Christchurch West High School (originally Christchurch Academy then High School of Christchurch and then West Christchurch Borough School) existed prior to 1966 on the site of

Hagley College Hagley College (previously Hagley Community College and Hagley High School), is a state secondary school in inner-city Christchurch, New Zealand. Prior to 1966 the school was Christchurch West High School, which was founded in 1858. Descriptio ...

in Hagley Avenue, in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. In that year 'West' amalgamated with Technical High School to become Hagley High School. As part of that amalgamation, the maroon, black and white colours were changed to teal.

History

The school was opened on 15 November 1858 by the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church on their triangular site formed by Tuam Street, Antigua Street, and Oxford Terrace. The original name was Christchurch Academy and the school enjoyed a good reputation. The school committee that ran the school decided in 1863 that a bigger site was needed and they purchased the current school grounds opposite South Hagley Park some from their original site. The name changed to High School of Christchurch when the school relocated in July 1863. A main source of income for early Christchurch schools was an annual grant by the

Canterbury Provincial Council The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch. History Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential Eng ...

, with funds distributed to school committees in proportion of the denomination of the population. The educational system changed in 1873 and the province discontinued its grants. Reluctantly, the school committee decided to offer the school buildings and grounds to the newly established West Christchurch educational committee. The chairman of the West Christchurch educational committee, Henry Tancred, sanctioned the purchase in September 1873. The school was renamed West Christchurch Borough School and it became

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

that year; 70 existing pupils transferred to the new school. The roll greatly increased and by the end of 1877, there were 868 pupils.

Heritage registration

The main school building, built in 1924, is registered by

Heritage New Zealand Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (initially the National Historic Places Trust and then, from 1963 to 2014, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust) ( mi, Pouhere Taonga) is a Crown entity with a membership of around 20,000 people that advocate ...

as a Category II heritage structure with registration number 1874. It was originally called the West Christchurch Public School. A centenary book was published in 1958.

Notable staff

Tony Foster Thomas Scholfield Foster (13 September 1853 – 8 September 1918), commonly known as Tony Foster, was a New Zealand school principal and inspector, and university lecturer. Early life and education He was born in London, England, in 1853. Hi ...

(1853–1918), headmaster from 1882 until ca 1904 *

William Habens William James Habens (17 June 1839 – 3 February 1899) was a New Zealand Congregational minister and educationalist. He was born in Brighton, Sussex, England on 17 June 1839. He and his wife emigrated to Christchurch Christchurch ( ; ...

(1839–1899), on the staff from 1868

Notable alumni

Derek Arnold Derek Austin Arnold (born 10 January 1941) is a New Zealand rugby union player who played for the All Blacks. Early life Arnold was born in 1941 in Balclutha. He attended Christchurch West High School. Playing career Arnold played for the Ca ...

(born 1941),

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

player * Sir

Frank Callaway Sir Frank Callaway (16 May 191922 February 2003) was an influential music educator and administrator. He was born in New Zealand but spent the major part of his life and career in Perth, Western Australia, where he built the UWA School of Mus ...

(1919–2003), influential music educator and administrator in Perth, Western Australia *

Colleen Dewe Colleen Elizabeth Dewe (30 May 1930 – 22 May 1993) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. She and Marilyn Waring were the 14th and 15th women elected to the New Zealand Parliament, and she represented the Lyttelton electorate for ...

(1930–1993), National MP for Lyttelton (1975–1978) *

Pauline Gardiner Pauline Mona Gardiner (née Wayman, born 27 September 1947) is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament, first for New Zealand National Party and then for United New Zealand. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner ...

(born 1947), former member of parliament *

Sydney Josland Sydney Walter Josland (30 January 1904 – 28 June 1991) was a New Zealand bacteriologist who specialised in research into Leptospirosis, Salmonella and the control of diseases in animals. Early life and education Born in Christchurch in 1904, J ...

(1904–1991), bacteriologist *

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...

(1862–1911), former Christchurch Mayor, New Zealand Member of Parliament, businessman and prohibitionist (advocate of temperance) *

Ada Wells Ada Wells (née Pike, 29 April 1863 – 22 March 1933) was a feminist and social worker in New Zealand. Biography Ada Pike was born near Henley-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire, England. Her parents emigrated to New Zealand with their four girls ...

(1863–1933), suffragette *

Owen Wilkes Owen Ronald Wilkes (1940 – 12 May 2005) was a peace campaigner and the founder of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and the Anti-Bases Campaign, who was given a suspended prison sentence for espionage in Norway (the Wilkes/Gledit ...

(1940–2005), peace campaigner * Cecil Wood (1878–1947), architect

References

{{Coord, 43, 32, 15.24, S, 172, 37, 24.43, E, region:NZ_scale:1000, display=title Secondary schools in Christchurch Defunct schools in New Zealand NZHPT Category II listings in Canterbury, New Zealand Christchurch Central City 1924 establishments in New Zealand 1920s architecture in New Zealand