The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts]
Education Board
Education Board.
The Taranaki Education Board dates from the 1st of June, 1874, when it was known as the New Plymouth Education Board. At that time the late Mr. Benjamin Wells was chairman, and among the members were Major Atkinson, Archdeacon Govett and Messrs Hursthouse, Richmond, and Standish. Some years later the name of the Board was changed to the Taranaki Education Board. The district under its jurisdiction includes the counties of Taranaki, Egmont, Clifton, and Stratford. It extends from the Mokau river, on this north, to Ngaire, on the south, and the furthest inland school is situated fifty-two miles to the east of the borough of Stratford. At the beginning of 1905 there were seventy-seven schools under the control of the Board, and the children on the rolls numbered 4968, with an average attendance of 4190, under the care of 136 teachers. Members of the Board in 1906: Mr. J. Wade, chairman, Messrs G. Adlam, H. Faull, J. Mackay, M.A., D. H. McDonald, G. H. Maunder, A. Morton, W. Monkhouse, and Mrs J. R. Dougherty. Officers: Mr. W. E. Spencer, M.A., B.Sc., Chief Inspector; Mr. W. A. Ballantyne, B.A., Assistant Inspector; Mr. A. Hooker, Truant Officer; Mr. J. Sanderson, Architect; and Mr. P. S. Whitcombe, Secretary and Treasurer. The Board's offices are in Devon page 70 Street. There is a Technical School in New Plymouth, and another at Stratford; the latter of which has been in operation since 1904.
Collis, photo.
Mr. G. H. Maunder.
Mr. Archie Hooker, Truant Inspector of the Taranaki Education Board, was born in the year 1868, in New Plymouth, where he was educated. He afterwards learned the printing trade, which he followed for fourteen years. Mr. Hooker subsequently joined the Police Force, and served for several years in the Auckland district. He then went to Australia, and for two years he was employed in Mort's Dock, in Sydney. He returned to New Zealand, and in 1900 was appointed to his present position. Mr. Hooker is a member of Lodge Egmont, Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity. For some years he was secretary of the New Plymouth Horticultural Society, by the managers of which he was presented with a watch in 1904; and he was sergeant of the Taranaki Rifles, and won the district medal for the Taranaki-Wanganui district. Mr. Hooker has a fine collection of coins. He is married, and has three children.