The following is taken from the Brisbane City Council Heritage Register.
"Constructed circa 1881, ‘Eridge’ was the home of Walter Scott, teacher and later school inspector and inspector
of orphanages. The Scott family were the first residents of Mowbray Terrace, though others followed from the
mid-1880s with the sale of residential allotments in the ‘Mowbray Town Estate’. ‘Eridge’, or ‘Masterton’ as it was
sometimes known, remained the property of the Scott family until 1980. The house is a fine example of a late
nineteenth century timber cottage, featuring a steeply-pitched corrugated iron gable roof."
The real story of Eridge or Masterton is the story of Walter Scott a Queensland public servant who served his state in a number of roles. The house was in the Scott family for alost 100 years and would have stories to tell. The following is the story of Walter Scott and his family.
Walter born in England in 1838 or 1839 was a Scottish trained teacher when he arrive in Brisbane on the barque "Great Queensland" on the second of September 1873. He already had a family with the second and third of his childfren born in Jedburgh, Scotland. Jedburgh situated just north of the British border with Scotland and within close proximity to the home of Sir Walter Scott. In 1871 our Walter Scott is recorded as living in Jedburgh.
When arriving in Brisbane in 1873 it was not long before a son Walter James Scott was born in November of that year at Herschell Street in Brisbane. It must be remembered that the streets of Tank and Herschell were streets of domestic housing or accomodation.
The barque "Great Queensland" had been refitted to become a vessel used by the Queensland Colonial Government in transporting immigrants and goods between England and Queensland. In 1873 when it arrived in Brisbane it was carrying approximately 600 people who were a combination of fee paying and assisted immigrants.
Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), Saturday 6 September 1873, page 3
THE IMMIGRANTS.
THE immigrants by the Great Queensland were brought up from the Bay on September 3, by the steamers Kate and Settler. The Kate first reached the Queen's wharf (at 3 o'clock), about which a large crowd had col-lected to welcome the new comers, who were greeted with hearty and prologed cheers, which were as vigorously responded to by the immigrants. About fifteen minutes afterwards the Settler also turned Kangaroo Point with her living burden, and on arriving at the wharf her passengers met with an equally enthusias-tic reception. The arrangements for landing the passengers and their luggage were very complete, little if any confusion occurring. The new arrivals appear to be of a respectable class, and all seemed on landing quite jovial, and, judging from the remarks of several after a stroll through Brisbane, by no means dissatisfied with their first impressions of the colony. A large number appear to have friends or relatives in the city, as out of the 658 souls landing only about 510 sought the Immigration Depot,
Six deer, from Her Majesty, were landed in splendid condition ; one fawned upon the passage, but the fawn unfortunately died, the mother having little milk.
On board the "Great Queensland" was a personal gift to the people of the colony of Queensland. The gift was six red deer from Queen Victoria's personal Windsor Forest estate. She had personally provided this gift of the red deer.
It could be assumed that given Walter's previous teaching experience he would have emigrated into the colony ready to take up a teaching position. This may have already have been arranged as he was an assisted immigrant. On arrival in Queensland he started his employmen with the then Department of Instruction and had a number of head teacher positions including Eagle Farm, West End and Kangaroo Point schools.
In his 2014 thesis The Rise and Demise of the Inspector of Schools in Queensland,
Geoffrey James Swan O.A.M. FACE., B.Ed., M.Ed. Administration, M.Ed.Studies, Ph.D.
University of Queensland provides the following information.
Walter Scott on his role as an Inspector of Schools
English-born and Scottish trained Walter Scott kept letters and diaries that have been
preserved by his descendants. Scott, like many of his colleagues, left his family to
enjoy a more comfortable life in Brisbane while he lived ‘on the road’ in his district.
In 1885, while in the Mackay district on his first inspectorial trip, Scott wrote to his
wife:
You say you hope I like my new life, but that I say nothing about it. The fact is
that it is too soon to give a dogmatic opinion on the matter. From the
continuance of wet weather, my work has hitherto been carried on under
unfavourable conditions, but I am hoping for improvement in that respect. Still
it’s a lonely life; little else than a coming in contact with a constant succession
of strangers, to whom I can have no more than a passing interest.
In his letter, Scott outlined his program for the next two weeks. It involved
visiting schools in the Mackay hinterland, which involved riding 372 miles. He
considered that the planned trip could take three weeks if creeks were flooded or the
‘horse being knocked up; or self ditto’. Scott also complained in his diary and in
letters to his wife about the carping and criticism from Head Office:
It seems to me somewhat strange that the Under Secretary and the General
Inspector, with all their experience, seem unable to see a foot before them
without a lot of explanation to guide them. And then, on the other hand, they
deprecate what they are pleased to consider useless letter writing.
In 1897 Walter Scott became Inspector of Orphanages, a role less physically
demanding than that of an Inspector Schools. There was a Sub-Department of
Orphanages within the Department of Public Instruction.
