This building was designed by Everard James Blackburn who later went on to survey Melbourne and was founder of that city’s water supply. It was completed in 1845 and was used as a day school from 1851 until the construction of the state school in Bridge Street in 1878.
Dr Valentine, who was an eminent local figure and owned the beautiful property known as The Grange, was instrumental in the construction and the building bears a strong resemblance to the primary school in Martock, Somerset, England where Dr Valentine was born.
At various times there were up to seventy pupils and in the earliest days, the building was also home to the headmaster and his family. In 1855, William Johnson was appointed headmaster and for the next four years he kept a wonderful diary which depicted daily life in Campbell Town. Another headmaster to oversea the school was John Clemons. One of his sons, born in Campbell Town, went on to become a senator in the first Federal parliament.
St. Luke's School was erected in 1845, by "voluntary contributions," when, and up till 1860, primary education was under the jurisdiction of the Church of England, and subsidized by the Government, after which a Board of Education assumed control. This historic brick structure stands in the church grounds, on the Main Road to Launceston opposite the Campbell Town Hospital.
Main Text & Information Sources –
Interpretive Sign at the site.
Historic Photos –
