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FERGUSON Margaret (Maggie) Early Life Margaret or “Maggie” Ferguson was born in
Berkshire, England, in 1893 to Donald Fletcher Ferguson and his wife Annie
Elizabeth (Marshman). Donald was a merchant’s clerk and passed away prematurely
the same year as Maggie’s birth. Annie was left with six children: Archibald
Donald (b. 1881), Reginald (b. 1883), Janet Louise (b. 1884), William Norman
(b. 1886), Grace Irene (b. 1889) and Margaret (Maggie) (b.1893). The Ferguson family immigrated to Western Australia and brothers Norman and Archie settled on Lot 411 and planted their orchard in 1910. It was on what later became known as Ferguson Road, in the orchard district of Karragullen near Perth. Norman Ferguson was a carpenter by trade and worked a lot on jetty construction in the North-West. Archie Ferguson was a school teacher at Lyall Mill from 914 till 1931, then in the Collie area for many years. At Buckingham from 1935 til 1937, then at Worsley from 1938 till 1941,
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MAGGIE FERGUSON #1 |
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KARRAGULLEN'S FIRST SCHOOL AT ILLAWARRA ORCHARD |
A new school was started by Tom Price (Senior) at Illawarra Orchard. A site was established near
the front gate of Illawarra Orchard in 1913. The minimum number of pupils
required before a school could be established was 12. Mr. Price deliberately
advertised and employed a family at Illawarra Orchard that had a large family
of children to help boost the numbers so the schoo lcould open. That
Family was the Tompsetts. Percy and Annie Tompsett had eight children and
another two were born whilst he worked at Illawarra. The first teacher was a
Mr. Fisher, an experienced teacher who batched with Keith White at Illawarra
for 6 months. Then twenty-one year old Miss
Maggie Ferguson was the next teacher at this Karragullen School
with minimum number of 12 children attending. Miss Ferguson regularly joined the
boys and girls to play cricket on an old railway formation. |
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She taught there from 1914 till 27th August 1920 when the school was closed and the building moved to a more central position for a school, on Brookton Highway near what became “The Rock Inne”. Norman and Archie's sister Janet who married Bert Lantzke, also lived there in the 1920's with her three children: Freda, Norman and Reginald. They went to the Karragullen school until they all went to Tonga as missionaries. About 1920 the family converted to the Seventh-day
Adventist faith. The property was sold in 1971 to F. & L. Della Franca. |
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KARRAGULLEN SCHOOL 1926 |
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Teaching in Tonga Maggie arrived in Tonga in January 1921 as a
mission school teacher. The small group of believers was still recovering
from the loss of leadership in the persons of Hubert and Pearl Tolhurst. Pearl
had died in March 1919 during the influenza pandemic and Hubert had returned to
Australia. Maggie volunteered to do whatever she could to provide continuity to
the mission work. She was not listed as an official appointee. She arrived as
one who would be supported by her family in Western Australia and whatever means
she could generate from school fees and the school garden. Her mother sailed in
May 1921 to join her in her endeavours. On
arrival Maggie found mission progress had been curtailed by the pandemic. School work was restricted to the capital,
Nuku’alofa on the island of Tongatapu. |
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NUKUALOFA, TONGA #4 |
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She took charge of the school and was assisted by
Jone Latu, a local young man who served as Bible instructor. During the 1922
school year Jone began as a colporteur and another young man, Buloka, became
Maggie’s aide. All lessons were conducted in the English language with the
exception of the Bible and the baptismal class which was in the Tongan
language. The average enrolment was twenty-five, most students being teenagers
who, it was anticipated, would become national missionaries. The school served
as the main source of baptisms. After two years in Nuku’alofa Maggie took a
twelve month break and taught in a Brisbane, Queensland, church school. |
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Early in 1924 Maggie
returned to Tonga to be principal of a self-supporting mission school at
Neiafu, Vava’u Island. She began the year with an enrolment of
forty-two and finished with sixty-six students. Ages ranged from six
to twenty-one years. |
MAGGIE’S SCHOOL AT VAVAU, TONGA 1924 #5 |
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Maggie
and Janet and the children returned to the Vavau School soon after their
mother’s death. Other members of the family continued their support from
home base. Except for one native evangelist the Ferguson’s were left to conduct
the mission outpost with an occasional visit from the mission
president. Throughout the 1930's Maggie continued her school at Neiafu. It
was a low-profile enterprise, rarely mentioned in official reports because it
was not dependant on denominational funds. In that sense it was unique. Some
American missionaries were self-supporting in the 1890's but it became a rare
circumstance. Nevertheless, Maggie’s school proved to be a very successful
enterprise and trained many young missionaries. Her last report was in 1942,
encouraging church members to give their offerings to support the entire
mission cause in Tonga. By that stage war had come to the Pacific field
and Maggie, together with most expatriate missionaries, returned to their
homelands. There are reports from the Education Department of
Western Australia that a Maggie Ferguson taught at various schools in Western
Australia from 1935 till 1939: Glencoe
1935, then Dardanup 1937, The Dardanup School was taken over by
the government and relocated to new premises (present site) in 1896. The
building was restored in 1988 with the aid of volunteers funded by the Shire of
Dardanup and the Australian Bicentennial Authority. Don Hewison, {related to the
Hewisons that owned the Pickering Brook Shop) a one time student, and the local
builder, who undertook much of the renovations, died in a rail crossing
accident outside his home. In 1993 the school was named after him in
acknowledgment of his outstanding contribution to the school. A bronze plaque
on a granite block commemorates the restoration project. Then she taught at Duncans
Forest Station 1938-1939. Also a Margaret Ferguson taught at Brunswick Junction
1943-1946 and was an Assistant Teacher at Picton School 1947-1949. This could all
possibly be the same Maggie Ferguson. Return to Western Australia Maggie returned to Karragullen and lived with her
brother Norman and his wife on their orchard. They attended the Gosnells Seventh-day Adventist’s Church. Her last
years were spent in care at the Mount Henry Home for the Aged, Manning. She
passed away peacefully on June 19, 1967, aged 74 years and was laid to rest in
the Seventh-day Adventist portion of Karrakatta Cemetery.
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Every endeavour has been made to accurately record the details however if you would like to provide additional images and/or newer information we are pleased to update the details on this site. Please use CONTACT at the top of this page to email us. We appreciate your involvement in recording the history of our area.
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References: Article: Gordon Freegard Images: Tom Price 1, 2, 3, 6
Copyright : Gordon Freegard 2008-2022
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