Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #1(4) 1942 Page 1

Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

Early Mission Days in South Taranaki By Rev.A.B.Chappell MA Dip.Journ. The decision of the Methodists in Hawera to celebrate, at the end of March this year, the centennial of their denomination's mission amid the Maori people of .South Taranaki, was a matter of great public importance. Sunday, March 29, as the focal date of the celebration, did not coincide precisely with the passing of a hundred years since the establishment of the first Methodist mission station in this particular area, but the disparity, for reasons to be fully understood and appreciated, is of little moment. If an exact date is to be named, as that of actual entry upon the local task that was to mean so much for all Taranaki South, there is no doubt that May 30 must be chosen. The pioneer European minister concerned in the truly great venture wrote with care in his journal: "On the 30th of May we"—he was referring to his wife and himself— "arrived at our station." Not always is such exactitude observed when setting down records that afterwards are to be ardently cherished as veritable discoveries. However, much equally vital happened before that glad arrival. There had been a preliminary journey by the missionary, for the purpose of spying out the land. That journey, southward from New Plymouth, was begun on April 12, and it was preceded by careful planning. On the selected ground, too, even before the day of adventurous pathfinding, much was long in hand to make the missionary feel immediately at home when he first saw the Waimate region, marked out by native co-operation as the headquarters of his cure of souls. He went then far beyond Waimate—indeed, to Wanganui — before turning back to New Plymouth, whence the real expedition was soon to make mission history. A wife was to be brought—the missionary directors and overseers in London took the view that an unmarried missionary was ill-furnished for his work —and “our boxes, stores, books, etc.,'' had to be as carefully carried as was she. The cavalcade comprised "more than 100 natives,'' and while they were so excitedly footing it, hundreds more in the faraway destination were making ready. So there is ample justification for antedating a little the centennial observance. Things happen that gradual way, as a rule. "First the blade, then the ear, afterwards the full corn in the ear.'' Besides, a particularly good reason exists for carrying the celebration back into the preparatory dates. The Rev. G. F. Stockwell, who as Hawera's Methodist minister has been mainly eager to see this centenary worthily honoured, will be leaving the district at the end of March on retiring pastoral activity; and what more fitting than that he should see and superintend the centennial festival of memory? His local successor, due on the third Sunday in April, will no doubt be glad to be freed from the burden of concentrated attention to the notable occasion, and will find pleasurable opportunity to Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #1(4) 1942 Page 2

Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell use -the interval before the May date in becoming acquainted with the history to which that date will appositely invite renewed attention. CHRISTIAN CONTACT. Let us get back to the story. Here, in a rapid survey, its profoundly interesting details cannot be fully told. It must suffice to sketch an outline as framework for a selection of salient facts. How greatly entitled they are to reverently grateful recall! First, the spread of Christian contact until the remarkably difficult lands of South Taranaki were evangelised. The early part of the story goes along lines well defined in our New Zealand annals: the beginning of Methodist missionary endeavour for the Maori people in the far north, with the cordial approval and aid of Samuel Marsden and his men of the Church Missionary Society; the survival of disaster to the initial location of the Wesleyan Missionary Society's enterprise, at Kaeo (Whangaroa); the transfer to Hokianga on the opposite coast; the growing success, seen in an expanding welcome by the native people, a renewal of work among them on the original site, an extension southward to Kaipara, and then a further venture, in response to Maori pleading and promise, into territory at distant harbours of the coast (Kawhia, Whaingaroa, Aotea, in that order); the natural continuance of progress southward still, to Mokau along with the threading of river valleys into the upper reaches of the Waikato and the Wanganui; and at length the occupation of other parts of Taranaki northward of the mountain that gives the region its indelible Maori name. Southward of the mountain awaited an additional field of missionary endeavour, a field neither easy of entry nor offering easy harvest. It was to yield to Christian faith and courage, but the tale of achievement was destined to be a mingled yarn; strands dull and bright, grey as well as golden are closely intertwined as the living experience is spun. The road into South Taranaki's heart was no "primrose path of dalliance": there were at the beginning, and have continued long down the years, conditions making it fit only for heroes. To be recalled after a hundred years is the oft-forgotten fact that the coast from Mount Taranaki (Cook's Egmont) down to what is now Port Nicholson was often a trail of blood. Te Rauparaha in his time took more than once that grim route of tragedy, and on it others as versed as he in its opportunities for spoil and enslavement wrought their treacherous will. Traces of those raids of terror can still be seen in the remains of strong pas, the fastnesses of fear-ridden tribes driven by the instinct of self- preservation to contrive refuges from a succession of marauders. Such fastnesses dot the topography of South Taranaki's advance in knowledge of the Gospel.

