It was all down to the Wesleyan Native Institution, established in the Three Kings area in the 19th century. The school occupied a significant piece of land alongside Three Kings, following a shift from its original Grafton location. The school aimed to be self-sufficient with farming, along with teaching and training of boys and girls, not only in ministry work but with a wide range of skills.  But in 1923, the school moved. Concern had been raised over Auckland's encroaching industry, meaning Three Kings was no longer a suitable location with it's farming ethic. A new school, Wesley College, was established at Paerata which still exists today. For a well researched background, the 2015 Three Kings Heritage Study, Te Tatua a Riukiuta is worth reading.

THE FRONT VIEW OF WESLEY COLLEGE, THREE KINGS,  'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A227'

The plaque below is to mark the foundation stone of Wesley College. It was laid on 6 April 1940 in McCulloch Avenue and reads:
This marks the site of the Three Kings Wesleyan Native Institution Foundation Stone laid by the Governor Sir George Grey, April 6, 1848. Transferred to Wesley College, Paerata, August 28 1922.

'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-2671-30'

If you had a methodist relative in your past, there are plenty of resources at Auckland Libraries for you to do a little digging. One gem is the New Zealand Methodist Centenary Index, published in 1922, which lists Methodist ministers and preachers on "trial" - a history of where these folk served and what years. There is also a list of those who were at the Three Kings College and an alphabetical list of deceased ministers. Below is an example of the information you may find:

Call Number 2 NZL OCC in the Family History collection, Central Research Centre

And for a little bit further afield, check out Marie's blog post a few years back on the Wesleyan Methodist Historic Roll.

Joanne
Central Research.

Do you have a Methodist tucked away in your family somewhere quietly frowning on the antics of their descendants?

If you do, have you checked the Wesleyan Methodist Roll? No? Then do we have a resource for you!

The roll has over 1 million names of people who donated a guinea (21 shillings or ₤1 1s) to the Wesleyan Methodist Million Guinea Fund (Jan 1899-Jun 1904).

Richard Ratcliffe has written an informative booklet to the The Wesleyan Methodist historic roll explaining the whys and wherefores etc which is on the shelves at Central Auckland Research Centre at 4 ENG REL MET.

We have a microfiche copy of the volumes which the donations were noted in on microfiche (4 ENG REL MET). Unfortunately, there is no name index; however, there is an index on the Methodist website which gives the Circuit/Mission, Church/Chapel, vol/district, page and fiche number.

Richard’s booklet lists the 50 volumes and which Missions/Chapels are in that volume. By using this I know that Croydon is in volume 6 and the 3rd London District. I should then be able to find the fiche and page numbers by referring to the index on the Methodist website - vol 6 page 3 fiche 1-... (Croydon seems to be missing from this list).

The list gives a name, address or, in the case of donations made in memory of the deceased “In Memorium”

The Roll covers England, Wales, Scotland (not Ireland) and a variety of other countries.

By using this list I have been able to make an educated guess as to which of three families were the initial followers of this faith.


Marie Hickey