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Secret of the sister under the stairs: Adelaide’s Wilderness School corrects history books to fix a 129-year-old injustice

One of Adelaide’s most prestigious schools is correcting a 129-year-old injustice and acknowledging the work of a founding pioneer airbrushed from history.

Where’s Kate? Miss Margaret Brown, Miss Mamie Brown, Miss Wynnie Brown, Miss Annie Brown circa 1945. Picture: courtesy of Wilderness School
Where’s Kate? Miss Margaret Brown, Miss Mamie Brown, Miss Wynnie Brown, Miss Annie Brown circa 1945. Picture: courtesy of Wilderness School

It sounds like the beginning of a period mystery drama: on a wall under the wooden stairs of an old school building two girls discover the faint outline of a person painted over long ago.

The outline has bled through the water-based paint and they learn of a rumour that the figure haunts the school’s old art centre building.

The girls are intrigued and a little fearful at the same time, but as their 136-year old school has taught them, they must investigate.

The Year 11 Wilderness School students, Ella Haseldine and Havana George, cannot simply walk away from the image or the haunting story, and begin a journey which has led to the rewriting of their prestigious school’s history.

They discovered, although the details were sketchy, that the identity of the person was rumoured to be that of one of the founding Brown sisters.

They were four progressive Adelaide pioneers of women’s education – a radical idea at the time – who established the school with seven students in 1884.

But the girls still wondered and investigated: Why would the school paint over a “founder”, one of a group so cherished that they are celebrated by Founders Day every year?

Photographs, sculptures and artwork depicting the very Victorian/Edwardian-era quartet of the founders – Miss Margaret, Miss Wynnie, Miss Annie and Miss Mamie – adorn the school.

To this day, the sisters are honoured by the Wilderness junior school children officially being called “Annies” and “Mamies”.

Ella described the pair’s surprise when the mystery deepened and they discovered the figure may not have been one of the four, but a lost “founder”.

“Growing up, we heard rumours of a fifth Brown sister, but never thought much of it,” she said.

“Havana and I were intrigued by the covered painting, so we inquired of our art teacher, Mrs Porter, about the origins.

“After Mrs Porter briefly explained the meaning and story behind the painting to us, we became even more interested.”

No images or likenesses of the fifth sister exist in the school archives and museum. In some photos, she has been cropped out.

Miss Annie, Miss Margaret (Maggie-Meg), Miss Mamie and Miss Wynnie seated in the drawing room of Browns’ House at Wilderness School circa 1946. Picture provided courtesy of Wilderness School
Miss Annie, Miss Margaret (Maggie-Meg), Miss Mamie and Miss Wynnie seated in the drawing room of Browns’ House at Wilderness School circa 1946. Picture provided courtesy of Wilderness School

The painted-over outline discovered on the wall was a work by a former student, completed as an art assignment, a depiction of the four founders in black paper silhouettes. They all disappeared when painted over.

Next to them had been drawn in alcohol-based pen an outline of a fifth, which eerily is the only figure to show through the paint.

Luckily, a photo of the artwork survives and the girls tracked down the former student, now living in Melbourne.

The girls imagined there must have been a scandal. But their investigations led, instead, to a 129-year-old tragedy and the erasing of an issue society had little idea of how to deal with at the time – “melancholia”.

Their search and discoveries about the hidden painting have now led to one of Adelaide’s top private girls schools embracing its fifth founder, Kate Cormack Brown, a prominent woman in the education of girls in colonial Adelaide.

Kate was the second-oldest of the five girls, and was instrumental in establishing Wilderness School, but also worked for the Education Department.

Details of her life were scant, the girls found, and now rarely acknowledged, but were the scandalous talk of the town at the time of her death in 1891. Luckily for Ella and Havana, some information could be found deep in the school archives.

Super sleuths: Wilderness College year 11 students Ella Haseldine and Havana George, who discovered the fifth sister of the founders of their school. Photo: Morgan Sette.
Super sleuths: Wilderness College year 11 students Ella Haseldine and Havana George, who discovered the fifth sister of the founders of their school. Photo: Morgan Sette.

Also, a 1984 school-published history, The Wilderness 1884-1984, makes this brief mention of Kate’s death at 31: “In 1891, while staying away from home as part of the treatment for her melancholia, she committed suicide”.

Havana said the tragic death, brief mentions and the lack of acknowledgment of Kate clashed with the values she had been taught at the school and in modern society.

“Right from the beginning when we found the painting in the art centre and hearing about Kate Cormack Brown and her tragic story, we were instantly determined to raise awareness for not only Kate’s story but for mental health in general,’’ she said.

“We were so inspired by Kate’s incredible story that we decided that it had to be known and she had to be recognised.

“We understand that we live in a very different time than Kate Cormack Brown did, and we acknowledge that this could have been done a long time ago, however we are very happy that we are making a change now.”

Emboldened by the values of the school, and the community desire to discuss mental health and suicide, Havana and Ella approached principal Jane Danvers about what they believed was an injustice and requested that it be rectified.

After long consideration of the consequences, Ms Danvers told the Sunday Mail she agreed there should be full acknowledgment of Kate, and the history of the school adjusted to acknowledge her long mental health battle and eventual suicide.

The two students are also now studying Kate’s life and death for their Year 12 SACE research project.

A carob – an ancient symbol of the return from exile and tree found at the school site when the sisters first opened it – will also be planted in her honour.

Ms Danvers said she had been immediately moved when the girls passionately approached her, and had been reminded of the relevance to the school motto.

“Our school motto, ‘Semper Verus’, calls us to be ‘Always True’,’’ she said. “This means being curious, thinking deeply about the world and having the courage to seek answers to questions.

“Ella and Havana’s findings were insightful and well-documented.”

The artwork, by a former Wilderness student that piqued the curiosity of two current students who decided to trace the true history of the five founders of the school. Photo: Morgan Sette
The artwork, by a former Wilderness student that piqued the curiosity of two current students who decided to trace the true history of the five founders of the school. Photo: Morgan Sette

The school leaders acknowledge the fear the founders must have had for the effect on students at the time. Ms Danvers said opinion and attitudes towards mental illness had been complex and contradictory in the 1880s and ’90s.

“Society demonstrated a mixture of both fear and concern,’’ she said.

“This was the time in which the Misses Brown lived and maybe the reason for their reticence.

“But the Misses Brown were always steadfast in their pursuit for change and for making the world a better place.

“People who live with a mental illness still experience stigma and some discrimination, but it is students like Ella and Havana who are courageously advocating for this to change.”

Ella and Havana hope future generations of “Wildy” girls will gaze on the Kate Brown carob tree and remember to check on the mental health of their friends.

“We truly felt for Kate as we understand and recognise that she was not provided with the correct mental health support,’’ Havana said.

“We have begun to feel a sense of responsibility for Kate in ensuring that her name and story is heard and that she is properly recognised as a founding member of Wilderness School.”

To the girls, the planting of the carob tree before the end of the year will represent the tragically short life of Kate Brown. They hope each branch will represent the things she accomplished as a woman and educator, and that she will never again be forgotten.

Miles Kemp’s daughter attends Wilderness School.

If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.

Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/education/mystery-of-the-sister-under-the-stairs-adelaides-wilderness-school-correcting-the-history-books-to-finally-recognise-the-life-of-one-of-its-founders-who-suicided-in-1891/news-story/7a28be83c94d851e4986d2b844cfdc79