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

NORTH AND SOUTH. In only a limited sense is Taranaki one continuous area on the missionary map. Except that North and South meet at the mountain, hingeing upon it as they swing in their respective radii of a shared sector of a circle, they are fundamentally separate. The mountain was as much tapu (sacred) as any other, and to give it a wide berth on the landward side—it ran down close to the shore on the seaward side— was so much a habit that, except on occasions not always pleasant, there was little intercourse. There is hint enough in this habit to point the path of separate investigation by the historian. Of the response of North Taranaki to the approaches of the missionary a great deal has boon written. Not enough, maybe; nor wholly authoritative, maybe: but the tale has taken shape. Mr W. H. Skinner, of New Plymouth, has placed future writers under a welcome debt by his unearthing: of much authentic detail. In "The Gospel 'Comes to Taranaki: a glimpse of heroic beginnings'' he has once more added to that debt. Reference here to this product of his careful pen may usefully serve to direct attention to the fact that the missionary history of North Taranaki is being steadily compiled. To make the kindred, but different, developments of 'South Taranaki as well known is surely worthwhile. The same significant fact is met on the threshold of the two stories: it is the pioneering part played by wholly voluntary Maori agency to give the Gospel to the Maori people. The introductory impact was communicated by the white missionary: the new religion was his religion, not the Maori's; the God revealed was the white man's, not the Maori's; the commended way of life was the missionary's, of a sort remote from the Maori's. Yet soon, remarkably soon, after the impact, it was the Maori, not the missionary, that was most vigorously spreading the spiritual and moral revolution. This is well told in the late Rev. T. G. Hammond's story of South Taranaki, "In the Beginning," the chief hero of which is Wiremu Neira (baptised William Naylor). Father Hammond's telling of the tale will remain classic in its breadth of sympathy, depth of insight, loftiness of ideal and robustness of common sense. His knowledge of the Maori mind was unsurpassed, and therefore his interpretation of the Maori reaction to the Christian evangel was trustworthy to a degree seldom equalled in a Pakeha expositor. His long acquaintance with events and persons in the missionary story made him a veritable encyclopedia of fact. Where correction or qualification is necessary, the reason exists in his lack of access to official records and reports; their availability since he published "In the Beginning" and other books enables a subsequent writer, knowing him intimately, to supplement his account.

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

HEROISM OF WIREMU NEIRA. Of William Naylor he was a profound admirer, especially of him as "the first evangelist to the Maoris of South Taranaki.'' How this honourable title was earned merits clear recall. Somewhere about 1837, according to traditions preserved by the Maoris of South Taranaki, a company of freed men were permitted by their northern Ngapuhi conquerors to return from Hokianga to the Hawera district in order to induce the southerners to look favourably on Christianity. This magnanimous liberation, however, although a convincing tribute to the sincerity of the Ngapuhi converts, failed of its purpose. The home-coming bearers of the Good News were received with cold suspicion, even scorn, by their unenlightened heathen relatives. Only one among the missionary party was proof against the derision. He, William Naylor, resolved to remain among his people, to whom the Christian clemency of the Ngapuhi Lad restored him. This was at Waipapa, near Ohangai. Later he made Manawapou his South Taranaki home. No white missionary had yet appeared in the locality, but soon, on the heels of this dauntless Maori, came those whose names lustre the early record of the Taranaki coastal efforts to establish the cause of Christ: Charles Creed was at the Sugar Loaves (Ngamotu) after John H. Bumby and John Hobbs had passed through en route for Port Nicholson, John Mason had arrived at Wanganui and Octavius Hadfield at Otaki, and thus Wesleyan and Anglican activity was laying a beneficent hand upon a region previously beyond the pale. The new day had dawned. PURCHASE OF SITES. In this misty morning can be descried the stalwart figures of Maoris commissioned by John Whiteley at Kawhia to be harbingers of the approaching day, and significant of a resolve to stay was the purchase of land —by William White and Edward Meurant— for the locating of Wesleyan mission stations. About the same time another returning party of manumitted slaves was met by Dr. Dieffenbach as he travelled north from Ngamotu to Mokau: these were being shepherded by Samuel Ironside, another of the Wesleyan missionaries. Thus much was afoot not far from William Naylor's witness in faith and courage. That witness was associated with a wider sphere than the neighbourhood of Waimate, for Neira's example and influence long inspired his countrymen's devotion to the Christian Evangel, from the southern confines of Waikato to the northern shore of Cook Strait. Honour must be gratefully paid him in this centennial year. Limits of publishing space, however, compel now a temporary dismissal of so stalwart a Maori soldier of the Cross, that way may be made for the entry or the pioneer English missionary resident in South Taranaki.

