St Mary’s College was one of the earliest schools established in Wellington and may be the longest functioning school in the city. The Main Building (Gabriel Hall) is one of the oldest parts of the complex and helps to maintain both the convent and school’s strong association with this site.
Bishop Viard arrived in Wellington in 1850 along with a group of French Marist Fathers and a group of young English women who had worked or trained as teachers in Auckland and Whangaroa. Land was purchased in Thorndon for church purposes and a cathedral (1851), bishop’s residence, convent (1850) and three separate schools were built on the site. These replaced an earlier multi-denominational ‘Classical and Elementary English School,’ led by the Rev. J.J.P. O’Reily, that had operated from St Mary’s Chapel since 1847.
A girl’s convent school opened on the Hill Street site in 1850 and this moved from the convent building into an adjacent purpose-built timber building in 1852. A separate boy’s school opened in 1851 and this was led by a male teacher, Robert Huntley. The third school, named The Providence of St Joseph’s Maori Girls College also opened in 1852. The Providence was a charitable foundation and later became an orphanage / industrial school. It moved to a larger site in Upper Hutt in 1910 and a remnant of the original 1852 building, known as the St Joseph’s Providence porch, remains on the site of the current girl’s school.
Sister Mary Cecilia (Catherine McCann) was initially placed in charge of the convent and girls’ school. McCann had previously taught a class of 103 girls at St Patrick’s School in Auckland, alongside Robert Huntley who taught a class of 118 boys. The convent school, like the earlier ‘Classical and Elementary English School’ continued to accept girls of all denominations as both day students and boarders, and some travelled from as far as Otago to attend the new school. McCann later moved to lead the Providence and was replaced by 21-year old Sister Mary Joseph (Mary Ann McGarvey) as Senior Sister of the convent and school. The rules of conduct imposed by Bishop Viard were so strict that there was no visiting allowed between sisters of the convent and the Providence, even though the two institutions were sited within a few minutes walk of each other.
By 1861 the original ‘group of devout young ladies’ had either fallen ill, moved away or died, and a group of Sisters of Mercy arrived from Auckland to ‘take over’ the convent, including the convent school and the Providence. The Sisters of Mercy convent continues to operate alongside the college to this day (although the present structure dates from 1961). There are no remaining Sisters on the teaching staff, but they remain the Proprietors of the college and have an active presence on the board of trustees.
Although the school had been teaching secondary education for many years it was not officially registered as a college until 1926, which may have led to the decision to build a new main building. Clere and Clere were retained to prepare designs and these were ready by August 1929. The contractors were Fletcher Construction. The permit was issued on 26 February 1930 and the estimated cost was £22,883. The building had a central portion containing the Hall, around which were 14 classrooms. The building’s main façade faced Hawkestone Street and was comprised of a four storey block of classrooms; the ‘rear’ façade incorporated the single storey hall flanked on either side by two storey classroom blocks. Although the school continued to expand, the main building remained the focus of the College’s activities.
The college closed its boarding facilities in 1976, the 50th anniversary of the registration of the college. In 1984, faced with rising maintenance costs, the school decided to demolish almost all of the main building including the four and two storey blocks of classrooms. The single storey hall was retained and incorporated into the new block of modern brick-clad classrooms.
Gabriel Hall is a remnant of a much larger building and its significance has been diminished by the demolition of the classrooms that formed the bulk of the original structure. However, what remains has significant aesthetic value both in its exterior design and in the quality of its impressive interior space – the College Hall. It is a splendid example of the work of Clere and Clere and exemplifies their competence in designing collegiate buildings.
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