Somerville House
| Somerville House | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | |
|
South Brisbane, Queensland Australia |
|
| Coordinates | 27°29′2″S 153°1′26″E / 27.48389°S 153.02389°ECoordinates: 27°29′2″S 153°1′26″E / 27.48389°S 153.02389°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent, Day and Boarding |
| Motto | Honour before Honours |
| Denomination | Presbyterian and Uniting Church |
| Established | 1899 |
| Founder | Miss Eliza Fewings |
| Principal | Mrs Flo Kearney |
| Staff | ~80 |
| Grades | P–12 |
| Gender | Girls |
| Enrolment | ~1,200 |
| Colour(s) | Navy Blue and Green |
| Website | www.somerville.qld.edu.au |
Somerville House is an independent, boarding and day school for girls, located in South Brisbane, an inner-city suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Established in 1899 as The Brisbane High School for Girls, the School was eventually named after the Scottish scientific writer, Mary Somerville (1780–1872), though the school's official name is still Brisbane High School for Girls. Today, Somerville House is owned by the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association (PMSA), and provides classes from Preparatory to Year 12, within three sub-schools — Junior (Years Prep to 6), Middle (Years 7 to 9), and Senior (Years 10 to 12). The school currently caters for approximately 1,200 students from Prep to Year 12, including 97 boarders from Years 7 to 12.
Somerville House is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), the Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA), and is a founding member of the Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association Inc (QGSSSA).
The boarding house, Cumbooquepa, is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.
The Brisbane High School for Girls (later to be known as Somerville House) was established with 39 students on Wickham Terrace, by Eliza Fewings in October 1899. The early school consisted of a large Assembly hall, drill hall, and a number of separate classrooms, with the four founding boarders living with Fewings at her home, "Glen Olive", in Toowong. Fewings, who had previously been Headmistress of the Brisbane Girls Grammar School, but after being dismissed, decided to open her own school, she aimed to create a school community where girls could be educated and equipped with social graces, and would be able to take a leading role in the management of the nation. Based on English models, within three years it became the largest girls' secondary school in Queensland, with 150 students.
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