2000 School Magazine

SOCi, 11 ond environmento1 stud^^s

FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROW

This is the story of Brisbane Girls Grammar which students of Social and Environmental Studies learnt about earlier this year. The 125th anniversary of the School's foundation provided an excellent inotivator for newly arrived students to not only become familiar with the BGGS of the present, but to get acquainted with its past. This enabled them to more fully appreciate and participate in the significance of this year of celebration. Navigating their way through space and time, Year 85 discovered a new environment with a rich and colourful history. Studentslearnt of the humble beginnings of the School- announced in an inconspicuous advertisement on the front page of The Brisbane Courier which stated that the School would open on 15 March 1875 in George Street. Such beginnings were in marked contrast to the auspicious opening of Brisbane Grammar some seven years earlier. The boys' school had featured in a full page spread in The 8,1560ne Courier, which highlighted the gala occasion complete with royal presence and colonial dignitaries. Thirty nine girls were enrolled in the first quarter of the schoolyear and together with the newly appointed 'Lady' Principal, Mrs O'Connor, and Assistant teacher, Mrs Elcock, began their lessons in an old two-storey brick house which was previously the home of MrThomas Harlin, the Headmaster of Brisbane Grammar School. He judged it unsuitable for his family and rented another house but apparently the house was suitable for a fledging girls' school! The establishment of BGGS had been looked upon as an 'experiment'; an experiment which wasjudged a 'success' by the Governor Sir William Cairns in 1876. Eight years later, the School was moved for the third time, to its current premises on Gregory Terrace.

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