Adelaide Educational Institution


Adelaide Educational Institution was a privately run non-sectarian academy for boys in Adelaide founded in 1852 by John Lorenzo Young. The school closed when he retired in 1880. By this time Prince Alfred College had emerged as a strong alternative for sons of well-to-do Protestants.

History

In 1852 Young opened a school with two, then three pupils in the "Peacock Chapel" lent by Mr Peacock in the rear of the Ebenezer Chapel in Ebenezer Place, off the east end of Rundle Street. The two grew to seventeen at years end. and he was advertising for evening classes in Geometry and Arithmetic, apply between 6 and 7pm at Stephens Place, off the west end of Rundle Street where the Young family had a home, and to which street the school moved, perhaps as early as 1854. Fees for day students were 10 guineas per annum,. Facilities were available for boarding. His residence was also located on Stephens Place. By December 1855 the school had 107 students, perhaps close to 200 in 1857, 130 in 1862, 133 in 1868.
Next venue was the Congregational chapel in Freeman Street.
In 1872 new premises were built at Parkside in Young Street, which had been named after the headmaster.
E.S. Hughes recalled, in a letter to The Advertiser, a tableau of life during his time at the institution.

Education in early South Australia

John L Young

John Lorenzo Young was a Londoner, the son of John Tonkin Young, a builder from Veryan, Cornwall.
He received a non-sectarian education in Europe and England, with emphasis on mathematics and the newly developed sciences of geology, physics and chemistry. He worked in Cornwall on railway and mining construction then left for Adelaide in 1850. on the ship "Panama", arriving on 31 October 1850. He joined the rush to the Victorian goldfields but soon returned.
In 1851 he was appointed second master at the newly opened South Australian High School, under Headmaster Charles Gregory Feinaigle, but the venture failed by the end of the year. The following year Young was persuaded by a group of Congregationalists to open his own school at the rear of the old chapel in Ebenezer Street off Rundle Street East, and soon moved to larger premises in Stephens Place. His brother, Oliver Young, held classes for some time, and acted as headmaster in 1860 while J. L. Young was away on recuperation leave.
In 1861 he built the large two-storey "Young House" in Parkside, which was used both as his private residence and as a student boarding house. He then commissioned architects Wright and Hamilton to design and oversee building of a schoolhouse next door.. In 1871 he was able to relinquish the Freeman Street premises.
John retired in 1880 and closed the school, with the intention of joining his wife and large family who were visiting brother Oliver and his father in Veryan, in Cornwall. On his retirement, a testimonial was held 17 December 1880 by his old scholars, and he was presentated with a purse of sovereigns. His 16-room residence, with schoolhouse and various other houses on Young Street, after several auction attempts in February 1881, was eventually purchased by Alfred Allen Simpson. The two Parkside buildings, at 61-71 Young Street, were sold by Alfred A., Fred N. and Violet Laura Simpson to Mr. C. O. A. Lapidge in 1922. "Young House" has since been demolished but the heritage-listed schoolhouse still stands.
He embarked on the steamer John Elder in 1881 to visit England, his family having preceded him, but died on 26 July 1881 while crossing the Red Sea. He was buried at sea. Martha returned to Adelaide, at first living in Kent Town then settled in Glenelg. She died 6 April 1887 aged 57.
Fred W. Sims, formerly Deputy Registrar of Companies in the Supreme Court, wrote in The Advertiser:

Classes and curriculum

In its first stage of the school's history, Junior Class consisted of boys from 7 to 10 years, Science being a chief subject with a little religious insight. A small but significant number of students were Orthodox Jews. No homework was set.
In the Second Class, homework was encouraged and after five hours of schoolwork the more industrious students would voluntarily turn in up to four long essays a week.
In Senior or First Class, subjects covered included political economy, history.

Masters

Other academics at the Institution included:
A group of old scholars felt it appropriate to establish a memorial for J. L. Young, and from 1912 held a series of annual reunion dinners to raise funds for the memorial.
Many of Young's alumni became leading figures in Adelaide's businesses and public service.
from the Adelaide Educational Institution
held 15 Dec 1863 at Mr. J. L. Young's school room, Stephens-place; Mr. E. Cheetham occupied the chair. Satisfactory reports were received with reference to the success of the association. Annual prize awarded to Edward Neale Wigg. Elected: C. Peacock, President; M. L. Clark, Treasurer; Joseph Coulls, Secretary; and E. Cheetham, Walter Samson, Wm. Bickford, A. K. Whitby, and G. Cottrell.

Prizegivings and examinations

J. L. Young held twice-yearly public demonstrations, mostly held in White's Rooms, which showcased the boys' accomplishments to parents and the public. A report was published as news in the newspapers immediately after, and always in glowing terms, the copy being provided by the school. Any flaws in the operation of the school and the training of eager young minds were only hinted at in retrospect – by pronouncements on the great strides made in the current year.
There were so many other schools that copied his example that the newspapers soon recognised these reports for what they were – advertisements – and charged by the column-inch. No longer were the speeches by the headmaster and the visiting dignitary quoted verbatim and, sadly for the historian, the only students named were the recipients of prizes.

Sports

The school fielded a soccer team, two cricket teams and was a proponent of the Old Adelaide Football Club rules in 1865.
The first school Sports Day was held in November 1874. Prizes included silver pencil cases and gold shirt studs.

Other Adelaide private schools of the period

This list is by no means exhaustive. Many schools changed location, identity and management. And there were many women of culture and attainment, particularly widows, who subsisted on their earnings as tutors.