THE PIONEER SCHOOL

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10392, 9 May 1927, Page 12 (Supplement)

THE PIONEER SCHOOL

1872. The school building was usee also to hold church services in on oc fusions. His diary (kindly lent hi Mr. W. D. Lysnar) contains the fot lowing interesting references to tin school. June 10th, 1872: Attended a meeting of the school committee ir school-house. Eesolved to call a public meeting. Mr. Head signed the specification tor addition tc school house. June 22: Public meeting to consider advisability of imposing a tax for educational purposes. Considerable discussion ensued, all those present being on one side—in favor of education. Mr. Horsfall proposed that the meeting do not agree to any taxation for educational pu poses. Seconded by Mr. Dateicl! and carried. June 23: At a meeting of the school committee it was resolved that the chairman be empowered to apply to the Central Board of Education at Auckland tg impose a tax estimated at sixpence in the £ on iiie annual. i'«ntu I t!”“ faiirict for the purpose of raising £l5O to be expended as follows*. Lining school house £•■10; fencing £2-3, debts due £4O; rent for teachers’ house £25; additional furniture £lo' expenses of collection £10; total £l5O. June 27: A copy q" the above resolution and stc te went were affixed tthe Court-house tips day. August 7: A so’ree took place in the Gisborne tchcol-house at 5 p.m. There was a vojv large attend-' ante of all ages and conditions, j It continued until about 4 o’clock i next morning. The gross pro- ] coeds were £23 2s; tickets 4/- - each. ‘ August 22: in the evening a meeting of the Church and s-hool committees to consider the question • of religious services in the school- ; house. Resolved that the school- . house lie c-ommon to all denom- , motions. , February 27, 1873: Mr. O’Sullivan in- : specting the School. Attended public meeting for the election of school committee. Committee elected: Cant, Portc-r (chairman) and Messrs. Steel, Skeet, Webb j and Adams. j March 31: Letter from the Board of

Education—salary £150; mistress £ls; rent £25; school requisites £lO. April 30: Meeting of the Gisborne school committee. Resolution passed to regulate the price of stationery—sixpence per quarter for slate pencils and 1/- for pens _ and ink January 17, 1874: Public meeting in schoolroom to elect a new committee. The attendance v, as small and, although five prominent residents (Messrs. Buchanan. Teat, Morgan* Cb.pt. Porter and Rev. Mr. Root) were willing to serve, it was resolved or a motion propsed by Mi’: Webb and seconded by Mr. Sheet that no committee should be elected for the present year on' account of the unsatisfactory working of •The Education Act 1872. March 30, 1874: Gave notice to the school committee of my intention to apply to the Board of Education for a gratuity to the monitorial teachers. December 18, 1874: In tlie morning the Gisborne school examined by the Rev. Mr. Root at the request of the School Commissioners. Result—Reading, verv good; writing, fair ; arithmetic, very inferior ; composition, good; spelling,' middling ; history, inferior graphy, fair. April 15, 1875: Saw Mr. Gill, who told me I. would shortly get a letter from Cant. Porter about the admission of Native children —into the school at a fee of £4 par head per annum by the general government. June 5, 1875: Dr. Nesbitt brought me an offer from Mr. Gill to take charge of the Native school at Omahu, near Napier./-;.. Theterms are‘'£150..:a:.rear"for" .the• . master; £2O a year ifor the mis- • tress'; ‘ free house" and ' enclosed garden land of nearly two acres: y Limited light, to .pasture:laiid.: • June 8: Resigned'the' mastership of the Gisborne school. •' • ' j

LATE MR. W. DEAN LYSNAR FIRST MASTER. LLST OF E ARLY SCHOLARS. NATIVE' CHILDREN SENT TO TE A DTE AT OUTSET. It is interesting to record that the first school in Poverty Bay stood in Childers Road in front or what Is now the Gisborne Hotel. The 1 ate Mr. William Dean Lysnar, lather of Mr. W. 1). Lysnar, M.P., was .the first doniinee. He was a trained master of St. Mark’s College, London, and certificated 1)2 by the Department of Education in this country. Previously, he had had a private school in Auckland and a register, relating as far back as 1859, is still extant. Incidentally, the late Mr. Lysnar could claim to have taught the children of some of the most influential early residents of the Queen City of the North. His terms were—weekly in advance—as follows:—Lower Division : Reading, writing, geography and arithmetic, one shilling and sixpence. Upper Division, in- ; eluding the above, with English grammar and composition, advanced arithmetic, history and book-keeping, two shillings and sixpence. Air. Lysnar also held evening classes, for which the fee was two shillings per week, with Latin, French and the Higher Mathematics extra. It would appear that Mr. Lysnar gave up his school at Auckland—it was at first known as “The Commercial School” and late:*, a.s -‘The Lyceum School”— early in 1864. Some twenty years later, however, he again had a private school in Auckland known as the Eden Hall School, and situated on Alt. Eden Road, Auckland. The late Air. Lysnar commenced school-teaching in Gisborne early in

September 1: Started a school, at Omahu, salary £2OO per annum ; wife’s £2O.

