Cunningham, Lena
Corang River Provisional School
Lena Cunningham, born c.1862, began teaching early 1883, when she was appointed inaugural teacher at Corang River near Nerriga. It was a farming and mining community and Lena presumably lodged with a local family. The area around the small township was described as 'wild and mountainous and thickly wooded ... at a considerable elevation', the latter aspect reflected in an account of the school building as 'very cold and uncomfortable in winter time'.
A month after commencing duty, Lena was forced to close the school for four days due to illness. The district inspector annotated her correspondence to educational authorities on this matter, explaining that Corang River's isolation meant Lena was unable to furnish the expected medical certificate, the nearest doctor being over thirty miles away. The inspector also advocated improvements to the school building including 'plastering the seams of walls' and 'lining and ceiling the schoolroom with calico' in an attempt to improve Lena's situation.
Creekborough Provisional School
Lena endured Corang River's isolation and poor conditions for two years before being moved to Creekborough in the Bungendore district in early 1884. As with her previous appointment, she was the first teacher of a newly opened provisional school, her arrival hopefully easing community frustration over the fact the new building had been sitting idle some months awaiting final inspection. Lena seems to have settled into her new position and at the end of 1884 attempted a classification examination but was unsuccessful.
Lena taught at Creekborough for over four years, seemingly without concern, until in October 1888 falling attendances suggested its conversion to a half-time school. There was however no nearby school to partner it with, so it continued full time. In December 1888, Lena again failed a classification exam, and nine months later, as Creekborough closed, she was appointed to Inglewood Forest as that school was converted from half- to full time.
Inglewood Forest Provisional School
Lena's appointment to Inglewood Forest in September 1889 brought an end to the string of male teachers appointed to the school while half-time. After only a couple of months in the position she applied to resign, without any reason given, effective 30 November 1889. She had completed almost seven years of service and possibly, like many female teachers of the time, soon married, however information on her later life is not known at this stage.
[Biography prepared by Joanne Toohey, 2023. Sources include NSW school teachers' rolls 1868-1908, NSW school and related records 1876-1979, historic newspapers, NSW births, deaths and marriages index, and 'Early Education and Schools in the Canberra Region', (1999) by Lyall Gillespie.]
Schools
- Creekborough
02/1885 - 09/1889