St Peter's College, Auckland
Encyclopedia
St Peter's College is a Catholic college for year 7 to 13 boys (ages 11-18 years). The school, located in Auckland
, is one of the largest Catholic school
s in New Zealand
and is an integrated school under an integration agreement entered into by the Catholic Bishop of Auckland
(as the proprietor of the college) and the Government of New Zealand
in 1982. St Peter's is located in the central Auckland
suburb
of Epsom
, on the northern slopes of Mount Eden
.
roll and its ethnic composition in 2010 was (generally): European/Pākehā
58%; Māori 5%; Polynesian
13% (including Samoan 9% and Tongan 3%); Asian
22% (including Chinese
4%, Indian
11% and Filipino
3%). There are approximately 134 paid staff (teaching and support staff). The school offers for senior years both the National Certificate of Educational Achievement
assessment system (NCEA) and the Cambridge International Examinations
(CIE).
of St Peter and known as St Peter's School, St Peter's Boy's School or St Peter's Select School. It was established in 1841 by the Catholic lay
men of Auckland following the first visit of Bishop Pompallier
. The first teacher was Mr. E. Powell, and probably classes were held in his own residence in Shortland Crescent (later renamed Shortland Street). St Peter's School continued to provide education for boys mainly under lay teachers until 1885 when the Marist Brothers
established a school on the corner of Pitt and Wellington Streets.
S.J.
, third Catholic Bishop of Auckland
(1879–1881) thought, that as they were a French congregation, the Marist Brothers might not be welcome in Auckland and that it would be better to invite the Irish Christian Brothers
as most of the Catholics in Auckland were Irish. Stein's successor, John Edmund Luck
OSB, fourth Catholic Bishop of Auckland (1881–1896), had no such qualms and invited the Marist Brothers to establish their school. An unsuccesful move may have been made in 1885 to open a Christian Brothers School.
Nearly 40 years later, in 1923, Henry William Cleary
, the sixth Catholic Bishop of Auckland, issued an invitation to the Christian Brothers to found a school. The Marist Brothers, well established at Sacred Heart College
(then located in Richmond Road, Ponsonby
), objected strongly and Cleary wrote to the Provincial
of the Christian Brothers, Brother Barron
, changing his offer to a primary school. As a result, the Christian Brothers lost interest.
Shortly after he became seventh Catholic Bishop of Auckland in 1929, James Michael Liston
renewed the invitation to the Christian Brothers, whose pupil he had been in Dunedin
. This again aroused the opposition of the Marist Brothers. They were concerned that a new boys' Form I to VI school
would take enrolments from Sacred Heart College and would diminish their revenue. Unmoved by the Marist Brothers' opposition, Liston requested his old Dunedin classmate, Brother Michael James Benignus Hanrahan
(Brother Benignus), the Provincial
of the Australian province of the Christian Brothers, to provide brothers to staff the school. This was agreed to.
A contractor cleared the Mountain Road site in 1931 and it was expected that the school would open in 1933. But financial problems caused delays. The Marist Brothers appealed to the Apostolic Delegate
to Australia and New Zealand, resident in Sydney, and to the Sacred Congregation of Religious
in Rome. They believed that Cleary had promised them the St Peter's School site but as no written record could be found, the Bishop was informed by the Sacred Congregation that he could invite the Christian Brothers and the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Giovanni Panico
, ruled "that the Bishop is free to make whatever provision he may decide in the matter". The Marist Brothers accepted this ruling, but unhappily.
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The school was constructed on the corner of Khyber Pass and Mountain Road, a site which had been given to the church for educational purposes by the Outhwaite family
a pioneering family of Auckland. Isa Outhwaite, the last surviving member of that family, bequeathed
the site of the college and also a part of the fund required for its erection. The dedication of the college to St Peter not only referred to the earlier St Peter's School in Auckland, but also to the first Catholic school in New Zealand opened in Kororareka in 1840 and dedicated to St Peter. The foundation also commemorated the founder of the Catholic church in New Zealand, Bishop Pompallier, who arrived in New Zealand in 1838, set up the Marist Mission in the Bay of Islands
and built there the historic printery now known as Pompallier. The college was therefore a mark of the centennial of the Catholic church in New Zealand.
The Christian Brothers arrived in Auckland from Australia and the South Island
for the 1939 school year. They were accommodated by the parish priest of Remuera
, Monsignor
J. J. Bradley, in his presbytery until the Brothers residence was habitable. Bradley, who had been a pupil of the Christian Brothers in Ireland, was responsible for the laying out of the grounds of the school - work which took ten months to complete. However, work continued until 1941 on the development of Reeves Road (a street that has now disappeared as it has been incorporated as the entrance to St. Peter's College), the building of stone walls, and the very significant soil transfer from the netball courts to level the playing fields. The year 1941 " ... saw the end of a familiar sight at the College when workers on the Government Relief scheme finished working on the grounds on 1 November. These men spent three years working on the grounds at a very small cost, as the Government paid their wages in an effort to lessen hardship in the difficult post-depression
years. Without their work and the guiding hand of Monsignor Bradley, the grounds with their three different levels [i.e. the netball court level (from 2010, the site of the school gymnasium), the old tennis court level (now filled in under the playing field level) and the playing field level, called the "St Peter's College oval"] could not have been developed as they were". Originally, the quadrangle
of the college was not paved but was covered in heavy ash from the Auckland Gas works
in Freemans Bay
.
The school was opened on Sunday, 29 January 1939 by Bishop Liston and in the presence of Hon H. G. R. Mason
, Attorney-General and local MP, standing in for Rt Hon Peter Fraser, the Minister of Education (who became Prime Minister on the death of Michael Joseph Savage
in 1940), the Mayor of Auckland
, Sir Ernest Davis
, and Mr Justice Callan
of the Supreme Court
(who had been a pupil of the Christian Brothers in Dunedin and had also been a classmate of Liston's). Br Keniry
represented the Provincial of the Christian Brothers, Brother Hanrahan, at the opening. The opening took place on a wet afternoon and, as he read his speech, Bishop Liston was sheltered under an umbrella held by the foundation headmaster
of the college, Brother F.P. O'Driscoll
. In spite of the rain, a large number of friends and well-wishers participated in the opening.
It is noteworthy that, in view of the difficult history with the Marist Brothers, Liston said, "this is a fitting occasion to pay tribute to the Marist Brothers for their long, honourable and fruitful record of service in the cause of education in the Diocese
of Auckland and throughout New Zealand: 'by their fruits ye know them' ". He also said later in his speech, "We welcome today the Christian Brothers, who are here at the invitation of the Bishop to take charge of St Peter's school and to have their part, along with the Marist Brothers and other religious communities, in our Catholic education system. They have their own traditions to give us, formed in the society's work of teaching since 1802, and the fruit of the experience gathered, to speak only of Australia and New Zealand, of over 500 Brothers teaching more than 20,000 boys". Liston added, " ... if I know the Brothers at all, the boys under their care will be put to hard work - an excellent thing - and teachers will not do for them what they should do for themselves. The thought of the years ahead and of the eternal life
will be regarded as of first importance. Teachers will feel it their daily duty to fit the boys to bear life's burdens with a spirit of nobility and to meet life's problems with unfaltering courage". At the conclusion of his speech, Bishop Liston said, "This is a very happy day for me indeed for I owe much more than I can say to the training I received at the hands of the Christian Brothers in Dunedin long years ago".
The original school buildings opened in 1939 on the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) Outhwaite site consisted of an incomplete two-storied class-block (now the Bro P. O'Driscoll Building) and an incomplete two-storied residence (the brother's residence). They were designed by William Henry Gummer
(1884–1966), a student of Sir Edward Lutyens
and architect of some notable Auckland buildings such as the Dilworth Building
in Queen Street
and the old Auckland railway station
in Beach Road. He also designed the National War Memorial and carillon
and National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum
buildings in Wellington
. The two original school buildings were fully completed in 1944.
. Brother Skehan had been at St. Kevin's College, Oamaru
and the others had been in Sydney.
"The first day of school was unique - one of reconnaissance on both sides. The Brothers were new and unknown, even by repute!" "It is on record that at least two "first-day" pupils came, saw - and were never seen again after opening day. Form IV was the senior class the first year and comprised a select group ... ."
The average size of the four classes in the first year of the college was thirty boys. But Form IV commenced with fourteen pupils. These had come from ten different schools. There had been no unity in the textbooks used in these schools but also the boys had studied different subjects. By the end of the first term it was evident to the Brothers that there was quite a teaching problem and it was decided to start the second term of Form IV with Theorem
One in Geometry
and Lesson One in French, Latin, Algebra, etc. - all the start of Form III work. The object was to get through two complete years' work (Form III and Form IV - Years 9 and 10) in two terms (i.e. the second and third terms - from May to December). Many of the fourteen pupils transferred down to Form III. For the senior class, play or recreation time was cut in half. School was conducted on Saturday mornings, when the week's theoretical study of Chemistry was tested by practical experiments. "No text books were allowed on Saturdays, and woe betide any student who didn't know the properties and tests for various gases and metals and their respective weights". "Time was precious, the pace was hot; these Christian Brothers
, newly come to Auckland, had to try to establish some academic standards, and Brother O'Driscoll
in endeavouring to penetrate the boys' thick skulls with gems of academic knowledge, used, in desperation, to thump or pound the blackboard to drive home important points. Being a solidly built man of no mean stature, he made quite an impression. It is recorded in the first year in his classroom at least half a dozen new blackboards were necessary". By the third term only four students were left - Bill Aitkin, Max Denize, Des and John Rosser. The following year (1940) Brother O'Driscoll allowed three to sit for Matriculation
(University Entrance) and one for the Public Service Examination
. All four passed. The first Dux
of the college was Des Rosser, who with his twin brother John subsequently donated the Rosser Cup, presented each year for Dux of St Peter's College.
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The transformation of the grounds, the development of Reeves Road, the planting of lawns, garden plots and the front stone wall on Reeves Road continued over the next few years. "At the same time, tons of soil and rock were brought up from the site of the present [netball] courts to make the playing field. But the masterpiece of all the constructional work was the huge stone wall below the tennis courts [(and above the netball courts)]. The first pupils daily eagerly visited it as if it were some modern Great Wall of China, and watched in wonder as it took shape".
After the end of the Second World War, significant developments were: the opening of the College chapel in 1953 (see below); the building of the first prefabricated
classroom block; and the conversion of the old bungalow
used as a shelter shed and of a classroom to a library in the 1950s.
