Chilton Old Girls Association - Annual Reports

President's letter

Dear Old Girls,

COGA is actively involved in a number of ways - providing books for the library, prizes etc but what of an enduring presence that the current girls can look at and think, the Old GIrls' Heritiage Corridor is an example of an enduring presence and this is regularly updated for the girls to view a slice of Chilton history.  The School Archivist and Associate Member of COGA, Sue Blundell, is very good at keeping our history alive.  The Historical Trust pour hours of their time to ensuring we have good records.

We continue to be part of the Colours Assembly (and we are on the constant look out for speakers!), the Year 13 Mentors' Breakfast on International Women's Day in March and in the Junior School Prize Giving.

I look forward to a new year and as always, I encourage you to let me know if you have any good suggestions as to how COGA can be a strong Association for our school.  My thanks to the Committee and especially to Merran who has done an exemplary job, always with a smile.

Take care and best regards

Michelle Luping

Chilton Historical Trust - Annual Report

This year we have assisted in some of the projects carried out by the School Archives under Sue Blundell.  The generous gift to the Trust from COGA, added to their 2004-05 capitation sum (we receive 1/6th from all subscriptions paid) brought the total to  $3485 - and this has enabled us to make some useful contributions to the work of the Archives.

The supplementary Team shields which we told you about last year are complete with their silver stars and now hang in the Heritage Corridor.  They complement the four original Team shields and their stars and Team emblems already hanging there.   Now that the stars have been in place for a year, we are consulting with Sherrington Jewellers on how best to manage the cleaning of the stars and protecting them from damage.

CHT has donated funds to the Archives to enable several photographs from the past to be enlarged to poster size and block-mounted; these informal snaps of the girls at work and play from 1918 to the 1980s contribute to a changing display in the foyer of FitzGerald House. Already they have attracted the interest of girls and staff who pass through the foyer to and from the Library.

Further old photographs have been enlarged and framed for the collection of whole school groups - viz. the named whole school 1949 group; and the 1931 group on the front lawn taken by Miss Greenwood with her revolving panoramic camera. This remarkable picture deserves its place in the entrance hall to FitzGerald House;  some years ago the National Library Gallery selected it for its exhibition of panoramic photos from the early 1900s; perhaps we are biased in suggesting it stole the show!

We are happy to report also that the glass display cases both in the Corridor and the Library which house changing displays throughout the year - most skilfully mounted by Sue Blundell - have now been given filters of UV-blocking film in order to reduce fading that strong natural light has produced on some of the dolls and other artifacts displayed in them.  This work was carried out by a local firm Cadre Windowfilms, recommended by Kim Townley, curator of Wellington's Colonial Cottage Museum.

We have reimbursed Angela Corrigan for materials used for the final group of 11 dolls she has made and dressed in the sports uniforms of past decades - 1918 through to the 2000s.  They form a stunning record of the old uniforms and are now displayed in the Library case for the girls to enjoy.

In progress as we go to press is the refurbishing of the School Banner.  Both the pole and the banner itself had become worn with decades of use, so the wooden pole with its carved boss at the top and crossbar on which the banner hangs, are now with Mr Peter Dawson who we know will make an expert job of restoring them.  Worn parts of the banner are being restitched by an Old Girl embroiderer.  It will be back in service for the coming St James's Day - it still is carried up the aisle of the Church by two members of the School Council preceding the entry of the whole school in their red blazers.

We have been trying to find out when this present banner was made, and by whom.  It is thought to have been the third banner the School has had. The first banner was made in 1920 for the parade on the occasion of the visit of the Prince of Wales in May of that year. The second banner was made just before the Golden Jubilee in 1968 by Mrs June Starke and a band of skilled parent helpers. Some of the girls also were allowed to add stitches. The gold lettering, the sword and scallop shell were all hand- embroidered by these volunteers. This banner succumbed to the ravages of time some years ago and is now carefully preserved in a special box in the Archives. Somebody who was at School in the 1970s-80s may remember the making of the latest banner, probably carried out in the late 1970s. Please write to us if you can throw any light on its origins. The scallop shell and handle of the sword were fashioned from fine kid leather dyed silvery white.

