Schoolteacher’s House (Former)

47 Binns Road, KARIOITAHI 2683

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Built in 1886, the well-preserved Schoolteacher’s House at Karioitahi reflects the commitment of the Auckland Education Board (AEB) to rural schooling after the passing of the 1877 Education Act. Purpose-designed by AEB architect Henry Allright, the single-storey timber villa housed successive teachers for the adjacent Karioitahi School, whose in-ground remains also survive within the place. Significant as a very early surviving example of Allright’s use of square-plan pyramid villas for teacher’s residences – which remained a standard type into the early 1900s – the house continued to be used for its original purpose until the late 1960s. It has close associations with several notable occupants including Alfred, Hugh and Montague Goldsbury – prominent individuals in the history of Quaker education in New Zealand – and Vivian Ramsay, who died while serving on the Somme in 1918. Both Ramsay and the Goldsbury family are significant for their links with pacifism and conscientious objection during the First World War (1914-18). Situated between the Manukau Harbour and Waikato River, Karioitahi lies within the rohe of Ngāti Te Ata. The locality was strategically important as well as providing food and other resources at Lakes Rotoiti and Whatihua, and elsewhere. Following the Waikato War (1863-4), the area was subject to raupatu or confiscation by the Crown with long-term, traumatic consequences for tangata whenua. In 1865, the colonial government provided ten-acre grants to immigrants, encouraging them to establish small farms. After the 1877 Education Act introduced free and compulsory secular schooling for all Pākehā New Zealand children, Karioitahi settlers sought the construction of dedicated facilities. In 1883, the AEB erected a single-classroom school consisting of a former Wesleyan chapel relocated from nearby Waiuku. This was built on a three-acre site overlooking the settlement. In 1886, a teacher’s residence was added in a prominent position beside the school. Purpose-built housing was considered essential to attract married staff to teach in rural areas and improve ‘the progress of education’. Construction occurred during a major expansion of AEB facilities overseen by Henry Allright after introduction of the 1877 Act. His design for a square-plan pyramid villa at Karioitahi was of a generous size and quality, and formed a very early example of what became a broadly standard AEB type. The new building incorporated a parlour, three bedrooms, large kitchen and scullery, as well as a prominent front verandah. Its earliest occupants were Quaker schoolteacher Alfred Goldsbury (1849-1935) and his young family. Goldsbury later became clerk to the General Meeting of the Society of Friends; actively promoted pacifism; and helped establish the country’s first Quaker boarding school at St John’s Hill, Whanganui. Two of his sons Hugh and Montague, brought up at Karioitahi, were the first principals of the latter. Hugh and another son Noel were additionally involved in conscientious objection during the First World War, with Noel being imprisoned for his views. Of subsequent occupants, pre-war schoolteacher Vivian Ramsay was also a pacifist. Having initially volunteered for the conflict as a combatant, he transferred to the Medical Corps following a crisis of conscience and died in northern France. The house remained in use as a teacher’s residence until the 1960s, although the initial school building was demolished in 1933 after a new facility was built on adjacent land. The 1883 school remnants include earthworks linked with a tennis court – reflecting early twentieth-century approaches to health and physical exercise. The main residence survives with minor changes, and remains in private use (2021).

Schoolteacher's House (Former), Karioitahi | Martin Jones | 02/03/2020 | Heritage New Zealand
Schoolteacher's House (Former), Karioitahi. Front verandah of schoolteacher’s residence | Martin Jones | 02/03/2020 | Heritage New Zealand
Schoolteacher's House (Former), Karioitahi. Pencil graffiti in rear bedroom, pre-dating scrim and wallpaper on southeast wall | Martin Jones | 02/03/2020 | Heritage New Zealand

Location

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List Entry Information

Overview

Detailed List Entry

Status

Listed

List Entry Status

Historic Place Category 2

Access

Private/No Public Access

List Number

9844

Date Entered

7th July 2021

Date of Effect

7th July 2021

City/District Council

Waikato District

Region

Waikato Region

Extent of List Entry

Extent includes the land described as Allot 46 Sbrn Sec 1 Parish of Waipipi (RT NA67C/118), North Auckland Land District, and the building and structures known as Schoolteacher’s House (Former) thereon.

Legal description

Allot 46 Sbrn Sec 1 Parish of Waipipi (RT NA67C/118), North Auckland Land District.

Location Description

Additional Location Information NZTM Easting: 1749382.0 NZTM Northing: 5873633.0 47 Binns Road (previously 47 Karioitahi School Road) Karioitahi

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