by Lawrence A. Crich
(1986) Any attempt to get a clear picture of education in Sarnia prior to 1860 is met with frustration. This can probably be better understood when one realizes that the first Sarnia Board of Education was formed only in 1851 and the first recorded surviving minutes are from January 4, 1854. The record of the first Board reaches us from other materials written at various times over the past one and one-quarter centuries. These members were Captain R.E. Vidal, Chairman, Rev. William McAllister, Rev. G.H.R. Salter, Rev. I. Armour, Archibald Young, James Flintoft, Robert Skillbeck, William Risk (Brooke), James Scarlett (Dawn), Rev. J. Gunne (Euphemia), and William Fletcher (Sombra). Perhaps some will wonder about the size of the Board and the areas represented by some members. It must be remembered that there were two school boards, one representing the Common or Elementary schools and the other Grammar or Secondary School. The Grammar School was a county school thus the representative of the various townships. Separate Board meetings were held up to very recent times when exclusively elementary or secondary matters were dealt with. Even today, we have members on the County Board who cannot deal with exclusively elementary matters as they represent the secondary schools for the Separate School Systems.
The early minutes were extremely brief, recording only the bare essentials. What a contrast to today’s volume where some Board members expect every piece of trivia they utter be recorded. Because of the utter briefness of the very early minutes, it is difficult to obtain much more than a sketchy outline of education of the time.
On January 4, 1854, a meeting of the Trustees of the Lambton Grammar School was called with Captain R.E. Vidal, chairman, and Archibald Young, treasurer, present. Since there was no quorum, the meeting was adjourned.
On May 10, 1854, a joint meeting of the Board of the Grammar and Common trustees was called for the purpose of uniting the two boards and schools. It would seem that no concensus was reached at that time. On July 20th of that same year, a joint meeting was called to address the same question. It was moved by W. Young and seconded by W. Lagan that “the Common School and Grammar School, Section No. 1 of the Township of Sarnia according to an Act, 16th, Vic. Chapter 186, such union to take place immediately, to be known as the ‘United Grammar and Common School in Sarnia.” Rev. W. Salter be Chairman of the Joint Board of Trustees and that the Grammar School be free during the current year to all pupils residing either in the limits of Section #1or the Township of Sarnia. The senior classes assigned to the Grammar School assigned to the Grammar School and the junior classes to occupy the Common School. A committee was to be named to select a site for a schoolhouse.” Carried.
At this point it must be pointed out that the Common School was housed in a red brick building on a parcel on Christina Street across from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. It is believed that this was a two0room school and was probably the School Section #1, Sarnia Township referred to in the July 20, 1855 minutes. At some point in 1844 according to the Historical Atlas of the County of Lambton, a wooden building, probably one room on the same campus, was erected to house the Grammar School. The enrolment of the Grammar School would be extremely low in modern terms. By April 3, 1868, it had risen to 23, 19 boys and 4 girls. It is difficult to say at just what academic level one could enter such a school or whether it would be above or below the approximate age level of our present secondary school candidates.
At the November 12, 1855 Board meeting, W. Jordan was requested to present working plans and specifications for a new schoolhouse. On December 21, 1855, an advertisement in the Globe and Observer called for tenders. The tender was opened February 18, 1856 and all were rejected as they were considered to be too high. How often would that or similar complaints be used over the next 100 years? At the March 26th meeting it was moved “not to build a new school but to continue to use the present school.” The secretary was directed to request Mr. Macavoy to remove the manure lying on the school lot.
It would seem that at this point some empty schoolhouse somewhere in the area was pressed back into service as of October 30th, the minutes stated “The brick schoolhouse was to be obtained and fitted up with a stove for accommodation of part of the pupils of the Common School under Mr. Sydney Frost’s charge.” No clue is given regarding the location of this school.
At the April 7, 1857 meeting, the minutes stated that G(eorge). Durand was approached to sell his lots at George and Mitton Streets for a new schoolhouse. Some sources suggest that at this point in time there were no houses on the east side of Mitton Street. At the August 7th meeting, the minutes stated “Mr. Durand’s offer of 300 feet on George Street from Mitton Street eastward at $1.00 per foot and Rev. G. Salter’s offer of four lots on Essex Street from Mitton Street eastward at L40 per lot be accepted. Carried.” On February 12, 1858, an application to the Town Council was made for $6,000 to build a new school. On November 5th the following tenders were examined: W.W. Lewis – $6,600, Alexander McLagan – $6,250, and Alexander MacKenzie – $6,230. The minutes do not record which was the successful tender but (it) is assumed that the lowest one, that of Alexander MacKenzie, the next Prime Minister, was accepted.
No definite statement concerning the beginning of construction or when it was completed is to be found in the minutes; however, other business relating to the new school suggested that the construction took place in 1859 and completion was toward the end of the year. The July 13, 1859 minutes record that the new school was to be called ‘Union Schools.” The October 26th minutes state “Mr. Dunlop’s school was moved.” No hint was given to the location of this school. The December 5th minutes record “65 applications for the Common School and 9 for the Grammar School. Mr. William Stewart was appointed as under teacher in the Common School at $400. The December 9th minutes recorded “Rates at the Grammar School were to be uniform at $1.50 a term.” The December 13th minutes reported that the Common School of the Union School was to have three teachers, first, second and third.”
