OTAGO BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22022, 3 August 1933, Page 6

OTAGO BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL

FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL PROVINCIAL COUNCIL’S ACTION DEATH OF FIRST RECTOR The proposal to form a high school or college in Dunedin was mooted in 1861 in a message of the then Superintendent, Mr J. L. C. Richardson, to the Provincial Council. In this document it was stated that while the province had reason to be satisfied with the /state of education in its more elementary form there was ground for humiliation in the total absence of collegiate establishments. It was also pointed out that in this respect Otago stood alone among the earliersettled provinces of the colony, and the existence of such an establishment in

Dunedin had become a matter of importance. Once interest had been awakened in the subject it was not allowed to flag, and during the same session of the council an Ordinance was passed providing that as soon as suitable buildings should be erected a High School should be established under a rector and assistants. It should be taught all the branches of a liberal education. This led forthwith to the erection of buildings in Dowling street, and in 1862 when Mr J. H. Harris was Superintendent of the province steps were taken to obtain a 'teaching staff from Home. The headmaster of Eton College and the rectors of the Edinburgh Academy and High School were commissioned to select a rector and two assistants, and their choice fell on the Rev. T. H. Campbell, M.A., as rector and Messrs G. P. Abram, M.A., and D. Brent, M.A., as English and mathematics masters respectively.

SEVENTIETH ANNIVERSARY HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTION EVENTFUL EARLY YEARS In the year 1863, only 15 years after the first early settlers landed in Otago, when Dunedin was a straggling town, its outskirts dotted with tents of miners on their way to the gold diggings, there was founded the Otago Boys’ High School, which has now completed 70 years’ service in imparting to the youth of the province the higher branches of learning. The school had a far from happy infancy. Its birth, in fact, was marked by tragedy, for a month before the opening ceremony the man who was to have been its first rector perished in a harbour collision. The task of controlling the school was for some years beset with difficulties, not the least of which was the unsuitability of the buildings. Progress was hampered by outside interference, and the settlers of the day might well have wondered whether the provincial authorities would ultimately ruin the thing which they themselves had created. It was not until two commissions had inquired into the affairs of the school and an independent board of governors had been appointed that the institution prospered. Since that time its affairs have run smoothly, and it has played an increasingly important part in the educational life of the community. The completion of the seventieth year of the school’s life is to be celebrated to-day and to-morrow. Functions appropriate to the occasion will be held and homage will be paid to an institution the influence of whose traditions has been felt by some thousands of Otago men.

the calamity which had overtaken Mr Campbell and then went on to congratulate the province sincerely upon the fulfilment of the desires of most of the older settlers that an institution having for its object the education, morally, intellectually and religiously, of the youth of the province should be established. The salaries of the teaching staff when the school was opened amounted to £1022 per annum, and it was recommended that a further £450 should be placed upon the estimates for any additional masters that might be required during the coming

THE OPENING CEREMONY A shadow was cast over the opening of the school on August 3, 1863, by the terrible disaster that had occurred in the harbour on the night of July 4, resulting in the death of the rector and his family. They had been travelling to Dunedin on the Pride of the Yarra, which collided with the Favourite and sank immediately, nearly all of the passengers and crew being drowned. The school opened with 60 pupils under the charge of Mr Abram as rector. . The qualifications for admission were that every boy should be over nine years of age, should be able to read simple prose, write from dictation, and work sums from the four elementary rules of arithmetic. The Otago Daily Times, in recording the opening ceremony, said: “ The High School of Dunedin was yesterday opened by his Honor the Superintendent as chairman of the General Education Board, Messrs T. Dick (provincial secretary), W. H. Reynolds (provincial treasurer), James Paterson, and other members of the board being present. There were also present the Rev. Dr Burns, and the Revs. Messrs Edwards, Stuart, and Christie and about a score of other persons. . . .” The remainder of the report was taken up with the remarks of the superintendent, who referred to

year. The Ordinance which had been passed also provided that exhibitions or scholarships to and from the school should be established. The Richardson scholarship, founded by Mr Richardson in 1803, was the only one for 20 years established in connection with the school. It was brought into operation in 1871. It was provided by law that the school should be entirely under the control of the Education Board, which consisted of the Superintendent, the members of the Executive Council, and the Speaker of the Provincial Council. It was to be maintained and supported by school fees, money appropriated by the Provincial Council for the purpose, and any other available funds.

The Rev. F. C. Simmons, who was the principal of a proprietary school in Scotland, was chosen as the new. rector and began his duties in March or April, 1804. He retained the position for a very short period, for a private letter written by Mr Simmons in which he described in uncomplimentary terms the Episcopalian and Presbyterian clergy of Otago created so great a storm that he found it necessary to resign and leave Dunedin.

AN UNFAVOURABLE START Events did not run altogether smoothly with the school, the staff, or the board in their efforts to provide the youth of the province with the benefits of a higher education. Practically all the boys coming to the school were in “so! lamentably backward a condition,” to ■ use the words of Mr Simmons, and were i removed from the school at so early an ! age that it was impossible for them : to derive full advantage from their j attendance at the school. To add to these

troubles, in 1867 very considerable dissatisfaction with the boarding accommodation and, in fact, with the school buildings themselves arose. A “ select committee” was appointed to look into these matters, and, in reporting to this body, the rector said of the school buildings: “ They may be fit for a hospital or museum and library, but they are fitter

for any earthly purpose than that of a school, and especially a boarding school.” The committee unanimously concurred with the rector in this outspoken opinion and considered that it would be injudicious to incur any additional expenditure on the buildings. The recommendations of the committee which were adopted by the Government led to steps being taken to improve the boarding accommodation. Despite these difficulties the school was progressing in some directions, and by the last quarter of 1866 the attendance had improved from 60 to 114. In April, 1869, however, when Mr Stuart Hawthorne was appointed to the position of rector, rendered vacant by the resignation of Mr Simmons, the attendance had declined to 79, and the school was in a languishing condition. It was found necessary as a result to dispense with the services of the most recently appointed master.

