Amongst the Macarthur Papers, held in the Mitchell Library, are a number of manuscripts relating to the Camden Park School. These cover the period from 1841 to 1879 and include school rolls, miscellaneous correspondence, and accounts for school fees (ML A2981). The school rolls date from about 1866 and contain no reference to the Norris family.

The accounts span from 27 September 1841 to 30 October 1843. Each of the pupils attending Camden Park School during that period are listed with a separate account being maintained for each child. Included in the accounts are George Norris (b.1833), William Norris (b.1835) and Elizabeth Jane Norris (b.1839), the youngest children of the late Henry Norris, and Henry Norris (b.1836) and Ann Norris (b.1838), the eldest children of Sampson Norris. We have already seen from Henry Norris's personal accounts (see Autumn 1993 issue) that his eldest children, Mary Ann (b.1828) and Daniel (b.1831) were already working by this time and, hence, may not have received any formal education.

Alan Atkinson, in his book Camden, discusses the Camden Park School during this period:

During the early 1940s there were two day schools at Camden. The first had been formed by the Macarthurs in 1838, mainly for the children of their bounty immigrants. The building was weatherboard, within easy reach of the big house at Camden Park and designed to hold about a hundred children. The first teacher was Josiah Turner, a convict sent out for his part in the rural riots in southern England (not a missionary in any sense). Emily, Mrs James Macarthur, gave the Camden Park school her constant attention and she was the final authority on all matters. She had broadminded ideas, especially about the place of religion in schools, and she largely shaped the enthusiasm of her husband and his brother. From 1841 the teacher - a very good one - was Mary Maclean, lately Mrs Macarthur's needlewoman, with a salary of £20 a year. Miss Maclean and most of her pupils were protestant - Germans were the main Catholic group - but Mrs Macarthur had them use the non-sectarian books of the Irish National system. From a religious point of view the teaching aimed, said William Macarthur, to convey "the great truths of Christianity", including nothing that could be offensive to any sect, especially Catholics. In 1844 the school was moved to the village, where it coexisted at first and then merged with a smaller Catholic School.

[Note: The Camden Park School reopened on 27 November 1865 or 1866]

The accounts record when each of the children commenced at the school: Henry (21 March 1842), Anne (11 October 1842), William (4 October 1841), George (25 October 1841) and Elizabeth (3 July 1843). They also suggest that school fees were generally 4d. per week, although, for some unknown reason, Henry Norris was charged at 6d. per week from mid-September 1843 and George Norris was charged at 6d per week from 21 March 1843 until he left the school at the end of September 1843. Presumably, the other children continued their schooling at the new school in Camden village, since their is no reference in the accounts to their leaving the school. As a measure of the effectiveness of their schooling, the St John's marriage register for 1856 reveals that Anne Norris could at least sign her name. On the other hand, William Matthew Norris gave his mark in lieu of a signature in the St Paul's Cooma register on his marriage in 1861.

Sources:

1. Macarthur Papers, [held in Mitchell Library] Manuscript No. A2981.
2. Camden, Farm and Village Life in Early New South Wales, Alan Atkinson, OUP, Melbourne, 1988.
3. Mary Maclean's account with J. and W. Macarthur, 31 December 1840 - 30 September 1845, ML A4196.
4. William Macarthur's evidence before the Select Committee on Education (Legislative Council), V&P 1844, vol.2, p.583 (30 July 1844)
5. Emily Macarthur's diary, various references to schools in the 1840s, and James Macarthur to Emily Macarthur, 14 August 1849, both Macarthur Papers at Camden Park William Macarthur to John Backhouse, 10 April 1846, ML A2933, book A.