Page 50 - Volume 1

and still more pleasing to think that not one and shoot it with a pea-rifle. He served in the Boer
ex-pupil has let the school down. War and in the 1914-18 World War.
“I will ever remember the kindly Maud Perry remembers her father Richard
consideration shown to me by the parents being Chairman of the School Committee, and doing
and committee members when, as a young and the job of the committee alone, doing everything
inexperienced teacher I was feeling my way. that the non-existent group should be doing for the
“To my old pupils I can only say that school, including the regular emptying of the school
sixty years of experience has taught that unless toilet. Maud swept and scrubbed the school for the
a teacher can arouse love in his pupils he will fee of six guineas a year.
get nowhere.” Up until 1952 the school regularly used
Maurice Priestley, Teacher, 1897-1901 the swimming ‘hole’ at the edge of the lake below the
school by some large gum trees. The students shared
their swimming lessons with the aquatic life of the
Head Teachers to follow Mr Priestley were lake - ducks, eels, raupo, frogs and tadpoles. The
Miss Brown (1902) 1952 expansion of the mine caused the area to
Miss Gibbons (relieved for Miss Brown) become dry land and swimming lessons were few and
Mr Guest (1918) far between at the Huntly swimming baths.
Miss Phair (25th October 1918) Miss Brown served at the school from 1902
William A. P. Moxom (1st February 1919) until 1918, a period of 16 years with Mr O’Brien
A W Hyde (5th September 1924) staying for 12. Every year for a short period of time
Mr Frayling (15th September 1924) the school picnic was held in Perry’s paddock (see
Mrs McIntosh (1st February 1925) photo above).
Mr M J O’Brien (1st February 1932) During the days when the school children
Mrs Robinson (6th July 1944) used the old track (no road connected to the school
Miss H M Rankin (21st May 1945) for nearly 50 years) and iron gate to the school.
Miss I A Gunn (3rd September 1945) Bill Valentine Snr kept a Holstein bull pegged
Miss Davis (1945) down by the nose in the paddock that the children
Mr W Parsonage (1947) crossed. Mrs McIntosh was well remembered for her
Mr O Whaley (21st May 1951) fear of bulls. One day the bull got loose and
Mr A D Bartlett (30th July 1951) jumped the fence right by the children, so young
Mr P T Lawless (1st September 1955) Dick Yates jumped in front of the bull to stop it. Mrs
Mr D Skilton (Relieving—1st February 1960) McIntosh reached out with her umbrella and hooked
Mr J H Walker (8th February 1960) him out of the path of the charging bull.
Mrs Marion Bogie (Acting—June 1962)
Mr D Burney (July 1962) Curiously Mrs McIntosh seems best
Mr M Mather (1st February (1965) remembered for her umbrella which she always
carried, and for her skill in finding four-leaf clovers.
Pupils in attendance on that opening day August She also walked every day from Huntly to the
24th 1897 were: Katie McGlynn, Florence Evans, school.
Madge Soppet, Georgina Trougher, Edward Clinch, Maud Perry recalls that her father Richard was
Archie Campbell Hall, Hilda Ruth Skellern, Ada Chairman of the School Committee and, through
Evans, Bertie Taylor, Ernest Hall, Samuel Dunn, necessity, was a one-man band, carry out all the duties of
Ethel Evans and Pearl Patterson. Frederick Dunn the Committee on his own. He ‘carried’ the school for
enrolled the following day, on August 25th. quite some time.
The daughter of one of these pupils, Ernie Maud was called upon to assist in sweeping the
Hall, was to act as official hostess to Her Majesty school while her father had to empty the toilets for six
the Queen at the Hamilton Hotel during the Queen’s guineas a year.
visit in 1953. She was then Mrs Prosser. She also remembers the parties in the Perry
Bert Clinch, later to become the All New home on the lake frontage that were followed by
Zealand .303 Shooting Champion, shot the knob off dances at the school. The copper was kept boiling all
the school gable at 500 yards. He was Champion in day to supply cups of tea while bath-fulls of
live bird, shotgun and rifle. He could toss up a penny

Part of the southern shoreline of Lake Kimihia showing hilltop opencast mining in progress. The buildings
on the foreshore are the kitchens and dining rooms built for the opencast expansion that had started further
eastward. The Kimihia school is just out of shot to the right.