In June 1903 the trustees of the Papawai and Kaikokirikiri Trust announced that a school for Māori boys would open on the estate of the late Lady Tancred.

 

Sir Thomas and Lady Tancred came to New Zealand in the 1850s.  Sir Thomas died in 1880 and Lady Tancred in 1901. The land and a large house had been bought by the Harrington Trust of the Anglican Church, which was set up for educational purposes.  The estate was leased by the Papawai & Kaikokirikiri Board.

At the beginning of the 1900s the powerful Māori Parliament had its home at Papawai Marae in Greytown and the establishment of Hikurangi College so close to the ‘seat of power’ was far more significant than just a school for Māori boys.

Tamahau Mahupuku, the Premier of the Parliament, named the college Hikurangi - ‘the place from which light and learning springs’.  The school was set in native bush of the beautifully kept 150 acres of the estate.

 

When the school opened there was accommodation for 24 boarders, and the headmaster was the Reverend S G Compton.

Pupils with one eighth or more Māori blood received free board while non-Māori were required to pay £10 per year.  

The school syllabus was very advanced for the time – it included music, French, religious studies, technical drawing and carpentry in additions to the normal subjects.  While Māori culture was not suppressed (action songs etc were actively encouraged) pupils were expected to read, write and converse in English.  The school eventually covered Standard 1 to Form 6 (Years 3-12).

 

The original house was extended in 1907 to include classrooms, dormitory, dining and laundry rooms and the principal’s accommodation.  There was also a swimming pool and sports fields.  A chapel was built later.  The pupils were expected to work hard and rostered duties included farm work and tending the garden plots.

The school roll varied over the years, only 12 pupils attended in 1905, and the greatest number was 32.  There was resistance initially as some thought that students would lose their Māori culture.  However, by 1909 there was a waiting list.

 

Hikurangi was defeated by the elements – Fire, Wind and Earthquake.  In a ten-year period between 1932 and 1942, the college building, the grounds and the chapel were destroyed.
 

Fire broke out at Hikurangi College at about 2pm on 4 March 1932.  By the time it was discovered by the principal it had a good hold on the building.  He tried to extinguish the blaze but fanned by a stiff breeze it soon spread until the entire building was alight.

Staff and pupils tried in vain to rescue some furniture and belongings by moving them onto the lawn.  The wind shifted and before long dry grass carried the flames to the piles of furniture reducing them to ashes.  Only 16 pupils and staff were present at the time – they lost everything including school records.

 

The chapel stood alone surrounded by native bush for a further 10 years.   Then on 3-4 October 1934 a windstorm destroyed much of the bush and gardens.

 

The final blow came on 24 June 1942 with an earthquake at 8.15pm.   A stronger quake at 11.17pm with its epicentre just outside Masterton shook the Wairarapa, lasting 60-90 seconds.           

The only remaining part of Hikurangi, the chapel, was irreparably damaged. Not a single brick building in Carterton remained intact and buildings throughout the lower North Island were extensively damaged.

All was over for Hikurangi – it was the end of an era.  Some students never returned to school, and others moved to schools such as the Masterton Technical School and Masterton High School which became Wairarapa College.

 

The site of Hikurangi College is remembered with a roadside plaque on Francis Line, east of Carterton.  This plaque was erected in 2006.​​

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Hikurangi Anglican Māori Boys College

Sources:

The display board at Francis Line, Carterton, Wairarapa Times Age articles.