Swanson's History

The Swanson area is in the rohe of Te Kawerau ā Maki, a Tāmaki Māori iwi who traditionally settled in the West Auckland and Waitākere Ranges area.[6] A defensive pā was found in the hills above Swanson called Pukearuhe ("Bracken Fern Hill"), and the Swanson area formed part of the walking track between Te Henga / Bethells Beach and Wai Huruhuru Manawa (Huruhuru Creek) tidal inlet, the south-western section of the Te Wai-o-Pareira / Henderson Creek.[6][7] The Swanson Stream valley was traditionally known as Waiwhauwhaupaku, a name which refers to the Pseudopanax arboreus (five-finger tree) which profusely grew in densely forested the area,[8][6] while southern Swanson was known by the name Waimoko, which refers to the skinks and geckos that were found there.[9] Te Kawerau ā Maki suffered hardships in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, due to influenza and the Musket Wars of the 1820s. When the iwi returned to their traditional lands in the 1830s, life was focused at Te Henga / Bethells Beach.[10] Much of West Auckland near was sold to European purchasers in the 1850s, without the knowledge or consent of the senior rangatira of Te Kawerau ā Maki.[11]

Pioneer William Swanson settled in the area in 1852, logging kauri trees along the Swanson Stream and other waterways.[8] By the 1870s, he was a strong critic of kauri logging practices.[8] The township of Swanson was established in the mid-1880s, with many of the first residents receiving land cheaply through government settlement regimes intended to develop the area.[12] In 1881, the Swanson railway station opened, connecting the area to the city of Auckland.[13] The railway station became a busy depot for the kauri logging trade of the northern Waitākere Ranges, and the town developed as a service centre for people involved in the logging and kauri gum digging trades.[14] Many early residents in the area established farms and orchards, supplementing their income with kauri gum digging. In the late 19th century, Croatian New Zealand immigrants (then commonly known as Dalmatian) worked land at Swanson, with kauri gum digging operations which were more intensive and systematic than previous efforts.[15]

The Swanson School opened on 18 June 1888 to serve the community. Prior to this, schoolchildren needed to travel to Woodhill.[16] The school was the centre of the community during the late 19th century, and was a place where religious services, concerts and meetings were held.[17]

Early Days

A large proportion of settlers’ children did not receive an education until a school was erected in 1888.
There were a few children scattered around the district and some took the train to attend school at Woodhill from 1882 to 1888. With the arrival of the village settlers from 1885 onwards, parents from the 19-20 families lobbied the Education Board for their own school.

The community petitioned for a school and elected a school committee (Messrs W.M. Letts, Wm Heath, George Wilkins, Edward Freeman, L. Tierney, A.C. Percy and Thomas Hunt) in October 1887.
The committee applied to the Waste Lands Board for land. Plans and specifications were prepared and tenders invited for a school building to hold 60 children.

In 1888 the school was built on the south side of Swanson Road, where the chemist shop is today. The chairman of the first school committee, Mr. Letts, supplied the necessary funds to equip the school. The Education Board finally re-imbursed the school in August 1889 with the grand sum of £3, which was an allowance for half a year.
The school opened on 18 June 1888. There was a concert and dance at a shilling a head.

First teacher

The first teacher Miss Young was paid £60 annually. School funds were subsidised by parents paying quarter money once a term; standards paid 6 dime and primers 3 dime a term. School boundaries were set at two miles south and four miles in other directions from the Swanson Post Office.

The road from Swanson Creek Bridge to the school had not been metalled. The children from the area often had to contend with a sea of mud in winter, and as was the custom, all were barefooted and had to warm up by physical exercises.
There was only the open fireplace to warm the school and windows were not designed to let in much warmth from the sun.

In April 1889 the roll was 37, but non-attendance was a big problem as there were numerous reasons for children to be kept home from school.
Following the plough to collect kauri gum was one such reason and was common when a ploughing contractor was engaged. The children had to keep up with the plough to see that the ploughman did not get the bigger pieces and leave only the ‘nuts’.

In order to encourage children to attend school, each pupil was promised a prize if they didn’t miss a day of school for the next half year. This didn’t seem to work because two months later, the committee asked parents to send their children to school more regularly. When Miss Young was ill, the school would close.

New growth

The new Massey-Birdwood area for ex-servicemen brought more pupils to the school and in 1920, when Mr. Ingram started as headmaster, the school had 74 pupils and was very overcrowded. Mr. Ingram was instructed by the board “that physical drill be used as a means of imparting warmth to scholars during winter months”.

In March-May 1921 the school building was moved across and up the road to the present site. The hedges from the original site were also shifted and replanted on the new grounds. During the removal and completion of renovations, junior pupils used the Congregational church and the upper classes were taught in a marquee.

Golden Jubilee

Celebrations for the 50th Golden Jubilee were held on 18 Jun 1938. The roadsides and footpaths were cleaned and repaired; planks and seats were borrowed from the railway, Swanson Hall and the church. Inside a 40ft x 60ft Marquee, helpers laid out 42 dozen cups and saucers (hired at 9d a dozen) for the great occasion.

