Guildford Truant School for Boys was a School for Specific Purposes established by the Department of Education in the property Linnwood in 1917. It opened in 1918 and housed boys who were persistently absent from school and were under sentence from the Children's Court. The school closed at the end of 1935. In 1936, Linnwood was transferred to the Child Welfare Department, who converted it to Guildford Domestic Science Training School, for girls, also known as Lynwood Hall.
Guildford Truant School for Boys was established in a leased property, Linnwood Hall, also known as Lynwood. In 1921 the Education Department purchased the site and in 1923 approval was granted to build new dormitories and outbuildings.
By the mid 1930's Lynwood Hall was earmarked as a residential facility for Female State wards 14 to 18 years of age. The Child Welfare Department took control of the building in 1936. transition from a boys Truant School to that of the Guildford Domestic Science Training School for Female Wards was completed by December 1939.
Linnwood was built in 1891 by George McCredie, an architect and engineer. McCredie was heavily involved in local Guildford politics, and lived there with his wife Susan Faulds McCredie and their nine children. The style of the house is a single storey Italianate style villa residence and it retains many original features, including stained glass windows, and trees and landscaping survives from the McCredie era. George McCredie was later appointed by the New South Wales Government to lead the clean up of bubonic plague in the city, which included large scale demolition of buildings in waterside areas such as the Rocks and Chippendale and the destruction of thousands of rats. Sadly, McCredie became ill during his work and died in 1903, aged just 44. Susan, who held significant areas of Guildford in her own name, moved to Wahroonga, selling off her Guildford holdings for income.
In 1917 Susan Faulds McCredie leased Linnwood to the Department of Education, which needed a new Truant School. The Department chose this house because it was in good repair, the grounds were spacious, the property had room enough for staff and it was located close to the railway.
1917 - 1935 Guildford Truant School for Boys
1939 - 1993 Lynwood Hall
Sources used to compile this entry: Government Schools of New South Wales from 1848: Special Education 1866-2004, New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20170218113507/http://www.governmentschools.det.nsw.edu.au/special_education.shtm; Friends of Linnwood Inc., The History of Linnwood - from family home to community asset., Friends of Linnwood, Guildford, 2011; 'Linnwood', in Heritage Council of New South Wales, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, https://www.hms.heritage.nsw.gov.au/App/Item/ViewItem?itemId=5052822.
Prepared by: Naomi Parry
Created: 22 January 2012, Last modified: 16 May 2017
Last updated: 4 August 2023
Cite this: https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/nsw/biogs/NE01073b.htm
First published by the Find & Connect Web Resource Project for the Commonwealth of Australia, 2011
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