Figure 1.--This private school in Melbourne has a very traditional English-styled uniform. The boys wear grey short pants suits. During the day the boys take off their suit jackets and wear just the sweaters with the colored trim on the neck and cuffs. Their kneesocks also have black-colored trim. |
HBC is collecting infrmation on individual Australian schools. The uniforms at these different schools help to show thde different uniform standards at different kinds of schools. This will help highlight schoolwear trends and regulations over time as well as provide a way of comparing uniforms in different countries. HBC is just beginning to build this section. Hopefully HBC's Australian readers will provide some information on their schools,
We do not know a great deal about the history of the aberdale Boys Grammar School. I'm nor sure what the rules were at first, but became a selective school which required good scores on the 11-plus examination tyo enter. This was the same systen as in Britain.It was founded in 1896. It seems to have been a very small school when initially founded. The uniform appears to have been at first rather flexible, but by the 1950s was quite formal.
This private grammar school in New South Wales is run by Greek Australians. It has both a junior and senior section. They have a very traditional uniform complete with boaters. Even the seniors wear the boaters, but they do wear long trousers. The boys
and girls wear a similar uniform with the boys wearing long and short pants and the girls wearing skirts. The uniform consists of the following.
Here we see an image of the Bilambil Public School in 1970. We are not yet sure where that is located. It looks to be a small rural primary school. There is no uniform. The girls wear dresses. The boys wear open collared shirts and T-shirts with shorts. The children all seem to be barefoot.
Christain Brothers College (CBC) in Adelaide is a Catholic school. The school has a purple blazer with white border braiding. It now has blue longleg fingertip length style shorts with belt loops and pockets with metal clasps or fasteners. The blue polo shirt has purple and white hoop pinstripes and blue kneesocks or normal kneesocks and ankle socks. Pulteney still has their old summer strip being grey short trousers'purple and white verticle pin striped shirt, grey kneesocks, black shoes, and purple school traditional blazer with school badge.
We do not know much about thr Chillingham Public School, exceot that it was located in Chillijgham, New South Wales. This means that it was located in southeastern Australia. Chillingham was not a major city and we do not know just where in ther state it was located. The school was a state primary school. Beyond this basic infirn=mation wee know nothing about the school. We do have several photographs from the school over time.
The Hunter Valley is a region of New South Wales, approximately 160 kilometres north of Sydney, Australia. Now there is an approximate population of 700,000 people, most of which live in the Newcastle metropolitan area. There are also numerous other towns and villages scattered across the valley. The valley is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry. It is the valley of the Hunter River, one of the major eastwards-flowing rivers of South-Eastern Australia. We have a photograph from the Hunter Valley School in the 1920s. At the time it seems to have been a small rural school.
The Kings School is an Anglicam boarding school. The educational program follows that of a traditional English prep school. The boys wear, howver, a very destinctive uniform. It is perhaps the most destinctive in Austrlia.
Koonung Secondary College is in Victoria Australia. The uniform consist of a blue blazer
which is optional a blue rain jacket, blue jumper, a blue school tie which is also optional, a white shirt, and grey trousers and grey short pants. The blazer and the jumper and rain jacket have the school logo on it. Not many boys wear the blazer and the rain jacket is
more common. The reason why not many boys wear the blazer is because of the cost and because this is a goverment school it is not mandotory. A lot boys and girls do wear the ties. Many state schools do not have as strict uniform requirements.
Pulteney Grammar School (Anglican) is located in Adelaide It has the the same uniform as the Christian Brother's College except instead of purple they have a black blazer with white braiding.. CBC had grey or blue short trousers with a white or blue and white pinstriped shirt with blue and white tie'blue blazer with school badge, white or grey kneesocks, black shoes, blue or grey vee neck jumper, and wide brimmed blue cloth hat.
The Roebourne Primary School is a small primary located at Roebourne, a small town in Western Australia. The school is attended by many Aboriginie children as well as some children of European origins. The school has programs especially focused on native culture. I'm not sure when the school was founded and his special program adopted. The uniform is a green t-shirt with the school logo.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as part of Australia's defense policy maintained bases in several Commonwealth countries, primarily in Southeast Asia. Ausrtralia was a signatory of the South East Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO). The RAAF initially had a limited commitment at Butterworth Field. There were only a small number of dependants. When more RAAF personnel were assigned to the base, an Interim School was established in a vacant home (August 1958). The school served children from infants to secondary level. The secondary students worked on correspondence courses. The staff of female teachers was recruited from wives of servicemen - mostly RAAF but some Army wives as well. The RAAF School at Butterwirth in 1965 had the uniforms seen here (figure 1). The boys wore monogramed white shirts which because of the heat were worn with open collars. They had matching white shorts and white kneesocks. The girls wore white dresses.
Scotch College was founded after World War I as a living memorial to educate the "sons of Scotland" who had served in World War I (1914-18). The College thus began as a boys' school as was the basic pattern for secondary schools at the time. The College was created by an Act of Parliament (1922). Gratton House which is now used by the Middle School, was originally built as a memorial to 57 Collegians who died in World War II. Entrance was eventually opened to all Australians and not just those of Scottish ancestry or the sons of veterans. The College became coeducational (1972). The College is associated with the Uniting Church and is administered by a Council of Governors. The College offers a broad, liberal education based on Christian principles. It is a full-term school educating children from pre-school through secondary school. Boarding is offered for children from Years 7 to 12. The school's Scottish heritage is shown by the active pipe band.
Here we have a high school class in Tasmania, Australia, taken in 1911. The school is all boys. Single gender secondary schools were standard at the time. The High School boys seem to the younger boys at the school. Boys in Australia following the British system began secondary school at about age 12. The boys here look like the first or second form at the school. Most of the boys seem to be wearing suits with Eton collars. Some of the suits have waistcoasts, some have Norfolk styling, and one boy even wears just a sweater (see middle of the front row of standing boys). Many of the boys wear peaked caps, the standard headwear for British school boys at the time and thus wideky worn in the Dominions as well. One in the back wears a flat cap. All the boys we can see wear knee pants with long black stockings. This probably includes even the boys whose legs we can't see, because it was customary for high school boys in 1911 to wear knee pants up to the ages of 16 and 17 and, in some conservative areas, throughout the high school years. Only the younger boys have bear knees. Note the boys sitting cross-legged in the front row, wearing knee socks, and even here, two of the boys wear long stockings. At least four of the masters are visible--one with a bowler hat at the left and another with a black beard and mustache at the right. The figure in the third row (extreme right) with his hand on his hips might be a master, but he could also be one of the older boys, about age 18. Two boys, fourth and fifth from the left in the second row, seem to be wearing knickers with black stockings. Knee pants, however, are obviously dominant.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main country page]
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer
[School sandals]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Main Australian school uniform country page]
[Main school uniform page]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[New Zealand]
[Scotland]
[United States]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Topics]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
