Wellington College, New Zealand

History

Wellington College opened in 1867 as Wellington Grammar School in Woodward Street, though Sir George Grey gave the school a deed of endowment in 1853. In 1869 the school moved to a new, spired, wooden building on the hills above the central city in Clifton Terrace from where it could be seen from many places in Wellington. In 1874 the college opened in a much larger building at its present location. The former boarding establishment at the College, Firth House, was named after Joseph Firth, the headmaster from 1892 to 1921.

Wellington College's Pavilion, Firth House, and the Gifford Observatory were opened on 1 December, 1924. The War Memorial Hall was opened on 2 March, 1928, financially supported by £6000 from the Old Boys' Association. The War Memorial Hall and classroom wings were demolished by the Ministry of Works and replaced in the 1960s with a new hall and seven-storey Tower classroom block due to its lack of earthquake reinforcements. The stained glass window from the front of the War Memorial Hall is now in the front of the existing hall.

In the 1960s the Old Boys Gymnasium was built on the eastern boundary of the campus replacing the swimming pool and during the 1970s the Maths, Library, and Technology blocks were opened, replacing the last of the War Memorial Hall building and classroom wings that opened in 1928.

In 1980 Firth House was demolished to make way for a new gymnasium which opened in 1982. 1988 saw the opening of the Arts and Music block, and the Brierley Theatre, named after old boy Ron Brierley.

The first dedicated computer rooms in the College opened in 1994 in a new building behind the school hall.

2001 saw the Science block's opening on the western boundary of the campus. In 2008 the Languages block opened, also located on the west boundary.

The campus also has many prefabricated buildings, some functioning as offices or classrooms.

The only "historical" buildings remaining on campus to this day are Firth Hall, the Pavilion, and the Gifford Observatory.

In 2016, the College Hall was demolished to make way for a larger Assembly Hall and Performing Arts Centre, which would be able to hold the entire school with its growing population. In preparation for this, the staffroom was moved to Firth Hall, the Uniform Shop opened a new premise next to the Archives, and the Computer Block was opened on the first floor of Tower Block. Construction on the new hall commenced in September 2016 and was opened in 2018 by Jacinda Ardern.

About

Wellington College's enrolment zone mainly covers the central and western suburbs of Wellington, (Rongotai College serves the southeastern suburbs, and Onslow College the northern suburbs).

The school also competes in a local athletics competition known as "McEvedy Shield" along with St. Patrick's College (Town), St. Patrick's College (Silverstream) and Rongotai College. Historically, Wellington College has won the shield more than any other school.

It is next to Wellington East Girls' College, also in Mount Victoria, and shares with that college the Gifford Observatory. Although Wellington College is situated next to Wellington East Girls' College, its sister college is Wellington Girls' College located in Thorndon.

In 2011, 2012, and 2013, Wellington College earned the highest number of scholarships in the New Zealand scholarship exams.

Board of trustees

The Wellington College Board of Trustees consists of twelve elected and appointed members.

Currently the Board Chair is Cameron Harland, who is also the Chief Executive at NZ On Air

Notable alumni

Main article: People educated at Wellington College, Wellington

The Arts

• John Beaglehole – historian
• Colin Beyer – lawyer and businessman
• Roy Cowan – potter, illustrator, and printmaker
• Maxwell Fernie – organist, conductor and music teacher
• Alexander Grant – ballet dancer, teacher, and company director
• W. Gray Young – architect
• Jonathan Harlen – author
• Dai Henwood – comedian
• Raybon Kan – writer and comedian
• Bret McKenzie – Academy Award-winning songwriter and member of Flight of the Conchords
• Gordon McLauchlan – writer
• John Mulgan – editor, writer, journalist and Army officer
• Clive Matthew-Wilson – writer
• David Mitchell – poet
• Don Peebles – artist
• Robert J. Pope – songwriter, poet, cricketer
• Jack Shallcrass – author, educator, and humanist
• Burton Silver – cartoonist, parodist, and writer
• Charles Treadwell – lawyer, soldier, author and politician
• Karl Urban – actor
• Clement Gordon Watson – editor, journalist, soldier, communist activist
• Kenneth Athol Webster – collector and dealer of manuscripts, fine art, and ethnographic artifacts associated with Oceanic peoples.

