THE PIONEER SCHOOL

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 10473, 31 December 1927, Page 12 (Supplement)

THE PIONEER SCHOOL

LATE MR. W. DEAN LYSNAR FIRST MASTER.

LIST OF EARLY SCHOLARS.

NATIVE CHILDREN SENT TO TE ALIK AT OUTSET.

It is interesting to record that the first school in Poverty Lay stood in Childers Road in front ot what is now the Gisborne ! : ot:.‘l. The lat;: Air. William Dean Ly.snar, lather of Air. VV. J). I.tsmtr, .-,1.!'., was .the first dominee. lie was a trained master of St. Mark’s College, London, and certificated 1)2 by the Department ot Education in this country. Previously, he had had a private School in Auckland and a register, relating as far hack 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,'Spelling, geography and arithmetic, one shilling and sixpence. Upper Division, including the above, with English grammar arid composition, advanced arithmetic, history and book-keeping, two shillings and sixpence. Air. Lysnar also hold evening classes, for which the fee was two shillings per week, with Latin, French and the Higher Mathematics extra. Tt would appeal 1 that Mr. Lvsnar gave up his school ill Auckland—it was at first known us “The Commercial School” and later, as -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 Rond, Auckland. The late Air. Lysnar commenced school-teaching in Gisborne early in

1872. Tim school building was used also to hold church services in on occasions. His diary (kindly lent by Mr. W. D. Lysnar) contains the following interesting references to the school. June 10th, 1872: Attended a meeting of the school committee in sehoot-hou.se. Resolved to call a public meeting. Mr. .Read signed the specification for addition to school house. June 22: Public meeting to consider advisability of imposing a tax for educational purposes. Considerable discussion ensued, all those present being on oneside—in favor of education. Mr. Horsfall proposed that the meeting do not agree to any taxation for educational pin poses. Seconded by Mr. Dalzicl! and carried. June 25: At a meeting of the school committee it was resolved that the chairman bo empowered to . applv to the Central Board of Education at Auckland to impose a tax estimated at sixpence in the £ on iiic annual ~*' till" iaitnet for the. purpose of raising £l5O to ho expended as follows: Lining school house £4O; fencing £25, debts due £4O; rent for touchers’ house £25; additional furniture .CIO' expenses of collection £LO ; totai £l5O. June 22: A eon- o" the above resolution ami .ItVtpment were affixed to the Court-house til’s day. August 7: A strive tool; place in the Gisborne tcheol-house. at 5 p.m. There was a very large attendance of all ages and conditions. It continued until about 4 o’clock next morning. The cross proceeds were £23 2s; tickets 4/-> each. August 22: In the evening a Meeting %F the Church and school committees to consider the question of religious services in the selioolhouser Resolved that the schoollions? he common to all denominations. February 27, 1573: Mr. O’Sullivan inspecting the school. Attended public meeting for the election of school committee. Committee elected: Cant, Porter (chairman) and Messrs. Steel, Sheet, Vi ebb j and Adams. j March 31: Letter from the Board of Education—salary £150; mistress £ls; rent £25; school re-j quisites £lO. j 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 vs ns small and, although five prominent residents (Messrs. Buchanan. Teat, Morgan, Capt. Porter and Rev. Air. Root) were willing to serve, it was resolved or a motion propsed bv Air. Webb and seconded by Air. 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 lor a gratuity to the monitorial teachers. December IS, 1874: In the morning the Gisborne school examined by the Rev. Air. Root at the request of the School Commissioners. Result—Reading:, very good; writing, fair; arithmetic, very inferior: composition, good; spelling, middling ; history, inferior ; geography, fair. * | April 15. 1875: Saw Air. Gill, who tcltl me I would shortly get, a letter from Cant. Porter about the admission of Native children into the school at a fee of £4 pc.- head p.r annum by the genernl government. June o, 1875: Dr. Nesbitt brought me an offer from Air. Gill to take charge of the Nnt:vc school .at Omahu. near Napier., - The terms are £l5O a year r or the master; £2O a year for the mistress ; free, house and enclosed garden land of nearly two acres. Limited, tight to pasture land. June 8: Resinned the mastership of the Gisborne school.

