach around 1947. They were towed off by a tug about a week later.