Broadcasting & journalism

• Edward George Honey – Australian journalist credited by some as the originator of the Two-minute silence tradition
• John Campbell – journalist, radio and television personality
• Graeme Moody – sports broadcaster
• Keith Quinn – TV and radio sports presenter
• Chris Spence – journalist
• Selwyn Toogood – radio and television personality.
• Bryan Waddle – cricket commentator & radio presenter

Business

• Ron Brierley – businessman
• George Burnes – businessman and first-class cricketer
• Stewart Duff – businessman, civic advocate and politician
• Alan Gibbs – businessman
• Saul Goldsmith – importer and merchant
• Michael Hirschfeld – businessman, and was President of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1995 to 1999.
• Arthur Myers – businessman and politician
• Steve Outtrim – businessman
• Frank Renouf – businessman
• Stephen Town – chief executive

Public service

• Henry Avery – New Zealand's Quartermaster General during World War Two and former All Black
• Grafton Francis Bothamley – Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives
• George T. Bolt – public servant, served as chairman of the Public Service Commission
• Alfred Brandon (mayor) – Mayor of Wellington
• Alfred Brandon (RAF officer) – lawyer and military aviator who served in the First World War
• Edmund Percy Bunny – Mayor of Lower Hutt
• John Gibbs Churchill – trade unionist and local politician
• Arthur Coningham – World War II commander and World War I Air Ace. Portrayed in the film Patton
• Ken Douglas – trade union leader and politician
• James Lloyd Findlay – soldier and air force officer who served in both World Wars.
• Bernard Freyberg – Governor-General, World War I VC Winner and World War II commander
• Les Gandar – politician of the National Party.
• William Gaudin – politician
• Thomas Gault – Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand
• William Gentry – World War II commander
• Thomas Goddard – jurist
• Lord Grey of Naunton – last Governor of Northern Ireland
• Hamish Hancock – former National Party MP for Horowhenua and a lawyer
• Frederick Hanson – World War II commander, subsequently Commissioner of Works at the Ministry of Works
• Michael Hardie Boys – former Governor-General of New Zealand
• Thomas Hislop – Mayor of Wellington from 1931 to 1945
• Don Hunn CNZM – senior New Zealand diplomat, civil servant, and State Services Commissioner
• Thomas Jordan – was the mayor of Masterton from 1925 to 1944, and was a teacher and then lawyer.
• John Larkindale – former New Zealand public servant and diplomat
• Ngātata Love – academic and Treaty negotiator
• John Levy MacDuff – lawyer and magistrate
• Aussie Malcolm – former National Party politician
• Peter Malone – veterinary surgeon and politician
• Rex Mason – politician
• Colin McLeod – civil engineer, who served as the Commissioner of Works between 1973 and 1981.
• Frank Moore – political activist
• Norman Harold Moss – Mayor of Stratford, New Zealand from 1947 to 1957.
• Michael Myers – judge
• Humphrey O'Leary – Chief Justice of New Zealand, from 1946 to 1953.
• Matthew Oram – lawyer, politician, Speaker of Parliament
• Graham Beresford Parkinson – World War II commander
• Paul Reeves – former Governor-General of New Zealand
• Adrian G. Rodda – senior civil servant and Chairman of the State Services Commission
• Eric Roussell – Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives
• Rino Tirikatene – Labour Party politician and a former MP
• Alastair Scott – politician
• Tom Seddon – politician of the Liberal Party, and a lawyer in Greymouth
• Charles Skerrett – fifth Chief Justice of New Zealand, from 1926 to 1929
• Ron Smith – public servant, communist and peace activist
• Duncan Stout – medic, soldier and author
• William Ball Sutch – New Zealand public servant, put on trial for espionage
• Geoff Thompson – former New Zealand politician of the National Party.
• Ray Wallace – Mayor of Lower Hutt from 2010 to 2019
• Thomas Wilford – politician
• Hugh Williams – former president of the New Zealand Electoral Commission and a retired judge of the High Court of New Zealand. From 2016 to 2022 he was Chief Justice of the Cook Islands.
• Bill Young – politician representing the National Party

Science

• George Leslie Adkin – farmer, geologist, ethnologist, photographer, and environmentalist.
• Brian Barratt-Boyes – New Zealand cardiothoracic surgeon
• David Beaglehole – New Zealand physicist
• David Benney – emeritus professor and former head of the Department of Mathematics at MIT
• Ian Foster – computer scientist
• Murray Hill – seed technologist
• Diamond Jenness – anthropologist in Canada
• William Pickering – former Head of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (space scientist)
• Philip Robertson – chemist, university professor and writer
• John Salmon – photographer, entomologist, academic, conservationist, and author.
• Jonathan Sarfati – creationist, scientist, and New Zealand Chess Champion
• Fred White – New Zealand-born Australian physicist and ornithologist who was Chairman of CSIRO