The life of a school inspector would have been a lonely and arduous one. Travel to the regional coastal centres was by boat and then by horseback to teh remote schools of the district. A far cry from the rural village and town life of Victorian England and Scotland.
Mrs Violet Scott was always in need of a servant at Eridge on Mowbray Terrace. The newspaper advertisements for a general servant, house servant and maid are quite extensive in the 1880 and 1890 period. This time period coincides with the time Violet Scott would have been required to manage the household and daily affairs. She would have spent considerable time at home without her husband as he travelled the colony in his role as an Inspector.
Walter Scott Inspector of Orphanages
When the first Inspector of Orphanges Charles Horrocks died in 1896, Walter Scott was a man experienced in the role of a senior public servant and one with great knowledge of Queensland's geography and people. He had travelled extensively across the colony for many years and had a great knowledge of children and education in Queensland's colonial context. He was appointed to the role as Inspector of Orphanages following the death of Horrocks in 1896. He was the only Inspector and was responsible for all of the children under the care of the colony who were governed by the act passed in 1879.
What was the role of the Inspector and Orphanages in our colonial history?
The following is taken from the web site https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/
The Orphanages Act 1879 (Act no. 16/1879) was an act to govern orphanages which were charged with the care, teaching and training of children whose circumstances included death of one or both parents, desertion by parents, or neglect. It was assented to on 2 October 1879 and its full title was "An Act to make better provision for the Establishment and Management of Asylums for Orphans and Deserted and Neglected Children". The Act also provided for the boarding-out, hiring-out and apprenticing of orphanage children. This act was repealed by the State Children Act 1911 (Act no. 2 Geo.V.No.11) on the 30th of November 1911.
The Orphanages Act 1879 permitted destitute or deserted children under the age of 12 years to be sent to an orphanage and to remain there until they reached 12 years of age, unless boarded out with a 'trustworthy and respectable person' or hired out or apprenticed. A child could be hired out or become an apprentice at 10 years of age. At this time, the state subsidised orphanages in Brisbane, Rockhampton and Townsville, and an inspector of orphanages was appointed. Parents or relatives of children living in these institutions were expected to contribute to their support.
The position of Inspector of Orphanages was created under the Orphanages Act 1879. Charles Horrocks, born in Weimar, Germany in 1844, was Inspector of Orphanages from 6 November 1884 until his death on 20 October 1896.
As Inspector, Horrocks sought and obtained government approval for the age limit for employment of orphans and children in care to be raised to twelve years. He also helped to develop the boarding out system of child protection (fostering and employment) in Queensland.
He was a delegate at the 1891 Intercolonial Charities Conference in Melbourne, representing the Queensland Government. He presented a report to government in 1891 recommending that the child protective and corrective structures in Queensland should be united in one department under a single director. The State Children Act1911 implemented some of Horrocks's proposed reforms.
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The Diamantina Orphanage was established at Roma Street, Brisbane in 1865. The Queensland government assumed control following the passing of the Orphanages Act 1879. The Orphanage moved location twice, to South Brisbane in 1883 and to the Brighton Hotel, Sandgate in 1893. In 1910, it underwent another name change and moved again to Wooloowin, at which time it became the Diamantina Receiving Depot and Infants' Home.
Mary Ann Douglas, wife of Queensland Legislative Assembly member John Douglas, founded Diamantina Orphanage in 1865. The Orphanage was named after Lady Diamantina Bowen, wife of the Queensland Governor George Bowen. She stimulated the founding of a number of charitable organisations in Queensland, including the Lady Bowen Lying-in Hospital and the Diamantina Orphanage.
The Queensland State Archives provides the following history of the Diamantina Orphanage:
ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS:
From 1865 children were admitted to the Diamantina Orphan School, and a Visiting Inspector and Managing Committee were appointed on 1 Feb 1866. No precise date for the opening of the orphanage has been located in any primary source.
The orphanage was charged with the care and training of children whose circumstances included death of one or both parents, abandonment by parents, or qualification as a "neglected child" under Sec. 6 of the Industrial and Reformatory School Act 1865. The Orphanages Act 1879 provided for the boarding-out, hiring-out, and apprenticing of State children, and the systematic visiting of them by members of the Ladies' Committees.
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE:
From 1866 the Matron, teaching and other staff of the Diamantina Orphanage were employed by, and were responsible to the Managing Committee of six ladies and two visiting inspectors. An Inspector of Orphanages was appointed on 1 Apr 1875, and in 1876 responsibility for orphanages was transferred from the Colonial Secretary's Office to the Public Instruction Department. This was given legislative status under The Orphanages Act of 1879, and the Public Instruction Department, Orphanages Branch was established. Orphanages remained subject to Inspection while members of the Ladies' Committees reported on the well-being of children who were boarded-out or hired-out.
