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St Joseph's Māori Girls' College was founded in 1867 by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. Two years earlier, a group of four sisters had come from France by sailing boat to start Sacred Heart College at Napier.

The Sisters, and the Māori Missioner, Fr Reigner, SM saw the great need for education for Māori in that rapidly changing world, and so they started a little boarding school for Māori girls on the convent property. It was called St Joseph's Providence and was opened on October 10th, 1867, with twenty pupils, the first principal being Sister Mary St John.