Francis Douglas Memorial College is an all-boys state integrated Catholic school with boarding facilities located in

Westown Westown is a suburb of New Plymouth, in the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of the city centre and west of Frankleigh Park. According to the 2013 New Zealand census, Westown has a population of 3,414, an in ...

, New Plymouth, New Zealand. The college was founded in 1959 under the leadership of the De La Salle Brothers, a religious order of brothers based on the teachings of St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. It is one of two secondary schools established by the Brothers in New Zealand, the other being De La Salle College, Mangere East, Auckland. The name of the school is dedicated to the memory of Father Francis Vernon Douglas, a

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

who was killed while doing missionary work in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The school educates approximately 760 boys, 130 of whom are boarders. The 60th Jubilee of Francis Douglas Memorial College was held on

Queen's Birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...

Weekend, 2019.

Sporting

74% of students participate in at least one sport. The most popular sport at the school is

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, other sports include

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, soccer,

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

, and athletic events. Annually, the school plays a

match against major cross-town rivals

New Plymouth Boys' High School New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The school currently caters for approximately 1300 students, including 210 boarders, on its site. The school often collabora ...

, this being one of the major events on the school calendar.

Music

Francis Douglas Memorial College has a music department where bands develop their talents. Many students have performed in the annual Smokefree Rockquest competition, with bands from the College winning two Regional Finals. Students have performed at the

G-TARanaki Guitar Festival GTaranaki, also known as G-TARanaki, was New Zealand's first international guitar festival held in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand annually from July 2008. The week-long festival brings some of worlds best guitarists to Taranaki to perform, ...

and were shown guitar skills by

Uli Jon Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Aca ...

Māori culture

The school runs cultural activities, such as the Annual Inter-house Haka Competition, and school camping trips to a

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

. The first inter-house Haka Competition was in 2010. Students register their names for the activity and each House performs their

Haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

with the school as an audience. The winning house is chosen by a judge who is a popular figure from New Plymouth. The school has a school Haka written by an ex-student Hemi Sundgrem which is about the founders of the school, Francis Douglas and the De La Salle Brothers.

Boarding

Lasalle House is the boarding hostel for Francis Douglas Memorial College.

Houses

*Benildus (green) *La Salle (yellow) *Loreto (blue) *Solomon (red)

Notable alumni

Arts

Anthony McCarten Anthony McCarten (born 28 April 1961) is a New Zealand writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing big-budget biopics '' The Theory of Everything'' (2014), '' Darkest Hour'' (2017), ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' (2018), ''The Two Popes'' (2019 ...

– author, playwright and screenwriter

Broadcasting

Patrick Gower Patrick Gower (born 1976/1977) is a New Zealand political journalist and National Correspondent for ''Newshub'' (formerly called 3 News)''.'' Prior to his current role he was Newshub's political editor. Early life Gower grew up in New Plymouth ...

– journalist * Jim Hickey – weather presenter

Public service

Steven Joyce Steven Leonard Joyce (born 7 April 1963) is a New Zealand former politician, who entered the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2008 as a member of the New Zealand National Party. In the same year he became Minister of Transport and Minis ...

– broadcasting entrepreneur; Member of Parliament (2008–2018); Cabinet Minister (2008–2017) * Andrew Harris (29 September 1964 – 10 May 1996) was a New Zealand

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

who died in the

1996 Mount Everest disaster The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making i ...

Science / education

Michael Kelly (physicist) Michael Joseph Kelly FRS FREng (born 14 May 1949) is a New Zealand- British physicist. He was Prince Philip Professor of Technology in the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge from 2002 to 2016. Education Born in New Plymou ...

– Prince Philip Professor of Technology, University of Cambridge

Sport

Athletics

Michael Aish (athlete) Michael Aish (born 24 July 1976) is a New Zealand long-distance runner. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city o ...

– Athletics

Football

Frank van Hattum Francesco van Hattum (born 17 November 1958 in New Plymouth) is a former New Zealand football player who was a goalkeeper during the country's first World Cup finals tournament in 1982. His international career started in 1980, and he played a ...

– Football * Oskar van Hattum - Football

Rugby union

* Beauden Barrett *

Jordie Barrett Jordan Matthew Barrett (born 17 February 1997) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a utility back internationally for New Zealand's All Blacks, and for the Hurricanes in the Super Rugby competition. Having previously been ...

* Kane Barrett * Scott Barrett * Shane Cleaver *

Liam Coltman Liam James Coltman (born 25 January 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a hooker for in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship (NPC) and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Coltman has also ...

Scott Fuglistaller Scott Anthony Hans Fuglistaller (born 16 April 1987) is a New Zealand rugby union professional footballer. He plays for, and captains, the Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby and the Melbourne Rising in the National Rugby Championship. His regular ...

* Du'Plessis Kirifi * Deacon Manu * John Mitchell * Jayson Potroz * Leon Power * Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens *

Ricky Riccitelli John Ricky Riccitelli ( ; born 3 February 1995) is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a hooker for New Zealand franchise Blues. In his youth career, he was selected to play in the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Champion ...

Conrad Smith Conrad Gerard Smith (born 12 October 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who played predominantly at centre. He captained the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, and played for New Zealand from 2004 until 2015. He was a key me ...

* Teihorangi Walden * Paul Williams (rugby referee) – Rugby union referee

Notable staff

Peter Ingram Peter John Ingram (born 25 October 1978) is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played for Central Districts. He is a right-handed batsman primarily, and is an occasional right arm off spin bowler. He is the fastest male cricketer to earn his ...

- Cricket coach (now at

Hawera High School Hāwera High School was a secondary school in the New Zealand town of Hāwera, which operated from 1901 until 2022. History The school's history began as a primary school in 1875, which was reformed as a district high school in 1901. In 1919, t ...

) * Ian Snook - Cricket coach * Tim Weston - Cricket coach

References

External links

Francis Douglas Memorial College website
{{New Plymouth District Boarding schools in New Zealand Boys' schools in New Zealand Educational institutions established in 1959 Schools in New Plymouth Secondary schools in Taranaki] Catholic secondary schools in New Zealand 1959 establishments in New Zealand

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 Rive ...