Knowledge is Power... The Women Who Broke the Glass Ceilings in Education

Scenta Potestas Est - Knwledge is Power - Timaru Girls High School

So here’s the thing. I used to think high school education for girls had always been around. I assumed it was obvious, normal, even automatic. But the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realised how recent and hard-won this right actually is.

When I walked through the gates of Timaru Girls’ High School, I didn’t know that just a few generations earlier, most girls didn’t get past primary school. I didn’t know that educating women was once controversial, even seen as a waste of public money. And I definitely didn’t realise that New Zealand was leading the world in changing that.

The motto of Timaru Girls’ High School is Scientia Potestas Est, or Knowledge is Power. At the time, I thought it was just a phrase. Now I realise it was a commitment to equality, opportunity and change.

When North London Collegiate School opened in 1850, it marked a bold shift in the United Kingdom. Founded by Frances Mary Buss, the school was the first to offer girls a serious academic curriculum, with subjects like mathematics and Latin, the same education boys were receiving in elite public schools. This model sparked further reforms in Britain, including the creation of the Girls’ Public Day School Company in 1872.

By global standards, New Zealand moved early. In 1871, Otago Girls’ High School opened in Dunedin, the first state girls’ high school in the Southern Hemisphere. Just eight years earlier, Otago Boys’ High had opened. This was not without controversy. A Daily Times editorial in 1869 described the lack of education for girls as a "social evil" and called for change.

New Zealand’s progress continued quickly:

1876: William Rolleston proposed a girls’ high school for Christchurch, securing £3000 for its foundation.

1877: Christchurch Girls’ High School opened, moving to Cranmer Square just four years later due to demand.

1879: Invercargill Girls’ High School opened with 30 pupils, led by Miss E. M. Hood.

1880: Timaru High School was founded, with girls and boys taught on the same campus but in single-sex classes. After a fire on August 24 1897, destroyed much of Timaru High School, plans were made to separate the boys’ and girls’ schools from 1898, with Mr Hogben and Miss Mary McLean (born in Timaru) appointed as heads. In 1913, the boys moved to a new North Street. It is interesting to note, that Mr Hogben was offered the position of headmaster of the Boys School at £450 per year and Miss McLean that of headmistress of the Girls High school was at £300. A fun fact I learned from a teacher at Timaru Girls High School, Hayden Dawson was that, eventually, McLean was awarded a King's honors in the 1920s by the king himself at Buckingham Palace. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3m26/mclean-mary-jane

1887: Waitaki Girls’ High School opened in Oamaru on 17 October with a roll of just nine students.

Timaru Girls’ High School, formed from the original Timaru High School, remained on the original Cain and Hassall Streets site. It became an independent girls’ school after the 1897 fire, and by 1920 a boarding hostel was built to support rural students from the wider region. Over the years, the school developed a strong academic and cultural tradition, producing remarkable alumnae who contributed in fields as diverse as science, education, medicine, the arts and public service. The school’s archives tell the stories of early students, pioneering teachers and war-time nurses, as well as those who shaped arts, literature and science in Aotearoa.

Timaru Girls High School around c1915 with girls posted in groups in front of the main school building. South Canterbury Museum 2009/108.01. The schools motto is Motto, Scientia Potestas Est (knowledge is power). 

Women have only relatively recently gained widespread access to high school education, especially in the form of state-funded, academically rigorous, and socially accepted schooling.

I was curiouse if women could go to University without going to High School... I had a wee dig on Google and found that in the past, university entry was sometimes possible without formal high school, especially for men educated privately. But for women, high school was crucial. It provided not only academic preparation but also validation of their right to study. Once girls’ high schools began offering serious subjects like Latin and science, higher education became a real option. The idea that girls deserved the same academic education as boys remained radical well into the nineteenth century. While New Zealand was building state-funded girls’ schools in the 1870s and 1880s, other countries lagged behind in both policy and implementation.

While New Zealand was building state-funded girls’ schools in the 1870s and 1880s, other countries lagged behind in both policy and implementation.

United States: Co-education was relatively common in northern states by the 1870s, especially in rural communities, but access to academic subjects for girls was inconsistent. Many southern states resisted expanding education to girls, and racial segregation meant that access for Black girls was severely limited. Elite girls’ schools like Emma Willard’s Seminary or Mount Holyoke College had emerged earlier, but public secondary schooling for girls was far from universal.

