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Below are all the text panels and the larger images featured on the above sign
You may download the above sign graphic as a PDF - click here for PDF version
Below are all the text panels and the larger images featured on the above sign
Lyell McEwin was the youngest child of Alex and Jessie McEwin, former settlers of Mallee Brae and later Calton Hill in the Hart district.
He was educated at Hart School from 1902 to 1909 and then at Prince Alfred College.
After leaving school at the age of 14, Lyell worked on the family farm and established the property known as “Wyndora”.
In 1921 Lyell married a local Blyth girl, Dora Winifred Williams, and had a family of one daughter and four sons. While living at Hart he was actively involved in the Hart and Blyth communities.
In 1934, at the age of 37, Lyell was elected to the Legislative Council as the Member for Northern. He continued to live at Wyndora until he was appointed Chief Secretary in 1939.
As described by Stewart Cockburn in The Patriarchs, Lyell was “The man who was Tom Playford’s political right hand man from 1939 to 1965.
For 26 years as Chief Secretary and Minister for Mines, his motto was ‘waste not, want not’.
Sir Lyell McEwin was one of the last survivors of his political era, the most prosperous in the history of the State.”
In 1954 Lyell received the award Knight of the British Empire.
At the time of his retirement in 1975, he was the third longest serving member of the State Parliament.
Declaring himself ‘an old square on the outer”, Sir Lyell railed against such ‘depravities’ of the modern world as
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the impact of television on family life,
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a general excess of freedom and indulgence,
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the ‘political bribery’ of the welfare state,
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the undue influence of the trade unions and
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the destruction of initiative and the will to work.
He criticised his political successors as being improperly concerned with personal publicity and financial gain, maintaining the view that political life should be about service.
FAMILIES ATTENDING HART SCHOOL
Allen, Ashton, Barker, Bray, Brooks, Carruthers, Chambers, Chesson, Chittleborough, Clark, Coleman, Cousins, Crawford, Crettenden, Cross, Daley, Davis, Dean, Dene, Dick, Dienelt, Dohnt, Eckermann, Eime, Elliott, Everett, Fiegert, Forsyth, Freer, Fuller, Grosser, Gursansky, Harris, Haynes, Hendy, Hentschke, Hicks, Hill, Hoepner, Howard, Hughes, Ireland, Jacka, Jaekel, Jaeschke, Johnston, Kaerger, Karger, Kirchner, Knibbs, Lange, Lock, Maitland, Malney, Mannix, Marsh, Martin, Mattner, Maynard, McArthur, McEwin, McLeod, McVicar, Medwell, Mildred, Morrison, Naulty, Nestor, Nickolls, Noel, Norton, O’Riley, Palmer, Partridge, Pattullo, Pittman, Porteous, Purdie, Radomi, Riss, Scharenberg, Schumacher, Schuster, Shannon, Sharp, Shepherd, Siviour, Skinner, Smith, Spurling, Squire, Steinhardt, Stevens, Stevenson, Stott, Tetzlaff, Thomson, Vogt, Walsh, Wauchope, Webber, Wedding, Wehrmann, Welke, Wells, Wendland, Whiteman, Wittwer, Wooldridge, Zweck
On this site on 18 November 1895, 28 children were enrolled from local farming families, to constitute the Hundred of Hart School. The school opened in the Hart Hall, located on Section 479, Hundred of Hart, on land given by Mr David Crawford. Some children also transferred from small schools nearby. The Hart Hall served the community as the only public facility for gatherings for many years.
This site was also used as a Presbyterian preaching place for many years.
A meeting was held in January 1896 to arrange for the commencement of regular services and Sunday School in the hall. First served by the Rev William Milne of Clare Presbyterian Church, Hart continued as a preaching place of the Clare Church until 1903, when it was linked with Koolunga Church.
The Hart-Koolunga Parish was amalgamated into the Clare Parish in 1956, and when a United Parish was formed in 1970, Hart Presbyterian Church became part of this union of the local Methodist and Presbyterian congregations.
The hall continued to be used as a school until 1922, when a new school building was opened by the Education Department, on Section 485W at Hart Siding on land donated by Mrs HE Zweck. This second school is located at 1092 Hart Road.
The teacher at this time was Mr Gilbert Cain, who transferred with the children from the old building and began in the new school on 22 January 1923.
The hall was used for worship until the end of 1923. In November of this year the newly erected Snow Memorial Presbyterian Church was dedicated, in memory of Annie McEwin Snow.
The building of the church was facilitated by donations from Messrs. Harold Snow and AL McEwin in memory of their late wife and daughter.
Over 400 children passed through the Hart School at either location. Two of these to reach prominence were parliamentarian Sir Alexander Lyell McEwin and Olympic cyclist Jim Nestor.
