WCOB Record

(B.A.,London), mathematical master, Mr. Francis (M.A.) second mathematical master, and M. Merlet, who had been connected with the College for two years previously, as master of modern languages. Mr. Francis was noted for his prowess in the cricket-field, and his equal as a cricketer has seldom been seen in Wellington. He was for years one of the best players in the Province, and his performances will long be remembered with pride by all those who take an interest in the athletic achievements of their old school.

Mr. Gammell did not long remain attached to the staff. He retired early in 1880, and was succeeded by Mr. Hogg (B.A., Cambridge). Mr. Gammell, soon after his retirement, assumed the control of the school Mr. Bowden had opened, and which occupied the building until recently used as the Girls’ High School.

In August of the same year Mr. Pridham (B.A., Dublin) succeeded Mr. Hogg, and in the following October Mr. Walton (B.A, Cambridge) was appointed junior master.

In order to supply a much-felt want the College staff undertook in 1879 to establish extra classes for girls, as a temporary expedient until the Governors should be in a position to establish a Girls’ High School. These classes were continued until the reorganisation of the College in 1881.

Again existing arrangements were found to be unsatisfactory, and a scheme of reorganisation was determined upon by the Governors, after careful and mature deliberation. As a result, in January, 1881, the whole of the staff received six months’ notice that their services would no longer be required, and the Governors proceeded to make fresh arrangements. It is a matter of extreme regret that, owing to financial difficulties, the College were to lose the valuable services of Messrs. Wilson and Hardy. The names of these gentlemen, for the past eight years, had been so completely identified with the success of the institution, that it was almost impossible to imagine its existence under other guidance, and they have left the imprint of their labours written indelibly on its records—a memento of their long and faithful work in the service of secondary education.

The new principal, Mr. Mackay (M.A., Aberdeen), late second master of Nelson College, was invested with full powers to select his staff. His choice fell upon Messrs. W. G. Thistle (B.A., Oxford), J. T. Barnicoat, and J. P. Firth, with M. Merlet as teacher of modern languages.

In the selection of Mr. Mackay the Governors were indeed fortunate, and after events fully realized their anticipations of his marked capabilities. Under his guidance the College attained to a degree of prosperity never before experienced, and although at the present time its progress has sustained a check, his services are still as valuable as ever, and his energies in no way lessened.

We might mention here that, in May, 1881, the College was dis-affiliated from the New