It would seem from the activities recorded in the month of December, 1859, the school was either opened in December of that year or January, 1860. The short history of the Sarnia Schools written about 1910 states, “the school was opened in 1860 with Mr. W.B. Evans in charge of the Grammar School, and Mr. John Brebner in charge of the Common School, with Mr. James Dunlap and Mr. William Stewart as his assistants.” These four men represented the staff of Sarnia in 1860. Mr. Dunlap resigned the following year and was replaced by Mr. A. McLean.
It didn’t take long for human nature to raise its dissenting head. We now have two schools housed in one building. Who was to be in overall charge of the building? The Grammar School was very small; only one room. This would seem to be put to rest by the Board resolution of August 2, 1861, which stated, “Mr. W. B. Evans, B.A., was placed in full charge of the Union School. The question rose again time after time.
Life at the Union School seemed to be rather routine for a number of years with few incidents worthy of being recorded in the minutes. A few are worth noting, however: on April 3, 1863, Mr. Brebner and Mr. Campbell were instructed to take full charge of the children and prevent the defacing of the building. Who said vandalism was a modern phenomenon? In July, 1865, the Board passed a resolution to prosecute anyone trespassing on school grounds. By 1866, the border along Sarnia seemed to be under threat. The Board minutes stated that “the regular March meeting was not held because of the threat of Fenian Raids.” The Irish question seems to be forever with us. [Editor’s Note: written at the time of ‘The Troubles’ in Ireland] Two or three Irish groups during the first two months of 1882 were arrested at the American border attempting to enter the United States illegally from Ireland by-way-of Canada. Their mission was to stir up American sympathy for the outlawed I.R.A. and (to) purchase arms to be smuggled into Northern Ireland.
At the March 4, 1867 meeting the Board set the fee structure at $1.25 per month for the Senior Department, $.75 for the 3rd and 4th Department, and $1 for the 2nd Department. The days of free publicly supported education had not arrived. These same minutes recorded that the Roman Catholics had set themselves up as Separate School Supporters and had created their own school. The term “Central School” was used to refer to the Union School. This term was used in reference to the Lochiel School when it was built in the 1870s.
By February 18, 1868, 291 pupils were reported to be enrolled in the common schools; 169 boys and 122 girls with a daily average of 225. This probably included all schools; the classes that would soon make up the new Lochiel School, the Durand and Wellington Schools, all housed in various locations as well as those in the three Common School classes in the Union School. The April 3rd minutes reported the Grammar School enrolment as 23.
The October 13, 1868 minutes record an interesting excerpt. “Moved by Mr. Adams and Mr. Stevenson that it is the opinion of the Board, unjust appropriation of the Grammar School grant on the basis of attendance of boys alone at the Grammar School and that the superior education of girls is as important to the well-being of our country as that of boys, and that for this purpose the public funds should be distributed upon the basis of attendance of both sexes. Carried.” The male conscience seems to have been pricked.
By August 25, 1869, the average daily attendance of the Grammar School was about 8.5. This was remedied when the Board decided to amalgamate the Grammar School and the Senior Department of the Common School, August 27, 1869. Sarnia seemed to have been producing few superiorly educated students at that time.
By November 26, 1869, Mr. John Brebner had resigned due to his recent appointment as provincial inspector and was now the county and town inspector. In his place Mr. F.L. Checkley was appointed principal of the Union School and supervising principal of the other common schools at $900. By December 31, 1870, the Board reported that the school library contained 223 volumes and Mr. Alexander Wark was to receive $50 per annum extra for his work in the library. At the June 7, 1871 meeting, some Board member came up with the novel idea that since the appointment of the inspector who did much of the duties of the principal, no principal would be appointed for the Sarnia Schools. This idea gathered little following even in money conscious Sarnia. The Board paid Mr. Brebner $150 a year for his inspectorial work in the town.
By November, 1871, the enrolment at the Grammar School had jumped to 44, too much to be handled in one room. The Board requested and was granted the right to set up a room in the City Hall. On December 1st, the Board discussed for the first time the idea of building a new High School. In February 8, 1873, it was reported that the High School (meaning the Grammar School classes in the Union School and in City Hall) were fitted with new single seats and the old ones were placed in the new school (Lochiel Street School). At that same meeting lunch hour supervision was set up for the teachers to prevent damage to desks, etc., a current topic once again in the elementary schools in 1882.
By February 4, 1874, the Grammar School enrolment had risen to 61, 33 boys and 28 girls. By March, 1877, it was necessary to move Mr. Wark’s department to the Town Hall. Mr. Sinclair, principal of Grammar School addressed the Board on the need for more accommodation. At the February 16, 1877 meeting, it was decided to move the High School to the Town Hall and the present High School (Union School) be made the Model School. Mr. Wark was to occupy Mr. Sinclair’s room and Miss Pottinger and Mr. White to act as assistants. Again there was some talk about a new High School at the August 3rd meeting. By March, 1881, the High School enrolment had reached 102. By 1982, the enrolment of the girls in High School was about equal to that of the boys.
With the opening of the George Street School (Model School) in 1878, the Union School was now fully available for High School students.
The new Collegiate Institute on London Road was opened in 1892.The Management Committee recommended at the March 4, 1892 Board meeting that the old High School and its grounds on Mitton Street be sold. On November 4th, the Board transferred the school and its site to the Town of Sarnia and the Union School ceased to exist. It would not be long before the Sarnia General Hospital would be erected on its grounds.