AGY-4085 | Newcastle Technical College

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Origins of the Newcastle Technical College
During 1885 the Hunter River Miner’s Association applied to the Board of Technical Education for the classes that had been held in Newcastle and other towns in the vicinity to be formed into a branch technical school under a local science master. Plans were made for the construction of a building with laboratories in a central position and for the creation of a School of Mines there. (1) The following year classes in mineralogy, chemistry, practical chemistry, mechanical drawing, shorthand, building construction, freehand drawing, geometry and perspective were held at Newcastle. At Plattsburg students were enrolled for mineralogy, model drawing and perspective, mechanical drawing was taught at Wickham and model drawing, perspective and geometry at Lambton. (2) By 1890 a branch of the Technological Museum had been established at Newcastle. (3)

The classes were conducted in the School of Arts and in the Public School in Bolton Street. By 1891 the buildings were considered inadequate for the purposes. Lack of accommodation for practical work had hindered the development of trade courses such as carpentry and blacksmithing. The School of Arts had offered to alter its premises for the development of technical education but this was rejected and a site for a permanent college was sought. (4) There had been a quadrupling of enrolments between 1889 and 1891. Classes were held at Newcastle, Wallsend, West Wallsend, Lambton, Wickham, Merewether, Stockton, Minmi and Hamilton. At Newcastle additional courses had been introduced including: phonography, boilermaking, mathematics, dresscutting, steam and steam engines, typewriting, plumbing, carving and gilding. (5) The School of Arts was vacated for premises at the Telegraph Office. (6) The stringent circumstances of 1893 led to the cancellation of typewriting classes and the retention of shorthand and dresscutting classes if the teachers were prepared to accept only the income from fees and no additional salary. (7) The following year a mine survey was introduced at Newcastle. (8)

Newcastle Technical College
The new technical college premises at Newcastle were erected in 1895 and officially opened by the Minister for Public Instruction on 20 February 1896. (9)

The Newcastle Advisory Committee to the Technical Education Committee in its report of 19 March 1934 identified 20 local employers who depended upon the College for the technical training of their staff. (10) By this date the College comprised the following teaching departments - Chemistry and Metallurgy; Mechanical Engineering; Electrical Engineering and Physics; building trades (carpentry and joinery) and applied art. (11) The Advisory Committee reported to the Commission that the main College premises had been erected at the end of the nineteenth century and although supplemented by several other buildings including a trades hall, brewery, a disused bulk store and some cottages, accommodation was unsuitable for contemporary requirements . Work had commended on a new building to house the electrical engineering and physics section and plans were in preparation for a new science building. (12)

The College expanded in the 1930s to 1940s at Tighes Hill with the construction of the Sir Edgeworth David Science Block (1938), the H.G. Darling Building (Mechanical Engineering, 1938) and the Trades Classroom Block (1942), later known as the Clegg Trades Building. The College supported the training needs of its industrial community, including those of BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary) steelworks, the major industry in Newcastle, by offering subjects such as oxywelding. (13)

The restructure of the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) sector in 1991 resulted in the establishment of the Technical and Further Education Commission to replace the Department of Technical Education, and the establishment of eight Institutes of TAFE, and three Institutes of Technology in 1992. (14) The Newcastle Technical College was incorporated into the newly formed Hunter Institute of Technology by mid 1992. The Institutes of Technology generally ‘adopted a Faculty structure with educational management as well as Major functions centralised. Heads of studies are responsible for education and training in a particular discipline across all campuses of the Institute’. (15)

Endnotes
(1) Report of the Minister for Public Instruction for the year ended 31 December 1885, p.46.
(2) Report of the Minister for Public Instruction for the year ended 31 December 1886, p.41-42.
(3) Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the year ended 31 December 1890, p.55.
(4) Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the year ended 31 December 1891, p.174.
(5) Ibid., p.190.
(6) Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the year ended 31 December 1893, p.135.
(7) Ibid., p.127.
(8) Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the year ended 31 December 1894, p.111.
(9) Report of the Minister of Public Instruction for the year ended 31 December 1896, p.105.
(10) Report on the Technical Education System in New South Wales by the Technical Education Commission 1935, p.90 in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1935- 1936, p.400.
(11) Ibid., pp.90- 92.
(12) Ibid., pp.90-91.
(13) Carole Hardwick, 'Modern Technology in Newcastle: Garbage, Milk and Education' pp.157-159 in R. John Moore & Michael J. Ostwald, eds., Hidden Newcastle: Urban Memories and Architectural Imaginaries. Ultimo, NSW, Gadfly Media, 1997.
(14) NSW TAFE Commission, Annual Report, 1991/1992, pp.36 and 39; History of TAFE NSW. TAFE NSW - About TAFE NSW (accessed 30/11/2007).
(15) NSW TAFE Commission, Annual Report, 1992/1993, p.22.