In-1875, it seems, the bulk of the Native children attending Te Aute school atNapier came from the East Coast. Here is an. account of what To Paki te Amaru, of Uawa, said after a visit to that institution:—

‘I am much pleased with what 1 have seen and heard here, viz., the personal _ cleanliness of the children, their clean clothes, the good beds and iron bedsteads, and the wholesome food. They eat from tables and follow; the customs and the habits of the pakohas generally. They are taught .arithmetic, the English language, and the Scriptures in English. This is good for ‘The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.’ Another goou thing is that European children attend the same school; and they all converse together as if they were children of one race. What I also admired was the untiring energy of the teacher, who seemed to take no rest, except when eating or sleeping. I thought if I were still a child I should like to attend this school. The children who attend are—from Tokomaru Bay, 1; from Uawa, 12; Turanga (Gisborne), 3; from Wairoa, 3; and from Napier 3; total 22.”

In the late Air. Lysnar’,s diary appear the accounts of the •Gisborne School for the various quarters during his hcadmnstership. The first is for the quarter ended September 30, 1872, and the particulars include: —

Mr. Aiill: To tuition for William and Alaggie £2 12s. Ur. Adams: Tuition for Joshua £1 6s and four months’ pen and ink 2s.

Mr. Dunlop: Tuition for Charles and David £2 12s, pens 4/-, Nelson’s No. 4 1.3, Supersede!- 1/6. Air. Uren: Tuition for F. W. Goldsmith £1 1 Is. pons and books 6/9. Air. Langford: Tuition for Annie and Eustace £1 6s, pens and ink 4-. Royal Geography 1/9, Copy Book 6d. Capt. Kennedy: Tuition for Alary and Edward £1 ,6s. Air. Wylie Tuition for Gavin and Alexander £1 14s, books etc. 3/9. . Air. Robb: Tuition for Robert 17/-; for Ellen (3 weeks) 3.-, books 3/9. Air Stevenson: Tuition for Janies 19/-. Air. 11. Bertie Reed: Tuition for Florence, Ernest. Edith, Arthur, and Bertie £2 5s od. Mr. William King: Tuition for •Elizabeth Thomas £1 6s, Alary (seven weeks) 7/-. Air. W. S. Greene: Tuition for Theodore and Arthur £1 8s; pens and ink 5/-, .Anderson’s Geography 2/-, Royal ditto 1/9, Slate 9d. Air. Goldsmith: Tuition for Oliver (five weeks), 5/-. 1 Air. Forbes: Tuition for Louisa mid Rachel £1 19s. Mr. O’Donoglme: Tuition for Alary Ann 13/-. Airs. Aleldrum: Three medium slates 1/8; 3 small do. 1/2; 1 box slate pencils sd; 3 Royal Geographies 4/C; 2 small Arithmetics 8d; 2 Readers No. 4 1/8; A Step by Steps Sd; 2 Sequels Sd; and 3 Copy Books If-. Mr. Doleman: Tuition for Algrtha £1 6s. Ah*. Dunlop; Tuition for Ellen (6 weeks) 6/-. Air. Steele: Tuition for Alice (7 weeks) 7/-. ( Air. Gilman: Books 4/-.

Mr*, W. King: Tuition for Elizabeth and Thomas £1 6s. In the following quarter the following also were amongst the scholars: Findlay Drummond, Charles Young, Heber Pritchard, Lucy Morton, Jane and Elizabeth"'Hall, Walter and Clara Webb, Kate O’Donoghue, Laura Langford, Ada Stevens, Frank and Emily Skeet, Geo. Brown, P. Jones, Annie,- Walter, Harry and Frederick Clayton, Flora Wylie, A. McDonald, A. Harris, Cameron, Kate, Arthur and Mary Buchanan, Wm. and Robt. Stuckey, Annie Adams, John Cook, Alfred Skipworth, David Bridget, Robt. Skeet, James and Frederick Martin, Louisa and Bichard Byrne, Minnie Dawson. Pianoforte lessons were now also j given as an extra, j Further new names appear in the 1874 list of scholars as under: John Sampson, George Brocklebanck, Alice Habbourt, M. and H. Sloye, Esther Brimskill, E. Nasmith, R. Caulton, A. Tibbals, E., M. and R. Tier, Ernest Evans, M. E., J.< and S. Morgan, • F. Steele, Alf. Adams, T. and E. North, A., B. and F. O’Meara, S., M. and E. Huntf. J., M. and M. Harris. H., Henry and J. Cameron, RBailey, H. Nasmith/ Em. Blair, M. and A. Scrivener. E-. Harris, E. Davis, S. Dawson, Haaclie. The 187-j list has also: F. Burnard, E. and H. Warren, F. and T. Faram, J. F. Martin, S. Dawson, A. Sorry, J.„ G. and N. Carey, W. and J. lVlaher, J., M. and B. Reed, F. and L. Gibbons, T. Littlewood, M. Hepburn.