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The United School District of Loxton & Christon opened its school in the village of Loxton during 1879. Christon is a neighbouring hamlet about 1 mile(1) away from Loxton. This meant that children as young as five years of age had to walk along an exposed country lane in all weathers. Christon was (and still is) smaller in size than Loxton, and with the population being less, there were fewer children of school age.
During 1880 the Reverend J.H. Wilkinson became the rector of Christon, and in April 1884 he was elected to the School Board with 57 votes. The other elected members of the Board were Mr. Chas. House (farmer, Christon Court), 53 votes; Mr. Henry Dibble (farmer, Loxton) 43 votes; Mr. Erasmus Galton, J.P. (Loxton) 32 votes and Mr. J.H. Padfield (farmer, Loxton) 29 votes. Mr. Francis J. Young (farmer, Loxton) only received one vote. Mr. Young had placed a notice on his premises stating that he declined election.
The consequence and the events that followed this election are documented in the following newspaper extracts. It became known as 'The Great Schoolboard Fight'. A brief account is given of the court hearing that ensued, together with an anonymous poem that was written at the time to portray the event.
Notes:
(1) 1 mile is equivalent to 1,6093 kilometres.
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