ST. MARY'S INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL
PLEASE NOTE: The following report was done by ELiz O'Connell. When this was first posted I could not find who had posted it to the mailing list, but that error has since been corrected. Sorry if folks got the wrong impression that it was my work, it was not, all I did was post it to my site. ST. MARY'S INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL I understand the school (now Ngawhatu Hospital) is in Stoke - Polstead Road. The following are snippets taken from "The Boys in the Valley" by Dawn Smith; Journal of the Nelson and Marlbourough Historical Societies Vol 2 No. 5; pp 21-26; 1993: The use of the area for institutional housing began in 1885 when the RC authorities bought a 373 acre farm as the site for a boys' orphanage. The Church had begun caring for orphans in 1872, following the arrival in Nelson of the Sisters of the Mission. The number of children increased considerably after the St Mary's Orphanage was gazetted under the Industrial Schools Act of 1882. Children of other denominations and from other areas were now received and, by 1884, 79 girls and 99 boys were in care. The categories of those committed under the Act included being destitute, vagrant, uncontrollable, living in desreputable places and guilty of punishable offences. The cost of their care was subsidized by central govt. The local Charitable Aid Board sent children whose parents were unable to care for them, through poverty or other reasons, and subsidized them. In some cases families paid for a child's care. The property at Stoke was bought to provide accommodation for boys of eight yrs and older. The site was regarded as ideal, being dry and healthy; a place where the most delicate boy would have the very best chance of developing into sturdy manhood. The Stoke branch of St Mary's Industrial School was generally known as the Stoke Orphanage. The Marist Order took charge of the institution in 1889. An ammendment to the Act, prohibiting the control of private Industrial Schools by o/seas orgs, compelled the departure of the Marist Bros in 1900. Prior to which there had been problems, culminating in two brothers appearing in the Courts on charges of assault (most charges were dropped and a verdict of not guilty was returned on four). In 1910 the property was sold to the govt and the institution was then run by the Education Dept until it was closed in 1919.
The Nelson Provincial Museum holds information and photos and the official records are held at National Archives, Wellington.
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