The Cora Lynn State School, No. 3502, opened in January 1907 as Koo Wee Rup Central. It was renamed Cora Lynn in July 1907 when the Progress Association requested that the newly established postal service be called Cora Lynn, to prevent the confusion of the name with Koo Wee Rup. Joe Dineen had recalled that it was the Head Teacher of the school, John McGibbon, who proposed the name, after the scenic rocky gorge and popular picnic area on the North Esk River, just out of Launceston in Tasmania (1). The name Cora Lynn comes from the Gaelic coire meaning ‘cauldron or kettle’ and linn ‘pool’ (2).
The original school building was 26 feet by 24 feet and cost £322 (3). As mentioned, the first head teacher was John McGibbon, who was at the school until September 1909 when he was transferred to Drysdale State School (4). He was then appointed to various schools across Victoria - Miepoll (north west of Euroa), Emerald, Mirboo North and from 1931 lived at various addresses in Geelong and suburbs. John Barker McGibbin was born in 1883, so he was 24 when he started teaching at Cora Lynn. He married Margaret Emma McLean at the Geelong Presbyterian Church on Christmas Day, 1911. He was teaching at Miepoll at the time. John died in Geelong in on May 23, 1965, aged 81. Margaret had died in 1964, aged 78 (5).
This is a list of the first pupils from 1907, at Cora Lynn State School, in the order they appear on the roll. Name, date of birth, parent’s name and occupation listed.
ANDERSON, Corrie. 13/4/1893. James Anderson. Gardener.
NESTOR, Mary. 15/12/1893. Martin Nestor. Farmer
NESTOR, Agnes. 15/4/1895. Martin Nestor. Farmer.
NESTOR, Patrick. 29/3/1894. Martin Nestor. Farmer.
FITZPATRICK, Ellen. 27/5/1895. James Fitzpatrick. Farmer.
FITZPATRICK, Margaret. 8/10/1893. James Fitzpatrick. Farmer.
FITZPATRICK, James. 8/7/1897. James Fitzpatrick. Farmer.
FITZPATRICK, Thomas. 27/3/1899. James Fitzpatrick. Farmer.
FITZPATRICK, Annie. 21/6/1901. James Fitzpatrick. Farmer.
JEFFERS, Raymond. 18/1/1893. Alexander Jeffers. Farmer.
JEFFERS, Violet. 10/8/1894. Alexander Jeffers. Farmer
JEFFERS, Evelyn. 17/1/1900. Alexander Jeffers. Farmer
BAIN, Norman. 13/8/1895. James Bain. Farmer.
BAIN, Richard. 13/9/1898.James Bain. Farmer.
QUIGLEY, Bridget. 24/4/1896. Margaret Quigley. Farmer.
QUIGLEY, Agnes. 15/6/1899. Margaret Quigley. Farmer.
EVANS, Grace. 30/10/1898. James Evans. Farmer.
EVANS, Rupert. 27/12/1900. James Evans. Farmer.
WATSON, John. 14/8/1900. Robert Watson. Farmer.
FINNIGAN, Joseph. 22/10/1900. Joseph Finnigan. Farmer.
JEFFERS, Robert.15/1/1900. Robert Jeffers. Farmer.
JEFFERS, Thomas. 28/3/1901. Robert Jeffers. Farmer
DINEEN, Thomas. 7/9/1898. Michael Dineen. Farmer.
DINEEN, Adela. 3/6/1900. Michael Dineen. Farmer.
STRIBLING, Charles. 22/7/1897. Charles Stribling. Farmer.
HUGHES, Ruby.11/4/1897. Thomas Hughes. Farmer.
HUGHES, David. 11/8/1899. Thomas Hughes. Farmer.
JOHNSTON, Frank. 5/4/1899. William Johnston. Farmer.
JOHNSTON, Alberta. 26/2/1897. Henry Johnston. Farmer.
LEVISTON, Caroline. 22/11/1901. Benjamin Leviston. Farmer.
LEVISTON, Emily. 19/2/1896. Benjamin Leviston. Farmer.
TIERNEY, Patrick. 30/12/ 1893. Patrick Tierney. Farmer.
SCANLAN, Joseph. 25/7/1895. William Scanlan. Farmer.
SCANLAN, John. 25/5/1897. William Scanlan. Farmer.
LEVISTON, David. 21/10/1893. Benjamin Leviston. Farmer.
FISCHER, June. 14/1/1897. Walter Fischer. Farmer.
SCANLAN, Evelyn. 4/9/1899. William Scanlan. Farmer.
SMITH, Bertie. 9/12/1895. William Smith. Farmer.
MURDOCH, Arthur. 25/7/1898. George Murdoch. Storekeeper/Farmer.
