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Rh satisfactorily performed by Mr. J. H. Pope, pending the appointment of a successor to Mr. Simmons.

The Education Board invited applications for the vacant rectorship from candidates in New Zealand and the neighbouring colonies, and the choice fell upon Mr. Stuart Hawthorne, M.A., of Sydney University, and Head-master of the Ipswich Grammar School, Queensland. He entered on his duties in February, 1869, when only 56 names were enrolled. The average attendance for the whole of 1869 was 70; in 1871 it had risen to 126. In the beginning of 1871 Mr. Hawthorne removed from the residence in the south wing of the High School building to make room for the Girls' High School, which the Board had resolved, after much consideration, to place under the same roof with the Boys' School. With a view to provide suitable board and residence for boys from a distance attending the school, the Education Board erected the boarding institution known as the Rectory on a site adjoining the Town Belt, near the place where the present Boys' High School now stands. Mr. Hawthorne entered on the occupation of the Rectory in 1871, and in a short time a number of pupil boarders were placed with him. About the same time the teaching staff gained a valuable accession by the appointment of Mr. George M. Thomson, (now F.L.S.) who has since rendered good service to the school in several capacities, more especially as Science Master, and, for a number of years, as head of the Boys' Boarding Institution in conjunction with Mrs. Thomson.

In 1872–73 the school showed a falling off as regards attendance and the standard of work reached. In May, 1873, the Superintendent, in accordance with a resolution of the Provincial Council, appointed a Commission "to inquire into and report upon the present condition of the Boys' High School, and to make such general suggestions as to the advancement of the higher education of the Province, as may commend themselves to their consideration." The Commission consisted of the late Sir John Richardson, Professor Shand, Sir Robert Stout, and Dr. Hislop. In the course of his examination by the Commission, Mr. Hawthorne attributed the falling off in the attendance and the lower standard of study to a variety of causes