In 1961, St Peter's had the largest roll of any Catholic school in New Zealand, having 834 pupils. More building projects became necessary.
In the 1960s, the Brother's residence was extended and a new science block consisting of science laboratories, classrooms and a demonstration room was built. This building was upgraded in the 1990s and is now called the Brother J. B. Lynch Science Laboratories. A large three-story set of classrooms plus assembly hall and squash courts were opened in the early 1970s.
, later called Lion Brewery
, which stretched from Khyber Pass along Mountain Rd up as far as Seccombes Rd. Part of the land purchased had been used as tennis courts for the staff. The land became available because, from 1950, New Zealand Breweries was concentrating its beer production at the Captain Cook Brewery further down Khyber Pass towards Newmarket. The Lion Brewery site was therefore sold off, part to the New Zealand Distillary
Company and part, which included the tennis courts, to the Bishop of Auckland for St Peter's College. The site was purchased from New Zealand Breweries for £
11,000 per acre. and is used as a rugby field (at first called "the Far Field" or "the New Field" and now, "the Cage"). Located on it is a sports pavilion
(called Brother P. C. Ryan Sports Pavilion) replacing an earlier pavilion opened in 1960 - see below).
Henry Cooper, the Headmaster of nearby Auckland Grammar School
, was also interested in this land for his school but the price New Zealand Breweries required for it (£30,000) was considered too high. Cooper was "particularly annoyed" that he failed to obtain the site as St Peter's got it for somewhat less than the price quoted to Grammar and which had been considered prohibitive by the Ministry of Works (which would have had to purchase the land for Grammar, a State school). However Cooper attended the official opening of the resulting new St Peter's College pavilion and field and he " ... offered the congratulations of the other schools of Auckland and expressed great pleasure that his friendly neighbours had obtained such a handsome new playing field".
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An influential shareholder in New Zealand Breweries was the company Campbell & Ehrenfried. Devon Hern
, a St Peter's College old boy, held an important position in the latter company and it is likely that he played some part in the purchase of the land for St Peter's College on favourable terms.
Henry Cooper used the episode in his argument for the transfer of the Mt Eden Prison
quarries to Auckland Grammar for the creation of new sports fields for that school. He pointed out that the brewery site would have been very suitable for Grammar and that Grammar had been beaten to it by a "private school". An aspect of all this was the fact that the new North/South motorway development was projected to take the main Grammar rugby field which lay between the two schools. Although St Peter's was to be less affected, Auckland Grammar was supported by Archbishop Liston and the school in its opposition to the motorway and the projected route. Auckland Grammar argued that the motorway was going to adversely affect "two great schools" and should either be abandoned or re-routed. However, one of Grammar's suggested alternative routes was to be "further down" Mountain Road, which would have taken the motorway either through St Peter's College or through the Catholic netball courts which were used by the College and are now part of it. Either of these proposed alternative routes would also have taken out the newly-acquired and developed rugby field.
In the event, Grammar lost its rugby field in 1964 (but was later more than compensated by the Mt Eden Prison quarries) and St Peter's lost a small section of land on its south west extremity (by the Br Lynch Science Laboratories) to provide for the motorway on-ramp at Khyber Pass Rd. St Peter's College was compensated by being sold Reeves Road and some prison houses at a concessional price. Reeves Rd disappeared as a street and much of the subsequent expansion of the school has taken place on its site. However both Auckland Grammar and St Peter's have had to endure the adjacent motorway since 1965.
upstairs in the Brothers' House. It was equipped by past pupils of the Christian Brothers, one of whom, Father J Mansfield, who sixty years previously had been a pupil of the Christian Brothers in Dublin, donated the altar
. The chapel was furnished in oak
. The altar was walnut
and primavera wood, backed by a rich blue and gold hanging. On 14 November 1953 a larger chapel was blessed
and opened by Archbishop Liston
. This was built mainly on the initiative of the Chaplain
of the School, Father Reginald Delargey. Funds were raised by the Old Boys, Men's and Ladies' Committees and the pupils. The chapel cost £
3,300. £3,000 was raised by an appeal (£1,400 from parents, friends and Old Boys, and £750 from the pupils including £200 as a result of "self-denial" days). "The opening of the chapel was all the more satisfying" because of the involvement of the pupils." This chapel was located between the Brothers' House and the main school building (now called the "Br O'Driscoll Building"). The chapel was rectangular in shape. It had two aisle
s between which there were approximately ten pew
s which could accommodate a class
or two for Mass
or Benediction
. On the other side of each aisle were the Brothers' chairs and prie-dieu
s at which they recited
their office
each day, heard Mass and kept their own devotional books. The chapel was dominated by a crucifix
and a large altar fixed against the south end wall in those pre-Vatican II
days. A free-standing altar later replaced this so that Mass could be said facing the congregation. On the left was also a shrine
to Our Lady of Perpetual Soccour
, a devotion
much encouraged by the Christian Brothers. On the South side of this icon
was the door to a small sacristy
which also served as a confessional
for the school, where the school chaplain was available regularly. This sacristy issued onto a small cloister
which connected the Brother's House with the school building. On the North side of the icon a door led from the chapel to the Brother's Common room
and library in the Brothers' House. This also served as the general staff room for the college which was most useful to the lay
teachers. There were folding doors along the northern or entrance end of the chapel. These doors could be opened so that extra congregants could be accommodated outside. From time to time Masses were celebrated al fresco
there. "The chapel became a focal point and the good habit of a visit to the Blessed Sacrament
before and after school [was] maintained over 60 years". This chapel was demolished to free up access to the Brother L. H. Wilkes Technology Block which was opened in 2001. The present school chapel ("the Chapel of St Peter") is a temporary pre-fabricated
building. This is located near the northern end of the quadrangle
of the College (known as the "Top Yard"). The college is planning "for a more permanent College Chapel in the centre of the school". Mass is celebrated in the School Chapel by the chaplain of the school and or by other visiting priests every Friday at lunchtime and all students are invited to attend. The chapel is open to all for prayer and guidance throughout the day. Since 1939, large school liturgical events take place at nearby churches such as St Michael's Church, Remuera
, St Benedict's Church, Newton
, or St Patrick's Cathedral
. The Cathedral is the scene of the important annual school celebration of St Peter's Day.
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The Christian Brothers
provided staff for St Peter's College from its opening until 2007. However, the numbers of brothers teaching at St Peter's College gradually declined from the 1970s. In 1975 there were 15 brothers teaching. In 1982 this number had reduced to eight. In 1988 it was 7, 4 in 1991, 2 in 1993, and 1 from 1994. From 1994 until July 2007, Brother Paul Robertson was the only Christian Brother teaching at St Peter's College. He was the Associate Principal of the college.
The integration of St Peter's College into the state education system also " ... caused a 'church/state' separation of the [Christian Brothers] community from the institution". This was demonstrated particularly in the formal splitting of authority in the school between the school Board of Trustees and the Principal of the College and the new role of the former in staffing matters. In 1992 the Christian Brothers shifted from the college to a new community house in Queen Mary Avenue, Epsom, acquired because it was near St Peter's College. Brother L. H. Wilkes wrote about what this meant for the Christian Brothers community. "For years the dread of leaving St Peter's house hung over the community at St Peter's. In 1991 it was down to months and in early 1992 it was down to weeks and to days. Nobody actually spoke definitely about leaving but everyone knew it was inevitable. I could just not imagine the community in an ordinary house in an ordinary street ...". Some of the brothers teaching at St Peter's College in the late 1980s moved to another community house in Mangere which soon closed. Apart from Brother Paul Robertson, the last Christian Brother to retain particular involvement with St Peter's College into the late 1990s was Brother V. N. Cusack.
In his Annual principal's report for 1988, Brother Prendergast expressed in effect a eulogy
for St Peter's as a Christian Brother's school and perhaps a mandate
for the school's future. Brother Prendergast said: "It is my pleasure to present to you the forty-ninth annual report. I do so as a proud past pupil, past teacher, and almost, past Principal of this school. In a sense I see my position in this school as completing a cycle which is a model of the church right through the world. In 1939 the Brothers first came to St Peter's and they came from the southern parts of New Zealand and from Australia. From that time the seeds of vocations were sown. The first Old Boy priest was ordained
in 1950 and the first Old Boy Christian Brother was professed
in 1954. The first old boy Christian Brother returned to teach in this school in 1965 [(Br Terry Felix Hunter
)]. I was the first old boy Christian Brother appointed to the position of Principal and that was in 1980.
"In my first report at the end of 1980 I said that 'the time is fast approaching when the Brothers may no longer be able to maintain a presence in this school. Perhaps one of the more valuable endeavours of the Principals of recent years has been to prepare the school for that eventuality. There is no doubt that we are on the threshold of a new cycle of development'. The brothers have maintained their presence over those nine years, mainly the same ones as it happens and I can tell you that those who are around in other schools are just as old. You can draw your own conclusions.
"St Peter's has been a Christian Brothers school for forty-nine years. I don't know if you can say it is going to be a Christian Brothers' school next year. That is up to those of you who are here next year to maintain if you want to. I am going to put before you some of the characteristics of Christian Brothers schools. Christian Brothers' schools throughout the world have a remarkable similarity of purpose, spirit and tone. Allowing for culture change a boy from St Peter's College in Auckland will fit in easily in Cardinal Newman College, Buenos Aires or Waverley College, Sydney
, or St Columba's School, New Delhi, or St Edward's College, Liverpool
, or in schools in twenty other countries.
"All these schools reveal characteristics that help identify them as inheritors of the spirit and traditions of Edmund Rice
, the founder of the Christian Brothers. These characteristics are not unique but they are distinctive". Brother Prendendergast listed these characteristics as being: the encouragement given to pupils in Christian Brothers schools to strive for scholastic excellence in a disciplined atmosphere; a religious dimension that permeates the entire education available to students; the cultivation of a strong devotion to Mary, the Mother of God
; the emphasis given to the care and concern for each individual in the school community; and a particular concern for the poor.
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"These then are five distinctive characteristics of Christian Brothers' schools today. They are part of our heritage. Remaining faithful to that heritage is the challenge of the future. I believe St Peter's college exhibits these characteristics some more clearly than others. The challenge I put to you tonight is to maintain and build on those characteristics."
