In 1926 Mrs Marion Caughey Smith offered to fund a hospital at Wesley College in memory of her nephew, Sapper William Henry Caughey, who had died while serving with the occupation forces in Germany in 1919. The hospital was formally opened on 28 May 1927. The hospital block had room for 16 patients and incorporated an isolation ward, a sun verandah, a dispensary, nurses’ quarters and a kitchen. The building was designed by E.A. Pearce and built by A.G. Grinter. A bronze plaque was mounted inside the entrance inscribed ‘William Henry Caughey / Memorial Hospital.”
Mrs Smith later also funded the school’s chapel in memory of her late husband, the businessman and philanthropist William Henry Smith, who had died in 1912. The Smith Memorial Collegiate Chapel was dedicated on 25 February 1929. The chapel displays a framed brass roll of honour erected by the college’s Old Boys’ Association in memory of twelve ex-pupils who gave their lives in the Second World War: R.W. Anderson, C.E. Baker, M. Barriball, R.W. Common, F. Houlton, D.W. Metherell, J. Moir, P. Morgan, N.L. Pittendrey, L. Scott, J. Tirikatene, and B. Warbrick.
Wesley College, 801 Paerata Road. The chapel and hospital are both beside the driveway running along the eastern edge of the school grounds. The chapel is to the right of the swimming pool; the hospital is a small orange-roofed building set amongst trees about 50 yards further along the drive.
Sources: ‘Hospital for Boys’, Auckland Star, 23/5/1927, p. 10; ‘Hospital for Boys at Paerata’, Auckland Star, 26/5/1927, p. 10; ‘Wesley College: A Memorial Hospital’, NZ Herald, 30/5/1927, p. 11. (see also photograph p. 6).
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