King's College memorial chapel

The Memorial Chapel at King's College in Otahuhu, Auckland.

The King’s College Old Boys’ Memorial Chapel was itself designed by an old boy of the school, the architect R.A. Abbott. Governor-General Viscount Jellicoe laid the foundation stone on 10 June 1922. Archbishop of Auckland Alfred Walter Averill consecrated the chapel on 25 April 1925, with another Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, in attendance. The large Gothic-style chapel included six memorial stained glass windows at the time of its dedication. Further memorial windows were added by bequest or donation in later years.

The memorial roll of honour, bearing the names of 104 old boys who had made the supreme sacrifice, was installed at the apsidal end of the nave, along with a plaque honouring three old boys who had died in the South African war. King's College had previously published its First World War roll of honour in book format.

In April 1949, Governor-General Sir Bernard Freyberg unveiled the college’s Second World War memorial roll of honour, also housed in the chapel. This listed 102 names. (Some years later the Second World War roll of honour was also published in book format.)

The college’s Second World War memorial building was the substantial two-storey ‘library block’, also designed by R.A. Abbott. This time the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Geoffrey Fisher, laid the foundation stone. On 26 February 1955 Governor-General Sir Willoughby Norrie performed the opening ceremony.

In 1994 the library was moved to the new Centennial Centre, but a memorial lamp and plaque remain in the foyer of the memorial building.

Sources: King's College, Auckland: The Great War, 1914-18, Auckland, [1918?] (roll of honour with errata list slipped in); 'King's College at Mangere: Foundation Stone Laid', Franklin Times, 16/6/1922, p. 2; 'Memorial Chapel at King's College', Auckland Star, 23/4/1925, p. 8; 'A Handsome Edifice', NZ Herald, 24/5/1925, p. 12; 'King's College Chapel: The Dedication Ceremony', NZ Herald, 27/4/1925, p. 12; 'King's College ... Unveiling of Windows', NZ Herald, 26/4/1927, p. 15; 'Memorial Windows: King's College Chapel', Auckland Star, 8/3/1929, p. 3; 'Windows Unveiled: King's College Chapel', NZ Herald, 11/3/1929, p. 8; 'Memorial Windows', Auckland Star, 11/3/1929, p. 3; 'King's College Old Boys Plan Memorial', Home & Building, vol. 9, no. 1, March 1946, p. 19; ‘The New King’s College Memorial Library’, NZ Herald, 26/2/1955, p. 19; ‘School Memorial Library Opened’, NZ Herald, 28/2/1955, p. 12; L.B. Sandford, Major of King's, Hamilton, 1973, pp. 73-4; Bruce Hamilton, O Floreat Semper: The History of King's College, 1896-1995, Auckland, 1995, pp. 28, 66-7, 80-2, 209-11; King's College, Auckland: The Second World War, 1939-1945, Auckland, 1999 (roll of honour).