Chapter 20—The Avondale School

The Bible School, which had opened in August 1892 and closed in December, was regarded as a first step in the establishment of a permanent school for young people of all ages in Australia. The importance of training workers in their own land rather than sending them overseas had long been recognized.WV 306.1

When Elders Olsen and White returned with Ellen White from New Zealand to Australia in late December 1893, the search for a school site began in earnest. Following up investigations Arthur Daniells had made, they visited several places during their few days in Sydney. This continued off and on through the late summer and fall. The school had been made a union conference project, which drew W. C. White, the president, very closely into the task. By the time Ellen White had moved to New South Wales, the conviction seemed to prevail that the school should be located in that colony, with its warmer climate, perhaps within 75 miles (120 kilometers) of Sydney.WV 306.2

One very important consideration in the search for a site was the need for good soil and a large acreage to produce crops and provide labor. The majority of the constituents who would support the school would be in a low-income bracket.WV 306.3

The suffering of Sabbathkeeping families, not a few of whom had lost their homes, led some church leaders to feel that the school property should be large enough to provide little farms for some of these families. Thus they thought in terms of 1,000 or 2,000 acres (405 or 810 hectares).WV 306.4

W. C. White, now carrying the burdens of the new Australasian Union Conference in addition to other duties, was engaged in a feverish search for a site for the new school. Ellen White followed each move with keen interest. In his room in the Per Ardua home he not only administered the work of the union conference but also collected samples of soil taken from the different properties that he and other members of the locating committee visited.WV 306.5

In April 1894 the search had narrowed down to the Brettville estate on Dora Creek, which could be purchased for $4,500.WV 306.6