When he left the school in July 2007, the last Christian Brother at St Peter's implied that this challenge had been met. Brother Robertson said that the St Peter's College community had " ... a great heart - a heart that listens and is compassionate, that looks outward"; "a heart that nurtures balanced, humble, quality people, real gentlemen"; "a heart that sees and acts"; "a heart that reflects the face of God". Brother Robertson said that the Christian Brothers were very proud of the school. "St Peter's will always be in a special place within my heart".
in high regard as the founder, proprietor, funder, special friend, ally and protector of the college. He presided over all of the school prize-giving ceremonies from the first until his retirement in 1970. At the 1970 ceremony, in Liston's presence and in recognising his retirement, Brother B E Ryan
the Principal of the college said: "His Grace
has had his critics of course, as all men in similar positions have - he was even criticised for founding St Peter's College - but his achievements are sufficient answer in themselves. We of St Peter's in a certain sense owe him everything. Without His Grace's decision to open the new school in 1938, we humanly speaking, might not be here tonight to represent the thousands of boys and parents that have been influenced by the school in the past 32 years".
Liston felt a lifelong debt to the Christian Brothers' School
in Dunedin
where he was a pupil and he often expressed that gratitude publicly on occasions involving Christian Brothers Institutions. However, Liston's gratitude did have its limits. There is a well-known story at St Peter's College concerning the large Christian Brothers emblem
above the main northern entrance to the original school building. In the course of the creation of that emblem in 1938 or 1939, Bishop Liston arrived to survey progress on the building of the school. He ordered work to stop on the emblem because the school was "his" and did not belong to the Christian Brothers. The emblem remains unfinished to this day. The college really was "his" as it was (and is) owned directly by the Bishop of Auckland.
Liston was, however, very grateful to the Christian Brothers for establishing St Peter's College. In January 1943, Liston wrote to his old classmate Br Michael James Benignus Hanrahan
, the Provincial of the Christian Brothers when the college was established, on the occasion of the latter's Golden Jubilee
, saying: " ... Auckland has its special reason for gratitude. Perhaps I can put that simply by saying that from the first day the school has been all that you or I would wish it to be". He showed his love in his annual presentation of prizes. With the passage of years, the prize list got longer so that eventually over 100 individual prizes were presented. "When it was suggested to His Grace that it would be less demanding if he remained seated during the marathon presentation he would have none of it; he would bestow full dignity on the recipient." When the Archbishop died in 1976 the college formed a guard of honour for his funeral cortege from the Town Hall
to Grafton Bridge
. The students' " ... dignified bearing and respectful tribute evoked many expressions of commendation."
When the school adopted a new motto
, it adopted the English version of Liston's personal motto "Amare et Servire", "To Love and to Serve".
The school has had a lay headmaster, Mr Kieran Fouhy, since 1989. Under his leadership, significant building projects have been completed. During the 1990s, as well as the renovation (and naming) of the Brother J. B. Lynch Science Laboratories, the Brother P. C Ryan sports pavilion replaced the original pavilion built in 1960 and which had been ruined by fire. The Brother W. R. Smith Music and Drama Suite was built. Brother Smith
(1948–1953), the third headmaster of the college, had initiated the first school orchestra.
Recent important buildings completed are the Brother L. H. Wilkes Technology Block (2001) (awarded the NZIA Resene Supreme Award for Architecture 2002 and the NZIA Resene Branch Award for Architecture 2001), a dedicated building for the intermediate school ("the Middle School
") on Mountain Road (2003) named after Brother V.A. Sullivan
, and a gymnasium/classroom block erected on the old netball courts in 2010.
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St Peter's still follows the objectives of the Christian Brothers' founder, eighteenth-century Irish merchant Blessed Edmund Rice
. to encourage its members to serve the community in a positive manner, such as participation in Edmund Rice Camps
], and commiting themselves to Rice's objective of bringing social justice
.
. The school has supported Christian Brothers missions
in Polynesia
and organises regular trips to India
for senior students" In supporting students' sporting and cultural aspirations, St Peter's has established music, football and softball academies.
The St Peter's College Houses and their colours are:
The Houses are named after particular Christian brothers. Brothers Fursey Bodkin, Barnabus Lynch, Joseph Nolan
, and their leader, Patrick Ambrose Treacy
arrived from Ireland
in Melbourne on 15 November 1868 to establish the order in Australia. In 1875 Brother Treacy visited Bishop Patrick Moran
, First Catholic Bishop of Dunedin
, and promised him a community of Christian Brothers. In 1876 Brother Bodkin was the leader of the new Dunedin community, the first Christian Brothers community in New Zealand. Bodkin, Lynch, Nolan and Treacy Houses date from the foundation of the college. O'Driscoll and Rice Houses were set up in 2011. Edmund Ignatius Rice
was the founder of the Christian Brothers and Brother O'Driscoll was the foundation Headmaster of the College. Each year level has six house classes and each House class is the unit of attendance, pastoral care, competitive activity and many daily activities. There are House leaders (students) and House leaders (staff) assigned to each.
, the winning by the school First XV of the New Zealand Secondary School's Top Four Championship as well as the Auckland Secondary Schools Premiership in 1987. The latter feat was repeated in 1988. The best achievement in rugby was to win the Auckland Championship
and the New Zealand First XV Knock out competition undefeated in 2000. The college has held the Moascar Cup (national school 1st XV rugby honour) twice, in 1977 and 2000. In 1980 St Peter's College won the inaugural national Secondary School's Softball Championship and has won the Auckland Softball Premiership every year from 1994 until the present (as at 2008).
In 2008 the following sports were played competitively by St Peter's College: Archery
;
Athletics; Badminton
; Basketball
; Bowls
; Cricket
; Cross country running
; Cycling
; Golf
; Hockey
; Road running
; Rowing
; Rugby
; Soccer; Softball
; Squash
; Swimming
; Table Tennis
; Tennis
; Touch Rugby
; Triathlon
; and Waterpolo. One sport promoted in the early days of the college but which is no longer provided, is boxing
. The school boxing championships were held annually, usually at the Municipal Hall, Newmarket.
Something of the college's sporting spirit, at least as it was in the 1970s when Rugby Union
was even more dominant in New Zealand than it is now, is described by John Tamihere
. He wrote that if the Christian Brothers wanted a boy for the First XV, the boy didn't have much say in the matter. "They would walk around the school grounds at lunchtime sizing up" likely candidates to see if they might be any good. They picked out one boy because he looked usefully tall. "I'd rather play soccer", the boy protested, " ... but next minute there he was in the lineout, leaping." Under such pressure, Tamihere played for the college First XV (in 1975 and 1976) although he would have preferred to play Rugby League
for the Point Chevalier Pirates
and later for the Glenora Bears as his brothers did. He said that the college First XV at that time was composed of " ... not bad players", and they were " ... always competitive". "We didn't win a lot, but on the other hand we never really got hammered". "St Peter's used to play St Kentigern's
, who were led out onto the field by their pipe band
. When we played Anglican King's College
there was no doubt this was a Catholics versus Proddies
battle, though some of our toughest games were against other Catholic schools like St Paul's
and Sacred Heart
. If you think Māori society was tribal, you should have seen those Catholics".
In 1980(?), Hugh McGahan
, captain of the New Zealand National Rugby League side, "the Kiwis
" from 1986 to 1990, also played for the college First XV, under similar pressure to that exerted on John Tamihere. However, McGahan has said that, in spite of the pressure, it "was a pleasure pulling on the school jersey" to represent the college. Although it has made a significant contribution to the sport, St Peter's College does not field Rugby League
teams. However, many students play Soccer.
The Auckland western railway running along the western boundary of St Peter's has played an important part in the history of the school. From the time the school opened many students came from the western suburbs of Auckland along the route of the train and they used the train service (known at that time at St Peter's College as the "North train") to attend the school. Until 1964 the nearest station to the school was Mt Eden station, a ten minute walk to or from the school. By 1964 about 250 St Peter's boys were using the train and walking between Mt Eden station and the school.
Brother T. A. Monagle
, who supervised the train boys and who travelled on the train each day for that purpose, approached the Railways Department
to request that the train stop at the school. The college had several reasons for asking that the trains should stop there. "The traffic in Mt Eden Road had become very heavy, and was a constant danger to the younger and more thoughtless of our pupils, and another source of considerable danger existed at Mt Eden station where supervision was necessary to prevent accidents when the boys were boarding the train. Again, the train would disgorge its pupils at Mt Eden and then chug merrily past the school almost empty, leaving the boys to walk half a mile
, often in heavy rain."
Brother Monagle persuaded the Minister of Railways, Mr John McAlpine
, to come and see for himself. In fact the Minister volunteered to walk up to the Mt Eden station from the school. "Well, somebody must have been pulling some strings up above, because on the day of the Minister's visit it rained cats and dogs, and even the odd pink elephant ..." and Brother Monagle's request was granted. The North train stopped at St Peter's College for the first time at 8.30am on Tuesday 15 September 1964 for the 250 St Peter's College boys and a dozen from Auckland Grammar
.
Another noteworthy event occurred in November 1965, when, for the last time, the North train was pulled by a steam engine. It was the last passenger train in the North Island
to be pulled by a steam locomotive.
In relation to Brother Monagle, " ... it is generally agreed that he deserved the rank of Railway Employee. Surely no single person has ever held down so many positions at once - stationmaster
, signalman
, ticket inspector
and guard
, not to mention construction engineer
, traffic officer and the occasional shot at engine-driving
! During the many years that he was associated with the train, Brother Monagle became friends with most of the railway employees along the line as he made his trip each afternoon as far as Mt Albert
". Initially, only the "school" trains stopped at St Peter's College, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
The station, called the Boston Road Station
, attained full station status from 1993. In 2010 the station was moved 200 metres further east beneath Khyber Pass Rd and renamed Grafton Station
. A station entrance is beside the college and students have direct access without having to cross intervening roads. Up to a third of the school's enrolment (i.e. 400 students) commute to the college by train and use the Grafton station.