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

On the foundation faithfully laid by Wiremu Neira in the face of discouragement others began to build. They were, it should be reiterated, people of his own race. His mana (prestige and influence) made the way comparatively plain for them, yet their peril from heathen opposition was real and considerable. Two of this early band of ardent converts—they were members of the Church of England—were way-laid, and killed, and only the triumph of Christian forgiveness over pagan revenge saved South Taranaki from a deluge of blood sweeping the country between Lake Taupo and the wash of the Tasman above Cook Strait. Thus the spirit of God proved, as ever, mighty in "the pulling down of strong-holds." Other happenings of the kind strengthened the reputation of the new way of life. Came a widespread decision to give friendly hearing to the Gospel that had penetrated southward from the Ngapuhi region, into the upper reaches of the Waikato, through North Taranaki, and at last touched the area eastward and inward from the mountain. CHURCHES BUILT. This spreading favour raised a demand for new meeting-houses in which the novel religion could be conveniently discussed, learned and practised. The first church in this wide welcoming area was built at Maraerau—it was the first on the coast from Mokau to Port Nicholson. "Mangungu" it was solemnly called, after the headquarters of the Wesleyan mission, at Hokianga, a place dear to William Naylor, for there he had found Christ and lost enslaving bonds. Soon, other such churches — for churches indeed they were, meant to be used with the utmost reverence— were beginning to appear in South Taranaki, notably at Manawapou and Taumaha (Manutahi). The Christian daybreak had definitely come; and with it had come the acknowledged need for European agency to lead and direct Maori walking in the new light. Methodist missionaries within reach of this expanding interest in the Gospel were not slow to respond to appeals for such guiding help. They promised to enter the inviting field as soon as an adequate addition to their numbers in New Zealand had been received from England. Until then they paid exploratory and preparatory visits. Here, regrettably, there cannot be given more than passing reference to these visits. Not until January of 1842 did they lead to steps toward the appointment of a resident missionary. The annual district meeting of the Southern Division of the New Zealand District recommended—to the authorities in the Home Country—that "Taranaki (South)'' should be given a missionary: Charles Creed, a recent addition to the New Zealand staff, was named as the desired appointee. An attempt was made to carry this project into effect by placing Mr Creed at Patea, but '' contrary winds," he reported, "prevented the accomplishment of that design; he was therefore obliged to take up his abode at the present station." His reference is to Ngamotu, the Sugarloaf Islands, the

