For over 40,000 years the windswept basalt plains surrounding Keilor, were home to the Wurundjeri Aboriginal tribe, providing a rich source of edible plants, animals for food and skins for clothing. As European settlement encroached further and further into their traditional hunting grounds, the tribes gradually disappeared from the Keilor landscape. In 1940, the discovery of the Keilor Cranium near Dry Creek, prompted an extensive archaeological dig on the site. Today the remains of cooking fires, hidden under layers of silt on the ancient river terraces and stone quarries where they made their tools, are the only reminders of their occupation of the area.
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The first Europeans to settle in Keilor about 1838, were pastoralists James Watson and Alexander Hunter. Large areas of land close to Keilor, were taken up by William Taylor and James Robertson in the 1840's and until the start of the Victorian goldrushes, in the early 1850's, Keilor remained a relatively quiet, rural backwater. With increasing numbers of travellers passing through the village in the 1850's, there came an influx of new settlers to the area, eager to cash in on this 'captive' passing market. Blacksmith's shops, stores, carriers, a post office, courthouse, police station, bridge, Caroline Chisholm Shelter Sheds and a new hotel, sprang up along Macedon Street. By 1865, Keilor's population had swelled to 250 and in 1873 had grown to 300. The majority of these newcomers were Irish, with smaller numbers of English, Scots and German settlers.
As the gold petered out, so too did the number of travellers and Keilor began a new era, as an important agricultural centre, producing fruit, vegetables and dairy products for the local and Melbourne markets. By the early 1900's, a number of Spanish families had moved into the area, followed later by Italians and Chinese - many of them taking up market gardening along the river flats. Most of the population lived and worked close to the Keilor village. While many worked their own small farms, others provided labour for the larger estates and market gardens or ran shops or businesses.
People from many different nationalities began moving into the newly-opened estates, creating the diverse population we now call multi-cultural. Unlike their predecessors, most of today's working population, commute to other industrial and commercial areas for employment. Today Keilor is regarded not as a rural area, but rather an outer suburb of Melbourne. This makes quite a change from the 1850's, when it took goldseekers two days to walk to Keilor from Melbourne.
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EDUCATION IN KEILOR 1853-2000
Initially there were two schools in Keilor - the Church of England School No. 345 and Roman Catholic School No. 357, both opened in 1853, however by 1867 the Church of England School had closed. Prior to 1872, Common or Government Schools, Denominational or Church Schools and a variety of privately-operated schools, provided different types and standards of education for children in Victoria. In 1872 the Victorian Government introduced the Education Act, after deciding that all children should be proficient in the 3 R's - Reading, Writing and Arithmetic and therefore education should be 'free, compulsory and secular'. This meant that teachers became members of the Public Service and received fixed salaries and retirement allowances.
From 1872 until 1905, children aged 6-15 years, were required to attend school, however by 1905 the age was lowered to 14 years.
On January 13, 1873, the Victorian Education Department was established, with a Minister of Public Instruction to oversee the budget and running of all Victorian schools, thus abolishing the Common School's Board of Education. The first Keilor State School, constructed in 1875 on top of the Bonfield Street hill, was plagued from the start by shoddy construction and the use of inferior building materials.
The one-room school was built on bluestone foundations, however its brick walls were porous and became mildewed during the winter months and because there was no ceiling under the slate roof, huge draughts swept through the schoolroom. Correspondence in the school files, reveals that the first Head Teacher, Mr Savage and his wife Bridget, who acted as his assistant, were frequently absent through illness and if both were away, they sent along one of their older children to teach! Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
In 1940 a new school was built in the former Police Paddock, at the bottom of the Bonfield Street hill. Although the old school's location had not been ideal, the new site was even less suitable. Located just above the main road into Keilor, the sloping site was particularly unsuitable for playground activities.
In 1960, the school was relocated to a new and more suitable site in Kennedy Street, Keilor, which was originally part of the Milburn Estate. Today, the only reminders of the first Keilor State School, are the bluestone foundations and a depression in the ground where the old well was located. An historical panel erected on the site in 1991, explains the school's history, along with a photograph of the school and some of the pupils. There is nothing to indicate the location of the 1940 school.
On July 15th 2000, the school will celebrate 125 years of education. Below is a photograph ofstudentsand staff at Keilor Primary School taken in 1994. A whole school photograph taken in June 2000 is available in the History of Keilor Primary School book.
