Once named Cudgebegong School, after 1917 it was known as Mebul School.
NEWS ITEMS
1918 - [FUNDRAISING]
The employees of the Tallewang (near Gulgong) iron mines have presented the District Hospital with a cheque for £10. The Mebul subsidised school also made an appeal for funds for the hospital. This is the first school in the district to make an attempt to raise funds for the hospital, and although there are only nine children attending the school, they collected the sum of £2 6s. 6d. from the few people residing in the locality.
Mr. W. F. Dunn. M.L.A., has received information from the Department of Education that a teacher will be appointed to take up duties at the Mebul school as soon as possible. There is a shortage of teachers at present and it may be some time before one is available.
When a teacher has been appointed, if the attendance fall below ten the question of closing the school will be considered.
1923 - Hospital Social. AT MEBUL
Some weeks ago the Gulgong Hospital Committee woke up to the fact that the credit balance was fast diminishing. It was then decided to try and rouse interest in outside centres, and a special committee was appointed to do the work. Several outside centres will hold functions in the near future. The little centre of Mebul held the first one on Wednesday last, and it was a huge success.
When the news was conveved to the Mebul and district folk that hospital finances were getting low, Mr. Chas. Wright, an ardent worker for the hospital, called a meeting. Miss Gladys Wright was appointed secretary. She went to work with a will, and in just two weeks the function was organised. The hospital benefits to the extent of about £60, truly a fine result for the Mebul district, when times are so bad for everyone. Evidently the people of Mebul and district forgot the drought for the time being, and spent freely.
The little Mebul school was the scene of the gaiety. There are some 'live wires' at Mebul, particularly Mr. C. Wright and Mr. P. Tonkyn, while the ladies are ever ready to help a deserving cause. The secretary is deserving of great praise for the splendid result of her efforts, and she and the other people of the district have the warm thanks of the committee. Dancing was commenced at 8 p.m., and continued until 3 a.m. Splendid music was supplied bv Miss Rita Watts (Gulgong), while Miss Wright played a number of extras. The ladies who prepared the supper carried out the work in an excellent manner. Mr. C. Wright thanked all helpers, and praised the hospital, adding that whereas a private hospital cost four or five guineas a week, patients could go into the Gulgong hospital for £2/2/ a week. Of course, it is not compulsory to pay anything if a patient could not afford a fee. The hospital is a public institution, and is considered one of the best institutions in the State, thanks to the sterling qualities of Matron Snelson. Other centres will need to work hard to beat Mebul. — Gulgong 'Advertiser.'
Nellie Lett writes: —
Dear Editor,—
My home is at Mebul, 16 miles West of Gulgong and 34 miles east of Wellington, which are our nearest towns. Mebul has an area of about 36 sq. miles, most of which is rich agricultural land, the remainder being good pasture land.
On this land many thousands of sheep and cattle graze peacefully through the day except in a drought such as we have just experienced, when the men have to lop oak, kurrajong, and other trees for them. The Mebul Creek has never been known to go dry by our oldest residents, so we always have a water supply for our stock, but it is too brackish for household use. We have a post and telegraph office about four miles from my home and two subsidised schools. The one I attend, at Upper Mebul, has nine pupils and the Mebul subsidised school has six. When the first public school was opened at Mebul (Cudgebegong, as it was then called), over 40 years ago, the class roll numbered 54. The population then was nearly 200, but death has claimed all but two of the early pioneers, while the younger people seek new homes near the towns or in the city. As a result our population is now only 80.
Source: Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative (NSW : 1890 - 1954) Mon 24 Sep 1923 Page 1
