The Cooerwull Academy was built by Andrew Brown, who helped to establish St Andrew's College at the University of Sydney and the Presbyterian Church in Bowenfels, near Lithgow. (Note: the Presbyterian Church website claims that its minister Colin Stewart founded the school.)

Andrew Brown was born in 1797 in Scotland and arrived in Australia in 1823. He was granted 200 acres of land west of Lithgow. He called his holding Cooerwull (the Aboriginal name for 'small blue flower growing there') and in 1838 he had enlarged it to 1920 acres. In 1838, Brown built himself a sandstone home, which he named Cooerwull House. He later built a church and school hall on the site. He died in the house in 1894.

The school was originally named Cooerwull Academy but was renamed De La Salle College. It functioned as an academy for boys and could accommodate up to 80 pupils at one time.

References:
Walkabout Australian Travel Guide website http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWBowenfels.shtml, accessed 25/9/2003.
Lithgow area website http://www.lisp.com.au/~lithtour/abrown.htm; http://www.keltawebconcepts.com.au/lithpiab1.htm, accessed 25/9/2003.

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