ST. STEPHEN'S COLLEGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20723, 17 November 1930, Page 10

ST. STEPHEN'S COLLEGE.

FORTHCOMING REMOVAL. END OF HISTORIC BUILDING. LINK WITH THE EARLY DAYS. The breaking-up ceremony at St. Stephen's College, Parnell, next month will mark n "■ breaking-up" in the strictest sense of the word. Immediately the school closes for the Christmas holidays the historic building is to be demolished, and next year masters and pupils will carry its mellow traditions into a new and more commodious building which is nearing completion at Bombay. The removal of St. Stephen's will sever a direct link with the earliest days of Auckland, and it is not without a pang of regret that many Parnell residents regard its passing. For 80 years the name of " St. Stephen's " has been associated with Parnell, and when the college bell ceases its familiar daily summons, to ring' out anew amid the open country of the Bombay hills, it will leave a gap which for many old identities will be hard to fill.

Because of this an appeal has ■ been launched for the purpose of making a presentation to the Maori boys. When the faixl is closed it is hoped to ibave sufficient money in hand to make the boys a presentation of a new set of Communion plate for the chapel at their new college. " It is an outward sign of the regard in which the residents and the old identities of Parnell hold the college and the boys which attend it," said Miss Florence Walker, of Gladstone Road, one of the promoters of the fund. The college possessed a remarkable and cherished record in that throughout its existence there had never been a complaint from neighbours regarding the behaviour of the boys. Their help had often been sought and was always readily given. On one occasion, at least, their efforts in suppressing a grass fire had saved a home from destruction.

The. object of removing the college is to develop the agricultural side of the curriculum. Everything is in train for the transfer during the summer, but no finality will be reached until Archbishop Averill, head of the General Trust Board of the Auckland Diocese, which controls the college, returns from England early next month. The college will " break up " earlier this year, probably on December 4 or 5, and it is hoped to have the transfer completed by the middle of February in readiness for the resumption of the next school year on March 1.