Southwell School

Southwell School began as a private school in November 1911 at Allington Homestead, Kirikiriroa, led by Mr Cecil Ernest Ferris of Yorkshire England. The school closed for a short time at the beginning of World War I when Mr Ferris was enlisted into the Army. However shortly after a board of parents took over management. 

"In 1921 Mr HG Sergel bought Southwell School from the parents and moved with his family to the school’s current site at 200 Peachgrove Road. In 1948 Mr Sergel handed the School over to his children to manage and operate. The School continued to be privately owned until 1963 when the Sergel family gifted the School to become a non-profit making Education Institution administered by a Trust Board. Southwell was a boys only school from 1911 until 1999. In 2000 Southwell School became fully co-educational and in 2011 celebrated its Centenary. From one staff member and one student in 1911 the school now has over 600 students and around 100 staff. Southwell’s current all-round education cherishes its traditions, history and the people who over time have made it the great school it is today." ~ website

Lois White's 'Magna Carta Mural' (1953) was commissioned by Dr and Mrs E. T. Rogers of Hamilton following the destruction by fire of Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland, including all its paintings and equipment.