Auckland Grammar School and early janitors: The Colonial Governor, Sir George Grey, initiated the foundation of the Auckland Grammar School as an early state establishment with a land grant in 1850. This occurred at a time when most providers of education in Auckland were church organisations and private establishments. The first Auckland Grammar School opened in 1869 in a former immigration barracks building in Howe Street, but subsequently occupied various other premises until a purpose-built timber school was completed on Symonds Street in December 1879. A caretaker was immediately appointed with a free house, lighting and fuel as part of his salary. Scrupulous cleanliness and maintenance of the School as one of the chief institutions of the city was considered necessary not only for the health of the pupils, but also as a matter of education in a most important detail of domestic life. The first janitor on the Symonds Street site was J.P. Birley, who had spent 13 years in the Grenadier Guards before arriving in New Zealand. He had been an instructor for the Colonial government, drilling volunteers and cadets in Auckland. Upon appointment as caretaker he gave similar tuition at Auckland Grammar School, formally in 1880 and during the lunch break in the years thereafter. Drill, involving a combination of callisthenics and military exercises, was seen as playing a vital role in the boys' discipline and physical training. Birley's other chief responsibility was the provision of lunch, a cooked meal served to a limited number of pupils with the assistance of his wife and children. Birley's successor, Alfred Tooley appointed in 1891, had seen service in the navy and had 'all the good habits of a man-of-war's man'. Tooley's role as janitor and school messenger kept him and his wife fully employed. In 1901 it was suggested that Tooley have the assistance of a boy at a weekly wage of eight shillings and dinner each day. Tooley's name later became synonymous with a particular type of pie, 'assuring him immortality in at least one Grammar School war cry and a place in the traditions of the school'. By 1910 Auckland Grammar School was New Zealand's largest secondary boys' school. The increase in free secondary education after the 1903 National Scholarships Act had led to considerable overcrowding. The Act had also transformed the social composition of the school, introducing much greater representation from less affluent groups. Notwithstanding the creation of a separate girls' school in 1909, the lack of space at the institution was eventually such that the janitor was evicted from his rooms. The Auckland Grammar School site and construction of the Janitor's House: The pressing need for more accommodation led to enactment of The Auckland Grammar School Site Act 1911. This transferred part of the Mount Eden gaol reserve for use as a secondary school. The site was some fifteen times the size of the Symonds Street section. The land had previously been a rifle range and the site for testing ammunition made by the Colonial Ammunition Company in nearby Normanby Road. In 1912 the School Board instigated a competition for the design of the new school. The schedule of buildings included a janitor's cottage. The competition plans were published at the end of August, with the cost of the development limited to £30,000. By the time the competition closed the following April, the Board had received 55 entries from 52 competitors. The winning design, by Auckland architects Arnold and Abbott, was described as having the best combination of layout and exterior. Responsibility for the Grammar School design has been attributed to R. Atkinson Abbott, who became a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects in the same year that work on the Grammar School began in 1913. The main block of the school is believed to have been the first instance of the application of the Spanish Mission style in New Zealand. American architectural influences were also carried over into the Janitor's House, which was designed in a Free Style Arts and Crafts style incorporating California Bungalow and Spanish Mission references. Their use represents a radical break from standard British architectural traditions in educational buildings, which generally focused on Gothic or Elizabethan Revival design. The adoption of American styles for the Grammar School is perhaps reflective of broader notions of modernity and progress at the school, including its greater emphasis on social inclusiveness. The roughcast exterior of the main block is said to resemble the adobe walls of Spanish missions at Santa Barbara and San Fernando, and of Stanford University near San Francisco. Plans for a Janitor's House survived the trenchant pruning of the design needed to bring the project within the bounds of affordability. Nor did a request from the Education Department upon the outbreak of war in August 1914, that no further work be undertaken, put an end to the plans for the house. Work continued on construction already underway on the School site, but plans were shelved for a house for the headmaster and a hostel that would have enabled the school to accept boarders. The Janitor's House was probably erected by W.E. Hutchinson, who had successfully tendered for construction of the school in 1913. The basalt walls in front of the house may have already been erected, as part of the general clearance and securing of the site. The house was prominently positioned beside an entrance to the school grounds, allowing the caretaker to keep an eye on arrivals and departures. Its external walls were originally plastered and scored to resemble ashlar, providing it with a solid and durable appearance. The high quality of the building, both internally and externally, can be considered to reflect the significant role played by the janitor in school life and the greater sense of social inclusion engendered by the 1903 Act and perhaps broader early twentieth-century political reforms. The structure was evidently completed by 1915, after which Alfred Tooley - transferred from the Symonds Street site - became its first occupant. Alfred Tooley lived in the house until at least 1930 when his son, Harold A. Tooley, became janitor. Harold's departure in the 1940s severed a father-son association with the post that had extended over some 53 years. Between 1944 and 1969 David Maconaghie and then Alan Jobson occupied the residence. The name of janitor appears to have been swapped for that of caretaker when Jobson took occupancy of the house, and presumably the position, in circa 1958. Alterations to improve the ancillary facilities were carried out during the 1960s, when a laundry and garage were added, connected to the house by a covered way. The house was converted to office use in 2003, but to all outward appearances retains its character as a residential building. It is currently used as the Auckland Grammar School's development office.