, former Member of Parliament
for Te Atatu
(1993–1996; 1999–2011) and former Cabinet Minister
(2002–2008), and Major General Martyn Dunne
who, as Brigadier
, commanded New Zealand and international forces in East Timor
(1999–2000) and was Commander
Joint Forces New Zealand in the New Zealand Defence Force
(2001–2004). Sir Michael Fay
, New Zealand Merchant bank
er, chair of the campaigns for three New Zealand challenges for the America's Cup
in 1987, 1988 and 1992, attended the school in the early 1960s. Other old boys are the poet Sam Hunt and six All Blacks
including Bernie McCahill
, second five-eighth and centre three-quarter (1987–1991). Two Catholic Bishops
, Edward Russell Gaines
(1926–1994), the first Bishop
of Hamilton
(1980–1994) and Denis George Browne (b. 1937), tenth Catholic Bishop of Auckland (1983–1994) and second Catholic Bishop of Hamilton
(1994–present) attended the school, as did nearly 100 Catholic priests
, deacon
s and religious
.
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, is one of the largest Catholic school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
s in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and is an integrated school under an integration agreement entered into by the Catholic Bishop of Auckland
Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland
The Latin Rite Catholic Diocese of Auckland is one of the two original dioceses in New Zealand. Although formally a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Wellington, both were erected on 20 June 1848...
(as the proprietor of the college) and the Government of New Zealand
Politics of New Zealand
The politics of New Zealand take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy. The basic system is closely patterned on that of the Westminster System, although a number of significant modifications have been made...
in 1982. St Peter's is located in the central Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Epsom
Epsom, New Zealand
Epsom is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the centre of the Auckland isthmus between Mount Eden and One Tree Hill, south of Newmarket, and five km south of the city centre.-Notable features:...
, on the northern slopes of Mount Eden
Mount Eden
Mount Eden is the name of a cinder cone and surrounding suburb in Auckland City, New Zealand, situated five kilometres south of the city centre. The mountain is the highest natural point in the whole of Auckland...
.
Roll
St Peter's College draws enrolments from throughout the city, reflecting its central, convenient location. The roll as at 24 May 2011 was 1230. St Peter's College has a diverse, multiculturalMulticulturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
roll and its ethnic composition in 2010 was (generally): European/Pākehā
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
58%; Māori 5%; Polynesian
Polynesians
The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
13% (including Samoan 9% and Tongan 3%); Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
22% (including Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
4%, Indian
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
11% and Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
3%). There are approximately 134 paid staff (teaching and support staff). The school offers for senior years both the National Certificate of Educational Achievement
National Certificate of Educational Achievement
The National Certificate of Educational Achievement is, since 2004, the official secondary school qualification in New Zealand.It has three levels, corresponding to the levels within the National Qualifications Framework, and these are generally studied in each of the three final years of...
assessment system (NCEA) and the Cambridge International Examinations
Cambridge International Examinations
University of Cambridge International Examinations is a provider of international qualifications for students between the ages of 14 and 19, offering examinations and qualifications in more than 150 countries. It is an Examination Board under Cambridge Assessment, founded in 1858 as a department...
(CIE).
The first St Peter's
Auckland's first school of any sort was established under the patronagePatron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of St Peter and known as St Peter's School, St Peter's Boy's School or St Peter's Select School. It was established in 1841 by the Catholic lay
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
men of Auckland following the first visit of Bishop Pompallier
Jean Baptiste Pompallier
Jean Baptiste François Pompallier was the first vicar apostolic to visit New Zealand. He was born in Lyon, France. He became the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland.-Appointment and voyage:...
. The first teacher was Mr. E. Powell, and probably classes were held in his own residence in Shortland Crescent (later renamed Shortland Street). St Peter's School continued to provide education for boys mainly under lay teachers until 1885 when the Marist Brothers
Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers, or Little Brothers of Mary, are a Catholic religious order of brothers and affiliated lay people. The order was founded in France, at La Valla-en-Gier near Lyon in 1817 by Saint Marcellin Champagnat, a young French priest of the Society of Mary...
established a school on the corner of Pitt and Wellington Streets.
Trouble
Walter Herman Jacobus SteinsWalter Steins
Walter Hermanus Jacobus Steins SJ was a Dutch Jesuit priest, Vicar Apostolic of Bombay, India , Vicar Apostolic of West Bengal and , third Catholic Bishop of Auckland ....
S.J.
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, third Catholic Bishop of Auckland
Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland
The Latin Rite Catholic Diocese of Auckland is one of the two original dioceses in New Zealand. Although formally a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Wellington, both were erected on 20 June 1848...
(1879–1881) thought, that as they were a French congregation, the Marist Brothers might not be welcome in Auckland and that it would be better to invite the Irish Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
as most of the Catholics in Auckland were Irish. Stein's successor, John Edmund Luck
John Edmund Luck
John Edmund Luck OSB was the fourth Catholic Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand .-Early life:Luck was born in Peckham, Surrey, England, on 18 March 1840, one of seven children of Alfred Luck, a warehouseman, and his wife, Clementina Golding. Theirs was a profoundly religious household...
OSB, fourth Catholic Bishop of Auckland (1881–1896), had no such qualms and invited the Marist Brothers to establish their school. An unsuccesful move may have been made in 1885 to open a Christian Brothers School.
Nearly 40 years later, in 1923, Henry William Cleary
Henry William Cleary
Henry William Cleary, OBE was the sixth Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand .-Early life:Henry William Cleary was born on 15 January 1859 at Oulart, County Wexford, Ireland...
, the sixth Catholic Bishop of Auckland, issued an invitation to the Christian Brothers to found a school. The Marist Brothers, well established at Sacred Heart College
Sacred Heart College, Auckland
Sacred Heart College is a secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a Catholic, Marist College set on of land overlooking the Tamaki Estuary in Glen Innes.- History :The college was opened in 1903 in Ponsonby, by the Marist Brothers...
(then located in Richmond Road, Ponsonby
Ponsonby, New Zealand
Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland City located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north-south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road....
), objected strongly and Cleary wrote to the Provincial
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of the Christian Brothers, Brother Barron
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
, changing his offer to a primary school. As a result, the Christian Brothers lost interest.
Shortly after he became seventh Catholic Bishop of Auckland in 1929, James Michael Liston
James Michael Liston
James Michael Liston, CMG was the Seventh Catholic Bishop of Auckland.-Early life:James Michael Liston was born in Dunedin on 9 June 1881, one of a family of five children of James Liston, a hotel-keeper, and his wife, Mary . His parents were both born in Ireland. He was educated at Kavanagh...
renewed the invitation to the Christian Brothers, whose pupil he had been in Dunedin
Kavanagh College
Kavanagh College is a Catholic Secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. The school in its present form dates from 1989 but its origins as a secondary school go back to 1871....
. This again aroused the opposition of the Marist Brothers. They were concerned that a new boys' Form I to VI school
Form (education)
A form is a class or grouping of students in a school. The term is used predominantly in the United Kingdom, although some schools, mostly private, in other countries also use the title...
would take enrolments from Sacred Heart College and would diminish their revenue. Unmoved by the Marist Brothers' opposition, Liston requested his old Dunedin classmate, Brother Michael James Benignus Hanrahan
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
(Brother Benignus), the Provincial
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of the Australian province of the Christian Brothers, to provide brothers to staff the school. This was agreed to.
A contractor cleared the Mountain Road site in 1931 and it was expected that the school would open in 1933. But financial problems caused delays. The Marist Brothers appealed to the Apostolic Delegate
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
to Australia and New Zealand, resident in Sydney, and to the Sacred Congregation of Religious
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for everything which concerns institutes of consecrated life and Society of Apostolic Life regarding their government, discipline, studies, goods, rights, and...
in Rome. They believed that Cleary had promised them the St Peter's School site but as no written record could be found, the Bishop was informed by the Sacred Congregation that he could invite the Christian Brothers and the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Giovanni Panico
Giovanni Panico
Giovanni Panico was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Nuncio to Portugal from 1959 to 1962, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1962.-Biography:...
, ruled "that the Bishop is free to make whatever provision he may decide in the matter". The Marist Brothers accepted this ruling, but unhappily.
Construction and opening
Outhwaite Family, Auckland
The Outhwaite family were early settlers in Auckland and were an important family in the first eighty five years of the city's existence. Their influence still continues, especially in respect of two areas of land in central Auckland which are now Outhwaite Park and the site of St Peter's College,...
a pioneering family of Auckland. Isa Outhwaite, the last surviving member of that family, bequeathed
Bequest
A bequest is the act of giving property by will. Strictly, "bequest" is used of personal property, and "devise" of real property. In legal terminology, "bequeath" is a verb form meaning "to make a bequest."...
the site of the college and also a part of the fund required for its erection. The dedication of the college to St Peter not only referred to the earlier St Peter's School in Auckland, but also to the first Catholic school in New Zealand opened in Kororareka in 1840 and dedicated to St Peter. The foundation also commemorated the founder of the Catholic church in New Zealand, Bishop Pompallier, who arrived in New Zealand in 1838, set up the Marist Mission in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
and built there the historic printery now known as Pompallier. The college was therefore a mark of the centennial of the Catholic church in New Zealand.
The Christian Brothers arrived in Auckland from Australia and the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
for the 1939 school year. They were accommodated by the parish priest of Remuera
Remuera
Remuera is a residential suburban area within Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located four kilometres to the southeast of the city centre...
, Monsignor
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
J. J. Bradley, in his presbytery until the Brothers residence was habitable. Bradley, who had been a pupil of the Christian Brothers in Ireland, was responsible for the laying out of the grounds of the school - work which took ten months to complete. However, work continued until 1941 on the development of Reeves Road (a street that has now disappeared as it has been incorporated as the entrance to St. Peter's College), the building of stone walls, and the very significant soil transfer from the netball courts to level the playing fields. The year 1941 " ... saw the end of a familiar sight at the College when workers on the Government Relief scheme finished working on the grounds on 1 November. These men spent three years working on the grounds at a very small cost, as the Government paid their wages in an effort to lessen hardship in the difficult post-depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
years. Without their work and the guiding hand of Monsignor Bradley, the grounds with their three different levels [i.e. the netball court level (from 2010, the site of the school gymnasium), the old tennis court level (now filled in under the playing field level) and the playing field level, called the "St Peter's College oval"] could not have been developed as they were". Originally, the quadrangle
Quadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
of the college was not paved but was covered in heavy ash from the Auckland Gas works
Auckland Gas Company
The Auckland Gas Company is a company providing gas for residential or commercial customers in the Auckland area, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest still existing brand names in New Zealand, having been established as Auckland Gas Company Ltd in 1862 or 1863...
in Freemans Bay
Freemans Bay
Freemans Bay is the name of a former bay and now inner city suburb of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The historical bay was filled in to a large extent, and lost its shoreline to reclamation works...
.