HISTORICAL NOTE:
The Diamantina Orphanage closed as an orphanage in 1893 (circa year), but the re-named Diamantina Receiving Depot continued its role of reception, care and boarding-out of children to foster homes. In Jan 1910, the Depot re-located to Wooloowin and occupied the same building as the Infants Home. On 17 Dec 1964 the Diamantina Receiving Home was renamed "Warilda" which became the Receiving and Assessment Centre for children in southern Queensland. Increasingly, by the end of the 1980s, Warilda became a centre for placement breakdown children, and on 1 Jan 1989 ceased operating as a departmental institution.
A former resident of Diamantina Orphanage was Andrew Dawson, who served as Premier of Queensland for one week (1 to 7 December) in 1899. Dawson was placed in the Orphanage at 6 years of age, following the death of his parents. He remained in the orphanage until he was nine. Andrew was then discharged into the care of an uncle who took him to live in Gympie.
Location
1865 - 1883
Location - The Diamantina Orphanage was situated at Roma Street, Brisbane. Location: Brisbane
1883 - March 1893
Location - The Diamantina Orphanage was situated at Ipswich Road, South Brisbane. Location: South Brisbane
March 1893 - January 1910
Location - The Diamantina Orphanage was situated at Brighton Terrace, Sandgate. Location: Sandgate
Walter Scott and Retirement
Walter Scott retired in 1908 and continued an active life with a newspaper reference to his role as a Diocesan Synodsman at the age of 82. Walter died on October 18, 1932 at the age of 93. One funeral notice was from the East Brisbane Bowls Club advising of the funeral of their esteemed life member and his burial at the Bulimba Cemetry. His funeral service took place on Friday March 11, in the nearby St. Paul's Church of England, Vulture Street. Just over eighteen months later the funeral of his daughter Alice Mary Scott of Eridge, Mowbray Terrace was held in the same church.
Obituary of Walter Scott - A Fitting Tribute
Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Monday 14 March 1932, page 12
OBITUARY
Mr W. Scott.
The late Mr. Walter Scott, who died last Wednesday at his residence, Mowbray-terrace, East Brisbane, at the age of 93 years, was born at Malton, Essex, England, and was educated at St. Ninian's College, Perth, Scotland. He entered the Episcopal Training College. In 1859 he began-a three-year course in the parish school at Stanwix, Carlisle, England. In 1862 he went to St. John's Episcopal School at
Jedburgh, Scotland, and remained there for 11 years, leaving to come to Australia with his wife and four children, settling in Brisbane. The following year he was appointed head teacher of the Eagle Farm State School, and with the opening of the West End State School in 1875 he accepted a similar position there, which he held until 1879, when he went to the Kangaroo Point Boys' School.
In 1885 Mr. Scott was appointed a district inspector of schools, and held that position until 1897, when he was appointed inspector of orphanages, and retained that position until his retirement in 1908 at the age of 70 years. Not with standing his age he did not remain idle, and shortly after his retirement he was appointed secretary to tho Medical Board, a position he occupied for 17 years, when he finally retired. Mr. Scott was a prominent churchman, a member of the Diocesan Synod, and a keen supporter of St. Paul's Church of England, East Brisbane. He was one of the oldest bowlers in Queensland, being a member of the first bowling club at Booroodabin, and at the time of his death was a life member of the East Brisbane Bowling Club, with which he had been associated for many years. Mr. Scott's wife predeceased him by seven years, but he is survived by three sons, Messrs. W. J. Scott (Brisbane), C. E. Scott (Herberton), and A. H. Scott (Rockhampton), and six daughters, Mesdames W. A. Preston, J. C. Preston (Sydney), E. M. Henzell, and Misses Alice, Maude, and Beatrice Scott.
The funeral took place to the Bulimba Cemetery on Saturday, after a service at St. Paul's Church, conducted by Rev. K. A. Watts. During the service the organ, which Mr. Scott at one time played as church organist, was played by Mr. E R. B. Jordan, and the solo, "O! Rest in the Lord," was rendered by Miss Jean Rigby. A large number of relatives, friends, and representatives of organisations with which Mr. Scott and his family were connected attended the service at the graveside.
The Son Born in Herscell Street - Walter James Scott
Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Saturday 5 August 1939, page 7
Retires After 50 Years In Titles Office
There had practically been no change in the work at the Titles Office since he entered the service 50 years ago, said Mr. Walter James Scott, examiner, yesterday, after he had been presented by the Registrar of Titles (Mr. J. R. McPhie), on behalf of the staff, with an ink stand, suitably inscribed, to commemorate the occasion. Mr. Scott also received a parchment scroll, signed by the members of the staff, congratulating him on his record service. Born in Herschell Street, Brisbane, on November 18, 1873, Mr. Scott entered the Titles Office in 1889, after leaving the Brisbane Grammar School. He did most of his service in the Brisbane office, but spent several years in the Townsville office.
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