Objects of Substance- 1882 Board of Trustees

1882 Fees paid by Sir Charles Lilley are recorded.

In 1875, Girls Grammar started as a branch of Brisbane Grammar as an “experiment” and was overseen by the Brisbane Grammar Board. However, this soon proved to be more than an “experiment”, as the girls’ branch grew quickly, from its initial 37 pupils to 70 students only six years later. The girls’ branch had become one of the most popular schools for girls in the Australian colonies and the Brisbane Grammar trustees realised that, considering this increasing demand for the girls of the colony to have the same educational opportunities as their brothers, it became obvious that the girls’ school should be placed on a “separate foundation”. Until this point, there were two separate branches managed by one body of trustees. If the girls’ branch were to attain autonomy, it was surely the time to break free from the shadow of the boys’ school and elect its own Board of Trustees. This new Board could then manage a truly independent school, offering an educational foundation for young women to “contribute confidently to the world”. To accomplish this separate status, and under the Grammar Schools Act of 1864, once 2,000 pounds had been raised by subscribers, the Government would then give a 4,000 pound grant as an endowment to the building fund, plus an annual endowment of 1000 pounds. This would give the new school for girls a solid financial basis. On the afternoon of Wednesday 28 th June 1882, at a meeting held in the Town Hall, three Trustees were elected to the Board of the newly independent girls’ school by subscribers. This independence had been attained because the School had deposited the required two thousand pounds in the Union Bank. This was sufficient funds for both a building for the new school and the election of a new Board of Trustees to manage the fledgling institution. Electing these three Trustees, under the Grammar Schools Act, was the first step of the incorporation of the institution and, at the next Board meeting, the remainder of the required trustees would be elected on behalf of the Executive, making in all, seven Girls Grammar Trustees.