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell native habitation near the site of the white immigrants' "New Plymouth," shortly to be established. He goes on: "Since that period, however, a material change has taken place in this neighbourhood—the New Plymouth Company selected it as the scene of their operations, and numbers of Europeans have already settled in Taranaki. The native population also has greatly increased: the chains of slavery have been snapped asunder, and the Waikato chiefs have sent the captive exiles home in peace. Help has been afforded and the long-expected missionary for Taranaki South has arrived, and entered upon his enterprise in a fine field of labour." FIRST RESIDENT MINISTER. “The long-expected missionary for Taranaki South" was the Rev. John Skevington, to whom belongs the honour of being its first resident minister. There are on record his own detailed accounts of his initiation of the venture, and these accounts, together with those written by his contemporaries, leave us in no doubt of what occurred. He was a Nottinghamshire man—of Sherwood, to write more precisely— und left England as one of a party of six Wesleyan ministers sent to reinforce the staff of the mission in New Zealand. The other five came on, from Hobart, without delay, but he and Mrs Skevington were left there in order that he might assist in the Bush Mission among Australian aborigines. After brief service in this, followed by a longer period in Victoria, they were instructed by the London Committee to proceed to their original destination. On Christmas Eve of 1841 they landed at Wellington. Immediately, Mr Skevington began a close study of the Maori people and made rapid progress, proving himself gifted for the missionary task. By way of Cloudy Bay (Port Underwood), the scene of his friend Samuel Ironside's devoted service, the mission vessel (the Triton) took them on to Ngamotu, Mr Creed's station. The skipper of the Mission vessel (Captain Buck) determined to take no chances that night with the open roadstead and very insecure anchorage, so Mrs Skevington was landed, with the boxes and stores, and the Triton went on to Kawhia. There the newcomer found himself at a session of the Southern district meeting. The brethren gave him a warm welcome and much good advice. He stayed with John Whiteley at Ahuahu (Kawhia) for about seven weeks—a time of invaluable counsel. Early on Sunday, February 27, the recruit was able to rejoin his wife and chattels at Ngamotu. There and in the infant town of New Plymouth he tried his 'prentice hand under Mr Creed's oversight for nearly three months, ministering to the European congregation a little and grappling with the problems of an unknown language and culture. The District Meeting had arranged for his spending a year with Mr Creed at Ngamotu for a continuance of needful preparation; but for once enthusiasm utterly overbore all native love of "taihoa." Hearing by highly efficient native telegraphy that their Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #1(4) 1942 Page 7

Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell missionary had arrived, a large body of South Taranaki Maoris travelled by forced marches to Ngamotu, to claim and convey him. Was he not sacredly promised to them? Why should he delay his arrival, even to learn their language? They were not to be gainsaid, and Mr Creed dared not face them with the agreed word that their missionary should wait until the return of the Triton. SOUTHWARD HO ! By letter Mr Whiteley was told "the state of the case," and Mr Skevington promised to pay the eager region a visit in a few weeks. So it came about that on April 32, a hundred years ago, South Taranaki's Methodist missionary set off on his first journey in New Zealand. His own description of it makes vivid reading. Here is an extract from his journal: "April 12, 1842: I left home this morning on my first journey in New Zealand. Of course, I am the subject of peculiar feelings, and not the less so because I know so little of the language. I have no one with me with whom I can converse. If God go not with me I shall find the journey both insipid and toilsome, but I look to Him for support and comfort. I am attended with a considerable number of natives. Jabez Waterhouse, the most influential young chief in this neighbourhood, is going with me as a friend. John Ley, who has been recommended to the Conference as our Assistant Missionary, is to preach at the various places. A number of others are going to carry my food, bedding, the books for the natives, etc., and others are going to visit their friends. In all about 20. Our friends in England would be much interested if they could see us: I attired in a bush dress, with my staff in my hand pilgrim-like; New Zealanders dressed in rugs, blankets, etc.—one carrying my blankets, in a painted sheet, another with my food in a native basket, and others bending beneath the load of copies of the Word of God, a part of the noble gift of the B. and F. Bible Society, which I am to distribute on my journey. '' The practice of adopting as baptismal names those of prominent British or missionary as well as Scriptural personalities is here further exemplified. William Naylor (Wiremu Neira) took his from an English Wesleyan clergyman; Jabez was frequently given to converts, usually as that of Dr. Jabez Bunting, an eminent secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society; Waterhouse originated in the name of the recently- deceased Superintendent of the New Zealand and other Pacific missions; Ley, elsewhere recorded as Leigh, was thought to be a living: reminder of the founder of the New Zealand mission, Samuel Leigh. "The B. and F. Bible Society" is "The British and Foreign Bible Society," which had lately sent a large quantity of Maori New Testaments to the Church Missionary Society and the Wesleyan Missionary Society; the native demand could not be easily met, so enthusiastic was it.