TEACHERS AT HART SCHOOL
ISABELL K LEWIS 1895 - 1898
LILLIAN M ADAMS 1898 - 1903
CLARA C COUSINS (LOCUM) July 1899
LILY PRATT 1903 - 1907
EFFIE M PELTON 1907 - 1910
JANE M FOX 1910 - 1912
MARY A KEAN 1912 - 1914
SCHOOL CLOSED Jan - May 1914
HONORA KNIGHTLY Jan - Jun 1915
JAMES A BUTTFIELD 1915 - 1916
PATRICK CASHION Jul - Dec 1916
ALEXANDER KOSCHADE Jan - Jun 1917
FLORENCE G DUNKLEY 1917 - 1919
HELEN McKAY Apr - Aug 1919
JANET H MILLS 1919 - 1920
ETHEL T DARBY 1920 - 1921
PAUL W MULLER 1922 - 1922
IRENE M KENWORTHY 1922 - 1923
GILBERT KG CAIN Jan - Apr 1924
FRANK BROWN 1924 - 1925
THEODOR B LUESTNER 1925 - 1930
FRANK H THOMPSON 1931 - 1933
VICTOR F SCHULZ 1934 - 1940
THOMAS V PARTRIDGE 1941 - 1942
SCHOOL CLOSED 26 January 1942
The first Hart School opened in the Hart Hall in 1895 when 28 children from local farming families were enrolled. The hall and the former Stow Memorial Presbyterian Church can be seen at 212 Hart Church Road.
On 22 January 1923 education commenced on this site when the teacher Mr Gilbert Cain and children transferred from the Hart Hall.
A need had developed for a new and larger school building and the population had become centred around the adjacent Hart Railway Siding.
The new school was opened by the Education Department on Section 485W on land donated by Mrs HE Zweck.
The solid stone building was erected by Mr Fred Haupt, the stone material being sourced from a quarry on HE Zweck’s property.
Parents helped with maintenance of the school and grounds and built a playground. Teachers generally boarded with local families and became involved in the local community.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the central railway cottage was used as a permanent residence for the school master.
One teacher, Mr Frank Brown, came from England to work for the Education Department for two years until ill health forced his return to his home in Dorset.
He taught at Hart for just over a year and was particularly interested in art, lawn tennis and soccer.
At the time of his death in 1927 he was remembered as a highly popular school teacher who had obtained excellent results and was most progressive in his ideas.
To attend school each day, children generally made their own way – walking, riding horses or driving carts, often on wet and muddy tracks. Hart had a community water trough, originally there for the school children’s ponies.
Over 400 children passed through the Hart School at either location.
Two of these to reach prominence were parliamentarian Sir Alexander Lyell McEwin and Olympic cyclist Jim Nestor.
Schooling in Hart ceased in December 1941. In 1956 the disused school building became the Hart tennis clubrooms. It has since passed into private hands.
SCHOOL BUSES
When the Hart School closed at the end of 1941, a new bus run was established to pick up the children from the Hart district and transport them to Brinkworth Primary School.
This was a private run with Mr A. Twigden as the first owner/driver, assisted by Miss Esther Weckert. The bus was a Hudson.
This bus route extended to Blyth when Brinkworth Area School opened in 1944, bringing secondary students from Blyth and primary students from the Hart area.
In 1951 Pastor Kriewaldt took over as owner/ driver, sometimes assisted by his son Brenz, and later a teacher residing in Blyth drove the bus owned by Mr Glen Patterson.
During the early days of school buses, there were many problems. At times drivers were faced with mechanical breakdowns and often in winter the roads were in poor condition and buses did not run or were late.
Edward James ‘Jim’ NESTOR
1920 – 2010
Jim Nestor was enrolled at Hart School from 1925 to 1929.
Jim was the son of Edward and Ethel Nestor of Belalie near Jamestown.
His father worked as a farm labourer but died of cancer when Jim was just three years old, leaving Ethel a widow with three sons under three.
Further tragedy struck a few weeks later when the baby, Colin, died of gastroenteritis.
It would appear that Ethel came to Hart with her sons to live with her parents. Her father was employed as a railway packer at the Hart Siding.
Jim became a champion cyclist and was an original member of the 1934 Super Elliott professional team.
He represented Australia at the 1948 London and 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and the 1954 Vancouver Empire Games. He forged a career in the cycling world after his days as a competitor were over.
He received a posthumous Order of Australia Medal in 2011 for services to cycling as a coach and official.
FAMILIES ATTENDING HART SCHOOL
Allen, Ashton, Barker, Bray, Brooks, Carruthers, Chambers, Chesson, Chittleborough, Clark, Coleman, Cousins, Crawford, Crettenden, Cross, Daley, Davis, Dean, Dene, Dick, Dienelt, Dohnt, Eckermann, Eime, Elliott, Everett, Fiegert, Forsyth, Freer, Fuller, Grosser, Gursansky, Harris, Haynes, Hendy, Hentschke, Hicks, Hill, Hoepner, Howard, Hughes, Ireland, Jacka, Jaekel, Jaeschke, Johnston, Kaerger, Karger, Kirchner, Knibbs, Lange, Lock, Maitland, Malney, Mannix, Marsh, Martin, Mattner, Maynard, McArthur, McEwin, McLeod, McVicar, Medwell, Mildred, Morrison, Naulty, Nestor, Nickolls, Noel, Norton, O’Riley, Palmer, Partridge, Pattullo, Pittman, Porteous, Purdie, Radomi, Riss, Scharenberg, Schumacher, Schuster, Shannon, Sharp, Shepherd, Siviour, Skinner, Smith, Spurling, Squire, Steinhardt, Stevens, Stevenson, Stott, Tetzlaff, Thomson, Vogt, Walsh, Wauchope, Webber, Wedding, Wehrmann, Welke, Wells, Wendland, Whiteman, Wittwer, Wooldridge, Zweck
