Normanhurst School, Ashfield Explained

Normanhurst School
Status:	Closed
Closed:	1941
City:	Ashfield
State:	New South Wales
Country:	Australia
Type:	Independent, girls'
Denomination:	Non-denominational
Founder:	Ellen Clarke

The Normanhurst School was an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for girls that operated in Ashfield, in the Inner Western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.^[1]

Despite being non-denominational, the Normanhurst school maintained close links with St John's Anglican Parish, which was situated in the vicinity of the school.^[2]

History

The Normanhurst School was established in 1882 by Ellen Clarke, who was an English national.^[2] Clarke was principal of the school from its founding in 1882 to 1893.^[2] In 1884, her sister Marian Clarke arrived in Australia from England to join the faculty, and founded Abbotsleigh the following year.^[3]

At its foundation, the school operated out of a cottage located on Bland Street, Ashfield.^[2] Later as the school expanded, it moved to another larger campus in Ashfield at the intersection of Orpington and Chandos streets (pictured right).^[2]

Through the initiative of the then headmistress, Evelyn Tildesley, the Normanhurst School became a founding member of the Headmistresses’ Association of NSW (which has since become the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools) in 1916.^[4]

The school ceased operations in 1941.^[1]

Notable alumnae

• Daphne Akhurst (1903–1933) – five times Australian Open tennis champion^[5]
• Janet Cosh (1901–1989) – amateur botanist and plant collector^[6]
• Constance Elizabeth Harker (1875–1964) – was a headmistress at Somerville House.
• Margaret Slattery (1922–2015) – National Secretary of the Australian Parents Council during the 1970s, an advocacy organisation for non-government schools^[7]
• P. L. Travers (1899–1996) – author of the Mary Poppins series of children's books, later adapted into the musical film of the same name^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Normanhurst Girls School Ashfield. The Dictionary of Sydney. 24 September 2018.
2. Web site: Normanhurst School, pictorial collection, ca. 1890–1920. The State Library of New South Wales. 25 September 2018.
3. Web site: Marian Clarke, 1885-1913 . Abbotsleigh School history and archives.
4. Web site: About AHIGS. AHIGS – Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools. 25 September 2018.
5. Book: Akhurst, Daphne Jessie (1903–1933) . Australian Dictionary of Biography . 1 April 2008.
6. Web site: Janet Louise Cosh . 2022-11-28 . Australian National Herbarium . en.
7. Web site: John and Margaret Slattery: The very public couple. 28 December 2015.
8. Lawson, V., 1999, Out of the sky she came: The life of P. L. Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, published in association with Belladonna Books.