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

SPYING OUT THE LAND. A mere glance is all that can be given here to this remarkable journey by Mr Skevington. The route, for the greater part, was along the beach. Halting-places he names in his journal include Hauranga, Mokutunu, Pungarere, Te Namu, Otumatua, Waimate, Pukehou, Manawapou, Patea, Tihoi, Waitotara, Hupuku, Wanganui. From Waimate southward for a considerable distance he had the reinforcing company of William Naylor, who "had come (Mr Skevington gratefully writes) to Waimate to meet me." The mana of Neira was so great that Mr Hammond, in his story of 'South Taranaki's Christian development, confesses a natural longing to know something of this paramount chief's practical share in this definite stage of it. Well, here in Mr Skevington's own records is precisely what Mr Hammond expected would be found if the right sources of information could be discovered. It must have been a great joy to Neira to know that this preparatory '' trek'' by Mr Skevington was intended to lead to the immediate occupation of a strategic base by him. The pathfinding journey—pathfinding it was for the designated missionary, in spite of an earlier visit by the Rev. Samuel Ironside and a highly-probable scanning of the northern part of the region by the Rev. Charles Creed after his arrival at New Plymouth on failing to make Patea—was of cardinal importance; and it taught this designated missionary much that he longed and needed to know. THE FIRST SABBATH. He tested his ability to master the native language and to endure the strain of travel; he saw the conditions and character of the native manner of life; and he discovered in himself a joy confirming his readiness "to spend and be spent'' in the allotted task. Before the first week had passed he wrote—"This morning the chapel (at Waimate) would not contain the people, and we assembled for worship in the open air. I took my station on the roof of a house to read prayers and John Ley stood in the same place to preach. The people listened with great attention while he explained to them the parable of the 'leaven hidden in three measures of meal.' Before and after the morning service John examined the candidates for baptism. He preached again at 3 p.m. and at the conclusion of the service I read the baptismal service and administered the sacred rite to nearly 100 persons, including about 30 children. In the evening I conversed with the leaders and others on various subjects connected with the work of God as well as I could with my imperfect knowledge of the language . . . Thus closed the first Sabbath I had spent alone among the New Zealanders, and although I had neither chair, table nor bed, but the ground, although I had to sit in a native house without windows and with the fire in the middle of the floor, and although I was far away from the friends with whom I had been accustomed to worship and was unable to understand the language of the people among whom I assembled to worship, yet I would not change my work for any other upon earth." Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #1(4) 1942 Page 9

Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

WISH FOR A MISSIONARY. So, having become sufficiently acquainted with the sphere of influence chosen for his first missionary labours in New Zealand, Mr Skevington tur'ned homeward, “with a light heart,'' on April 25. In every way he had been encouraged to regard hopefully the prospect of settling among the Ngatiruanui, and to proceed confidently with the essential tasks of mastering a strange language and understanding the mind of a strange people. As the way back to Mr Creed's station at Ngamotu was traversed, the newcomer found himself losing the sense of strangeness. Just after the first sunset he reached Te Hupuku. "I was most affectionately received by the people, who, having seen me before, now look'd upon me as an old friend," he wrote in his day-to-day record. Everywhere on this return journey he noted signs of satisfaction in his manifest expectation of soon being their missionary. Coming again to Patea, he confided to his journal: ''Patea is the place where it was intended to bring Bro. Creed, but contrary winds drove them to Ngamotu. In some respects this would be the most suitable place for a station in this district, as we have here a piece of land bought some time since for a station and small vessels can enter the river. But this is by no means the most important place. Waimate has decidedly superior claims on the ground of the much greater number of people residing there, and we are not to ask 'Where we shall be most comfortable?' but 'Where shall we be most useful?' " Of interest now is also his entry for April 29. "Started at daylight and reached Pukehou about 9 a.m. Found a parcel from Mr Creed containing among others a letter from the chairman, who is decidedly of opinion that I ought at once to come and commence a station at Waimate, and gives me his authority to do so. This made my way plain, and on my arrival at Waimate this afternoon I made arrangements with the people to follow me in about a fortnight to bring down our boxes, etc." Arriving at Ngamotu, where he found "Mrs S. and all at home quite well," and where events were demonstrating the wisdom of Mr Creed's concentrating his pastoral attention upon the young New Plymouth colonising venture, Mr Skevington once more chronicled his thoughts about his own appointed job of mission pioneering. "I undertook this journey with considerable apprehension that my physical strength would be inadequate to its fatigue, but I have had strength according to my day; indeed, I return home in better health than I was when I started. I see that my circuit is one which will require almost incessant travelling and will allow, at present, very little time for study; but the prospects of good among the people are most encouraging, and I trust to see a pious and civilised people inhabiting that neighbourhood which was so lately the seat of the most desolating wars and where idolatry, superstition and cruelty held until very recently undisputed dominion." Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #1(4) 1942 Page 10

Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

NEIRA'S CONTINUED MANA. In these reflections he was fortified by all that he had come to know of William Neira, his illustrious forerunner in the Christianising of South Taranaki. Like many another early convert, this chief had been a noted cannibal warrior. He closely resembled Tamati Waaka Nene in his enthusiasm for those repeated southward expeditions thus vividly described in annals of pro-British Maoriland: "They flourished and fought and ate their way southward and back again in the early decades of last century.'' And like Tamati Waaka he had sincerely, wholeheartedly, accepted the Christian way of life, becoming a firm friend of the pakeha and a devoted ally of the Government in critical days of war. Wiremu Neira Te Awaitaia, to give him his full name of double-barrelled significance, proved as valorous in his new life as in his old. His northern Ngapuhi contact, which decisively prepared the way for eminence in evangelising ardour, was followed by spiritual and moral exploits in the Waikato, Taupo and Taranaki areas, in all of which he had a remarkable prestige, built upon his former chieftainly prowess. Mr Skevington was as deeply impressed by his character and bearing as the Rev. John Whiteley and the Rev. James Wallis had been, and as Governor Grey was in a later time. It meant more than can be easily reckoned for South Taranaki's Christian future, to have so stalwart an associate for the missionary pioneers, and Mr Skevington was duly sensible of Te Awaitaia's qualities and service. CHOICE OF HEADQUARTERS The missionary himself, however, was able to influence the decision as to where his headquarters should be located, and on his exploratory journey his mind, as we have noted, was being definitely made up. Of Waimate he wrote on April 16, when first he saw the locality: "There are three pas"— and by "pa," be it remembered, he rightly meant a place of defence and not merely a place of habitation (kainga)—"close together forming an angle at the apex of which is the house built for the missionary. Waimate, the largest pa, stands upon an immense rock detached from the mainland, but in a line with the coast, and must have been a very secure defence while the people had only native arms.'' The house, already erected for the home of the promised missionary, pleasantly greeted Mr Skevington's eyes on this initial arrival. To his eager gaze it appealed, a little doubtfully, as "a good native house, hut very small, much out of repair, and should this be selected as the place for the station will only serve as a temporary residence while another is building." With all too much eagerness, apparently, the housing of the expected missionary was provided. To get him in occupation without

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell delay was the thing. Once there, he would be their own, and the rest could be attended to afterwards. It seems to have been a sort of "token" house. None the less, Mr Skevington's welcome was all that could be desired, spacious and warm and attractive. "We were received here with every demonstration of joy. The people stood in long rows to give us a welcome. The women shouted and wept, the men fired their guns, and the children danced and shouted, 'A missionary for us! A missionary for us!' Noses in abundance were rubbed, but I escaped. In the evening their neat and good-sized chapel was crowded to excess to see the missionary and to hear the Gospel." Not from his own lips, as these folk soon discovered. But he had enough Maori to give out the first hymn. His native companion did the rest—very well, for had he not heard their missionary preach to the white folk of New Plymouth? Then this deputy was asked if it was Mr Skevington's wish and pleasure to come and live with them. "I told them," he records, "I desired to do so and probably should." TAKING POSSESSION. Quite briefly, he says in his journal, with reference to his speedy return to the district: “On the 30th of May we arrived at our station, accompanied by more than 100 natives, who had carried Mrs S. nearly all the way, together with our boxes, stores, books, etc. We took possession of the house which had been built for the missionary. It is 15ft. by 20ft. inside, and has neither window, partition, nor chimney.'' To discover the precise whereabouts of this temporary dwelling is probably now impossible, but perhaps the local research stimulated by the centenary will bring to light some trustworthy data. The Rev. T. G. Hammond's reference to the '' beginning'' of Mr Skevington's work carries us to no certain conclusion. "It is more than likely that the first services conducted by Mr Skevington took place at Ohawe, Waingongoro. That, however, did not become his permanent home. It was decided to erect mission premises at Heretoa, between the Inaha and Kapuni rivers. It was impossible to induce the Maoris to part with land by absolute sale. Mr Skevington, therefore, was noho noa iho (merely in occupation). It was certainly not a suitable site for a station, and the arrangement as to tenure was anything but satisfactory. '' OFFICIAL REPORT. Of his pioneering Mr Skevington wrote an official report for the district meeting of the Wesleyan Mission, in 1842. It gives, briefly but clearly, an account of the commencement as he knew it at first hand. Reading between the lines is not difficult. "Taranaki (South). It was at the last district meeting considered impracticable to occupy this station until the return of the Triton, in consequence of the difficulty of