Margaret Maynard has continued to give assistance in researching and preserving photographs from the 1960s working back to 1918. The 1930s photos are now almost completed, with those of the 1920s and prior, remaining. The Chilton House photos from 1897-1930 also have been completed. For most of these early photos Sue has had copies scanned to add to her superbly organised photograph files.  The originals and the digital copies are now kept at different sites, as also are the CDs that store the images. This ensures that this precious resource is triplicated. Belinda Hector (Bogle) and Nancy Earle (Bullen) have our sincere thanks for their assistance in identifying so many of the old photos. 

Sue Blundell, her assistant and School Librarian Susan Marshall, and Margaret Maynard had the pleasure of hosting the monthly meeting of the Wellington Sole Archivists' Group in the Chilton Archives recently. Our archivists received high praise for the excellence of the archives, noting storage and retrieval systems, and Sue's excellent use of the material in fostering the interest of current pupils in their School. We are truly fortunate in having two such skilled and committed people caring for the Archives.

Yes, we still have some projects in mind for the coming year!

Ann Davidson, Margaret Maynard

From the School Archivist - Mrs Sue Blundell

Dear Old Girls,

There always seems to be work to complete in the Archives. I no sooner finish one task and another is waiting. And of course there is the on-going filing, naming and accessioning of material from the present day school. Each year I feel more and more a part of the School since its establishment in 1918. Mrs Margaret Maynard (Morison) and I have been filing and preserving the many photographs we have in our collection dating from the Schools earliest years. A very special thank you to those of you who have donated photographs to the archives and also those who have loaned us their personal albums allowing us to have photographs copied to add to our growing collection. Photographs bring alive the school over the years. We are now in the process of having some of our informal group photographs made into large block prints to be displayed around the School. We hope to have enough of these done to enable us to regularly change the displays.

Another major task for me in this past year has been the scanning of our formal Year Groups, Sport and Performing Arts photographs to disks. These are to be transferred to the school computers to allow easy access for interested people. My next formidable task is to scan the informal photographs we have in our collection. I will not be able to do them all but will select the best of them, maybe the most difficult task of all!

As usual our dolls dressed in uniforms of the past and present make a wonderful display and are always being noticed and admired by the girls as they pass through the Old Girls' corridor in FitzGerald House.Angela Corrigan (Petersen) introduced her latest dolls to the School at the Sports Dinner held at the end of Term Three last year. These delightful dolls are dressed in the PE uniforms of the past, dating from the original itchy flannel dress through to the sports clothing of the 1970's. She is at present working to bring the series up to the present day uniform plus one of the dolls is to be wearing the woollen swimming costume worn in the 1920-30's. How our 2006 girls would hate to wear those!

The Chilton Historical Trust continue to support me with my work and I am most grateful for their support and interest in the preservation of our archival material. Mrs Maynard still works with me on a regular basis and her devotion to and love of the School is to be admired.

Regards, Sue Blundell

The first school banner

first published in the Chiltonian of 1948, tells the story of the origin of Chilton's banner....

 Nesta V. Mason

The 7th day of May, 1920, was a memorable occasion. It was 'Children's Day' when the present Duke of Windsor, then Prince of Wales and visiting New Zealand, was to review school children assembled from the Wellington district. Great were the preparations. Miss Cranston, one of the staff, embroidered the first School Banner, and for days the girls had marched round the school grounds and up and down the street. The practising was thorough in the extreme. Repeatedly did the girls enter and leave the bus (the verandah), line up on Lambton Quay (the front asphalt), march up Bowen Street (the drive), and salute the Prince of Wales (Nancy Bullen, aged 4). They knew how to carry the Banner, when to put on their coats, when to take them off, when to stand, when to walk, when to eat their lunches. They were prepared for every contingency except the one that occurred. On the great day the Prince passed by far below us, and we saw nothing of him except the top of his head!

