The Thames high school endowment at Waiorongomai

Abstract

Before it was known that gold existed nearby, the government selected a block of land at Waiorongomai as an endowment to fund a proposed high school at Thames. Sections of varying sizes and quality were surveyed and leased, at what were commonly viewed as excessive rates, and for decades lessees requested reductions and on many occasions asked the government to take over the endowment. As the goldfield faded, some small farmers abandoned their sections but others succeeded despite being under-capitalized. In the twentieth century, noxious weeds created on-going problems for those remaining on the land. The high school board, which supervised the farmers, was accused of not assisting them, notably by not providing access roads. The endowment was never as profitable for the high school as had been anticipated, and in 1949 it, like all similar endowments, was abolished.