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell conveying a family there. After then, however, the natives so cheerfully undertook to take the missionary and his wife, with their furniture, etc., that notwithstanding the difficulties of the road it was considered to be our duty to occupy the station at once; and therefore the missionary was directed to proceed thither as soon as arrangements could be made. After a journey of considerable difficulty he arrived on the 30th of May last at Waimate, the site of the new station. This place is about midway between Ngamotu and Wanganui, and is in the centre of a considerable native population. There are between 300 and 400 persons on the spot and at least 1700 in the circuit. They have been visited occasionally by several of the brethren, and have been under the instruction of native teachers from the older stations. As a whole they have long since abandoned war and cannibalism, and great numbers of them attend the worship of the True God. It is true they have but little of experimental religion, but there are indications which warrant the hope that ere long many of them will become savingly acquainted with 'the truth as it is in Jesus.' '' From his auspicious start in that new field—in nothing more auspicious when he and his party reached Auckland, and he took his full share of active interest in the proceedings. These began on September 17, and that evening Mr Skevington preached in "High Street" on "The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost'' — a heart-moving discourse. In the course of the next few days, as far as the periods of routine business allowed, he was particularly busy, in company with his close friend John Whiteley, in formulating and translating rules for the better organisation of spiritual activity among his native people; these two had also, on the Sunday afternoon, been in eager conference with the Rev. Walter Lawry (General Superintendent) about "our great work among the Natives.'' No hint of the imminent end was anywhere in these happenings, but that evening it startingly came. The Rev. James Wallis was the evening preacher. Near the front, together, sat Whiteley and Skevington, listening with obvious intentness to .an impressive exposition of "They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars for ever and ever." The sermon had proceeded for about twenty minutes, when Mr Skevington was seen to droop; he fell into the arms of his friend, who helped to carry him into the vestry, but before he could be laid down his spirit had flown. On the following morning, when the district meeting reassembled for prayer, "it was difficult to find anyone able to utter a sentence, we were dumb before the Lord.'' So wrote Mr Lawry in his report to the London Committee, and he added, with an eye to the welfare of the New Zealand Mission, ((this mysterious visitation has involved us in straits and perplexity as to filling his station, so remote and so important.

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell

GREATLY BELOVED. That last phrase was fully warranted, partly by the growing momentum of the progress made under the English pioneer. On the other hand it was gratifyingly noted that the final year of his work had been remarkably successful. South Taranaki had become firmly established as an area justifying more and more intense religious cultivation. In little more than three years, having no appropriate experience elsewhere, he had done wonders. Not by the exercise of brilliant gifts or the use of spectacular means. In the records of that unforgettable district meeting appears obituary reference to him, after the manner of official Methodist assemblies, and its testimony as approved by unanimous vote included this: "His piety and zeal carried him through difficulties of no ordinary magnitude, and though he did not possess those talents which are usually styled (great' he was a good and faithful servant whom the Master owned in the salvation of many souls. He was greatly beloved by his Natives, among whom he exercised the influence of a father and a friend. By his brethren in the New Zealand Mission he was esteemed as a Man of God and a faithful missionary.'' How to fill the place his death had left tragically vacant? This was indeed a “perplexity.” The task in New Zealand was developing beyond available resources. More men, especially, were an essential requirement. They could not be got immediately. Nor was it a time to launch out into the financial deep. To reexamine the mission's own reservoir of personnel was compelled by all the circumstances, in which the sudden accession of tasks created by the waves of British colonisation, mounting and spreading from 1840 onwards for several years, was an embarrassing demand. Besides, a seriously complicating factor was the arising of grave quarrel between Pakeha and Maori, as in the terribly unfortunate Wairau incident of 1843 and the disastrous war in the North dragging on into 1846. First choice fell upon Samuel Ironside. His expertness in Maori language, lore and custom was helpfully increasing, he knew South Taranaki, and he was favourably known there. Representative Maori opinion, expressed by a letter to the New Zealand heads of the Mission, was emphatically for him. But the idea was not feasible; developments in Port Nicholson and across Cook Strait compelled immediate practical attention, and no man could with equal hope be placed in that region. Other suggestions, less advantageous for South Taranaki, were rejected; it would never do to send as John Skevington's successor a man of unimpressive personality. Eventually, the requisite qualifications were found in a man close at band. TRUSTY SUCCESSOR. This was Mr William Hough. In the General Superintendent's letter of December 18, 1845, to the London Committee, the position was bluntly put. "We were compelled,

