Normanhurst School, Ashfield

The Normanhurst School was an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for girls that operated in Ashfield, in the Inner Western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.^[1]

Normanhurst School
Location
Ashfield , New South Wales Australia
Coordinates	33°53′11″S 151°07′45″E
Information
Type	Independent, girls'
Denomination	Non-denominational
Established	1882 (1882)
Founder	Ellen Clarke
Status	Closed
Closed	1941

Despite being non-denominational, the Normanhurst school maintained close links with St John's Anglican Parish, which was situated in the vicinity of the school.^[2]

History

The former main building of the Normanhurst School in 2018.

The Normanhurst School was established in 1882 by Ellen Clarke, who was an English national.^[2] Clarke was principal of the school from its founding in 1882 to 1893.^[2] In 1884, her sister Marian Clarke arrived in Australia from England to join the faculty, and founded Abbotsleigh the following year.^[3]

At its foundation, the school operated out of a cottage located on Bland Street, Ashfield.^[2] Later as the school expanded, it moved to another larger campus in Ashfield at the intersection of Orpington and Chandos streets (pictured right).^[2]

Through the initiative of the then headmistress, Evelyn Tildesley, the Normanhurst School became a founding member of the Headmistresses’ Association of NSW (which has since become the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools) in 1916.^[4]

The school ceased operations in 1941.^[1]

Notable alumnae

• Daphne Akhurst (1903–1933) – five times Australian Open tennis champion^[5]
• Janet Cosh (1901–1989) – amateur botanist and plant collector^[6]
• Constance Elizabeth Harker (1875–1964) – was a headmistress at Somerville House.^[7]
• Margaret Slattery AM, DCSG (1922–2015) – National Secretary of the Australian Parents Council during the 1970s, an advocacy organisation for non-government schools^[8]
• P. L. Travers AO (1899–1996) – author of the Mary Poppins series of children's books, later adapted into the musical film of the same name^[9]