Rex Mason
Henry Greathead Rex Mason was a New Zealand politician. He served as Attorney General, Minister of Justice, Minister of Education, and Minister of Native Affairs, and had a significant influence on the direction of the Labour Party...
, Attorney-General and local MP, standing in for Rt Hon Peter Fraser, the Minister of Education (who became Prime Minister on the death of Michael Joseph Savage
Michael Joseph Savage
Michael Joseph Savage was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand.- Early life :Born in Tatong, Victoria, Australia, Savage first became involved in politics while working in that state. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1907. There he worked in a variety of jobs, as a miner, flax-cutter and...
in 1940), the Mayor of Auckland
Mayor of Auckland
The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland region in New Zealand...
, Sir Ernest Davis
Ernest Hyam Davis
Sir Ernest Hyam Davies was a New Zealand businessman, and was Mayor of Auckland City, New Zealand from 1935 to 1941. He was also on other Auckland local bodies and on various philanthropic and sporting organisations...
, and Mr Justice Callan
John Callan (judge)
John Bartholomew Callan KC was a New Zealand judge. He was a Justice of the Supreme Court .-Early life:...
of the Supreme Court
High Court of New Zealand
The High Court of New Zealand is a superior court of New Zealand. It was established in 1841 and known as the Supreme Court of New Zealand until 1980....
(who had been a pupil of the Christian Brothers in Dunedin and had also been a classmate of Liston's). Br Keniry
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
represented the Provincial of the Christian Brothers, Brother Hanrahan, at the opening. The opening took place on a wet afternoon and, as he read his speech, Bishop Liston was sheltered under an umbrella held by the foundation headmaster
Head teacher
A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
of the college, Brother F.P. O'Driscoll
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
. In spite of the rain, a large number of friends and well-wishers participated in the opening.
It is noteworthy that, in view of the difficult history with the Marist Brothers, Liston said, "this is a fitting occasion to pay tribute to the Marist Brothers for their long, honourable and fruitful record of service in the cause of education in the Diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Auckland and throughout New Zealand: 'by their fruits ye know them' ". He also said later in his speech, "We welcome today the Christian Brothers, who are here at the invitation of the Bishop to take charge of St Peter's school and to have their part, along with the Marist Brothers and other religious communities, in our Catholic education system. They have their own traditions to give us, formed in the society's work of teaching since 1802, and the fruit of the experience gathered, to speak only of Australia and New Zealand, of over 500 Brothers teaching more than 20,000 boys". Liston added, " ... if I know the Brothers at all, the boys under their care will be put to hard work - an excellent thing - and teachers will not do for them what they should do for themselves. The thought of the years ahead and of the eternal life
Resurrection of the dead
Resurrection of the Dead is a belief found in a number of eschatologies, most commonly in Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Zoroastrian. In general, the phrase refers to a specific event in the future; multiple prophesies in the histories of these religions assert that the dead will be brought back to...
will be regarded as of first importance. Teachers will feel it their daily duty to fit the boys to bear life's burdens with a spirit of nobility and to meet life's problems with unfaltering courage". At the conclusion of his speech, Bishop Liston said, "This is a very happy day for me indeed for I owe much more than I can say to the training I received at the hands of the Christian Brothers in Dunedin long years ago".
The original school buildings opened in 1939 on the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) Outhwaite site consisted of an incomplete two-storied class-block (now the Bro P. O'Driscoll Building) and an incomplete two-storied residence (the brother's residence). They were designed by William Henry Gummer
Gummer and Ford
Gummer and Ford was an architectural firm founded in 1923 in Auckland, New Zealand by William John Gummer and C. Reginald Ford. It was among the country's best-regarded architectural firm of the first half of the 20th century, designing numerous iconic buildings, including the former National Art...
(1884–1966), a student of Sir Edward Lutyens
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...
and architect of some notable Auckland buildings such as the Dilworth Building
Dilworth Building
The Dilworth Building is a heritage mixed-use building at the corner of Customs Street and Queen Street in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand...
in Queen Street
Queen Street, Auckland
Queen Street is the major commercial thoroughfare in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand's main population centre. It starts at Queens Wharf on the Auckland waterfront, adjacent to the Britomart Transport Centre and the Downtown Ferry Terminal, and runs uphill for almost three kilometres in a...
and the old Auckland railway station
Auckland railway station
Auckland Railway Station is the former main railway station of Auckland, New Zealand, and is located on the eastern edge of the Auckland CBD near Mechanics Bay...
in Beach Road. He also designed the National War Memorial and carillon
National War Memorial (New Zealand)
The New Zealand National War Memorial is located next to the New Zealand Dominion Museum building on Buckle Street, in Wellington, the nation's capital...
and National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum
New Zealand Dominion Museum building
The New Zealand Dominion Museum building was completed in 1936, and is located on Buckle Street in Wellington next to the National War Memorial. The building originally housed the National Museum, the National Art Gallery of New Zealand and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts...
buildings in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
. The two original school buildings were fully completed in 1944.
The first year
On Monday, 6 February 1939, St Peter's College opened its doors with a roll of 183 pupils, aged from 11 to 14 (i.e. from Form I to Form IV). Five brothers comprised the original staff - Brothers O'Driscoll, Killian, Rapp, Skehan and CarrollCongregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
. Brother Skehan had been at St. Kevin's College, Oamaru
St. Kevin's College, Oamaru
St Kevin's College in Oamaru, New Zealand was founded in 1927. It is a Catholic school run by the Christian Brothers and Dominican Sisters for boaders and day students...
and the others had been in Sydney.
"The first day of school was unique - one of reconnaissance on both sides. The Brothers were new and unknown, even by repute!" "It is on record that at least two "first-day" pupils came, saw - and were never seen again after opening day. Form IV was the senior class the first year and comprised a select group ... ."
The average size of the four classes in the first year of the college was thirty boys. But Form IV commenced with fourteen pupils. These had come from ten different schools. There had been no unity in the textbooks used in these schools but also the boys had studied different subjects. By the end of the first term it was evident to the Brothers that there was quite a teaching problem and it was decided to start the second term of Form IV with Theorem
Theorem
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement that has been proven on the basis of previously established statements, such as other theorems, and previously accepted statements, such as axioms...
One in Geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
and Lesson One in French, Latin, Algebra, etc. - all the start of Form III work. The object was to get through two complete years' work (Form III and Form IV - Years 9 and 10) in two terms (i.e. the second and third terms - from May to December). Many of the fourteen pupils transferred down to Form III. For the senior class, play or recreation time was cut in half. School was conducted on Saturday mornings, when the week's theoretical study of Chemistry was tested by practical experiments. "No text books were allowed on Saturdays, and woe betide any student who didn't know the properties and tests for various gases and metals and their respective weights". "Time was precious, the pace was hot; these Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
, newly come to Auckland, had to try to establish some academic standards, and Brother O'Driscoll
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
in endeavouring to penetrate the boys' thick skulls with gems of academic knowledge, used, in desperation, to thump or pound the blackboard to drive home important points. Being a solidly built man of no mean stature, he made quite an impression. It is recorded in the first year in his classroom at least half a dozen new blackboards were necessary". By the third term only four students were left - Bill Aitkin, Max Denize, Des and John Rosser. The following year (1940) Brother O'Driscoll allowed three to sit for Matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
(University Entrance) and one for the Public Service Examination
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
. All four passed. The first Dux
Dux
Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....
of the college was Des Rosser, who with his twin brother John subsequently donated the Rosser Cup, presented each year for Dux of St Peter's College.
Great walls, new buildings and integration
After the end of the Second World War, significant developments were: the opening of the College chapel in 1953 (see below); the building of the first prefabricated
Prefabrication
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located...
classroom block; and the conversion of the old bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
used as a shelter shed and of a classroom to a library in the 1950s.
In 1961, St Peter's had the largest roll of any Catholic school in New Zealand, having 834 pupils. More building projects became necessary.
In the 1960s, the Brother's residence was extended and a new science block consisting of science laboratories, classrooms and a demonstration room was built. This building was upgraded in the 1990s and is now called the Brother J. B. Lynch Science Laboratories. A large three-story set of classrooms plus assembly hall and squash courts were opened in the early 1970s.
The Cage and the motorway
In 1959, Archbishop Liston purchased 2.5 acres (10,117.2 m²) on Mountain Road opposite the school. This land was owned by New Zealand Breweries and had been part of the Great Northern BreweryBrewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, later called Lion Brewery
Lion Nathan
Lion Nathan National Foods is the parent company created in October 2009, into which Lion Nathan and National Foods were merged. It is fully owned by Kirin Holdings Company, Limited...
, which stretched from Khyber Pass along Mountain Rd up as far as Seccombes Rd. Part of the land purchased had been used as tennis courts for the staff. The land became available because, from 1950, New Zealand Breweries was concentrating its beer production at the Captain Cook Brewery further down Khyber Pass towards Newmarket. The Lion Brewery site was therefore sold off, part to the New Zealand Distillary
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
Company and part, which included the tennis courts, to the Bishop of Auckland for St Peter's College. The site was purchased from New Zealand Breweries for £
New Zealand pound
The pound was the currency of New Zealand between 1840 and 1967. Like the British pound, it was subdivided into 20 shillings each of 12 pence. As a result of the great depression of the early 1930s, the New Zealand agricultural export market to the UK was badly affected...
11,000 per acre. and is used as a rugby field (at first called "the Far Field" or "the New Field" and now, "the Cage"). Located on it is a sports pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
(called Brother P. C. Ryan Sports Pavilion) replacing an earlier pavilion opened in 1960 - see below).
Henry Cooper, the Headmaster of nearby Auckland Grammar School
Auckland Grammar School
Auckland Grammar School is a state secondary school for years 9 to 13 boys in Auckland, New Zealand. It had a roll of 2,483 in 2008, including a number of boarders who live in nearby Tibbs' House, making it one of the largest schools in New Zealand...
, was also interested in this land for his school but the price New Zealand Breweries required for it (£30,000) was considered too high. Cooper was "particularly annoyed" that he failed to obtain the site as St Peter's got it for somewhat less than the price quoted to Grammar and which had been considered prohibitive by the Ministry of Works (which would have had to purchase the land for Grammar, a State school). However Cooper attended the official opening of the resulting new St Peter's College pavilion and field and he " ... offered the congratulations of the other schools of Auckland and expressed great pleasure that his friendly neighbours had obtained such a handsome new playing field".
