Figure 1.-- The photo shows pupils and teachers at Beebo State School in 1899. Beebo is a little village about 300 kms. South West of Brisbane. Probably the village had a one-room school. The photo shows an attitude toward bare feet different from that we can see in Australian school photos during 20th century. At least a boy and a girl are barefoot. However the boys is in the second row and a branch is placed in front of the girl to hide her feet. It seems that the conventions about bare feet are British rather Australian. Too of the students are from the Booth family.

The photo shows pupils and teachers at Beebo State School in 1899. This is one of the few Australia 19th century schoolm images we have found. Beebo is a little village about 300 kms. South West of Brisbane. Probably the village had a one-room school. There is quite a range of ages for the students. Notice the older boy's school cap. The photo shows an attitude toward bare feet different from that we can see in Australian school photos during 20th century. At least a boy and a girl are barefoot. However the boys is in the second row and a branch is placed in front of the girl to hide her feet. It seems that the conventions about bare feet are British rather Australian. Interesting, I've neever seen in these old phgotographs, anyomne being to concerned about being barefoot. We are not sure what the concern was in the 1890s. Was it modesty. Or was it that it suggested poverty. We wonder if they rececntly arrived from England. A reader writes, "I don't think that bare feet could be a matter of modesty. It could be a matter of conventions. In England usually the children didn't go to school barefoot and that would have been seen as a sign of poverty. That was an English convention rather British. In Scotland was not infrequent for children to go to school barefoot."

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Created: 1:18 AM 3/11/2011
Last updated: 8:56 AM 3/11/2011