France: It was not until the Camille Sée Law of 1880 that the French government formalised secondary schooling for girls. Even then, girls’ lycées followed different, less academically challenging curricula, with more emphasis on religion, home-making and moral instruction than on science or classical studies. It would take decades before girls had access to the full baccalauréat curriculum.

Germany: Throughout the nineteenth century, girls’ education in Germany was mostly geared toward producing wives and mothers. The Gymnasium system, which prepared students for university, remained almost exclusively male until the early twentieth century. Access for girls improved only after major reforms in the 1900s and following World War I.

Japan: The Meiji government’s 1872 education law declared schooling compulsory for both boys and girls, but in practice, girls often attended for fewer years and learned different content. The 1899 Girls’ High School Law established a nationwide structure, but its goal was to prepare girls to become "good wives and wise mothers," not university students. Academic parity was not achieved until much later.

India: The first girls' school in India was founded in Pune in 1848 by reformers like Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule. However, colonial attitudes, caste restrictions, and local customs meant girls' education remained controversial and limited. Access was often restricted to urban elites or mission school networks, and most rural girls had little to no access to formal schooling until well into the twentieth century.

Compared to these global developments, New Zealand’s commitment to public, academically rigorous education for girls, especially in provincial centres, was pioneering. Just two decades after the first UK girls’ high school, Schools like Otago Girls’ (1871), Christchurch Girls’ (1877), and Timaru Girls’ (1880s) offered subjects like Latin, science and mathematics, not just sewing and etiquette., overseen by trained teachers and backed by public funds. This was not merely symbolic access, but the kind of education that opened doors to university, careers and leadership.

- wikipedia.org/Timeline_womens education

In the long sweep of history, girls’ access to high school education is recent, and its universal acceptance even more so. Your blog does an excellent job of showing how radical, courageous and necessary those early moves really were.

Christina Cruickshank: Science and Sacrifice

One of the early science teachers at Timaru Girls’ High School was Christina Cruickshank. With an MA and MSc from Otago University, she was among the first women to teach science to girls in the region. She taught for five years in the early 1900s and helped establish the school’s academic reputation.

Christina later became principal of Wanganui Girls’ College for twenty years. She guided the school through the First World War, expanded the curriculum, supported fundraising for soldiers and pushed for education that prepared girls for both home and university. Her influence was immense.

She never married. At the time, women teachers were often required to remain single. The 1915 teacher rules prohibited marriage, socialising with men, or even wearing bright colours. Christina lived by the rules of her era but quietly reshaped them.

She was buried in Waimate, beside her twin sister, Dr Margaret Cruickshank, New Zealand’s first practising female doctor. Margaret died treating patients during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Christina died in 1939, beloved by her students and remembered for her wisdom, strength and grace.

The school motto, Knowledge is Power, was lived out by women like Christina, Margaret and many others. Bella MacCallum earned New Zealand’s first Doctor of Science degree. Dolce Cabot was one of the country’s first female journalists. Elizabeth Gunn pioneered children’s health. Rosemary Campbell inspired young artists. Joyce Guthrie nursed soldiers through war.

These women made a difference because someone made space for them to learn. I used to think having choices was normal. Study, travel, career, family. But learning about women like Christina made me see the cost behind those freedoms. They made sacrifices so we could have options.

Sometimes I wonder if we expect too much of ourselves now. We can do anything, so we feel like we have to do everything. But maybe the lesson from Christina and Margaret is simpler. Do what matters. Do it with integrity. Use your education to serve, to uplift, to lead.

Next time you pass Timaru Girls’ High School, think of the women who made it more than just a school. Think of the teachers who could not marry. The students who went on to save lives. The quiet revolution that happened in those classrooms.

Knowledge is power. Thank you to those who fought to give it to us.

Photograph of the first page of the Timaru Girls High School enrollment book The first student has her name crossed out, appears she only went to school for one day. It is amazing to think about all the young women who have passed through the school gates over the year, and how their lives have been impacted by the teachers who taught there.  Thank you to the Timaru Girls High School archives for sharing fantastic information.

