Hello Carol I don't know if this may help, but wondered if there may be some similarities here: My GG Grandfather became a teacher in Qld by what seems to be solely a character reference. He, from what I know, had been a plumber in the UK before his arrival in Australia in 1869 (and came fom a long line of plumbers who seemed to have been quite well educated in Kent & Sussex) He held the position of schoolteacher at Morayfield in QLD for a few years before being "demoted" due to his previous lack of training. Documents I have been able to access (via <http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/index_indexes.html> suggest that the Qld "education department" of the time may have been rather needy of people suitable to hold the positions of teachers. I feel an element of sympathy for my "sacked" ancestor who may well have been dragged into the position due to the community's need rather than any particular calling. I wonder if circumstances may have been similar in Victoria at the time? There may have been a lack of learned men, giving opportunity to some who may not otherwise or elsewhere have been given the chance? I suppose my ancestoer may not have enjoyed the work with children (which does definitely ask for a certain temperament). He went on to work as a decorator in Victoria before moving back to QLD in the 1990s Hope this has been of some help Best wishes Denise -----Original Message----- From: ckillury [mailto:ckillury@bigpond.com] Sent: Sunday, 15 June 2003 3:59 PM To: AUS-IRISH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [AUS-IRISH] Irish Education Can any one advise me how my ggrandfather, who spoke both Irish and English, could become a teacher after arriving in Australia prior to 1861. He gives his father's occupation as Labourer on his marriage certificate, so I presume there would have been very little money. He was born in 1830's and would have been a young teenager during the famine. I have checked with the Victorian Education System and he taught in the State School system at one time. I hope our system had some way of qualifying our teachers. Carol ==== AUS-IRISH Mailing List ==== >>"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour."<< ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237