MURDOCH, Mary. 31/8/1899. Storekeeper/Farmer.
MURDOCH, Hugh. 22/3/1902. Storekeeper/Farmer.
JOHNSON, Tudor. 17/1/1895. Henry Johnson. Farmer.
WALSH, Walter. 19/5/1901. Peter Walsh. Farmer.
JOHNSTON, Edwin. 18/1/1901. William Johnston. Farmer.
JOHNSTON, Esmonde. 5/5/1901. Henry Johnston. Farmer.
CARROLL, Michael. 20/12/1899. Michael Carroll. Farmer.
CLAPPERTON, Leslie. 19/07/1896. Thomas Clapperton. Sergeant of Police.
LEVISTON, Ernest. 03/08/1901. Ernest Leviston. Blacksmith.
The first mention of Cora Lynn that I could find in the newspapers was in the South Bourke & Mornington Journal of July 17, 1907 -
The Cora-Lynn folks are quite jubilant at having a daily mail running from Garfield. The time, I think, is not far distant when there will be a quite a little township at that place (6).
The following two letters are from The Advocate of July 20, 1907. The Advocate was a Catholic newspaper which reported on and promoted Catholic interests. It was published from 1868 until 1990. The paper had a children’s column run by Aunt Patsy, which published letters and poems from school children. They had a club called the Magic Fairy Boat Club which the children could join. Aunt Patsy referred to all the children as her nieces and nephews, they called her aunty and referred to all the other children in the Club as their cousins.
Dear Aunt Patsy,
It is a long time since I last wrote to you, so I thought I would write to you again. I am going to a new school now: I like it very much. Our teacher's name is Mr. M'Gibbon, and we all like him exceedingly. There are 38 children going to school. It was opened after the Christmas holidays. I have two sisters and two brothers going to school with me. We are getting a shelter-shed put up at our school. We are going to have Arbour Day at the school on Friday next; we expect it will be a fine day. We have got a loose bag from Garfield to the school, and we can get our mail there. I will bring my letter to a close, hoping you and the curly-headed captain are well,
I remain, your loving niece, Ellen M. E. Fitzpatrick
Cora Lynn, I/7/1907.
Dear Aunt Patsy,
This is the first letter I have written to you. I hope you will accept me as one of your many nieces. My parents take the ''Advocate" every week; I like reading the Children's Corner very much. My sister has written to you before, so I thought I would write, too. On the 10th of this month, our little twin babies will be twelve months old; their names are Michael John and Francis. I go to the Koo-wee-rup Central State School with my brothers and sisters. Our teacher's name is Mr. M'Gibbon, and we all like him very much. The name of our school is going to be changed to Cora Lynn. We have to walk 1¾ miles to school. I will bring my letter to a close, with love to yourself and the curly-headed captain,
I remain, your would-be niece, Margaret Emma Veronica Fitzpatrick (7).
As Ellen mentioned in her letter to Aunt Patsy, a shelter shed was to be erected at the school and the South Bourke & Mornington Journal of August 21, 1907 reported that -
A dance will be held at the Cora Lynn. Shelter Shed on Friday evening to raise funds to meet the building expenses. As this is a worthy object it is to be hoped that the dance will be a success (8).
On November 16, 1907 this letter written to ‘Uncle Ben’ was published in the Weekly Times, foreshadowing the new store that was to be built in the town.
Cora Lynn, 7th OctoberDear Uncle Ben,
This is the first time I have written to you. I would very much like to see my letter published in "The Weekly Times." I go to school every day, and I am in the second class. I have two miles to walk to school. We have a football at school, and we have great fun with it. My father is getting a new store built in Cora Lynn. It will only be about two chains from the school. We are having lovely weather here now. The grass is looking beautiful in the paddocks. My sister has a little pet lamb. There are a good many hares about here. My father shot one yesterday. There are a great many snakes here this season. I killed a small one last week. With love to yourself, Aunt Connie and the little children in the cots
I remain your loving friend, Arthur Murdoch, aged 10 years and 3 months (9).
Footnotes:
(1) This information comes from Des Dineen
(2) Blake, Les Place names of Victoria (Rigby, 1977)
(3) Blake, L. J (editor) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, (Education Department of Victoria, 1973)
(4) The Age, September 1, 1909, see here.
(5) School locations and addresses come from the Electoral Rolls on Ancestry; Birth, Death, and Marriage information comes from the Victorian Indexes to the Births, Deaths and Marriages; wedding information is from the Geelong Advertiser, December 30, 1911, see here; his death date comes from the Geelong Cemeteries Trust website, gct.net.au
(6) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, July 17, 1907, see here.
(7) The Advocate, July 20, 1907, see here.
(8) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, August 21, 1907, see here.
(9) Weekly Times, November 7, 1907, see here.
