AGY-2940 | Hawkesbury Agricultural College

Full description

The Hawkesbury Agricultural College was established at Richmond on 10 March 1891 after the decision was made to establish the first agricultural college in New South Wales.(1) Mr John Low Thompson was appointed Principal and although he wanted to establish adequate accommodation facilities before admitting students, the government was eager for the college to begin teaching because New South Wales was "much behind the other colonies in the matter of Agricultural Colleges".(2) As a result, twenty six students were admitted to the college on 10 March and the official opening took place on 16 March by Sydney Smith, the Minister for Mines and Agriculture, in the presence of residents, local and state politicians.(3) Sydney Smith, the Minister for Mines and Agriculture, stated such an institution was necessary because it would add to the material wealth of the colony.(4) The objectives of the College were "to provide young men with the fundamentals of science, farming skills and business principles to better "equip them for a productive life on the land in Australian conditions."(5) John Low Thompson served as Principal until replaced by George Valder in 1897. Valder’s successor was H.W. Potts who was appointed Principal in 1902. By 1914, there was a complete system of Government Farm Schools, Apprentice Schools, Experimental Farms, and Demonstration Farms throughout New South Wales. Despite this, the Hawkesbury institution was the only collegiate establishment controlled by the Department of Agriculture providing complete scientific and practical training in all branches of agriculture. The college was also a meteorological station for the Government Observatory.(6) For the first 20 years the College offered a two-year full-time residential course in general agriculture with considerable emphasis on the acquisition of practical skills. In 1910 the course expanded to three years full-time, the award henceforth being called the Hawkesbury Diploma in Agriculture. There was a steady increase in the proportion of theory and basic principles at the expense of practical work time. In the same year a two-year Diploma Course was established in Dairying that included studies of cattle husbandry and dairy product manufacturing. The emphasis in this course was shifted almost entirely to Dairy Technology in the 1950's but, as with the Agriculture Diploma Course, there remained an emphasis on practical factory operations. In 1950, a two-year Food Technology Diploma Course was established.(7) By 30 June 1930, the number of students who had completed their courses since the college opened numbered 3,570. The college offered Winter and Summer School courses in Apiculture. In 1959, the college provided practical demonstrations in farm management and machinery for students in the 2nd year of the University of Sydney School of Agriculture.(8) By the late 1960s, the college was receiving substantial Commonwealth financial aid, especially for capital works. Entry standards for courses were being raised as the college moved towards full tertiary level training. In 1967, a Committee of Advice on Rural Studies was established to co-ordinate and plan as complete a range as possible of post-secondary agricultural education. One of the most important contributions of the Committee was the establishment of boards of studies and subject advisory committees to restructure existing courses offered at the Hawkesbury College to full tertiary level.(9) By 1970, minimum entry standards were raised to Higher School Certificate level, Boards of Studies were appointed to review curricula, and senior and supporting staff positions were established to programme and operate the new curricula.(10) In 1970 all courses assumed fully tertiary status. In addition to under-diplomate training, the College provided facilities during its vacation periods for a wide range of industry-based short courses, including conferences, seminars, and field days. A small quota of interstate and international students were admitted to the College annually. In 1969, the Higher Education Act (No. 29) provided for the constitution, and defined the powers, authorites, duties, and functions of Colleges of Advanced Education. The Hawkesbury institution was formally gazetted as a College of Advanced Education under section 17 (1) of the Higher Education Act 1969 on 12 November 1971, although the notice was not to take effect until 1 January 1972.(11) On 1 January 1972, the Hawkesbury Agricultural College became the Hawkesbury Agricultural College of Advanced Education and it continued to be administered by the Department of Agriculture until 1976.(12) ENDNOTES
1. Starting date for the college is based on the date students entered the college. (See Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for the Under Secretary for Mines and Agriculture, Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly during the session of 1892-3, vol. 3, p644)
2. Sydney Morning Herald report reproduced as Appendix B of the first Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture for the Under Secretary for Mines and Agriculture, Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly during the session of 1892-3, vol. 3, p644.
3. loc. cit.
4. V&P, 1892-93, vol.8, p645.
5. University of Western Sydney tabularium registration for the Hawkesbury Agricultural College.
6. Hawkesbury Agricultural College prospectus 1914, p10, State Records reference number 7/407.3
7. University of Western Sydney tabularium registration for the Hawkesbury Agricultural College.
8. Annual report for the Department of Agriculture for the year ended 30 June 1959, Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly [of New South Wales] 1959-60, vol. 1, p142.
9. Annual report for the Department of Agriculture for the year ended 30 June 1972, Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly [of New South Wales], 1972-73, vol. 1, p148; Annual report for the Department of Agriculture for the year ended 30 June 1968, Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly [of New South Wales], 1968-69, vol. 1, p76.
10. Annual report for the Department of Agriculture for the year ended 30 June 1968, Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly [of New South Wales], 1968-69, vol. 1, p76.
11. This Act was amended by the Higher Education (Amendment) Act 1971 (No. 65).
12. The Act was assented to on 12 November 1971, Government Gazette, 1971, vol. 4, p4365.