Trafalgar Township Historical Society Digital Collections

S.S.#10 Trafalgar Township, White School, Tenth Line and Britannia Roads, Teachers and Students.

Description
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Media Type
Image
Item Type
Photographs
Description
A photograph taken ca 1926 - 1928 (estimated on Isobel Workman's age and the male teacher) of the students and teachers at the White School, S.S. #10. Trafalgar Township. The 1927 teacher was Jim Bonham. The 1928 teacher was Mr. O.R. Graham. (Teachers before and after were women.)

In 1824, a log school was built at the modern-day named intersection of Tenth Line and Britannia Roads in the former Trafalgar Township, Halton County. Approximately 50 pupils, including many adults, attended. Students from Toronto Township, Peel County to the east also came here.

When school sections were being created in 1842, area families from both Townships were permitted by the Ontario Legislature to continue this school on the Town Line as a "union" school.

The log school, S.S. No. 10, Trafalgar burned down in 1858.

A brick building was built in 1859, on the Robinson farm, Halton County. This construction turned out to be so poor that the building tilted and had to be propped up more than once. Attempts were made to sue the builder.

It was replaced by a two room white frame building across the road on farmland owned by Trustee John Miller in Toronto Township, Peel County (the west half of Lot 6, Concession VI, Toronto Township).
In 1824, a log school was built at the modern-day named intersection of Ninth Line and Britannia Roads in the former Trafalgar Township, Halton County.

Approximately 50 pupils, including many adults, attended when the school opened.

Rural students also came to this school from Toronto Township in Peel County to the east. When school sections were created in 1842, area families from both Townships were permitted by the Ontario Legislature to continue this school on the Town Line as a "union" school.

The log union school, S.S. No. 10 Trafalgar, burned down in 1858.

A brick building was built in 1859 on the nearby Robinson farm in Halton County. This construction turned out to be so poor that the building tilted and had to be propped up more than once. Attempts were made to sue the builder.

The 1859 Tremaine Map shows a nearby school on the farm of John Miller, on the western half of Lot 6, Concession VI, Toronto Township, on the Peel County side of the Town Line near Tenth Line. This area originated as part of Trafalgar Township. This farm ran between the Ninth and Tenth Lines and butted the opposite side of the Ninth Line Trafalgar brick school.

Apparently, there were conflicts between the "Ninth Liners" and the "Town Line Blazers" schoolchildren of each school.

In 1872, trustees of the Trafalgar school (one of whom was farmer John Miller) prepared to construct a third school building to end the grief caused by the faulty brick school construction.

The new building, shown in this record, was framed with 8" x 8" timbers, clad with horizontal boards and painted white. It was built by John Gailey of Oakville. It opened in August 1872.

This school, Trafalgar's White School, was also built on the farm of John Miller, diagonally across the road from the discarded brick building.

The two schools were eventually combined in 1883 as United School Section No. 3. 25% of the pupils and finances came from Toronto Township, 75% from Trafalgar. There was another outcry against the White School being amalgamated into the Trafalgar Township Board in the 1920's and 1930's.

Students from both Townships were educated at S.S. No. 10 until June 1960. At that time, Toronto Township trustees gave up claims to any assets of the Union School Section.

The above information is taken from the presentation pamphlet prepared by Joan Reid, Streetsville Historical Society president in 2008, for the 150th Anniversary of Streetsville.

The TTHS has a copy of Joan Reid's study, "Little White Schoolhouse S.S. No. 10 Trafalgar" in its print archives. The book has a wealth of documented information about the activities at the school, names of the teachers and school trustees, and tells stories about the school and the people involved with it.
Notes
This school was also called the Tenth Line school.
Dimensions
Width: 1285 px
Height: 872 px
Subject(s)
Personal Name(s)
Isobel Workman is front left and Fred Workman is front right. Isobel was born in 1920. John Workman remembers one story told by his father, Fred, about either the telephone or Hydro poles being put in near the school and the older boys grabbing the younger boys by their ankles and lowering them head first into the post holes. The Workman family farm was nearby.
Local identifier
TTAJW00033
Collection
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
Language of Item
English
Geographic Coverage
  • Ontario, Canada
    Latitude: 46.20006 Longitude: -83.03317
Copyright Statement
Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
Recommended Citation
S.S.#10 Trafalgar Township, White School, Tenth Line and Britannia Roads
Contact
Trafalgar Township Historical Society
Email:michelle@tths.ca
Website:

Trafalgar Township Historical Society Sponsor: Jeff Knoll, Local & Regional Councillor for Oakville Ward 5 – Town of Oakville/Regional Municipality of Halton
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