Guildford Truant School for Boys

Guildford Truant School for Boys was a School for Specific Purposes established by the Department of Education in the property Linnwood in 1917. It opened in 1918 and housed boys who were persistently absent from school and were under sentence from the Children’s Court. The school closed at the end of 1935. In 1936, Linnwood was transferred to the Child Welfare Department, who converted it to Guildford Domestic Science Training School, for girls, also known as Lynwood Hall.

Guildford Truant School for Boys was established in a leased property, Linnwood Hall, also known as Lynwood. In 1921 the Education Department purchased the site and in 1923 approval was granted to build new dormitories and outbuildings.

By the mid 1930’s Lynwood Hall was earmarked as a residential facility for Female State wards 14 to 18 years of age. The Child Welfare Department took control of the building in 1936. transition from a boys Truant School to that of the Guildford Domestic Science Training School for Female Wards was completed by December 1939.

Linnwood was built in 1891 by George McCredie, an architect and engineer. McCredie was heavily involved in local Guildford politics, and lived there with his wife Susan Faulds McCredie and their nine children. The style of the house is a single storey Italianate style villa residence and it retains many original features, including stained glass windows, and trees and landscaping survives from the McCredie era. In 1917 Susan Faulds McCredie leased Linnwood to the Department of Education, which needed a new Truant School. The Department chose this house because it was in good repair, the grounds were spacious, the property had room enough for staff and it was located close to the railway.