Archive #1/65: Lindisfarne, a family home, 1911-1951

The Homestead was constructed in 1911 for Mr. Harry Smith who owned the grounds on which the present College is situated. The property was known as 'Lindisfarne', the area where the Smith family originated from.

In 1912 it was sold to his daughter Ethne and her husband Edward (Eddy) Herrick who started a 65-year association between Lindisfarne College and the Herrick family.

The Homestead was considerably enlarged soon after the birth of the family's eighth child. Eddy also developed what was to become a large and extensive garden around the family home. As a member of the Royal Horticultural Society he was responsible for the planting of many the larger trees that grace the present College grounds.

In 1931, like many of the homes in Hawke's Bay, the Homestead was affected by the Napier Earthquake. All the chimneys fell, the tiles loosened on the roof and the house moved on its piles. The Herrick family had to sleep in tents on the tennis court (the present Homestead lawn) until repairs had been completed.

Eddy and Ethne Herrick lived at Lindisfarne until 1951 when they retired to Muritai in Havelock North. Lindisfarne College for boys commenced soon after - a fitting transfer for a home that had brought up six sons.