So much has been written about the agricultural development of the Bega Valley, but little on social and educational development. Sandra Florance describes the life we might have had at school or in town, if we ever got in there, but especially at the School of Arts. Religion and teaching were often combined in small weatherboard buildings near to local settlements around the Valley. In Bega, a school-house-cum-church was built on the Anglican grounds in 1854, with 15 students attending, but there was no clergyman other than the occasional visiting clergy until a better weatherboard structure was built in 1857 with material brought from Sydney and ‘carried from “Merrimbula” by bullock wagons’. The church was opened in 1858 by Rev. Allworth and the school continued until the late 1860’s when a National School was built on the present site. A rough courthouse was erected on the south eastern corner of Carp and Peden Street in 1860, which proved cold and draughty in winter. A brick building, with gaol, was erected on the corner of Gipps and Carp Streets in 1865, with John Davis Esq as the first Clerk of Petty Sessions. This courthouse became the cultural centre of town, in turn used for religious services and a School of Arts. This building was later removed and the present courthouse erected in 1881. Adult Education in the Bega Valley was enhanced by the building of the ‘School of Arts’ which was established in 1867 and called the Municipal Improvement Society. Books were ‘evaluated’ before lending to members. In 1868 we read… ‘Through the exertions of individual enterprise, Bega is gradually assuming the proportions of a town. The education of the young is well cared for by the establishment of three public schools. The spiritual welfare of the people is well , or better, provided for, as any town in the interior of the same population, but as for places of amusement and intellectual recreation, Bega is entirely destitute. We appeal to the people to liberally support the erection of the School of Arts. A subscription list of local donors for the building was printed in the Bega Gazette, 4 July 1868. Bega Gazette 10 December 1868. On Monday 7 December, 1868 the foundation stone was laid for the building in Carp Street. President John Davis Esq. cemented a glass bottle in the cavity. The erection of the School of Arts was largely due to the efforts of Dr. Shiels who donated £20 (a lot of money then!) and was its President. He took this role very seriously, to the point of banning ‘unsuitable books’ by taking them home with him and refusing access to the public I suspect they detailed venereal disease rather graphically! The venerable Doctor Shiels, a leader of the Presbyterian Church, was also taken to court for indulging in alcohol and neglecting to visit a dying patient which is another story. In 1882 there was a presentation of Cassell’s Library of English Literature, in 5 volumes, by Professor H. Morley, to the Bega School of Arts, which was donated Society. Books were ‘evaluated’ before lending to members. In 1868 we read… ‘Through the exertions of individual enterprise, Bega is gradually assuming the proportions of a town. The education of the young is well cared for by the establishment of three public schools. The spiritual welfare of the people is well , or better, provided for, as any town in the interior of the same population, but as for places of amusement and intellectual recreation, Bega is entirely destitute. We appeal to the people to liberally support the erection of the School of Arts. A subscription list of local donors for the building was printed in the Bega Gazette, 4 July 1868. Bega Gazette 10 December 1868. On Monday 7 December, 1868 the foundation stone was laid for the building in Carp Street. President John Davis Esq. cemented a glass bottle in the cavity. The erection of the School of Arts was largely due to the efforts of Dr. Shiels who donated £20 (a lot of money then!) and was its President. He took this role very seriously, to the point of banning ‘unsuitable books’ by taking them home with him and refusing access to the public I suspect they detailed venereal disease rather graphically! The venerable Doctor Shiels, a leader of the Presbyterian Church, was also taken to court for indulging in alcohol and neglecting to visit a dying patient which is another story. In 1882 there was a presentation of Cassell’s Library of English Literature, in 5 volumes, by Professor H. Morley, to the Bega School of Arts, which was donated in 2007.