Notable Alumni of St Peter's College, Auckland
The following is a list of some of the alumni of St Peter's College, Auckland.These notes are based on information available in the publicly available sources in the notes and list of reference sources. Every effort has been made to ensure that the entries are accurate...
, a St Peter's College old boy, held an important position in the latter company and it is likely that he played some part in the purchase of the land for St Peter's College on favourable terms.
Henry Cooper used the episode in his argument for the transfer of the Mt Eden Prison
Mount Eden Prisons
Mount Eden Prisons refers to two New Zealand prisons, located in Lauder Road in the Central Auckland suburb of Mt Eden. They are:* Mount Eden Prison, which holds about 420 sentenced male prisoners...
quarries to Auckland Grammar for the creation of new sports fields for that school. He pointed out that the brewery site would have been very suitable for Grammar and that Grammar had been beaten to it by a "private school". An aspect of all this was the fact that the new North/South motorway development was projected to take the main Grammar rugby field which lay between the two schools. Although St Peter's was to be less affected, Auckland Grammar was supported by Archbishop Liston and the school in its opposition to the motorway and the projected route. Auckland Grammar argued that the motorway was going to adversely affect "two great schools" and should either be abandoned or re-routed. However, one of Grammar's suggested alternative routes was to be "further down" Mountain Road, which would have taken the motorway either through St Peter's College or through the Catholic netball courts which were used by the College and are now part of it. Either of these proposed alternative routes would also have taken out the newly-acquired and developed rugby field.
In the event, Grammar lost its rugby field in 1964 (but was later more than compensated by the Mt Eden Prison quarries) and St Peter's lost a small section of land on its south west extremity (by the Br Lynch Science Laboratories) to provide for the motorway on-ramp at Khyber Pass Rd. St Peter's College was compensated by being sold Reeves Road and some prison houses at a concessional price. Reeves Rd disappeared as a street and much of the subsequent expansion of the school has taken place on its site. However both Auckland Grammar and St Peter's have had to endure the adjacent motorway since 1965.
Chapels
From its opening in 1939, the Christian Brothers had a small "but handsome" chapelChapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
upstairs in the Brothers' House. It was equipped by past pupils of the Christian Brothers, one of whom, Father J Mansfield, who sixty years previously had been a pupil of the Christian Brothers in Dublin, donated the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
. The chapel was furnished in oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
. The altar was walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
and primavera wood, backed by a rich blue and gold hanging. On 14 November 1953 a larger chapel was blessed
Blessing
A blessing, is the infusion of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, divine will, or one's hope or approval.- Etymology and Germanic paganism :...
and opened by Archbishop Liston
James Michael Liston
James Michael Liston, CMG was the Seventh Catholic Bishop of Auckland.-Early life:James Michael Liston was born in Dunedin on 9 June 1881, one of a family of five children of James Liston, a hotel-keeper, and his wife, Mary . His parents were both born in Ireland. He was educated at Kavanagh...
. This was built mainly on the initiative of the Chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
of the School, Father Reginald Delargey. Funds were raised by the Old Boys, Men's and Ladies' Committees and the pupils. The chapel cost £
New Zealand pound
The pound was the currency of New Zealand between 1840 and 1967. Like the British pound, it was subdivided into 20 shillings each of 12 pence. As a result of the great depression of the early 1930s, the New Zealand agricultural export market to the UK was badly affected...
3,300. £3,000 was raised by an appeal (£1,400 from parents, friends and Old Boys, and £750 from the pupils including £200 as a result of "self-denial" days). "The opening of the chapel was all the more satisfying" because of the involvement of the pupils." This chapel was located between the Brothers' House and the main school building (now called the "Br O'Driscoll Building"). The chapel was rectangular in shape. It had two aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s between which there were approximately ten pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s which could accommodate a class
Class (education)
A class in education has a variety of related meanings.It can be the group of students which attends a specific course or lesson at a university, school or other educational institution, see Form ....
or two for Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
or Benediction
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is a devotional ceremony celebrated within the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in some Anglican and Lutheran Churches, Liberal Catholic churches, Western Rite Orthodox churches, and Latinised Eastern Catholic Churches.Benediction of the...
. On the other side of each aisle were the Brothers' chairs and prie-dieu
Prie-dieu
A prie-dieu is a type of prayer desk primarily intended for private devotional use, but also often found in churches of the European continent. It is a small ornamental wooden desk furnished with a sloping shelf for books, and a cushioned pad on which to kneel. Sometimes, instead of the sloping...
s at which they recited
Recitation
A recitation is a presentation made by a student to demonstrate knowledge of a subject or to provide instruction to others. In some academic institutions the term is used for a presentation by a teaching assistant or instructor, under the guidance of a senior faculty member, that supplements...
their office
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
each day, heard Mass and kept their own devotional books. The chapel was dominated by a crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
and a large altar fixed against the south end wall in those pre-Vatican II
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
days. A free-standing altar later replaced this so that Mass could be said facing the congregation. On the left was also a shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
to Our Lady of Perpetual Soccour
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Our Lady of Perpetual Help or "Sancta Mater de Perpetuo Succursu" Holy Mother of Perpetual Help is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by Pope Pius IX, associated with a Byzantine icon of the same name dating from the 15th century...
, a devotion
Catholic devotions
A Roman Catholic devotion is a gift of oneself, or one's activities to God. It is a willingness and desire to dedicate oneself to serve God; either in terms of prayers or in terms of a set of pious acts such as the adoration of God or the veneration of the saints or the Virgin Mary.Roman Catholic...
much encouraged by the Christian Brothers. On the South side of this icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
was the door to a small sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
which also served as a confessional
Confessional
A confessional is a small, enclosed booth used for the Sacrament of Penance, often called confession, or Reconciliation. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church, but similar structures are also used in Anglican churches of an Anglo-Catholic orientation, and also in the...
for the school, where the school chaplain was available regularly. This sacristy issued onto a small cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
which connected the Brother's House with the school building. On the North side of the icon a door led from the chapel to the Brother's Common room
Common room
The phrase common room is used especially in British and Canadian English to describe a type of shared lounge, most often found in dormitories, at universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. It is generally connected to several...
and library in the Brothers' House. This also served as the general staff room for the college which was most useful to the lay
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
teachers. There were folding doors along the northern or entrance end of the chapel. These doors could be opened so that extra congregants could be accommodated outside. From time to time Masses were celebrated al fresco
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
there. "The chapel became a focal point and the good habit of a visit to the Blessed Sacrament
Blessed Sacrament
The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the Host after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist...
before and after school [was] maintained over 60 years". This chapel was demolished to free up access to the Brother L. H. Wilkes Technology Block which was opened in 2001. The present school chapel ("the Chapel of St Peter") is a temporary pre-fabricated
Prefabrication
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located...
building. This is located near the northern end of the quadrangle
Quadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
of the College (known as the "Top Yard"). The college is planning "for a more permanent College Chapel in the centre of the school". Mass is celebrated in the School Chapel by the chaplain of the school and or by other visiting priests every Friday at lunchtime and all students are invited to attend. The chapel is open to all for prayer and guidance throughout the day. Since 1939, large school liturgical events take place at nearby churches such as St Michael's Church, Remuera
Remuera
Remuera is a residential suburban area within Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located four kilometres to the southeast of the city centre...
, St Benedict's Church, Newton
Newton, New Zealand
Newton is a small suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand, under the local governance of the Auckland City Council. It had a population of 837 in the 2001 census....
, or St Patrick's Cathedral
St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland
The Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph is the Cathedral of the Catholic Bishop of Auckland.-Origins:...
. The Cathedral is the scene of the important annual school celebration of St Peter's Day.
The Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
provided staff for St Peter's College from its opening until 2007. However, the numbers of brothers teaching at St Peter's College gradually declined from the 1970s. In 1975 there were 15 brothers teaching. In 1982 this number had reduced to eight. In 1988 it was 7, 4 in 1991, 2 in 1993, and 1 from 1994. From 1994 until July 2007, Brother Paul Robertson was the only Christian Brother teaching at St Peter's College. He was the Associate Principal of the college.
The integration of St Peter's College into the state education system also " ... caused a 'church/state' separation of the [Christian Brothers] community from the institution". This was demonstrated particularly in the formal splitting of authority in the school between the school Board of Trustees and the Principal of the College and the new role of the former in staffing matters. In 1992 the Christian Brothers shifted from the college to a new community house in Queen Mary Avenue, Epsom, acquired because it was near St Peter's College. Brother L. H. Wilkes wrote about what this meant for the Christian Brothers community. "For years the dread of leaving St Peter's house hung over the community at St Peter's. In 1991 it was down to months and in early 1992 it was down to weeks and to days. Nobody actually spoke definitely about leaving but everyone knew it was inevitable. I could just not imagine the community in an ordinary house in an ordinary street ...". Some of the brothers teaching at St Peter's College in the late 1980s moved to another community house in Mangere which soon closed. Apart from Brother Paul Robertson, the last Christian Brother to retain particular involvement with St Peter's College into the late 1990s was Brother V. N. Cusack.
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
for St Peter's as a Christian Brother's school and perhaps a mandate
Mandate
Mandate can refer to:*Mandate , an obligation handed down by an inter-governmental body*Mandate , an official or authoritative command; an order or injunction*Mandate , the power granted by an electorate...
for the school's future. Brother Prendergast said: "It is my pleasure to present to you the forty-ninth annual report. I do so as a proud past pupil, past teacher, and almost, past Principal of this school. In a sense I see my position in this school as completing a cycle which is a model of the church right through the world. In 1939 the Brothers first came to St Peter's and they came from the southern parts of New Zealand and from Australia. From that time the seeds of vocations were sown. The first Old Boy priest was ordained
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
in 1950 and the first Old Boy Christian Brother was professed
Profession (religious)
The term religious profession is defined in the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church in relation to members of religious institutes as follows:By religious profession members make a public vow to observe the three evangelical counsels...
in 1954. The first old boy Christian Brother returned to teach in this school in 1965 [(Br Terry Felix Hunter
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
)]. I was the first old boy Christian Brother appointed to the position of Principal and that was in 1980.
"In my first report at the end of 1980 I said that 'the time is fast approaching when the Brothers may no longer be able to maintain a presence in this school. Perhaps one of the more valuable endeavours of the Principals of recent years has been to prepare the school for that eventuality. There is no doubt that we are on the threshold of a new cycle of development'. The brothers have maintained their presence over those nine years, mainly the same ones as it happens and I can tell you that those who are around in other schools are just as old. You can draw your own conclusions.
