Wanganui Collegiate School is fortunate that since its founding in 1854 there has always been a strong focus on its history and traditions, which in turn has contributed greatly to the School’s culture and ethos.

In a long-established boarding school such as WCS, it not unusual to have fourth or fifth generation associations with families. This has also been a major factor in having so much historical information available.
 
Traditionally, much of the School’s illustrated history was hung in Big School - however when this building was earthquake-strengthened in the 1980s much of this was removed & stored.  Also stored in various cupboards, under stairs & in vacant rooms around the school were old issues of ‘The Collegian’, the school magazine first published in 1883, old trophies, photographs, medals, programmes, newsletters, school records, board records, books & items of uniform etc. many dating back to early Wanganui in the mid-1800s.

In 1978 Mr Peter MacKay, master & 2nd generation Old Boy wrote to the then Headmaster expressing concern at the state of archival material. He took it upon himself to search the school & gather all artifacts together for preservation, much of which was boxed & stored in a couple of spare rooms.

The opening of the new music suite in 1991 left vacant the old Music Block of 12 rooms, (built in 1921, this was both the dayboy House, Marris, and the home of the Music Department) The building was used for a variety of purposes until 1995, when School Trustees and Management were persuaded that it was ideally suited to become the School’s Museum Centre, to house all School artifacts and memorabilia.

Slow but steady progress was made during the late 1990s to gather a huge amount of historical material into the Museum; however due to lack of funding it was simply a store house.

The Old Boys & Girls Association adopted the Museum as its project to mark the celebration in 2004 of the School’s 150 years. The Association committed to refurbish the building which was badly in need of repair, & to begin sorting, recording & archival storing the vast amount of material on hand.  

Advice was sought & received from the Whanganui Regional Museum.  Through Mr Bruce Hamilton, co-author of the WCS History, an archivist who did work for a number of Wellington schools, Mrs. Paddianne Neely & her husband, NZ Cricket historian, Mr. Don Neely were introduced.  The Neelys were consulted & then engaged to advise on & carry out much of the archival work.

This work enabled a massive historical display to be mounted on the occasion of the 150th celebration reunion. Featuring over 2500 historical photographs, the display was judged by attendees to be one of the highlights of the celebrations.

Total funding of the project to this point was in excess of $50,000 & came from the accumulated funds of the WCSOBGA.  However the massive amount of work undertaken soon exhausted the accumulated funds.

Following the 150th, the future of the Museum was considered at a meeting of interested parties, with the aim of putting in place a structure to ensure the protection of the collection, to finish documenting the collection & ongoing management of the Museum.

The Whanganui College Board of Trustees, the School, & the Wanganui Collegiate School Old Boys & Girls Association were represented, & resolved to form a Trust to be called the Wanganui Collegiate School Museum Trust, to govern and administer the WCS Museum.  It was also felt that such a structure with appropriate reporting systems would ensure total accountability.

The Whanganui College Board of Trustees as ‘settlor’ formed the Wanganui Collegiate School Museum Trust, (The Trust), which became incorporated and gained IRD Charitable Trust status.

Following the formation of the Trust the School formally gifted all artifacts, archives &  historical memorabilia to ‘The Trust’ for safe keeping.

Through publicity in ‘The Bulletin’ a biannual magazine sent to all WCS Old Boys, Old Girls & past & present parents, the awareness of the WCS Museum has grown. There is now a confidence within the School community that if artifacts are returned to the School, they will be professionally recorded & stored. This has resulted in a regular flow of items from around the country & overseas.

On-going initiatives requiring funding:

• Acquisition of display cabinets
• Creation of displays
• Putting in place systems to ensure current School records & photos etc are received into the Museum
• Identifying missing team photos, tracking them down & acquiring copies
• Putting programmes in place to involve current students
• Scanning of important photos and storing digital files off-site
• Producing Powerpoint presentations on the history & evolution of specific school buildings eg. the Chapel, Big School and the Houses

We also intend to set up a "Friends of the Museum" group - volunteers who wish to help with  aspects of the Museum, such as manning it when open to the public, carrying out research (such people do not have to live locally)

Please feel free to share this with other organisations or individuals who may be able to assist by supporting the ongoing work of the WCS Museum Trust.