[Hawkesbury Agricultural College (HAC)]

Lantern Slide Box 93-15 Carpentry and Tools.
HAC Richmond NSW written on slide.
Appears to be from a series of lantern slides of Charles Musson (English Master) in the Carpentry Shop.
Possibly an image used for teaching/instruction purposes.


Charles Tucker Musson, aged 34, was appointed Science Master at the newly formed Hawkesbury Agricultural College (HAC), commencing his duties as “registrar and lecturer on botany” on Monday 23rd March 1891 and delivering his first lecture the very next day 19. He served until he retired in December 1919, aged 63.

Musson not only taught during his first year but also acted as Registrar 7 after which Mr GP Lush took over that role 20. His titles and roles varied, especially in his early years. The 1892 & 1893 HAC Annual Reports list him as Examiner in subjects such as ‘Elementary Botany’, ‘Book-keeping’, ‘English and Arithmetic’. At this time he was the ‘English Master’ and he had his students studying Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’; the 1893 exam he set for them required them to write an outline of the play. By the turn of the century Wood had departed (1899) and Musson’s title changed to ‘Lecturer in Botany and Entomology’ and thence to ‘Science Master’ in 1909. A new English Master (Gilder) was appointed in 1907 (HAC Annual Reports 1891-1909). Musson was also Acting Principal as required, such as during December 1907 when Principal Potts was away (HAC Journal 1907, page 8).

[Ref: Biography of Charles Tucker Musson by Peter Lister, Sep 2009, p.6, TRIM Ref. D11/468235]