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

Your ggrandfather sounds to be by the mere fact that he was versed in the two languages Gaelic and English that he was an educated man..............because his *dah* was a labourer did not mean that his children were not trained scholars it was the hope of every Irishman to be educated .............I am sure that when you ggrandfather arrived here he had the necessary degree to be teacher ............as you do not say when he arrived in Australia or what age the young man was it is hard to say to you ...............his teaching diploma would have been earnt in Ireland .........................he may have been even a ex-brother having received his education with the church................ You details do not give a clear idea of what you seek ©Cara_Links Researching Co.Wicklow With A Passion