Women today are not limited by traditional values. We are empowered. We can be leaders, carers, creatives, entrepreneurs, or even all of these at once. The beauty of today is that we can honour traditions while also living a life shaped by choice, equality and individuality. Looking at values through different cultural lenses helps us see what to carry forward and what to challenge.

Old Girl Roselyn Fauth in the Archives Room learning about her schools history.

Timaru Girls High School Tartin

1935-12-04 Portrait of a former principal of the Timaru Girls' High School presented to the school by the old girls. Showing speakers at the presentation of the portrait of former headmistress Miss M.B. Watt. From left: Mrs B.C. Penny, Mrs D.S. Kemshed, Miss M.B. Watt, Miss M. Martin, Miss J. Young, current headmistress Miss J.R. Barr, Mr T.W. Satterthwaite (Mayor of Timaru), Mr H.H. Fraser (from Board of Governors), Mrs J.G. Duncan.
Supplement to the Auckland Weekly News, 4 December 1935, p.52. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19351204-52-01. No known copyright restrictions

1893-09-16. Group of scholars, Timaru High School. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 16 September 1893, p.193. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18930916-0193-01.
No known copyright restrictions. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-graphic/1893/09/16/1

"LITERARY STRUGGLES.

There is a sad ring of truth in that well-known saying of Carlyle’s that * next to the Newgate calendar the biography of authors is the most sickening chapter in the history of man.’ It was not said in a hasty moment. Carlyle was not the man to make such an assertion carelessly and groundlessly. But there is no doubt that before we give much thought to the subject, the expression seems overdrawn. * Authors,' we argue, ‘ have been no worse off than other men. Same have failed, some have succeeded. This is no more than others have done in all professions of life.’ And we fancy that the great Scotchman, when he uttered such strong language, must have been only using a licensed exaggeration. No doubt there are many who would rejoice if this reasoning were true; but it is not true. Let the ignorant doubter search for himself, and then he can prove to himself that it is not true. Let him search the annals of our literature alone, and what will he find there 1

He will see the lifeless figure of poor Chatterton, with his torn papersstrewn around him. He will see Otwaystarving; Goldsmith fighting a long fight against beggary or the gaol ; Johnson wandering homeless and penniless through the streets of London. He will see Lee, the dramatist, in Bedlam ; Smart also in a mad house ; Colling and Fergusson miserable lunatics. And be will see Savage dying in a gaol, having only escaped hanging by the kindness of friends. Coming nearer to our own times, he will see Clare in a lunatic asylum ; Bloomfield driven to madness by his distresses ; Burns living a life of martyrdom to poverty and his own follies ; Byron, in spite of his rank, scarcely less miserable than any of these. What need is there to look further? The list of woe is long enough as it is. And yet, if we could only enumerate all those geniuses who have fallen so irretrievably that their very names are lost to us, what an interminable list it

would be 1 When we think of all this, does it not seem that a peculiar fate has hung over the devotees of literature? The fault has lain partly with the world at large—partly with the men themselves. Their dowry of talent has often proved a dark dowry to them. No men have been so little heeded—none so poorly rewarded. Men have laughed at them and left them to starve. Their labours, surely not the least noble, have been received with scorn and neglect. The applauses and enconiums of the world have been of little use to those whom its cold treatment has brought to the grave. So far the world has been to blame ; but let us look at the other side. It is a well known fact that great characters often have great faults. The influence of their genius has needed many a strong quality to keep it in its proper place. They may be very fine men —very noble characters—but like all others they have a weaker part which must be well guarded, or when they are struck there they will fall. It is a very interesting study to notice how far the misfortunes of literary men have been owing to themselves, and how far to the world. Let me take one of the examples already quoted, say Chatterton. His great misfortune seems to have been the lack of a strong moral backbone. He felt that he had genius, and he tried to make himself known to the world by a deception as marvellous in its execution as in its conception. This great venture was made when he should have been quietly working and waiting. It failed. But failure did not warn him in time, for he made another desperate effort. Going up to London, he resolved to trust to his pen alone for a livelihood. The cast was made—the hazard risked—the game lost! Writing political essays for both parties could not save the unhappy youth. Starvation stared him in the face, and he preferred suicide. There is no doubt that Chatterton was ill-tieated and neglected ; but the public were not all to blame. He was so young; men would rather have seen him busy in the office or the workshop than wandering with his eccentric poems and essays for sale. Besides this, people will not

