In 1850, Scottish immigrants William McRae, his wife Sarah Burns and three children arrived in Nelson from County Clare, Ireland. Their former homestead near Limerick in County Clare was called 'Bonovoree' and when he took up land in the present day Salisbury Road he proceeded to build another Bonovoree in exactly the same style as his Irish homestead [1].
In 1904 the property was sold to The Crown for the purposes of establishing a special school for boys. In 1910 it later became a 'Special School for Girls' and has remained as such to this day
In a 1974 report of historic and notable trees, this cedar was considered to be the finest tree of this species in the region [2]. The tree suffered a serious setback in 2012 when it was largely defoliated following a broadleaf herbicide application to the playing field, Despite this, the tree has made a full recovery (Cadwallader, B.G., 2024).

References
[1] Salisbury School, A Lesson in Special Education, 2008. Mary Ellen O-Connor.
[2] Forest Research Institute, Forest Mensuration Report No. 21, Historic and Notable Trees of New Zealand: Marlborough, Nelson, Westland, Feb, 1974 (unpublished). Pg. 32.