Sport

• Leni Apisai – rugby union player
• Ernest Beechey – cricketer
• Charles Benbow – cricketer
• Ernest Bezzant – cricketer
• James Blackwell – rugby union player
• Perry Freshwater – rugby union player for Leicester Tigers and England Rugby
• Nelson Asofa-Solomona – rugby league player for Melbourne Storm
• Trevor Barber – cricketer
• Wally Barclay – cricketer
• Tom Blundell – professional cricketer for the Wellington Firebirds and New Zealand Black Caps
• Leo Bertos – former professional football player for the Wellington Phoenix, Rochdale A.F.C., Perth Glory FC and the All Whites
• Harry Boam – cricketer for the Wellington Firebirds
• Craig Bradshaw – Former Professional Basketballer, and member of New Zealand Tall Blacks
• George Bridgewater – New Zealand rower
• Tim Brown – former professional footballer for the Wellington Phoenix and the All Whites. Also co-founder of Allbirds
• Ralph Caulton – All Black
• Dane Coles – All Black
• David Collins – cricketer
• Ambrose Curtis – rugby union player
• Victor du Chateau – cricketer
• Ernie Dodd – rugby union player
• Quentin Donald – rugby union player
• Ross Durant – football player for New Zealand All Whites
• Bill Dustin – cricketer
• Simon Elliott – former football player with the Los Angeles Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes and New Zealand All Whites
• Ken Elliott – All black
• Marc Ellis – former All Black, entertainer, businessman
• James Franklin – cricketer, plays for Black Caps and Wellington Firebirds
• Wilfred Findlay – cricketer, soldier and businessman
• Henry Foley – cricketer
• Perry Freshwater – English rugby union player
• Wes Goosen – Rugby Union player for
• Reggie Goodes – former South African-born rugby union player
• Frank Glasgow – rugby union player
• Hāmi Grace – cricketer
• Christian Gray – association football player
• Ken Gray – All Black
• Bernard Griffiths – cricketer
• Jack Griffiths (rugby union) – rugby union player
• Charlie Gubb – former rugby league player for New Zealand Warriors
• Everett Hales – cricketer
• Brian Hastings – cricketer
• Kemara Hauiti-Parapara – rugby union player
• TJ Ioane – rugby union player
• Frank Joplin – cricketer
• Joe Latta – rugby union player
• Tiny Leys – rugby union player
• Martin Luckie – cricketer
• Frank Luxford – cricketer
• Brian Marris – cricketer
• Onny Parun – tennis player
• Dion Prewster – Professional Basketballer, and member of New Zealand Tall Blacks.
• Euan Robertson – distance runner
• Lima Sopoaga – All Black
• Peter Taylor – New Zealand rower
• Neemia Tialata – All Black
• Filo Tiatia – All Black
• Ian Uttley – All Black
• Phillip Wilson – Olympic gold medallist rower

Headmasters

Coat of arms

References

References

1. "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education.
2. (7 May 2022). "'Everyone has a place here': Aroha in education vital, new college principal says". [[Stuff (website).
3. William Main, ''Wellington Through a Victorian lens revisited'', Steele Roberts Publishers, Wellington, 2011, p. 25, the endpapers and the dustjacket.
4. Beasley, A.W.. (1992). "The Light Accepted : 125 Years of Wellington College". Board of Trustees of Wellington College.
5. [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WarEarl-t1-body-d21-d6-d2.html Wellington College.. NZETC]
6. (2018). "The allan Gibbs Centre". Wellington College Old Boys' Association.
7. "History of the McEvedy Shield".
8. (27 February 2013). "Wgtn College's stunning results". [[Stuff (website).
9. (August 2025). "Board of Trustees".
10. digitaljourney. "Our Board".
11. "Henry Avery #170".
12. Crawford, J. A. B.. "Gentry, William George".
13. (23 October 1999). "Lord Grey, 89, Queen's Last Governor in Ulster (Published 1999)". [[The New York Times.
14. "Ray Wallace". [[Hutt City Council]].
15. Dooney, Laura. (2017-07-25). "Wellington College headmaster Roger Moses to retire next year".
16. O'Dwyer, Ellen. (2021-11-01). "Wellington College principal Gregor Fountain resigns".
17. O'Dwyer, Ellen. (2022-02-22). "Basketball great and celebrated principal appointed as new Wellington College headmaster".
18. (2021). "What's in a motto". Wellington College Old Boys' Association.
19. Beasley, A. W.. (1987). "Address to the Assembly 15 October 1987". Wellington College.
20. ''[[Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland]]''. Vol. 69. p. 72.