often see a thing unless it is directly [minted out to them. When a man’s genius is famous all can see it ; but it requires a shrewd judge to do justice to an unknown writer. There is just one more example—that of Goldsmith. He is a striking illustration of an author whose misfortunes were partly owing to his own characteristic weaknesses. From his earliest youth, he ‘ had been perfectly instructed in the art of giving away thousands before he was taught the necessary qualification of getting a farthing.’ When almost destitute he gave the little he had to others scarcely more needy than himself. This unsuspicious and openhearted character continually made him the dupe of vagabonds and sharpers. It was certainly a failing that‘leant to virtue's side ’ ; but in those days, when the most famous writers could only just gain a precarious livelihood, it was ruination. To be well known then did not mean to be wealthy. Samuel Johnson himself, when he had quite established his fame, only got fifteen guineas for his poem on the ‘ Vanity of Human Wishes.’ J

In the present day a great change has certainly been effected. The immensely increased education of all classes —the numberless periodicals pouring daily, weekly, and monthly, from the press, the constant demand for new books and new writers, must of necessity employ and justly remunerate thousands. A literary man has quite a different standing now to what be used to have. Instead of being snubbed and laughed at he is respected and listened to The public know now how much of their daily amusement depends on his labours. There is one special advantage which he possesses over his forefather of Grub-street and that is the absence of all need of patronage. The author then had to bow down to the great man. He had to load him with flatteries which he knew to be false and hollow, and in return for this he perhaps gained the permission to print his lordship’s name at the beginning of his book, or had a sovereign tossed to him as he crowded with beggars and footmen round the great one’s door With really true patronage (a thing never very well-known at that time) it was bad enough, but without it it was much worse. If the high-minded independence of a Johnson or a Goldsmith could not fawn and stoop to otheis, he must be content to live for years the slave of booksellers and bailiff- ‘ Nothing,' says Macaulay, ■ could be more deplorable than the estate even of the ablest men, who at that time depended for subsistence on their writings.’ 1

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Timaru High School: the tennis lawns -group of girl pupils and academic staff. Timaru High School: the tennis lawns -group of girl pupils and academic staff. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 16 September 1893, p.206. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18930916-0206-02. No known copyright restrictions. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-graphic/1893/09/16/14

1893-09-16. Portrait of Miss Mary Jane Mclean, 1866-1949 Headmistress at Timaru High School. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18930916-0206-03. No known copyright restrictions . View this page on Papers Past: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-graphic/1893/09/16/14

Mary McLean was the first principal of Timaru Girls’ High School, and helped to shape one of Timaru’s most enduring schools. She was born here in Timaru and also honoured by the King at Buckingham Palace!

Mary Jane McLean (1866–1949), the first principal of Timaru Girls’ High School, was a pioneering educator whose legacy continues to influence generations of young women. Born on 4 April 1866 in Timaru, she was the eldest daughter of Ann le Ber and Dr Duncan McLean, a local physician and surgeon. Her life was marked by academic excellence, visionary leadership and a deep commitment to public service.

Mary began her education at Timaru Main School before moving on to Timaru High School, which had been established in 1880. At that time, girls and boys were taught on the same campus, but in separate, single-sex classes. While still young, Mary developed a love of learning that would shape the rest of her life.

After completing her early education, she taught part-time at Timaru High School while undertaking extramural university studies. In 1886 she moved to Christchurch to attend lectures at Canterbury College. She initially boarded with Professor C H H Cook, and later worked as a resident teacher at the private Montfleuri Girls’ School.

Mary graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1888, receiving college honours in botany and biology. In 1890 she completed her Master of Arts with honours in Latin and English – an impressive academic achievement for a woman at that time.

