“It is in contemplation for some time amongst the inhabitants of this locality to make application for a Public School in the Village of Robertson – at present  it  is  only  a  reserve  for  a  village  and  no person living in it – but it is the centre of a large population, a  great number of whom are children fit for school.”

So wrote John Hanrahan in June 1869. Hanrahan, one of the founding fathers of Robertson Public School, had originally talked the subject over with the local school inspector in 1867, but due to the death of the inspector, the matter had been left in abeyance.

In August 1869, a local committee made out a formal application for a public school at Robertson.   The committee, consisting of John Hanrahan, James Wood, John Reed, James Sweeney, and Robert Johnston promised to raise the one-third cost of establishing the school.       

Up  until 1875,  the Council  of  Education  insisted  on  one-third  of the   cost  being  subscribed   locally  as  a  token  of   good  faith  that   the local residents  would  send  their  children  to  school  –  education  then was  not  compulsory.   The Council of Education also required parents to pledge that they would send their school-age children.

The names of parents who promised to send children were­ James Gibson (4); James Wood (4); Thomas Williams (5); John McCollom (4); John Hane (1); James Bell (1); Edward Costello (2); M. A. McEvilly (3); James Weir (4); James Sweeney (5); John Hanrahan (5); John Noble (4); Robert Johnston (2); John Humphries (5); and James Johnston (5).  The numbers in brackets indicate the number of children promised and the last two parents signed w it h crosses, indicating that they could not write.

Robertson at this time was a sort of non-existent place; non­ existent in the sense that no township had been  formed  although a reserve had  been  set aside  for it. There   were approximately   100 people in the area with about 60 of them under 14 years of age.

The land was extremely thickly wooded and the  rate  of  settlement was  slowed  considerably  by  the  amount  of  time  required  to clear  blocks.  Even the school  site  posed  problems.   The   usual practice in clearing land around Robertson was to fall the timber and let  it   dry  out   for  eighteen  months  to  two   years  before  burning  off the small  stuff; in a  further  twelve  months  or  so  the  larger  logs  could be burnt  off.  

The  Council  of  Education  usually  required  all  stumping and clearing  to  be  done  as  part  of  the  building  contract  which, because of the time and work involved, made the erection of the school quite  unattractive  to  local  contractors.   So  a  compromise  was  made and the  school site was divided  into two  parts.    One part  was cleared, and  the  fallen  timber  heaped  on  the  other  half  to  await  burning  off.

On 5th April, 1870,  the  establishment  of  the  school  was approved. At first it was decided to build  a  stone  schoolroom  and teacher’s  residence,  but   when  tenders  were  called  for  this  in  1870, the prices quoted were all beyond the means  of  the  local  folk.  

The Council  suggested  that  a  weatherboard   building   would   reduce  costs to  desirable  limits,  but  the residents   objected   very  strongly   to   this on account of the bushfire danger.

With a little re-arrangement of the building and bringing the schoolroom and the residence under  the  one  roof,  the  Council’s  architect was able to bring the cost  down  to  around  the  £350  mark. When John Staggs  tendered  for  £374,  this  was  readily  accepted.

The   school   was   built   mainly   during   1871,   and   was   ready   for occupation   in   February, 1872. On 11th March, 1872,  Joseph   Bell,       the first schoolmaster,  opened  the  school  for  business.         

Prior to the establishement of Robertson Public School there are  reports that there was a  private  school  somewhere along  Hoddle’s  Line  to   serve  children  in  the   district.  There were  ten day pupils and five night pupils at this school, and the parents paid the teacher whoever he or  she  was.