Frederick Bridges (1840 - 1904)

Born 1840 in Windsor, NSW, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Miriam Wade (Holmes) Bridges — married 1860 in Sydney, NSW, Australia

Died 1904 at about age 64 in Drummoyne, NSW, Australia

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Biography

Born 1840 Windsor, NSW, Australia. ^[1][2]

Died 1904 Drummoyne, NSW, Australia. ^[3][4]

Marriage Husband Frederick Bridges. Wife Miriam Wade Holmes. Marriage 1860 Sydney, NSW, Australia. ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Source: #S1 325/1840 V1840325 58 BRIDGES FREDERICK; HARRIET
2. ↑ Source: #S5 http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bridges-frederick-3053 Bridges, Frederick (1840ÙX1904) Frederick Bridges (1840-1904), educationist, was born on 2 February 1840 at Windsor, New South Wales, son of Frederick Bridges, a Scottish mason brought to Sydney by Dr John Dunmore Lang, and his wife Harriet, nâee Burbidge. He was the first male pupil-teacher trained by the Board of National Education. He entered the board's service in 1852 and, after four years, became an assistant in National schools in Sydney. His first appointment as a headmaster was to Balmain in 1861 and later he became headmaster at Mudgee in 1863, Cleveland Street in 1865 and Fort Street in 1867. He remained at Fort Street until his appointment as a school inspector in 1876. After the Public Instruction Act of 1880 he continued as an inspector, first at Wellington and then at Bathurst. In 1884 he became deputy-chief inspector and in 1889 superintendent of technical education when this branch was transferred to the control of the Department of Public Instruction. In 1894 he became chief inspector of schools and under-secretary in October 1903, on the retirement of J. C. Maynard. Besides his educational posts Bridges was a deputy-member of the Public Service Board in 1901. In 1902 he was decorated by the French government for his work in raising funds for the relief of victims of the Martinique volcanic disaster. Bridges's career spanned a long and important phase of the history of education in New South Wales. Significant educational developments in that period included the withdrawal of state aid to church schools, the growth of a highly centralized system of educational administration under the control of a cabinet minister, and the extension of state provision for public education into secondary and technical instruction. Bridges was closely linked with the early growth of these new branches but his main contribution was to consolidate and extend the work of his predecessors in public elementary education. Bridges could be strict and even authoritarian. In 1886 when several teachers publicly criticized the department, he strongly recommended the dismissal of two men: 'The effective administration of a large department requires that proper discipline be maintained, and that a spirit of subordination pervade all ranks of the service. This is peculiarly necessary in the case of teachers, who should set an example of obedience to constituted authority'. At a conference in April 1904 called by the minister for Public Instruction to discuss the report of (Sir) George Knibbs, and J. W. Turner who had been sent abroad to examine educational systems, Bridges opposed several resolutions designed to replace the pupil-teacher system with a system of pre-service teacher training. As the conference proceeded the general opinion of those present appeared to favour the resolutions and when a vote was taken they were passed without dissent. On 16 November 1904, not long before he was due to retire, Bridges died of diabetes at his home in Drummoyne. He was buried in the Presbyterian section of the Gore Hill cemetery. He was survived by his wife Miriam Wade, nâee Holmes, whom he had married at Sydney in July 1860, and by two sons and three daughters of their nine children. His passing marked the end of the line of educational administrators begun by William Wilkins. Energetic, decisive, a good organizer and an efficient administrator Bridges accepted as an article of faith the perennial virtues of the public education system and saw his main task as the improvement of efficiency.
3. ↑ Source: #S1
4. ↑ Source: #S4 The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) - Saturday 15 August 1891 Mr. Frederick Bridges is a native of the colony. He received the chief part of his early education, at the Model National (now Public) school at Fort street, of which, he was one of the first pupils. In 1852 the Board of National Education decided to adopt the system of employing pupil teachers instead of monitors. This system had been tried in England for about five years, and had been found to work well. The subject of this sketch was the first lad appointed, and he has been continuously employed in education work ever since. After serving four years as pupil teacher and five years as assistant in the National schools at William-street and Fort street, Mr. Bridges was selected to open the first National school in the important suburb of Balmain. He succeeded so well there that in 1862 he was promoted to the charge of the District Model School at Mudgee. He remained in Mudgee for three years, and there are now many in that district who bear grateful testimony to the good results of his teaching. In 1865 Mr. Bridges was placed in charge of the National school at Cleveland-street, then con ducted in an old iron building little better than a shed. Under his management the attendance at this school increased in two years from 200 to over 600. At the lieginning of 1867. when the Public Schools Act be came law, the Council of Education appointed Mr. Bridges to the head-mastership of the Model Public School at Fort-street. This office he held for nearly 10 years. During that time the school maintained an excellent reputation, and attracted so many scholars that the Council of Education passed a regulation limiting the attendanee. Loss of voice in 1876 compelled Mr. Bridges to accept appointment to the office of Inspector of Schools, an office that he had previously declined. In May, 1881, when the Public Instruction Actcame into operation, Mr. Bridges was one of the seven officers selected by Sir John ltobertson to fill the newly - created position of District Inspector. After being in charge of the Wellington and Bathurst districts, Mr. Bridges was promoted in December, 1884, to the post of Deputy Chief Inspector, where he continued till the dissolution of the Board of Technical Educa tion, when he was transferred to the charge of that important branch of the Department of Public In struction. It will thus he seen that Mr Bridges' service extends over the long period of 39 years. During his long career as teacher many hundreds of boys have passed under his liands, and it is now his proud satisfaction to see many of these filling posts of honour and use fulness in the various walks of life, not only iu New South Wales but iu the other colonies. Not a lew members of Parliament have been his pupils. Mr. Carmthers, who so ably fills the office of Minister of Public Instruction, was one. For many years Mr. Bridges has taken great interest in technical education; during the seventies he worked hard on the committee of the School of Arts for the establishment of a Working Men's College, and for some time conducted a free class for the instruction of apprentices in technical arithmetic and mensuration. The success that has attended the operations of the Technical Education Branch more than justifies Mr. Carruthers' selection of Mr. Bridges for the responsi ble office of Superintendent, and is a guarantee that the work of technical education will be prosecuted with energy and efficiency. Full page article about life of Frederick Bridges is in The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) Saturday 15 August 1891 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/162172087?searchTerm=frederick%20bridges&searchLimits=l-advstate=New+South+Wales
5. ↑ Source: #S1 550/1860 BRIDGES FREDERICK and HOLMES MIRIAM WADE - SYDNEY

• Source: S1 NSW BDM Publication: https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au Paranthetical: Y
• Source: S4 Historic Newspaper (Australian) Publication: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ Paranthetical: Y
• Source: S5 Notes