Teacher’s family turfed out for night

19th Rheola Charity Carnival was held on Easter Monday and has done so ever since.

That was also the year Dunolly Hospital was added as a beneficiary of the carnival, up until this point it had always been held solely in aid of the Inglewood Hospital.

Julie Piening looks at the first 25 years of Rheola’s charity carnival

THE very first Rheola Charity Carnival was held on Wednesday May 25, 1871, at the local cricket ground. Back then the area was known as Tyler’s or Berlin.

The carnival was advertised in the Tarnagulla and Llanelly Courier. The first carnival included a monster procession, sports including foot and horse racing, quoits, cricket and a bowling match. Amusements were in the form of The Richardson Show, Wheel of Fortune and refreshments were on offer. The night entertainment was held at the schoolhouse and included fireworks display, concert and concluded with a grand ball.

These days we associate the Rheola Charity Carnival with Easter Monday but this wasn’t the case in the early days. The first carnival was held on Queen Victoria’s Birthday, then various dates including New Year’s Day, St George’s Day and the occasional Easter date until 1889 when the

The location of the carnival during this period varied. Often it was held at the original cricket ground located off what is now the Rheola–Llanelly Road but the schoolhouse grounds were used as well. The night entertainment was shared between Wayman’s Hotel with its associated assembly hall known as McPhersons and the school building.

The use of the school building was not without drama though. In 1879 there was some controversy concerning the use of the state school as a venue. As reported in The Argus, the head teacher was a married man with nine children.

As there were no quarters for them to live in, they had set up residence in the apartment behind the school room. The teacher had divided this room at his own expense into three sections for living quarters for his family.

The Rheola Charity Carnival Committee had applied to the Education Department for use of the school for the evening for the concert and ball. As the application had been granted the head teacher and his family were compelled to give up their home for the night.