“She was then appointed first assistant teacher of Timaru High School in 1890, during the reorganisation that followed George Hogben's appointment as rector in May 1889.” - Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand,

This followed after disaster struck in August 1897 when a fire destroyed much of the school building. This prompted the decision to formally separate the boys’ and girls’ schools from 1898. George Hogben was appointed head of the boys’ school, and Mary McLean became the first principal of Timaru Girls’ High School. She was only 32. It is interesting to note that while Mr Hogben was offered a salary of £450 per year, Miss McLean’s salary was £300... (a sign of the gender inequalities of the time). She embraced the opportunity with passion and vision, determined to build something meaningful for the young women of Timaru.

In 1900 she was appointed principal of Wellington Girls’ High School (renamed Wellington Girls’ College in 1905), selected from a strong field of applicants from New Zealand and Australia. Her appointment marked the beginning of a transformative chapter for girls’ education in the capital.

She inherited a school with low enrolments, poor facilities and limited support. But Mary McLean was not discouraged. She modernised the curriculum, introducing drawing, class singing, gymnastics and improved science teaching. She welcomed both high-achieving students and those less academically inclined, and her leadership was aligned with the new wave of secondary school reform being directed nationally by her former colleague, George Hogben.

By 1914 the school roll had grown from 87 students to 339. When numbers grew too large to manage, she played a key role in the establishment of Wellington East Girls’ College in 1925.

Mary’s Christian faith, she was a Presbyterian, was central to her outlook. She strongly supported the school’s Christian Union, which encouraged social service and moral reflection. She also believed in keeping up with international trends in education, taking leave in 1907 and again in 1918 to travel to Britain, Europe and North America.

She gave evidence to the 1912 Education Commission and championed ideas that were ahead of her time. These included equal educational opportunities for girls, Bible teaching at all levels of schooling, replacing examinations with continuous assessment, and creating a university chair in economics to provide expert advice to government.

She was a passionate advocate for school infrastructure, boarding facilities and sports fields, drawing inspiration from the English public school tradition while always working for the good of New Zealand girls. Mary McLean retired in June 1926, leaving behind a thriving school of 850 students and a legacy of excellence. She was farewelled with a civic ceremony in a packed Wellington Town Hall.

A fun fact shared with me by current Timaru Girls’ High School teacher Hayden Dawson is that Mary McLean was later awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the late 1920s, and travelled to London to receive the honour in person, at Buckingham Palace, from the King himself.

After retirement, Mary found new purpose in founding the Women’s Social Progress Movement in 1929. This group, made up largely of the wives of civic and national leaders, campaigned for temperance, censorship, and greater women’s political representation. During the economic hardship of the 1930s, the group also provided social support and relief. Its influence faded after the election of the Labour Government in 1935, but its spirit reflected Mary’s lifelong commitment to social good.

Mary lived with her brother Henry and sister Agnes in Wellington for many years. Both siblings passed away before her. Mary McLean died at her Wellington home on 9 February 1949 aged 82. From what I can find online, I don't think she married or had children. Maybe this was because women were expected to stop working once they married.

Mary McLean was a scholar, a leader, and a woman of strong values who devoted her life to education and social progress. Her legacy lives on in every student who walks the halls of Timaru Girls’ High School. Let us remember her as the girls school’s first principal, and as a visionary woman who believed in the power of education to change lives.

The National Library of New Zealand houses several items related to Mary McLean, including:

Illuminated Address (1926): Presented to her upon retirement after 25 years as principal of Wellington Girls' College, and Correspondence: Letters involving Mary McLean, including one to Lady Stout in 1906, reflecting her engagement in educational and social matters. It would be great to be able to read these to gain a deeper insight into her professional relationships and the recognition she received during her career.

An obituary published in The Timaru Herald on 9 February 1949 commemorated her contributions to education in Timaru and Wellington

OBITUARY
Miss Mary McLean, C.B.E.

The death of Miss Mary McLean, M.A., C.B.E., the second principal of the Wellington Girls’ College, and for many years a leading figure in the Dominion’s educational circles, occurred today at her residence, Mulgrave Street, Wellington.

Miss McLean was appointed to the Girls’ College in 1900, and remained there until her retirement in 1926, and, apart from trips abroad, had resided in Wellington ever since. Many women throughout the Dominion who came under her influence will recall with gratitude the part she played in shaping their lives. She was a member of a number of organisations.