Back we got into our 'bus'  (it was a lorry to be quite accurate) and were whirled out to Petone Beach. Here they had erected a grandstand round an enclosure in which the Prince was to enjoy a pageant depicting the first landing on Wellington soil. We were in our seats long before anyone else, and sat expectantly for an hour. However, we saw even less of the pageant than of the Prince, since, before even the audience had begun to appear, a member of the School Board, really upset not so much by the fact that we had not seen the Prince as by the possibility that the Prince would leave New Zealand without seeing us - brought us a hurried request to evacuate the enclosure at once. He had heard that the Royal Car would pass the Petone railway station in a quarter of an hour and Chilton Saint James must be there! Our progress to the station, the one unrehearsed activity of the day, was the only one that brought the desired fulfilment. Breathless, we lined up before the station, straightened the banner, our hats and our hair. The Royal Car tore past us, the girls rushed into a sudden salute, the Prince waved his hat in acknowledgment, and all was over, except the getting home again, on foot this time. The School was tough in those days!

The origins of the Chilton Houses

Hansell

Blue - Gloucester House

Blue Team with its symbol of wings was also one of the three original teams established early in the schools history. The blonde girls were placed in this house. The division into Teams seemed satisfactory until the sports teams became of more importance in the school life. To distinguish more clearly between the sports teams and the four School Teams, Miss Hough changed the name to Gloucester. In 1957 the name then changed to Hansell, commemorating Archdeacon Arthur Hansell, Vicar of Saint James Church in the early years of the school.

Archdeacon Hansell's connection with Chilton began when he was approached with tentative plans for a new school in 1917. With his encouragement and help Chilton Saint James was opened at the beginning of 1918. He became School Chaplain, a position he held until his retirement at the end of 1932. His two daughters, Alice and Gwen, attended the School at its beginning and Alice's daughters, Margaret and Marjory Davies were pupils at Chilton in the 1940's. Archdeacon Hansell and his wife continued to attend functions at Chilton even when they moved to Karori. Their influence was deep and abiding.

Lewis

Orange - Winchester House

As the School grew, the addition of another Team was necessary and Orange joined the ranks, with its badge the scallop shell . It was later to become Winchester and two years later Lewis, named after Miss Annie Lewis, a long serving Matron of the boarding house. In 1990 it also underwent a colour change to yellow.

Coming to Chilton in its early formative years under Miss FitzGerald, Miss Lewis was one of the idealists whose standards were an example for generations that followed. She gave more than twenty years of service to the School and there are relatively few of her ex-boarders whose chests she did not rub when they were sick, hair she did not wash and characters she helped to form. Miss FitzGerald spoke of her work as being the finest she had seen in a Matron at Chilton or any other school. Aways a sympathetic listener, Miss Lewis was loyal and generous. She retired in 1946 to live at York Bay. She died in 1959.

Benbow

Green - York House

Green Team was one of the original three teams established in the Schools early years. At one time all the brown or black haired girls were placed in Green Team! In 1955 Miss Hough, Headmistress at the time changed the name to York House, but in 1957 Miss Ryan became Principal and thought it more appropriate to name the house Benbow to commemorate Miss Ella Benbow who had given time and energy to build the school for present and future generations of children.

Miss Ella Benbow came to Chilton in 1926 having met Miss FitzGerald in London the year before. A gifted pianist she gave her first recital in the Wellington Town Hall soon after her arrival. Her performance impressed the critics of the day. She is remembered for her gift of bringing out the best in her pupils and during her time the standard of music in the school reached a high level. As well as teaching the piano, harmony and rudiments of music, she trained the choir and the school pipe ochestra. She wrote the music for the School Hymn, the Dedication Hymn and chant for the Benedicite as well as music for numerous school productions. After nearly 30 years as Music Mistress at Chilton, Miss Benbow retired in 1955 to live in Bournemouth, England where she died.

Miss Benbow gave of herself completely in her dedication to the School and its music life. Her influence has long been felt.

Stowe

Red - Leicester House

Red Team was another of the Chilton Saint James School original three teams. The three original teams often took for themselves the names "Chilton", "Saint" and "James". Not surprisingly the red headed girls were placed in Red Team! In 1955 Red Team was called Leicester House but in 1957 was renamed Stowe after Miss Sylvia Stowe. Miss Sylvia Stowe was one of the founders of the school. Prior to 1918 she helped raise the money to buy the property in Waterloo Road that we now know as FitzGerald House. She was affectionately known as one of the School's  Godmothers. A bequest after Miss Stowe's death was used to form the Stowe Library of reference books.