"St Peter's has been a Christian Brothers school for forty-nine years. I don't know if you can say it is going to be a Christian Brothers' school next year. That is up to those of you who are here next year to maintain if you want to. I am going to put before you some of the characteristics of Christian Brothers schools. Christian Brothers' schools throughout the world have a remarkable similarity of purpose, spirit and tone. Allowing for culture change a boy from St Peter's College in Auckland will fit in easily in Cardinal Newman College, Buenos Aires or Waverley College, Sydney
Waverley College
Waverley College is a Roman Catholic, secondary, day school for boys, located at Waverley, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, or St Columba's School, New Delhi, or St Edward's College, Liverpool
St. Edward's College
St. Edward's College is a voluntary aided, Catholic school in the UK located in the West Derby suburb of Liverpool. The institution was formerly a boys grammar school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, known widely as The Irish Christian Brothers...
, or in schools in twenty other countries.
"All these schools reveal characteristics that help identify them as inheritors of the spirit and traditions of Edmund Rice
Edmund Ignatius Rice
Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice , was a Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist. Edmund was the founder of two orders of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers....
, the founder of the Christian Brothers. These characteristics are not unique but they are distinctive". Brother Prendendergast listed these characteristics as being: the encouragement given to pupils in Christian Brothers schools to strive for scholastic excellence in a disciplined atmosphere; a religious dimension that permeates the entire education available to students; the cultivation of a strong devotion to Mary, the Mother of God
Theotokos
Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
; the emphasis given to the care and concern for each individual in the school community; and a particular concern for the poor.
When he left the school in July 2007, the last Christian Brother at St Peter's implied that this challenge had been met. Brother Robertson said that the St Peter's College community had " ... a great heart - a heart that listens and is compassionate, that looks outward"; "a heart that nurtures balanced, humble, quality people, real gentlemen"; "a heart that sees and acts"; "a heart that reflects the face of God". Brother Robertson said that the Christian Brothers were very proud of the school. "St Peter's will always be in a special place within my heart".
James Michael Liston
The Christian Brothers and St Peter's College held Archbishop ListonJames Michael Liston
James Michael Liston, CMG was the Seventh Catholic Bishop of Auckland.-Early life:James Michael Liston was born in Dunedin on 9 June 1881, one of a family of five children of James Liston, a hotel-keeper, and his wife, Mary . His parents were both born in Ireland. He was educated at Kavanagh...
in high regard as the founder, proprietor, funder, special friend, ally and protector of the college. He presided over all of the school prize-giving ceremonies from the first until his retirement in 1970. At the 1970 ceremony, in Liston's presence and in recognising his retirement, Brother B E Ryan
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
the Principal of the college said: "His Grace
Grace (style)
His Grace or Her Grace is a style used for various high ranking personages. It was the style used to address the King or Queen of Scotland up to the Act of Union of 1707, which merged the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, and to address monarchs of England prior to Henry VIII...
has had his critics of course, as all men in similar positions have - he was even criticised for founding St Peter's College - but his achievements are sufficient answer in themselves. We of St Peter's in a certain sense owe him everything. Without His Grace's decision to open the new school in 1938, we humanly speaking, might not be here tonight to represent the thousands of boys and parents that have been influenced by the school in the past 32 years".
Liston felt a lifelong debt to the Christian Brothers' School
Kavanagh College
Kavanagh College is a Catholic Secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. The school in its present form dates from 1989 but its origins as a secondary school go back to 1871....
in Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
where he was a pupil and he often expressed that gratitude publicly on occasions involving Christian Brothers Institutions. However, Liston's gratitude did have its limits. There is a well-known story at St Peter's College concerning the large Christian Brothers emblem
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
above the main northern entrance to the original school building. In the course of the creation of that emblem in 1938 or 1939, Bishop Liston arrived to survey progress on the building of the school. He ordered work to stop on the emblem because the school was "his" and did not belong to the Christian Brothers. The emblem remains unfinished to this day. The college really was "his" as it was (and is) owned directly by the Bishop of Auckland.
Liston was, however, very grateful to the Christian Brothers for establishing St Peter's College. In January 1943, Liston wrote to his old classmate Br Michael James Benignus Hanrahan
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
, the Provincial of the Christian Brothers when the college was established, on the occasion of the latter's Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
, saying: " ... Auckland has its special reason for gratitude. Perhaps I can put that simply by saying that from the first day the school has been all that you or I would wish it to be". He showed his love in his annual presentation of prizes. With the passage of years, the prize list got longer so that eventually over 100 individual prizes were presented. "When it was suggested to His Grace that it would be less demanding if he remained seated during the marathon presentation he would have none of it; he would bestow full dignity on the recipient." When the Archbishop died in 1976 the college formed a guard of honour for his funeral cortege from the Town Hall
Auckland Town Hall
The Auckland Town Hall is a historic building on Queen Street in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, known both for its original and ongoing use for administrative functions , as well as for its famed Great Hall and its separate Concert Chamber...
to Grafton Bridge
Grafton Bridge
Grafton Bridge is a road bridge spanning Grafton Gully in Auckland City, New Zealand. Built of reinforced concrete in 1910, it connects the Auckland CBD with the Grafton suburb...
. The students' " ... dignified bearing and respectful tribute evoked many expressions of commendation."
When the school adopted a new motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
, it adopted the English version of Liston's personal motto "Amare et Servire", "To Love and to Serve".
St Peter's College today
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
(1948–1953), the third headmaster of the college, had initiated the first school orchestra.
Recent important buildings completed are the Brother L. H. Wilkes Technology Block (2001) (awarded the NZIA Resene Supreme Award for Architecture 2002 and the NZIA Resene Branch Award for Architecture 2001), a dedicated building for the intermediate school ("the Middle School
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
") on Mountain Road (2003) named after Brother V.A. Sullivan
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
, and a gymnasium/classroom block erected on the old netball courts in 2010.
Edmund Ignatius Rice
Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice , was a Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist. Edmund was the founder of two orders of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers....
. to encourage its members to serve the community in a positive manner, such as participation in Edmund Rice Camps
Edmund Rice Camps
Edmund Rice Camps is a charitable volunteer organisation closely associated with the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and inspired by the work of Edmund Ignatius Rice...
], and commiting themselves to Rice's objective of bringing social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
.
Catholic missions
As the church normally organizes itself along territorial lines, and because they had the human and material resources, religious orders—some even specializing in it—undertook most missionary work, especially in the early phases...
in Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
and organises regular trips to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
for senior students" In supporting students' sporting and cultural aspirations, St Peter's has established music, football and softball academies.
Houses
- Bodkin - RedRedRed is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
- Lynch - GoldGold (color)Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of orange-yellow color blends used to give the impression of the color of the element gold....
- Nolan - BlueBlueBlue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
- O'Driscoll - SilverSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
- Rice - BlackBlackBlack is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
- Treacy - GreenGreenGreen is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
The Houses are named after particular Christian brothers. Brothers Fursey Bodkin, Barnabus Lynch, Joseph Nolan
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
, and their leader, Patrick Ambrose Treacy
Patrick Ambrose Treacy
Brother Patrick Ambrose Treacy CFC was a Roman Catholic educationist who established the first permanent Christian Brothers community in Australia in 1868.-Early life:...
arrived from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in Melbourne on 15 November 1868 to establish the order in Australia. In 1875 Brother Treacy visited Bishop Patrick Moran
Patrick Moran (bishop)
Patrick Moran was Vicar Apostolic of Eastern Province of Cape Colony in South Africa and the first Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand .-Early life:...
, First Catholic Bishop of Dunedin
Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunedin
The Latin Rite Catholic Diocese of Dunedin is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. It was formed on 26 November 1869 from a portion of the territory in the Diocese of Wellington, before it was elevated to an archdiocese....
, and promised him a community of Christian Brothers. In 1876 Brother Bodkin was the leader of the new Dunedin community, the first Christian Brothers community in New Zealand. Bodkin, Lynch, Nolan and Treacy Houses date from the foundation of the college. O'Driscoll and Rice Houses were set up in 2011. Edmund Ignatius Rice
Edmund Ignatius Rice
Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice , was a Roman Catholic missionary and educationalist. Edmund was the founder of two orders of religious brothers: the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers....
was the founder of the Christian Brothers and Brother O'Driscoll was the foundation Headmaster of the College. Each year level has six house classes and each House class is the unit of attendance, pastoral care, competitive activity and many daily activities. There are House leaders (students) and House leaders (staff) assigned to each.
Sport
St Peter's College has a strong and successful sporting tradition. Amongst the highlights have been in Rugby UnionRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, the winning by the school First XV of the New Zealand Secondary School's Top Four Championship as well as the Auckland Secondary Schools Premiership in 1987. The latter feat was repeated in 1988. The best achievement in rugby was to win the Auckland Championship
Championship
Championship is a term used in sport to refer to various forms of competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.- Title match system :...
and the New Zealand First XV Knock out competition undefeated in 2000. The college has held the Moascar Cup (national school 1st XV rugby honour) twice, in 1977 and 2000. In 1980 St Peter's College won the inaugural national Secondary School's Softball Championship and has won the Auckland Softball Premiership every year from 1994 until the present (as at 2008).
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
;
Athletics; Badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
; Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
; Bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
; Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
; Cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
; Cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
; Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
; Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
; Road running
Road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...
; Rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
; Rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
; Soccer; Softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
; Squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
; Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
; Table Tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
; Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
; Touch Rugby
Touch rugby
Touch rugby, Refers to games derived from rugby football in which players do not tackle in the traditional, highly physical way, but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball....
; Triathlon
Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...
; and Waterpolo. One sport promoted in the early days of the college but which is no longer provided, is boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. The school boxing championships were held annually, usually at the Municipal Hall, Newmarket.
Something of the college's sporting spirit, at least as it was in the 1970s when Rugby Union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
was even more dominant in New Zealand than it is now, is described by John Tamihere
John Tamihere
John Henry Tamihere is a New Zealand media personality and former politician. He served as a Cabinet minister in the governing Labour Party from August 2002 to 3 November 2004.-Early life:...