‘God save the Queen’ was sung while the flag was unfurled, followed by silence prior to sounding the ‘Last Post’. The children formed a guard of honour and marched past. After everyone had posed for photographs, the lunch was served (in old-time picnic style) from the schoolroom.
After the formalities, children and adults took part in races, novelty events, hoopla and the ladies’ nail driving competition. There was an exhibition of photos, a visitor book and prizes for the best decorated bicycle and pram.

In March 1841 the school applied for a pound for pound subsidy of £149 15s to start building a swimming pool. Three years later the baths were in use.

Overcrowded conditions

With 121 pupils on the roll in July 1950, the head teacher was coping with a total of 59 children (standards 3 and 4 and forms 1 and 2) in badly cramped conditions. The emergency trainee teacher had 34 standards 1 and 2 children in a T-shaped corridor into which 6 doors opened. There was no room for movement, frequent interruptions, pool lighting and the passage to the back of the room was only seven inches wide.

The school became aware that 13 acres belonging to Mr Erickson on the north-east boundary were to be sold and asked that the board inspect urgently. Finally, in April 1951, prefab foundation blocks arrived on the proposed site and the building, erected by volunteers, was ready for occupation at the beginning of the second term.

Health Issues

Following a polio epidemic on New Zealand, there was a nationwide emphasis on cleanliness. Swanson School’s facilities were inadequate – in October 1952 five teachers and 170 children from four classrooms shared three washbasins and two drinking fountains.
In November 1954, Mr. Reed (the head teacher), wrote to the Auckland Education Board that the school was an “utter disgrace to the board and the worst place he had worked in”.

Parents started to object to their children attending Swanson School and about 30 went to Henderson School. Committee members said if the board expected staff and children to work in such poor surroundings, they (the committee) would not offer their services at the next election.
An internal Auckland Education Board memo upheld the complaint: “interior of old building is depressing – (the) staff room hardly warrants its name”.

A prefab was offered and declined in lieu of a new school. Approval was granted by Cabinet on 1 July for three infant classrooms, one standard classroom, headmaster’s office, staff room, boiler room, dismantling and re-erecting of shelter shed, flagpole and milk stand, new door and two new openings in old building as well as landscaping and plumbing.

Mr Cole started as head teacher in May 1954 with a positive attitude. He said he was “convinced he was going to like Swanson”. The new school buildings were ready this month and a grant was received for a fulltime caretaker.
A parents’ referendum was held on bible instruction. The result was: 13 against, 23 for instruction by clergy and 114 for instruction by the head teacher. The roll reached 201, entitling the school to another teacher, taking the total to six.

Hall fundraising

A hall fund was started and at the 1959 gala, £240 was raised towards the new hall. Two new classrooms were finished in June 1960 and another prefab supplied. An extra acre was purchased from Mr Savage and Swanson Transport and a new swimming pool constructed there.

In 1965 the fund stood at £2000, but owing to spiralling costs it was not enough to finish a modern hall. Government subsidies on halls were withdrawn until further notice because of the financial crisis. However, the school was re-roofed in 1968 and stage one of the school hall completed in 1969.

New rooms including an undersized library were completed in 1970. The original school building was finally demolished in August 1970 after 82 years. In 1973 a kitchen, cloakrooms and lobby were built onto the school hall and the first community social held in the hall.

Centennial Celebrations

Over 1500 people enjoyed the 17-19 June 1988 celebration. The official opening was preceded by a parade of bands and decorated floats. The parade depicted events in the school’s history and participants enjoyed an historical bus tour. In the evening, the centennial dinner and dance was held at Avondale race course. Sunday began with a church service in the school hall. This was followed by a spit roast lunch and entertainment.
To cater for the booming roll growth in the 1990s, a two-storey, eight-classroom block was built in 1997. Swanson went from being a small village school to one of the larger schools in Auckland.

The most recent additions are a administration block in 2003 and a block with 2 large rooms in 2015.

In 1926, 16yr.old Milan Babic Yozin came to New Zealand from the coastal village of Padgora in Dalmatia, a poverty-stricken area of Croatia. An uncle with an orchard at Oratia in West auckland paid his passage over - Milan worked for two years to repay him. After this he went to work on a dairy farm in the Waikato, preferring to find work with an English-speaking family to help improve his English.

By 1937, Milan put down a deposit on a property in Swanson, as well as leasing adjoining railway land.

Initially, he grazed cows to generate income from milk and cream production. After a couple of years he sold the cows and concentrated on planting more fruit trees and establishing a market garden. During the winter months, he found work locally, including working in the building of Scenic Drive in 1939. His first grape vines were planted in 1942 and, in 1948, Milan obtained a winemaker’s license. With local help he erected a shop on Swanson Road and a packing shed with adjoining wine cellar. Materials after the war were hard to come by and he was very innovative, using whatever he could find. He made concrete blocks himself, wrapping corrugated sheeting around steel rods, and pouring concrete into them. Once the concrete was set, the sheeting created distinctive support columns.

Milan was very active in the Swanson community and always took an interest in what was happening. In 1952 he was the first president and founder of the Swanson Indoor Bowling Club, and later became a life member. As a member of the Swanson Primary School committee, he made himself available for working bees for a number of years, including the creation of a flat playing field.

As a result of heavy smoking and ignorance of the effects of farm spray chemicals, Milan was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1972. He died three years later at 65.

This local landmark remains by the roadside in Swanson, no longer used for its original purpose but still standing as a tribute to Milan Yozin.