Sir George Grey and New Zealand education, 1845-53

Abstract

As Professor W.H. Oliver acknowledges in the preface to The Story of New Zealand, W.H. Oliver, The story of New Zealand (London: Faber & Faber, 1960), p. 11. there is a need for monographs and specialist studies of New Zealand history. This observation applies no less to educational history than to general history. The present study has attempted to examine in detail a small segment of New Zealand's educational past; the period of Sir George Grey's first governorship. An effort has been made to unveil the details of Grey's educational policy, for although his propensities as an educator have been alluded to more than once, and despite the widespread acknowledgement of his contribution to education, very little has been written to explain the exact nature of his educational activities. There have, however, been a number of studies of the Crown Colony period, of Grey, and of education in early New Zealand. While McLintock's Crown colony Government in New Zealand is the most complete study of this stage in the colony's development, other notable research has been carried out, and numerous other historians have made passing reference to this period in their work.