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Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell sorely against our feelings, to leave Waimate without a missionary till you can send one from England, .a man 'baptised for the dead.' For the present that fine and hopeful people will be visited once a quarter by the Taranaki and Wellington preachers, and Mr Hough, one of our esteemed catechists, will reside among them. But their case cries aloud for prompt help from England." Even that sort of aid would have been doubtfully adequate. Better a man already equipped by some experience in Maori work. Mr Hough was not altogether a novice. He had been chosen, not long before Mr Skevington's death, to minister to the Maoris of Patea, and soon proved himself a skilful organiser. That he commended himself, by inherent qualities, to the leading Patea chief, Tauroa (baptised Eiehard Watson, after an eminent English divine), is held by the Rev. T. G. Hammond to be a patent of nobility; it certainly witnesses to the possession of a positive personality. The Maori designation of him as Mita Hough, where the first word, '' Mister,'' is a very unusual title on native lips, suggests an instinctive compulsion to dignify him. His endeavours to fill the gap are gratefully recalled. But for supervening ill-health— his travelling on the coast induced a stubborn assault by chronic bronchitis—he would doubtless have continued long at Patea. LATER NAMES. In turn, Mr Hough was succeeded by Thomas Skinner, another Catechist. He did not remain for any length of time, going on from South Taranaki to Rotoaira in the Taupo region. His zealous toil for Maori betterment is well remembered. A competent Maori linguist, his knowledge of the tongue being based upon close association, when young, with the Maori people, he was outstandingly equipped to understand those whom it was his great joy to serve. Yet another honoured name comes into our list, that of Mr David Sole, who went from New Plymouth to Heretoa in order to help the Rev. John Skevington. It was a labour of love, so great was his regard for Mr Skevington, and he was more than content to accept meagre payment for his services. Mr Hammond 's comment is sufficiently precise: "Mr Sole remained at the Mission Station till Mrs Skevington removed with her two children to New Plymouth, on her way to England. His association with the mission then closed, as he refused an offer from Mr Woon to continue in the service." So we light upon the name that thence forth was to mean much for South Taranaki. The Rev. William Woon was one of the early missionaries in Hokianga, after a term of service in Tonga. He was a mountain of a man, good Methodist Cornish all through. His varied gifts and accomplishments were of memorable aid in the northern sphere, and he served in this later field with great devotion. It is recorded of him that, apparently because he was a man of weight, his two horses were equally, at intervals, Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #1(4) 1942 Page 15

Early Mission Days in South Taranaki by A.B.Chappell disinclined to bear him on the long journeys necessitated in the South Taranaki circuit. Providence had been watchful in selecting so diminutive a man as John Wesley to tour the British Isles on horseback in his matchless ministry to the Great Evangel; nevertheless, William Woon wrought well in his later day and generation. His arrival at Heretoa on May 27, 1846, resumed the goodly succession of ministerial appointments to the district. Mrs Woon was in every way a helpmeet indeed. Of Father Hammond and Mrs Hammond it is happily unnecessary to mention now more than their names. They abide in modern memory as elect servants of God and the Church. Better work than theirs for South Taranaki cannot be imagined. The Rev. Tahupotiki Haddon has a share in such distinction. We have crossed, with this passing reference, to the rich legacy so notably bequeathed by those original stalwarts, Wiremu Neira and John Skevington. Long may the inspiration of their pioneering be passed on.

AUCKLAND, March, 1942.

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