Born in Timaru in 1866, Miss McLean was of Scottish stock. Dr. Duncan McLean, her father, came to New Zealand on a sea voyage, and eventually settled in Timaru, where he made a reputation as a surgeon. Her mother’s family belonged to the Channel Islands. Dr. Harry McLean, her brother, was badly wounded at Gallipoli, but continued active service in France during the First World War, and was also in the army of occupation in Germany.

Miss Mary McLean, C.B.E.
Photo by S. P. Andrew and Sons

Educated at a private school, Miss McLean later attended the Timaru High School. Her degree of M.A. was obtained at Canterbury College, where she also gained honours in botany and biology. After receiving her degree, which she won with honours in Latin and English, she was appointed first assistant at the Timaru High School. When the Timaru Girls’ High School was established she became the first headmistress of that institution.

In 1900 Miss McLean came to the Wellington Girls’ College, and remained there for 26 years. Secondary education was then passing through a phase of change, and Miss McLean’s post demanded the utmost exercise of judgment. Twice during her period of service she travelled abroad on leave to observe educational developments in other countries.

Following a visit to a famous college of drill and games in Sweden came the gymnastic tunic, which, with modifications, was adopted as a school uniform for girls in many parts of New Zealand. Miss McLean was instrumental in bringing back the latest ideas of the time in school liberalism, and the result of her influence was felt at the college.

It has been estimated that at least 8000 girls passed through the college during the period that Miss McLean was associated with it. Those former students are scattered not only throughout the Dominion now, but in many parts of the world. Many ex-pupils were associated with the citizens’ functions on the occasion of Miss McLean’s farewell in 1926, when the retiring headmistress was presented with an illuminated address.

Shortly afterwards her devoted services to the cause of education were recognised by the bestowal of a Commandership of the Order of the British Empire upon Miss McLean by the late King George V, who personally invested her at Buckingham Palace. After her retirement Miss McLean travelled extensively throughout the British Isles, Europe, and the Near East.

“The Reporter,” the journal of the college, paid the following tribute to the former principal in 1926: “To have inspired and controlled such a school for so many years is to have given a valuable life’s work in the service of the community... Tangible, visible results of her work stand for all to see in the Wellington East Girls’ College buildings, due chiefly to her efforts to obtain better quarters for the school, and in the long roll of names on the school honour board. But the greatest influence, the far-reaching one on the mind and character of youth, cannot be measured by us.”

1893-09-16. Science Lecture Room, Timaru High School. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 16 September 1893, p.207. View this page on Papers Past: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-graphic/1893/09/16/15. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18930916-0207-01

1912-01-17 Moulders of young New Zealand's character - State school teachers who attended the recent conference at Timaru. The New Zealand Graphic and Ladies Journal, 17 January 1912, p.28. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-graphic/1912/01/17/28
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19120117-0028-02

South Island college jubilee: Timaru high schools celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their foundation

The golden jubilee of the Timaru Boys' and Girls' High Schools, which were originally founded as one school, fifty years ago, was celebrated over the Easter vacations with great enthusiasm. The various functions, which lasted four days, were attended by a large gathering of the Old Boys and Girls of the school. Not only will the reunion live long in the memories of all those who participated, but according to the Rector Mr. W. Thomas, it cannot fail to be a source of great strength to the school. A photograph of 11 pictures showing this celebration. 1. The Rev. Clyde Carr, M.P., addressing the gathering at the official opening the jubilee. 2. Parade from the Girls' to the Boys' High School for divine service. 3. Old boys of the School assembled for roll call. 4. Old girls, all pupils of the first decade before the School was divided into separate schools for boys and girls. 5. A portion of the huge assembly which attended divine service at the Boys' High School on the Sunday. 6. The building of the Timaru Boy's High School, Timaru. 7. Miss J. Barr, Principal of the Girls' High School, calling the roll, with Mrs. Kemshed, President of the Old Girls' Association, also on the platform. 8. Pupils of the second decade. 9. Pupils of the first decade. 10. The building of the Girls' High School, Timaru. 11. The last of the series of delightful functions: A garden party at the Girls' High School.

Supplement to the Auckland Weekly News, 30 April 1930, p.50

Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19300430-50-01

 THE TIMARU HIGH SCHOOL.