LITTLE HEADWAY MADE Mr Hawthorne’s first report contained the stereotyped lament as to the unsuitability of the buildings and grounds, and in the course of it he made an almost pathetic reference to the state of the roof, which in wet weather was like a sieve. The new rector made some important changes in the internal arrangements of the school, principal among them being the rearrangement of the teaching staff in the direction of relegating special subjects to each

master. A reduction in the fees had in the meantime been decided upon, and there were indications of an improvement in the prospects of the school, the attendance having slightly increased by the end of the year. These indications of better times were not fulfilled, and for the next few years the school by no means made the headway that had been expected. The charges made against the sciiool at this time were that its standards were lower than formerly, that classics were neglected, and that there was a lack of discipline and organisation. It was also said that the boarding establishment was not fulfilling its ends. The rector himself admitted in a measure the unsatisfactory condition of affairs, for, in addressing a commission which was subsequently appointed, he expressed the opinion that the year (1873) showed a considerable falling off in the attendance and that the standard of work had not been so high as in former years. This he attributed to various causes, among them being “ the misrepresentations regarding the school which were circulated in the press.” COMMISSION APPOINTED In May, 1873, a Royal Commission of Inquiry was appointed. It consisted of Mr Richardson, Professor Shand, Mr (later Sir) Robert Stout, and Dr Hislop. This commission examined a vast number of witnesses and made many recommendations. Some were put into effect and others were found impracticable. A strong consensus of opinion was expressed against any idea of making the school self-supporting, the necessity for new buildings was urged, and attention was drawn to the lack of proper provision for management and inspection. The commission’s report was such that the rector (Mr Hawthorne) asked for and obtained the privilege of a hearing at the Bar of the Provincial Council. Shortly afterwards Mr Hawthorne resigned on the grounds of ill-health. Mr Herbert Webb, in the course of a history of the school given at the sixtieth anniversary celebrations of the school, said of Mr Hawthorne: —“A gentleman in the truest sense of the word, he came to Dunedin from a sunnier clime where he was happy in his work, and his life here was, except for certain brief halycon days when his soul was occupied with things that transcend the humdrum drudgery of life, a time of almost continuous worry, vexation, disappointment, and unjust treatment, culminating at last in the tragedy of a broken spirit, a broken heart, and

death. He never had fair play; he battled manfully with the difficulties of his position, which were great, only to find them increasing and himself held to blame. He was misunderstood and misjudged, and was forced at last, a dying man, to resign as though unfitted fori it, a position which in reality he had adorned.” THE FOURTH RECTOR In April, 1875, Mr William Norrie was appointed the fourth rector on the

advice of the Home agents of the Provincial Council. The affairs of the school, however, still did not prosper. Disputes arose between the rector and the Education Board, and the culmination of the trouble was the resignation of Mr Norrie in October, 1877. Mr Nome had battled manfully against his difficulties, and as a result had gained the sympathy of the public. It is interesting to note that it was during this period that what has now proved

to be a notable advance in the history of the school was made, Mr G. M. Thomson, at first a tutor at the rectory, being appointed the first science master. CHANGE IN CONTROL The resignation was followed by the appointment of another Royal Commission which reported in the following month. Several recommendations were made, one of which favoured the appointment of a board of inspectors, and the

then Education Board was condemned as not beiqg qualified for the position of a governing body. The site of the old lunatic asylum was strongly recommended as the site of a new school. In due time the report brought about a change. The continuous efforts which had been made to obtain a site for a more suitable building at last bore fruit, and the site in Arthur street upon which the school now stands was obtained, and the fine structure which now stands there was later erected.

About this time also the question of fresh arrangements with respect to the conduct of the school, and partly at the instigation of the Education Board itself, a new departure was determined upon. In 1877 the Boys and Girls High School Act was passed. It vested the management of the school in a separate governing body —the Board of Governors. It was provided that two members should be appointed from time to time by the Governor, two should

be elected by the University Council, two should be elected by the Education Board, and that the mayor of the city should be ex-officio a member. A PERIOD OF PROGRESS The first action of the Board of Governors upon assuming office was to appoint to the position of rector Dr Macdonald, at that time classical master at the Edinburgh High School. From this time the school grew and

strengthened without interruption. In 1880 Dr Macdonald was able to report that the number on the roll had never during that year fallen below 202, and in 1884 it had increased to 208. The school was divided into upper and lower divisions. No entrance examination was required for admission to the lower school, but pupils desiring to enter the upper school had to pass a preliminary examination. Dr Macdonald’s successful term as rector ended in 1885, when he had to resign owing to ill-health,

and in March, 1886, the Rev. Henry Belcher, M.A., LL.D., entered upon his duties as rector of the school, resigning at the close of the year 1895. During his 10 years as rector the school made remarkable progress both in its internal and outdoor life. Of him Mr Webb stated: “He was a particularly good organiser and an excellent disciplinarian, and the boys liked him. . . . Whether the doctor was himself a successful teacher there is difference of opinion,

but there is no question at all as regards his capability as a headmaster. He'was the very life of the school, permeating it as no previous rector had done. He also won the hearts of former pupils, and he founded the Old Boys’

Club. The doctor obtained for th» school the pictures which still, hang in the hall illustrating the history and progress of architecture. He conferred one other benefit—the establishment of two detention days in the week! ”