Page:Picturesque Dunedin.djvu/168

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150
PICTURESQUE DUNEDIN.

future as an ordinary district school. Mr. Thomas Halliwell, who had recently arrived in Dunedin from Victoria, was appointed headmaster. The school continued to be held in the old church until it was removed to a brick building erected on a site at the junction of Dowling-street and York Place, where it was known as the Middle District School. Owing to the lowering of Dowling-street by the City Council, the structure was rendered so unsafe that it had to be taken down in 1878, and the school was transferred to a new building erected in Arthur-street, on a site adjoining the old Asylum grounds, where the Boys' High School now stands. Mr. Halliwell resigned the headmastership in 1878, and was succeeded by Mr. Abraham Barrett, formerly of Tasmania, who still holds the appointment.

UNION-STREET SCHOOL.

In 1863, the Board established a second school in Dunedin for the accommodation of children resident in the northern parts of the town. A stone building was erected on a portion of what is now known as the Museum Reserve, and Mr. Alex. Stewart, the master of a private school at North Dunedin, was appointed to the headmastership, a position which he still retains. The original building was enlarged from time to time, but owing to the ever-increasing demand for accommodation, it was taken down in 1882, and the present large brick building, known as the Union-street School, was erected in its place.

SOUTH, NOW HIGH-STREET, SCHOOL.

In 1864, a third district school was provided for the accommodation of the children resident in the Southern parts of Dunedin. It was accommodated in a brick building erected on a site in William-street, where it was long known as the South District School. Mr. John B. Park, master of the State School at Bothwell, Tasmania, was elected headmaster, and he still holds the appointment. Additions were made to the building from time to time to provide for the ever-increasing attendance, until it was found necessary in 1887 to transfer the school to a more commodious building erected on a more suitable site at the corner of Alva-street and Upper High-street.