NRS-965 | Copies of letters to the National School Board

The counterpart of the Denominational School Board, the National School Board or more correctly the Board of Commissioners for National Education was set up under the Act of Council 11 Vic. No. 48. Its duties were similar but it was entrusted more specifically with a system of schools to be conducted under "Lord Stanley's National System of Education" which had been in operation in Ireland since 1831. The Council voted £2,000 in 1847 towards this object. Plunkett, the Attorney General, was appointed chairman, and Nicholson, the speaker of the Council, and W.S. Macleay its two members. The Board immediately set about putting the Irish Scheme into effect but while the whole plan represented the first major act in establishing a general education system it remained unsatisfactory largely because of the dual control of the schools. Most of the letters in the volume are of a fairly routine nature - school sites and buildings, appointment of teaching staff and so on. (4/3702; microfilm copy SR Reel 2857). 1 vol. Note:This description is based on Concise Guide to the State Archives of New South Wales, 3rd Edition 2000.