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. Enrolment ...

in Hagley Avenue, in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, 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 En ...

, 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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

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; in ) is a Crown entity that advocates for the protection of Archaeology of New Zealand, ancest ...

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 (1853–1918), headmaster from 1882 until ca 1904 * William Habens (1839–1899), on the staff from 1868

Notable alumni

* Derek Arnold (born 1941),

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

player *

William Baverstock William (Billy) Sykes Baverstock OBE FRSA (2 August 1893 – 11 October 1975) was an illustrator, photographer, arts administrator and the first Director of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in Christchurch, New Zealand. Early history Bavers ...

(1883–1975), first director of the Christchurch Art Gallery * 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 Musi ...

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

Ben Couch Manuera Benjamin Rīwai Couch (27 June 1925 – 3 June 1996) was a New Zealand politician and rugby union player. He was a team-member of the All Blacks and the New Zealand Māori rugby union team in the 1940s. Early life Couch was born in 192 ...

(1925–1996),

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

(1947–49), Member of Parliament for

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

and

Minister of Māori Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

(1978–84) * Colleen Dewe (1930–1993), National MP for Lyttelton (1975–1978) * Maurice Dixon (1929–2004),

(1953–57) *

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

(born 1947), former member of parliament * Sydney Josland (1904–1991), bacteriologist *

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English association football, footballer, who played as a Forward (association football), centre-forward and was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United ...

(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 an English-born New Zealand feminist and social worker. Biography Ada Pike was born near Henley-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire, England. Her parents emigrated to New Zealand with their ...

(1863–1933), suffragette * Owen Wilkes (1940–2005), peace campaigner * Cecil Wood (1878–1947), architect * Denis Young (1930–2020),

(1956–64)

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 Heritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in the Canterbury Region Christchurch Central City 1924 establishments in New Zealand 1920s architecture in New Zealand 1966 disestablishments in New Zealand