Corporate entry: St. Mary's School, Maravovo, Guadalcanal

Functions
Education

Details

St. Mary's, at Maravovo in west Guadalcanal, was founded in 1922 as the fifth Diocese of Melanesia junior primary school. Rev. Charles Fox (q.v.) described the school as 'in some ways the greatest' of the Diocese of Melanesia boys' boarding schools as it was the largest. Maravovo's school began as a Theological College in 1916, which in 1920 was moved to Siota. It then for a few years became a Technical College, which failed. In 1922 it became a boys' boarding school. It was completely destroyed by Japanese bombing in 1942 but rebuilt after the war. The school had a copra plantation of considerable size and large gardens. It was finally closed in 1975 when the site became a training centre for the Guadalcanal region of the Diocese of Central Melanesia. Most recently, it has become the noviciate-training centre of the Community of the Sisters of Melanesia. (Fox 1958, 232; Terry Brown, personal communication, 26 July 2011; Montfort 1994, 99)

Related Places

Published resources

Books

  • Fox, Charles E., Lord of the Southern Isles: Being the Story of the Anglican Mission in Melanesia, 1849-1949, Mowbray, London, 1958. Details
  • Montford, C.L., The Long Dark Island, The Desk Top Press, Wellington, 1994. Details