| Brief Description |
This is a photograhic print from the original glass whole plate negative of the Hurworth School Library in 1924. We can see bookshelves lining the walls, study tables arranged in the centre with a few seated seated at them doing their prep.
Ever heard of Bathwick School, or its successor Hurworth? Bathwick was a private school located on Somme Parade in Wanganui, founded in 1901. It was also known as Wanganui Preparatory School or Atkinson’s, named after the owner of the school, Mr William Edmund Atkinson. The subjects taught at Bathwick were English, History, Geography, Latin, French and Mathematics with little attention paid to algebra and Euclid (geometry). Science was not taught at Bathwick or at Hurworth later on because Atkinson was trained classically and did not rate the sciences.
The school was popular and by 1908 the expanding roll of 65 pupils had outgrown its grounds. A new school was built at the corner of College and Grey Streets, designed by architect L J Atkinson (no relation to the Principal). With new buildings came the new name of Hurworth, named after Mr Atkinson’s family home in New Plymouth.
Fees were low at Hurworth, costing only £24 per term in 1914 ($2,103.13 in today’s money). In an effort to keep fees low, Mrs Atkinson ran the catering department very efficiently and very cheaply. The school was known as the place “where they feed the boys so badly”.
Hurworth catered for boys from the ages of 7 to 13 years old. It was mainly a boarding school but also took on day boys.
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