Marlborough Boys' College

Story

Marlborough Boys' College is a single-sex secondary school in Blenheim, New Zealand.HistoryOverviewThe first board of Marlborough High School met on 13 November 1899. Three acres on Stephenson Street (1.2 hectares) were purchased for £600 and another 3acre were donated by Thomas Carter, taking the grounds through to Francis Street. Dr John Innes was appointed the first Head Teacher. The school opened in the Church Of Nativity Sunday School building on Alfred Street, on 26 March 1900, with 18 pupils attending on the first day. The cornerstone for the first school building on the Stephenson Street site was laid on 22 September 1900.Marlborough High School was co-educational and fee paying with free places to those who could not afford it but who had proved themselves able in the proficiency examination. The change in name from Marlborough High School to Marlborough College was made in 1919.In 1926 Mr Stewart (Principal) was awarded a travelling scholarship to visit junior high schools in Canada and the United States. The department of education was interested in incorporating a Junior High (Intermediate) into the College structure. In 1927 an intermediate (forms 1 and 2 or years 7 and 8 in current terminology) was established on the site with 275 pupils taking the total roll to 557. The intermediate continued on the site until 1957, when roll pressures required the establishment of Bohally Intermediate on Mclauchlan Street.In 1963 the Marlborough Girls' College was founded and Marlborough Boys' College continued on the original site. The first official discussion on the division of the college having taken place in June 1947. Mr Insull the Principal at the time suggested that “the time would come when the board would have to consider the question of separate boys’ and girls’ schools … and that the girls school might be established on the other side of town (Mclauchlan Street)". (Marlborough Express, June 10, 1947)