This information is from a notice displayed inside the schoolhose.

About Suggan Buggan.
According to the records obtained from the NSW State archives by the late
N.A. Wakefield, the first official granting of a Depasturing Licence for
Suggan Buggan was issued to William Woodhouse in April 1843.
He is known to have been there in 1842 and it may have even been earlier.
In 1845 the run was transferred to Benjamin Boyd, and in 1849, to
William Sprott Boyd, and in Subsequent years there were further changes.

On January 22, 1858, the licence was transferred from James McGufficke
to Edward O’Rourke, who established the first permanent home in
Suggan Buggan and there a family of 10 was reared. It was a well built house,
the timber used being chiefly the local pine that was sawn by pit saw nearby.
Though so isolated, and of course with no road access, the amenities of life
were not neglected, and the large family was brought up, to as far as
possible, to observe the more gracious manners and traditions of those days.

The services of a tutor named Ballantyne were employed to help with the
children’s education, and a special building a few hundred yards from the
homestead was built for the purpose. The O’Rourke family records would
indicate that it was first used about 1865, or about 110 years ago. It
consisted of two rooms with a large stone fireplace at one end and was
built of slabs and a shingle roof. The smaller room was the teachers bedroom.

It is the use of this building as the first school house in this part of Gippsland
that we are commemorating, and which is still standing in its original form today.
Ballantyne evidently had other interests than that of the schoolroom, since it is
reported that he was responsible for a good supply of vegetables and other
amenities for the home. The stone bordered of the garden beds and the nearby
Acacia trees are all that is left today of the once flourishing establishment. The
Run supported a large herd of cattle.

Edward O’Rourke lived in Suggan Buggan for about 25 years before moving up
to the Wulgulmerang area where he lived for a short time, before he bought
Omeo Station near Benambra. The old home in Suggan Buggan was soon
neglected, and became merely a camp for drovers when using the adjacent
stock route.

The only people to live in the old dwelling in the early part of this century were
Ted Connor and his wife, who applied to select land there. However, dry seasons
and rabbits put an end to the venture.

Tom Dillon’s grave on top of the hill is another link with the past. He was a
“ticket of leave” man assigned to the O’Rourkes, and helped on the property.
After a fall from a horse he was crippled, but remained on and did the carvings
that ornamented the verandah and the livingroom mantle piece.
He was a man highly thought of by the O’Rourke family.

It was not till about 1948 that a Suggan Buggan settlement scheme brought new
interest to the area, and an official State School was built further down the slope
and functioned for a while.

The historical significance of the original O’Rourke school building prompted
Mrs Gwynneth Taylor to organise a party of bush walkers to carry out a repair job
as the schoolhouse was fast becoming a ruin with all and sundry camping in it.
They restored the chimney, and even re-roofed the building with shingles, so as to
be in keeping with the original. Through Mrs Taylor the National Trust became
interested in the venture.

In 1972 a local historical Society was formed, and was greatly assisted by an
initial donation by Mrs W Charlton of the Wombargo Partnership. The complete
restoration of the school-house soon became the society’s number one project.

The great assistance of the Tambo Shire and a Government Grant, as well as
keen local support, has enabled this objective to be achieved.