Turner Cottage. Attractive spacious grounds are a feature of the ward cottages at Mittagong, c. 1963, courtesy of New South Wales government.
Details
Turner Cottage Special School for Truants was proclaimed a special school on 20 May 1938. It was located on the same site as the Mittagong Farm Home for Boys, and for a time, the school was under the administration of the Superintendent of Mittagong. When Anglewood Special School opened, boys from Turner Cottage were transferred there. The last boys left the Turner Cottage Special School for Truants in May 1946.
Turner Cottage Special School for Truants was located on the same site as Mittagong Farm Home for Boys. In 1936, a vacant cottage at Mittagong was being prepared to house boys convicted of truancy in the Children's Court.
Turner Cottage accommodated a maximum of 25 boys.
The teacher in charge, Arthur Beasley, lived at Turner Cottage, and according to Boyle, Beasley 'had his own room and free board in return for four nights of supervision and construction/activity for the 18 boys then in residence'. There was also a married couple who ran Turner Cottage.
When Anglewood (another special school for truants, located at Burradoo near Bowral) opened, boys from Turner Cottage were transferred there. The final transfer took place in May 1946.
Following the final transfer of boys to Anglewood, Turner Cottage was used by the Department to accommodate male state wards.
Sources used to compile this entry: Boyle, Brian, The Child Welfare Schools: Recollections of these unique schools and the men and women who taught in them often under considerable difficulty, unpublished typescript, (618 pp. : ill., ports ; 32 cm), 1996; Child Welfare Department, Annual Report: Child Welfare Department of New South Wales, New South Wales government, 1923-1970. Also available at https://www.opengov.nsw.gov.au/main.
Prepared by: Cate O'Neill
Created: 21 September 2018, Last modified: 26 September 2018