"THE HEART OF THE VILLAGE" What determined the spatial distribution of North Canterbury Rural schools 1850-1940? A thesis submitted ln partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Geography in the University of Canterbury by A.M.F. Davies university of Canterbury 1993 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE FRONTISPIECE l CONTENTS ii FIGURES v TABLES vii ABSTRACT viii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1. Thesis Objectives . 4 2. THE THEORY OF EDUCATION AND THE STATE 11 1. Introduction. .......................... .. 11 2. Background of Education.................. 11 3. Nature of State Involvement.............. 13 4. Causes of State Involvement.............. 21 5. Canterbury Studies....................... 24 6. Conclusion............................... 30 3. THE HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND EDUCATION 31 1. Introduction............................. 31 2. British Background....................... 34 3. New Zealand. ........................... .. 42 4. Canterbury. .... .. ............... .. 45 5. The Founders............................. 54 iii CONTENTS CNTD. 6. Conclusion. ............................ .. 57 4. THE SPREAD AND RETRENCHMENT OF RURAL SCHOOLS 60 1. Introduction. .......................... .. 60 2. Openings. .............................. .. 61 3. Attendance. ............................ .. 83 4. School Retrenchment.. ............. .. ... .. 86 5. Falling Rolls...... .. 90 6. Consolidations........................... 93 7. Conclusions 101 5. "HEART OF THE VILLAGE" 103 1. The Church Connection 106 2. Libraries and Post Offices 108 3. Entertainments, Societies and Sports 110 4. Conclusion. ............................ .. 114 6. TRANSPORT AND THE RURAL SCHOOL 117 1. Introduction 118 2. Background , 120 3 . Canterbury. ............................ .. 126 4. Railways 128 5. Roads and the Motor Vehicle " 135 6. Conclusion. ............................ .. 147 lV CONTENTS CNTD. 7. THESIS CONCLUSION 143 1. Introduction. .......................... .. 143 2. Research Problems 148 3. Future Research 152 8. APPENDICES 1. Letter to Hekoao settlement 156 2. Statutes of New Zealand relating to elementary education, 1877-1940 157 3. Founders and important men of Canterbury 159 1. James Fitzgerald 159 2. William Rolleston 160 3. George Bowen... ................... .. 162 4. William Moorhouse 162 5. Henry Sewell. ..................... .. 163 6. Henry Tancred 164 7. William Fox 166 4. Average school attendance tables 168 5. References 244 v LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 2-1 The two sides of system processing in education. .................................... .. 19 2-2 Links between structure and agency in rural Canterbury showing important factors...... 25 3-1 Map of New Zealand showing the study area. .... .. 33 4-1 Changes in the control of Canterbury Education , 63 4-2 Map showing the schools open in North Canterbury in 1870.............................. 70 4-3 Map showing the schools open in North Canterbury in 1874.............................. 71 4-4 The pathways toward the establishment of a rural school.................................... 72 4-5 Map of the Mead area. ......................... .. 75 4-6 The layout of the Barrhill township............. 77 4-7 New Zealand population growth. ................ .. 80 4-8 Canterbury population growth. ................. .. 80 4-9 Schools open in 1874 and 1885................... 84 4-10 Factors leading to and consequences of retrenchment. ................................. .. 88 4-11 Leamington school average attendances 1869-1906. .................................... .. 91 4-12 Map showing the schools consolidated into Hawarden. ..................................... .. 96 5-1 Functions of the rural school 105 6-1 The outcomes of transport changes on the rural school.................................... 122 6-2 The backward links of sea and river ports 124 vi Figures Contd. 6-3 The railways of North Canterbury " 132 6-4 Schools open in North Canterbury in 1926 and 1940. ..................................... .. 142 7-1 Distribution of schools, 1850-1940 149 7-2 Distribution of schools on Banks Peninsula, 1850-1940 " 150 vii LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 3-1 Committee and Officers of the Canterbury Association. .................................. .. 49 3-2 Religious Denominations................... 50 4-1 Canterbury Population and Numbers Attending School as at 1863............................... 67 4-2 Number of schools in New Zealand 1875-1940...... 81 4-3 Consolidations in North Canterbury to 1940...... 97 6-1 Opening of Northern Rail Lines 133 viii ABSTRACT When the Province of Canterbury was established by the Canterbury Association its founders looked at the English system of education and saw many of its problems. Education was seen as a panacea for many of the ills of the 19th century but the system in Britain was dependent on the churches, and with the increasing population and rural-urban migration the system became overloaded. A factor which saw state involvement become essential. As the Canterbury founders wanted to avoid importing many of the British problems education was seen as a high priority. This thesis looks at how the state influenced the development of the education system in the North Canterbury Education Board region, as defined in 1900, over the period of 1850 to 1940. With the spatial distribution of elementary schools and their effects on the community being of particular interest. In Canterbury while the initial momentum originated from the aims of the founders, the rural communities took the initiative and following meetings, and some Education Board funding, they founded area schools. Attention is paid to the school as the "heart of the village" and its use for many non-educational purposes. These included utilisation as the post-office, the library, the museum and the entertainment, social and sporting centre. A special look is taken at the ix transport advancements which led to the loss of services In many rural areas and thus the loss of population and a decline in school rolls. This in turn led to the beginning of the school bus service in 1924 and the acceleration of the closure of many small schools as a system of consolidations took place. Many of the changes in the spatial distribution of schools in the North Canterbury region were due to the actions of the state in the passing of various regulations the first and most pivotal during the peri.od studied, 1850-1940, being that of the 1877 Education Act. This was followed by many others, the most important dealing compulsory attendance, another factor influential in changing the map of schools in the reglon. From this study it can be seen that the school was regarded as being the most important feature of the community. Regardless of age or religious beliefs everyone was able to have an interest in it and the school acted as a unifying factor for the district. 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION "To be ignorant of what occured before you were born is always to remain a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?" Cicero Over the years the discipline of geography has under gone many changes. It was long regarded, by the general public, as the learning of the spatial positions and names of global features both natural and man-made, e.g. rivers, mountains, seas and cities. Today the attitude has changed and geography has matured to encompass studies of the total spectrum of natural and human activity and the consideration of the effects of those activities in both the historical and present contexts. Overtime the effects of human actions can encompass a wide range of areas from the physical modification of the natural environment to that of the individual's internal space. To understand how a community or region has reached the form it presents today the historical geographer attempts to detect and explain the processes which have occurred, usually between two points .i.n time. this thesis looks at the geographic effect of one set of actions carried both by the state and individuals within a geographic and administrative region. The process concerned being that of the distribution of rural elementary schools over a period of approximately 90 years, with particular reference to school openings and closings. 2 In a way similar, to that of geography, the subj ect of education has evolved greatly over the years. From the study of what is taught, by whom and to whom, to include the broader aspects of where and under what circumstances the knowledge is being disseminated. This change also involves the results of the actions of government and individuals, and it is here that the geographic link is made in this thesis. Educationalists began, in the period between the wars, to realise that many of the areas that geographers studied e.g. environmental and spatial factors, could have a major effect on learning abilities and educational outcomes. One such factor being the placement of schools within a suitable environment both in the urban and rural sectors. In any geographic or educational study it is important to consider research within the general subject heading and that of inter-related subjects e.g. sociology and psychology. In any subject new research builds upon that of others within the field, taking it to new levels and asking on-going research questions, but in order to advance scholarship a good knowledge of previous work is required. Although many geographers, such as Liz Bondi, have looked at educational subjects little research has been