The first Maori woman to gain a PhD – from Oxford, no less – began her educational journey at Gordonton School 78 years ago. Dr Ngapare Hopa still lives in her parent’s house, in the middle of Gordonton village.  She featured recently in Home Range magazine. She has headed Auckland University’s Maori Studies Department, worked

[continue reading…]

Clarice Hoban (nee Riddell)  still remembers the names of the draft horses who pulled the milk wagon – Jock and Bonny. “They were lovely,” says the 86-year-old, former student of Gordonton Primary, which celebrates its 125th anniversary over Labour weekend. Clarice, the youngest in the family of William and Mary Riddell, lived in the old

[continue reading…]