The first decade 1900-1909
| Midland Junction |
| A Need for Training |
| Technical Education |
| Midland Junction Technical School |
Newspaper Articles Perth Technical School Annual Report 1905 Scholarship Winners Student Profiles (alphabetical) Student Profiles from this decade Perth Technical School Annual Report 1909 Industry Profiles
Towards the end of the 19th
Century a massive
wave of immigrants came to Western Australia in search of gold. But by the
beginning of the new century, most of the alluvial gold had been worked out, and
the immigrants looked to agriculture to sustain them.
Large estates were subdivided and wheat farming became
the State’s main industry - expanding over thousands of square kilometres.
Rail transport accompanied this expansion, creating a new role for the
locomotives that had been brought to the State during the gold rushes. 
The Government railway workshops, originally operating from Fremantle, had to expand. After much debate it was decided to relocate them inland to Midland Junction, which not only had plenty of available land and artesian water, but was situated at the junction of railway lines servicing the northern, southern and eastern farmlands. Photo Courtesy Battye Library 225.252P
The area had long been referred to as "The Junction" as it was the spot where the inland roads from York and Toodyay came together. These roads in turn were probably developed from the tracks used by Aboriginal tribes for thousands of years. During the gold rushes the area was a favourite camping spot for camel teams and diggers.
Originally it was not anticipated that a large town
would develop so close to Guildford. In drawing up plans for the railways, C.
Y. O’Connor initially did not include a station on the site. It was
thought that Guildford would be the main southern terminus of the North bound
Midland Railway line. When Governor Broome dug the first spadeful of earth to
commemorate the Midland Railway line he marked the spot of what was to become
Midland Junction. Photo courtesy of the West Australian
Newspapers.
By
the start of the 20th Century there was already considerable
infrastructure in the town, which quickly evolved as a result of the
construction of the railways. The first electric light installation was
established at Midland Junction in 1898, operating the Ways and Works Workshop
for the manufacture of railway lines, and many substantial public buildings had
sprung up. Photo courtesy Midland Library.The clay river-banks were being utilised for the production of
bricks, while the rich alluvial soils washed down into the Swan Valley had
long been utilised for agriculture - particularly vineyards.
The announcement of the Workshops gave a much-needed boost to the local economy. Other industries were attracted to the area including a pipe-manufacturing firm that supplied the inland pipeline from Mundaring Weir to Kalgoorlie. The Workshops, completed in 1904, were the most advanced in Australia.
The need to train professional and skilled workmen for the new railways technology had long been expressed by Western Australia’s Chief Engineer, Charles Yelverton O’Connor. In his 1895 and 1896 Reports he warned Premier John Forrest that unless training opportunities were created locally, Western Australia would miss out on all the jobs being generated as a result of its expansion. (Harris M Charles Yelverton O’Connor, University Studies in History and Economics, Vol 1 No 1 1934 PP37-38)
Technical Education was established in Western Australia at the beginning of the 20th Century – initially through Perth Technical School. In November 1902 Cyril Jackson, Inspector General of Schools, visited Midland Junction State School to make arrangements for technical classes in woodwork the following year.
"The
weatherboard building at the side of the boy’s playground would be utilised
for this purpose and eight carpenter’s benches will be erected where boys will
be instructed by a competent teacher in Woodwork, on the
same lines as the Technical College, Perth."
The Swan Express 29 November 1902
The woodwork instructor, Mr. Mayo Wishhart later became Officer in Charge of
Midland Junction Technical School which was started in 1904, the same year that
the Workshops were completed.
(To view a larger image of the letters click on them)
Twenty students, mostly from the Railways Department began evening classes in
Elementary Maths, Practical, Plane and Solid Geometry and Mechanical
Drawing.
Instruction was "conducted by visiting lecturers from the Central
Technical School, by this means securing correlation of the whole technical
school work throughout the metropolitan area" . Perth
Technical School, Annual Report 1904.
There was considerable industry support for this new initiative in training.
The Western Australian Railways Institute strongly encouraged self-help and
occupational advancement. Its Gazette of January 1906 proclaimed:
"without technical railway education, we can no more hope to maintain our position abreast with others more favourably circumstanced in this respect that a tribe of savages can sustain the fight against a modern military brigade".
There was also considerable support from the broader community for training
beyond a basic primary education. In 1906 the Town Clerk of the Midland Junction
Municipality urged the Minister for Education to establish a purpose built
technical school for both sexes in the District. By the following year numbers
had increased from four classes of 45 students to seven classes of 63 students.
By 1908, classes in Bookkeeping and
Shorthand and ordinary subjects were being offered, and the school population
had more than doubled. That year the Railways Department commenced day training
for their apprentices, so additional accommodation, consisting of a small
cottage on the Railways premises was used. 
(To view a
larger image of the letters click on them)
During 1909 the Midland Junction Technical School extended its curriculum. Art classes were introduced and the first of many exhibitions was held at the end of the year with the Midland Junction Municipal Council donating two guineas as prizes. Other subjects were for students who had left school at an early age and needed tuition in Dictation, English, Simple Arithmetic and Geography.
This laid the foundation for Continuation classes, which
provided a bridge for higher levels of technical or university education.
Additional subjects of Public Service and Elocution were offered that year and
by the end of the first decade of the new century the school population had risen to 102. Photo Courtesy Battye Library 54360P
