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.ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN HUNGERFORD - 5 the 5lst of December. Many of the inhabitants consider the Library a great privilege, and there is an increasing demand for books. The advantages arising from it are manifest in the freedom with which the constant readers converse on subjects which have occurred in the course of their reading. The Library Cata- logue and the Report were sent to the most central post office, and the parties duly notified. I think they were received by all the Trustees. Some of them expressed great satisfaction, while others seemed not to know or care anything about them-â€"we have a very ignorant population." In 1876 an act was passed which abolished the Council of Public Instruc- tion and constituted the Executive Council as the Department of Education for Ontario, with the head of the Department as Minister of Education. The Minister took over the duties of the Chief Superintendent, and the Department took over the duties of the Council of Public Instruction. This policy of ministerial and departmental control is still in effect. Public education in Ontario is now controlled and administered_by the central authority, the Provincial Government, and by local educational authorities, now the County Boards of Education. By 1855 population in Hungerford had grown large enough that schools were needed, and the first schools in the Township were organized during the latter half of this decade. School records for Hungerford are both confusing and inconclusive, with many opposing pieces of evidence. No written records in the form of minutes of Hungerford Council exist before 1848, though the first page of the minute book which begins in that year states that the first Township Meeting took place in 1855, and also mentions "the old records". Also missing are the Council minutes covering 1856 to January 19, 1865. However, the minute books which are extant do contain many references to the schools. One good source of information about Hungerford schools is the Annual Reports of Local Superintendents Local Boards of Trustees, 1850-1870, now in the Provincial Archives. These seem to show that by 1859 three schools had been opened in the Township. In 1847, with 8 schools, the Legislative School grant for Hungerford was L5l:12:9, and total salaries of teachers £207:10:0. The 1850 report shows 15 schools, and by 1854 the number had increased to 20. However, the dates given for the first opening of these schools are conflicting. For instance, the Reports for 1852 and 1855 say that 8.8.1, Thomasburg, was opened in 1857, while the Report for 1854 states that it was opened in 1855. In some cases a school section was probably established but no schoolhouse