Trust Board History Lands The lands owned by the Trust Board have an interesting history. In 1840 Ngati Whatua offered to sell land in Tamaki Makaurau to the Crown. Their aim was to induce the Government to relocate from Kororareka to what is now the Auckland Isthmus. No doubt Ngati Whatua had good commercial and security reasons for the offer. On 20th October 1840 the sale of 3000 acres from Ngati Whatua to the Crown was completed by deed. In 1850 and 1851 part of that 3000 acre purchase was granted to Bishop Selwyn by the Crown for educational purposes. St Stephen’s School for Native Girls was established on some of that land (see History of the Schools) [link]. That school site and other land in and around Parnell became the St Stephen’s Trust, which is still today the main trust administered by the Trust Board. Queen Victoria School for Girls was built on nearby land owned by the St Stephen’s Trust in Parnell in 1901. In the 1920s the Church came under pressure from the Auckland Education Board, Auckland City Council and local residents to give up the St Stephen’s School site to make way for a state primary school. The site was sold to the Education Board and a new site of about 300 acres was bought south of Auckland at Bombay. A new St Stephen’s School opened at that site in 1930. The lands at Parnell and at Bombay both originate in the initial Crown Grants to Bishop Selwyn and are both part of the St Stephen’s Trust. Other smaller parcels of land from Russell in the North to Te Awamutu in the South, mainly originating in Crown Grants to the Church for educational purposes, were over the years designated as endowments to support education at the St Stephen’s School and Queen Victoria School. There are eight original land grant trusts associated with the two former schools, including the St Stephen’s Trust. Establishment of The St Stephen’s and Queen Victoria Schools Trust Board. In 1961 the General Synod of the Anglican Church resolved to consolidate ownership of the schools and all the lands and other assets associated with the schools into a new trust board. This was done by a resolution of the General Synod on 25th May 1961. The formal transfer of assets was completed by deed on 14th May 1962. In 1962 the Trust Board registered as a charitable trust board under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957. The Anglican Church has a defined role in relation to the Trust Board as follows: The General Synod appoints trustees. The Trust Board presents an annual report to the Standing Committee of the General Synod and to the General Synod. The Anglican Church Trusts Act 1981 provides that certain lands, including lands held for the purposes of a church, church hall, school or hostel, cannot be sold without the consent of the General Synod. That is the extent of the formal role of the Church. The Church and the Trust Board, as would be expected, consult closely and frequently and the Trust Board receives considerable support from the Church in its work. However, consultation and support quite clearly does not in any sense constitute ownership, management and control. Since 1962 The St Stephen’s and Queen Victoria Schools Trust Board has had sole responsibility for its schools and all the lands and other assets associated with the schools. In 2006 the General Synod approved the updating of the purposes of all of the trusts administered by the Trust Board. There were different purposes for each trust, but all focused on education. In some cases the original purposes were so out of date as to be unachievable in these times. Education remains the main purpose of those trusts, but their purposes have been broadened to allow the Trust Board greater flexibility in achieving its educational responsibilities. The Purposes of all trusts now administered by the Trust Board are: The advancement and propagation of education for children in New Zealand. Through the provision and management of schools. Through the provision and continuing development of an integrated curriculum which features foundation teaching, learning skills and excellence and blends elements of Maori concepts and Christian values with the New Zealand education curriculum. Principally for girls and boys of New Zealand Maori descent but including peoples of all races and denominations. See also: » Sale of lands by Ngati Whatua to the Crown » The Crown Grants to Bishop Selwyn » General Synod Resolution of 25th May 1961 » Change of Trust Board Name (PDF) » Certificate of Registration - Charities Act 2005 (PDF)