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 Auto school at Napier came from the East Coast. Here is an account of what To Paki te Amaru, of Uawa. said after a visit to that institution:—

T am much pleased with what J 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 pnkehas generally. Thev are taught arithmetic, the Englfsh language, and the Scriptures in English. This is good for ‘The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.’ Another good 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 wore still a child 1 should like to attend this school. The children who attend are—from Tokomaru Bay, 1 ; from TJawa, 12.; Turanga (Gisborne), 3; from AVairoa, 3; and from Napier 3: total 22.”

In the late A Jr. Lysnar’s diary appear tiie accounts of the -Gisborne School for the various quarters during his lieadmasteiship. The first is for the quarter ended September 39. 1872, and the particulars include: — All*, yiiil: To tuition for W iliiam and Alnggie £2 12s. Air. Adams: Tuition for .Joshua £1 6s and four months’ pen and ink 2s. Mr. Dunlop: Tuition lor Charles and David £2 12s, pens 4/-, Nelson’s No. 4 1/3, Superseder 1/0. Air. Uren: Tuition for F. \\ . Goldsmith £1 1 Is, pens and books Cs- - Langford: Tuition for Annie and Eustace Cl 6s, pens and ink i-. Royal Geography 1/9, Copy Book fid. Copt. Kennedy: Tuition for Alary and Edward £1 .6s. Air. AVylic: , Tuition for Gav:n and Alexander £1 1 Is, hooks etc. 3/9. Mr. Robb: Tuition for Robert 17/-; for Ellen (3 weeks) 3.'-, hooks 3 9. M> Stevenson: Tuition lor James 19/-. Mr. 11. Bertie Reed: ’Tuition for Florence, Ernest, Edith, Arthur, and Bertie £2 5s fid. Mr. AVilliam King: Tuition fur ■ Elizaheth,gnd Thomas IT 6s, Alary (seven wee-ks) 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 week's), 5/-. Air. Forbes: Tuition for Louisa and Rachel £1 19s. Air. O’Donoguue: Tuition for Mary Ann 13;-. Mrs. Aleldrum: Three medium slates 1/8; 3 small do. 1/2; 1 box slate pencils sd; 3 Royal Geographies 4/0; 2 small Arithmetics 8d ; 2 Readers No. 4 1/8; A Stop by ■Steps Od; 2 Sequels Sd ; and 3 Copy Books 1/-. Air. Doleman: Tuition for Algrtha £1 os. « Air. Dunlop: Tu’tion fur Ellen (0 weeks) 6/-. Air. Steele: Tuition for Alice (7 weeks) 7/~. Air. Gilman: Books 4/-.

Mr* V. King: Tuition for Elizi abetli" and Thomas £1 6s. In the following quarter the following also were amongst the scholars: Findlav Drummond, Charles ' Young, Hcber Pritchard. Lucy Ahu- ! ton, Jane and Elizabeth Hall, Walter ; and Clara Webb, Kate O’Donogh.ie, 1 Laura Langford, Ada Stevens, Frank I and Emily Skeet. Geo. Brown. P. Jones, Annie," Walter, Harry and Frederick Clayton, Flora Wylie, A. Are Donald, A. Harris, Cameron, Kate, Arthur and Alary Buchanan. AVm. and Robt. Stuckey, Annie Adams. John C'ook, Alfred Skipworth, David Bridger, Robt. Skeet. James and Frederick Martin, Louisa and Richard Byrne, Alimue Dawson. Pianoforte lessons were now also given as an extra. Further new names appear in the 1574 list of scholars as under: John Sampson, George Hrocklebanck, Alice Halibourt, AI. and H. Sloye, Esther Brimskill, E. Nasmith. R. Caulton, A. Tibhals, E., AL and R. Tier, Ernest Evans, Al. E., J., and S. Morgan, F. Steele, Alt’. Adams, T. and E. North, A., B. and F. O’Alenra, S., AI: and E. Hunt, J.. AL and AL Harris. H., Henry and J. Cameron, R. Bailey, H. Nasmith; Em. Blair, AI. and A. Scrivener. E. Harris, E. Davis, S. Dawson, Haache. The 1875 list has also: F. Burnard, E : . and H. Warren, F. and T. Faram, J. F. Martin, S. Dawson, A. Sorry, J.„ G. and X. Carey, AAL and J. Alaher. J.. AI. and E. Reed, F. and L. Gibbons, T. Littlcwood, AI. Hepburn.