Mr Charles Crew – first teacher of North Ryde Public School

Mr Charles James Crew was appointed as the first teacher at North Ryde Public School. Originally called City View Public School, the school opened on 25 January 1878 with an enrolment of 45 students which increased to 53 in the first week. The one room school was built with locally quarried sandstone and sandstock bricks on an acre of land surrounded by farmland. 

About Charles James Crew

Thirty-four year old Charles was married with a young family when he moved to North Ryde. Born in 1842 in the Maitland district, Charles was an only son and had one surviving sister. His parents had both died young, his father Charles, in 1858 and his mother Elizabeth (nee Forster) in 1860 at 48 years of age. She was a school mistress at the time. In his early twenties, Charles married Elizabeth Julia Penelope (nee Watson) on 17 September 1868 at Elizabeth’s family’s home. It was a double wedding, with Elizabeth’s sister Jane Bertha married at the same time.

Before North Ryde

Charles previously taught at Goulburn Church of England School where he and his wife were highly regarded. Local newspapers report that on their departure they were presented with an engraved gold watch (Australian Town and Country Journal 9 March 1878). The journey from Goulburn to Sydney would have taken several days by horse and coach, carrying their young family and household possessions. 

At North Ryde

Charles and Elizabeth were provided with a four-room cottage on the grounds of North Ryde Public School, as was common practice of the time. Their five children at the time were Edith A B (born 1869 in Queenbeyan), Herbert Charles (born 1871 in Glebe), Florence Caroline (born 1872 in Goulburn), Harold Percival (born 1873 in Goulburn) and Etheline Maud (born 1876 in Goulburn). Their school-aged children – Edith, Herbert and Florence – would have been enrolled in the school and been taught by their father.

Charles’ wife Elizabeth would have been expected to teach sewing to the girls of the school for four hours each week and to support her husband in his teaching and running of the school. At the time, the teacher was expected to keep the school clean, undertake general maintenance and improve the school grounds with attractive and productive gardens, usually through their own labour. 

Right from the start, Mr Crew had the challenge of frequent absences at the school as the local farming families were dependent on the help of their children to work on their farms. Compulsory education wasn’t yet enacted, becoming law in 1880, and poor attendance was a problem across the state. Additionally, within the first year, the schoolhouse was invaded by termites. These were probably treated with arsenic dust mixed into treacle, and possibly mixed and applied by Charles himself.

Mr Crew’s health began to deteriorate in 1879 due to a lung infection. He died at his home on 11th August 1880, aged 38. Sadly, Charles Crew left a widow and six children, the youngest being their baby daughter, Isabel Marguerite, born in 1880 not long before Charles’ death.

What became of Elizabeth?

Elizabeth and her six children were unable to remain in the house as it was required for the replacement teacher appointed to the school. Fortunately Charles was a member of the Teachers’ Mutual Insurance Association and on his death Elizabeth received a payment – ‘the amount accruing to her without delay’ (Sydney Daily Telegraph, 30 Dec 1880). It is likely that she sought the support of her parents in those first months and perhaps years. Her parents lived in Morehead Street, Redfern. It is likely her mother (also an Elizabeth) would have helped with her new baby and younger children, and possibly she had some assistance also from other family members.

Charles’ wife Elizabeth Julia Penelope Crew never re-married and lived to 92 years of age. She died on 7 December 1934 in Hurstville, survived by five of her children, then in their 50s and 60s. Her first born, Edith, had died at 29 years of age, perhaps in childbirth.

Acknowledgement

NSW Schoolhouse Museum gratefully acknowledges the research on the Crew family undertaken by family history researcher Michelle Stephens who made contact in April 2024. We thank her for sharing her family research with us.