BROTHER PLACID PRESTON (1929-1998)

William George Preston was born in Greymouth, to William and Aileen Preston on the 28 June, 1929, the first child of ten. His parents' popular fish shop must have been a source of Placid's lifelong interest in fishing. Later the family moved to Hastings.

He received his primary education in Greymouth in schools conducted by the Sisters of Mercy and the Marist Brothers. Under the Marist Brothers his enthusiasm for sports and action extended to the boxing ring.

The West Coast was a long-time stronghold of the trade union movement and the Labour party. Placid often spoke of his father's concern for the plight of the ordinary working man in the mines, and he too had a lively concern for justice everywhere he went. His sympathies were very much with the under-privileged.

At the beginning of 1942 he left home to go to the Juniorate at 13 years of age. This was a great sacrifice because the young man did not see his parents for the next four years. The decision to cancel holidays was made after his parents had farewelled him, and it says much for the faith and generosity of his parents and for his own character that all of them could accept it. These were the War years and 1942 was a time of anxiety as the sphere of the War came closer to New Zealand's shores. Air raid drills were being held as far south as Invercargill.

In the Juniorate Placid came under the influence of Brother Theophane and under the very firm discipline of the head boy, James Cowen, later known as Brother Hilarion. He entered the Claremont Novitiate in 1946 and received the habit and the name Placid. After making his first vows he went on to the Brothers Teacher Training Centre in Auckland (1947-48).

So began an outstanding teaching career in three countries. He could teach a great variety of subjects, but English Literature was his speciality. Although he never claimed to be a great disciplinarian, for his compassion led him to bend rules and make allowances, he was loved and appreciated by pupils and staff of every school he worked in.

Even as a young Brother his presence brought a new dimension to the vitality of his community. There was always laughter and good humour. He could give and receive many a joke, sometimes responding with interest. When Brothers were gathered at times of celebration he was usually persuaded to sing in a fine tenor voice.

As a 20 year old in his first Community in Gisborne he answered a knock at the door. The visitor claimed he had not eaten for a long time, but before the man had time to finish his story and complete his request Placid had invited him in, seated him at the table, and then prepared a meal for him. Having been well satisfied, the visitor then said to Placid, "Now Brother, there's a little matter of money. Again he had no time to finish as Placid replied, "Don't worry about money! It's free!" The visitor was no match for Placid and left.

One particular Brother was not noted for his early rising. So Placid put all the clocks in the house forward by one hour, including the watch on sleeper's wrist, and then woke him up telling him that he was late for the function which he had been looking forward to. It wasn't until he was in the town square and saw the town clock that he realized he had been tricked. When he returned home red-faced, Placid was nowhere to be seen.

After only two years in Gisborne Placid was missioned to Fiji. There, in 1951, he tried hard to replace Brother Peter at Marist Brothers High School. Brother Lambert was principal and the other members of staff were Brothers More and Anthony. They were later joined by a number of lay teachers. Classes were large: 4 Brothers and a roll of over 200 boys with 59 in Form 3. At that time it was still the only secondary school in Suva which took in non-European boys. Some students were young men older than Placid.

He remained as the junior member of staff for 5 years, before returning to New Zealand at the end of 1955. There he taught in Masterton, Hamilton, and Palmerston North.

He returned to Fiji in 1961 and taught Class 7 at St Columba's, but was soon (1962) back on the High School staff teaching English and Geography at senior level.

In 1966 when Brother John Blewman went overseas for his Second Novitiate Placid became Acting Director/Principal. In 1967 this appointment was confirmed and he continued in this position until the end of 1972 minus a year overseas in 1970 at Second Novitiate.

THE EXPANSION OF MBHS

Probably the most significant change in Placid's time as Principal was in 1967, when the three storey block was constructed at the back of the main building. The new accommodation allowed room for a library, chemistry laboratory, woodwork and technical drawing rooms, as well as three classrooms. The Brothers hoped that more technical subjects would better cater for the Fijian students. A third stream was introduced, known as "G", in addition to the "A", or general stream, and the "B" or science stream. Thus there were 12 classes, and almost 500 students by the end of Placid's time at MBHS.

Two problems were facing the school at that time. A racial imbalance had developed with a serious decline in the number of Fijian students – only one in Form 6 in 1966. This decline was due to a number of factors, including the fact that the Brothers were no longer teaching in two former Fijian rural primary schools at Wairiki and Cawaci. There had also been a large decline in the number of Fijians at our two Suva primary schools. Of course there was also the hurdle of a very high passing mark in the public examination for eighth year primary students. At that time it was necessary to get 370 marks out of 400 to get into Marist High.

The racial imbalance caused a great deal of concern among the Brothers on the staff and was one of the main reasons put forward for the increase of accommodation at Form 5 and 6 level. With this increase the school began taking in many more Fijians at Form 5 and 6 levels, especially with students from St. John's College Cawaci coming in to do New Zealand University Entrance, for only the Senior Cambridge was available there. In fact, the number of Fijians increased from 80 in 1969 to 131 in 1972.

Brother Placid at the opening of the new block 1968

The second problem was the one posed by the continuation of the Senior Cambridge examination. It was an excellent examination but the results were not available until March, which meant that some students already in Form 6 had to return to Form 5 each March if the results did not qualify them for the University Entrance class. It did not help that Government was equating, quite unjustly, the New Zealand School Certificate with first class and second class Senior Cambridge passes, even though New Zealand School Certificate was a Form 5 examination and the Senior Cambridge a Form 6 examination.

It was decided to phase out the Senior Cambridge examination at Marist and institute a New Zealand School Certificate and New Zealand University Entrance programme. About the same time a Form 7 course was introduced for a short time.

These years also saw a significant success in rugby, particularly in the Dean's trophy competition. In 1971 seven boys were in the national secondary schools representative team which toured New Zealand.

Before relinquishing command of the High School, Placid had initiated planning for a multi-purpose hall, that was to eventuate as Lambert Hall. This project received the approval of the Provincial Council in 1973, after Placid had left for Sacred Heart College.

In his early days in Fiji and especially when he was principal of Marist Brothers High School, Placid was a great admirer of Brother Lambert, and relied heavily on him for advice. Before the end of Placid's time in Fiji others looked to him with the same reverence that he had had for Brother Lambert. Placid too was a man of holiness, wisdom, integrity and practical experience. The principal of Marist Brothers' High School in Suva received a phone call from an ex student, now living in Brisbane, inquiring about Brother Placid who had taught him 50 years before, in Suva in 1951. He said he had recently been thinking of Placid and felt compelled to inquire about him for he was contemplating the idea of organising a reunion of Brother Placid's 1951 class. Placid was not only appreciated by his students but also loved by them. Later it became a slow process to walk with him through the streets of Suva, as so many of his ex-students would enthusiastically greet him, and the conversations were never brief.