. He wrote that if the Christian Brothers wanted a boy for the First XV, the boy didn't have much say in the matter. "They would walk around the school grounds at lunchtime sizing up" likely candidates to see if they might be any good. They picked out one boy because he looked usefully tall. "I'd rather play soccer", the boy protested, " ... but next minute there he was in the lineout, leaping." Under such pressure, Tamihere played for the college First XV (in 1975 and 1976) although he would have preferred to play Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
for the Point Chevalier Pirates
Point Chevalier Pirates
The Point Chevalier Pirates are an Auckland rugby league club based in Point Chevalier. The Pirates currently compete in the Phelan Shield competition run by the Auckland Rugby League.-History:The club was founded in 1920....
and later for the Glenora Bears as his brothers did. He said that the college First XV at that time was composed of " ... not bad players", and they were " ... always competitive". "We didn't win a lot, but on the other hand we never really got hammered". "St Peter's used to play St Kentigern's
Saint Kentigern College
Saint Kentigern College is a private, co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in the Pakuranga suburb of Manukau City in the Auckland region of New Zealand, beside the estuary of the Tamaki Estuary...
, who were led out onto the field by their pipe band
Pipe band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....
. When we played Anglican King's College
King's College, Auckland
King's College is an independent secondary school in New Zealand. It was originally a boys-only school but now also admits girls in the sixth and seventh forms . The school has strong links to the Anglican church; the Anglican Bishop of Auckland, and the Dean of Auckland are permanent members of...
there was no doubt this was a Catholics versus Proddies
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
battle, though some of our toughest games were against other Catholic schools like St Paul's
St. Paul's College, Auckland
St Paul's College is a college for year 7 to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students. It is located in the central Auckland suburb of Ponsonby. The school originates from 1903 when the Marist Brothers opened Sacred Heart College, Auckland on the site...
and Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart College, Auckland
Sacred Heart College is a secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a Catholic, Marist College set on of land overlooking the Tamaki Estuary in Glen Innes.- History :The college was opened in 1903 in Ponsonby, by the Marist Brothers...
. If you think Māori society was tribal, you should have seen those Catholics".
In 1980(?), Hugh McGahan
Hugh McGahan
Hugh Joseph McGahan MBE is a former rugby league footballer and coach who represented New Zealand...
, captain of the New Zealand National Rugby League side, "the Kiwis
New Zealand national rugby league team
The New Zealand national rugby league team has represented New Zealand in rugby league football since intercontinental competition began for the sport in 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name...
" from 1986 to 1990, also played for the college First XV, under similar pressure to that exerted on John Tamihere. However, McGahan has said that, in spite of the pressure, it "was a pleasure pulling on the school jersey" to represent the college. Although it has made a significant contribution to the sport, St Peter's College does not field Rugby League
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
teams. However, many students play Soccer.
The "North train" and the railway station
Brother T. A. Monagle
Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...
, who supervised the train boys and who travelled on the train each day for that purpose, approached the Railways Department
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
to request that the train stop at the school. The college had several reasons for asking that the trains should stop there. "The traffic in Mt Eden Road had become very heavy, and was a constant danger to the younger and more thoughtless of our pupils, and another source of considerable danger existed at Mt Eden station where supervision was necessary to prevent accidents when the boys were boarding the train. Again, the train would disgorge its pupils at Mt Eden and then chug merrily past the school almost empty, leaving the boys to walk half a mile
Mile
A mile is a unit of length, most commonly 5,280 feet . The mile of 5,280 feet is sometimes called the statute mile or land mile to distinguish it from the nautical mile...
, often in heavy rain."
John McAlpine
Sir John Kenneth McAlpine, KCMG was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was the Member of Parliament for Selwyn from 1946 to 1966, when he retired....
, to come and see for himself. In fact the Minister volunteered to walk up to the Mt Eden station from the school. "Well, somebody must have been pulling some strings up above, because on the day of the Minister's visit it rained cats and dogs, and even the odd pink elephant ..." and Brother Monagle's request was granted. The North train stopped at St Peter's College for the first time at 8.30am on Tuesday 15 September 1964 for the 250 St Peter's College boys and a dozen from Auckland Grammar
Auckland Grammar School
Auckland Grammar School is a state secondary school for years 9 to 13 boys in Auckland, New Zealand. It had a roll of 2,483 in 2008, including a number of boarders who live in nearby Tibbs' House, making it one of the largest schools in New Zealand...
.
Another noteworthy event occurred in November 1965, when, for the last time, the North train was pulled by a steam engine. It was the last passenger train in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
to be pulled by a steam locomotive.
In relation to Brother Monagle, " ... it is generally agreed that he deserved the rank of Railway Employee. Surely no single person has ever held down so many positions at once - stationmaster
Station master
The station master was the person in charge of railway stations, in the United Kingdom and some other countries, before the modern age. He would manage the other station employees and would have responsibility for safety and the efficient running of the station...
, signalman
Signalman (rail)
A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points and signals from a signal box in order to control the movement of trains.- History :...
, ticket inspector
Conductor (transportation)
A conductor is a member of a railway train's crew that is responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve the actual operation of the train. The title of conductor is most associated with railway operations in North America, but the role of conductor is common to railways...
and guard
Conductor (transportation)
A conductor is a member of a railway train's crew that is responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve the actual operation of the train. The title of conductor is most associated with railway operations in North America, but the role of conductor is common to railways...
, not to mention construction engineer
Construction engineering
Construction engineering is a professional discipline that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and management of infrastructures such as highways, bridges, airports, railroads, buildings, dams, and utilities. Construction Engineers are unique such that they are a cross between civil...
, traffic officer and the occasional shot at engine-driving
Railroad engineer
A railroad engineer, locomotive engineer, train operator, train driver or engine driver is a person who drives a train on a railroad...
! During the many years that he was associated with the train, Brother Monagle became friends with most of the railway employees along the line as he made his trip each afternoon as far as Mt Albert
Mount Albert, New Zealand
Mount Albert is a volcanic peak and suburban area in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb was Auckland's second, after Remuera, and was mostly settled by well-off families in the late 1800s and early 1900s...
". Initially, only the "school" trains stopped at St Peter's College, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
The station, called the Boston Road Station
Boston Road Train Station
Boston Road Railway Station was on the Western Line of the Auckland Suburban Railway Network, near St Peter's College and Auckland Grammar School. The station was below State Highway 1, one of the busiest motorways in New Zealand. At the southern end of the station is the north western wall of Mt...
, attained full station status from 1993. In 2010 the station was moved 200 metres further east beneath Khyber Pass Rd and renamed Grafton Station
Grafton Train Station
Grafton Train Station is a railway station on the Western Line of Auckland's commuter rail network. Costing $3 million to construct, it was officially opened on 9 April 2010, and the first trains stopped at the station on 11 April....
. A station entrance is beside the college and students have direct access without having to cross intervening roads. Up to a third of the school's enrolment (i.e. 400 students) commute to the college by train and use the Grafton station.
Headmasters
- Brother F. P. O'Driscoll (foundation Headmaster 1939 – 1944)
- Brother J. A. Morris (1945 – 1947)
- Brother W. R. Smith (1948 – 1953)
- Brother K. V. Watson (1954 – 1956)
- Brother P. C. Ryan (1957 – 1965)
- Brother B. E. Ryan (1966 – 1974)
- Brother N. C. Doherty (1975 – 1979)
- Brother J. P. Prendergast (first old boy Headmaster 1980 – 1988)
- Mr. Kieran F. Fouhy (first lay Headmaster 1989 – present)
Notable alumni
Old Boys include the Honourable Chris CarterChris Carter (politician)
Christopher Joseph Carter was an independent Member of Parliament in New Zealand, and a former member of the New Zealand Labour Party until his expulsion. Carter was a senior Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, serving lastly as Minister of Education, Minister...
, former Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Te Atatu
Te Atatu
Te Atatu is the name of two suburbs in western Auckland, New Zealand: Te Atatu Peninsula and Te Atatu South. They are located next to each other some 10 kilometres to the west of the Auckland city centre....
(1993–1996; 1999–2011) and former Cabinet Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
(2002–2008), and Major General Martyn Dunne
Martyn Dunne
Martyn John Dunne CNZM , , soldier and senior public servant, is New Zealand High Commissioner to Australia. He was Comptroller of Customs and Chief Executive of the New Zealand Customs Service and was a career soldier in the New Zealand Army from 1970 ending his military career in 2004 as...
who, as Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
, commanded New Zealand and international forces in East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
(1999–2000) and was Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
Joint Forces New Zealand in the New Zealand Defence Force
New Zealand Defence Force
The New Zealand Defence Force consists of three services: the Royal New Zealand Navy; the New Zealand Army; and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Commander-in-Chief of the NZDF is His Excellency Rt. Hon...
(2001–2004). Sir Michael Fay
Michael Fay (banker)
Sir Michael Fay is a New Zealand merchant banker and partner in the merchant bank Fay Richwhite. He was educated at St Peter's College, Auckland, St Patrick's College, Silverstream and Victoria University of Wellington ....
, New Zealand Merchant bank
Merchant bank
A merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....
er, chair of the campaigns for three New Zealand challenges for the America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
in 1987, 1988 and 1992, attended the school in the early 1960s. Other old boys are the poet Sam Hunt and six All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
including Bernie McCahill
Bernie McCahill
Bernard Joseph McCahill was born on 28 June 1964 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was educated at St Peter's College. He is a former rugby union footballer who played for the All Blacks. He played in two positions, Second five-eighth and centre three-quarter. he played 32 matches for the All Blacks...
, second five-eighth and centre three-quarter (1987–1991). Two Catholic Bishops
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
, Edward Russell Gaines
Edward Russell Gaines
Most Reverend Edward Russell Gaines, DD was the Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland and was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand ....
(1926–1994), the first Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Hamilton
Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand
The Latin Rite Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. It was formed on 6 March 1980 from a portion of the territory in the Diocese of Auckland.-Ordinaries of Hamilton, New Zealand:...
(1980–1994) and Denis George Browne (b. 1937), tenth Catholic Bishop of Auckland (1983–1994) and second Catholic Bishop of Hamilton
Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand
The Latin Rite Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, New Zealand is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. It was formed on 6 March 1980 from a portion of the territory in the Diocese of Auckland.-Ordinaries of Hamilton, New Zealand:...
(1994–present) attended the school, as did nearly 100 Catholic priests
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
, deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
s and religious
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
.
Former staff
See: List of former staff of St Peter's College, Auckland and Congregation of Christian Brothers in New ZealandCongregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a Catholic religious order which has been established in New Zealand since 1876. The order's particular charism is the education of boys and in New Zealand the order has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational...