T. W. Boehm

Johann Georg Boehm and his wife Caroline, née Koenig, and their family which included T. W. Boehm, emigrated from Germany, arriving at Port Adelaide on the Zebra (Captain Hahn) on 2 January 1839, and helped found the town of Hahndorf.

He was educated at the local Old Lutheran Church school, then from around 1849 undertook further training with the aim of becoming a teacher; first under Pastor Gothard Daniel Fritzsche (20 July 1797 – 2 November 1863) at the Old Evangelical Lutheran Church, Löbethal, then at Bethany and at Tanunda under the Rev.

[1] In 1857 he opened a private school in his home, criticised by fundamentalist Lutherans for his use of secular textbooks as well as the traditional Bible and catechism.

[3] The school was highly successful, and from 1870 was called the "Hahndorf Academy", and in 1871 a new building was erected, single-storey at first, then a second floor and a tower were added.

In 1874 the government grant of £70 per annum came to an end, and in 1877, unable to meet expenses, he sold the school at a loss to the Lutheran Church for £700.