Methodism in Marlborough 1840—1965
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Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 METHODISM IN MARLBOROUGH 1840—1965 Published in connection with the CENTENNIAL of WESLEY CHURCH, BLENHEIM April 1965 Page 1 Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 WESLEY CHURCH, BLENHEIM Page 2 Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 CONTENTS FOREWORD Part I THE MISSION WORK AT PORT UNDERWOOD Part II METHODISM IN MARLBOROUGH WESLEY: Wesley Ladies' Guild Methodist Women's Missionary Auxiliary Young Family Group Wesley Ladies' Fellowship N.Z. Methodist Women's Fellowship Men's Fellowship The Choirs Wesley Sunday School Bible Classes and Adult Groups The Boys' Brigade The Girls' Life Brigade Stewardship Mayfield Church-Hall THE MAORI WORK GROVETOWN AWATERE HOME MISSION STATION SPRINGLANDS TUA MARINA RAPAURA PICTON HAVELOCK CANVASTOWN MAHAKIPAWA CARLUKE APPENDIX: Superintendent Ministers and Assistants Appointments at Tua Marina Deaconesses Appointed to the Circuit Appointments to Picton Appointments to Havelock H.M. Station Lay Preachers Preaching Places Centennial Programme Page 3 Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 FOREWORD Methodism in Marlborough has had a noble record. We of today salute our forebears, many of whom were giants in the faith. We would like to think we have taken the torch from earlier hands and are holding it high. But we are too close to see clearly the worth of our own witness. This is an inadequate record for much more could have been written. Enough is here, however, to catch a vision, arouse admiration, gratitude, wonder or to receive a challenge. That is the value of history. We seek to tell a tale supported by pictures. Our regret is that while we have done our best in gathering photographs there are but two of the earlier ladies illustrated. The women were often the inspiration of the men and shared equally their burdens, privations and joys. We know therefore that this is a story in imbalance, but our space is limited. Let us not forget them or their service to the Kingdom. There are other limitations to this record too. Some photographs we could not obtain in spite of our research. And there is much to tell in a formative century. Several people have had a hand in this reproduction, especially Mr F. W. Smith, an authority on Samuel Ironside's life and work, and Mr A. M. Hale, our enthusiast in this district for the preservation of history and who has written much over the years. Another has assisted us beyond praise, Mr N. H. Brayshaw, secretary of the Marlborough Historical Society, who has prepared most of the photographs for publication. Mention, too, must be made of The Marlborough Express whose files and services have been invaluable. Mr N. L. Foston kindly loaned us some photos from his late father's collection, and Mr D. G. Sandford did research into our earliest properties and drew two line sketches. Our typists, Mr V. Underbill and Mrs A. H. Jellyman deserve our thanks. How important are records neatly kept and handed on later to the right person or place for preservation. We are grateful to earlier secretaries but one in particular merits an especial place. He was the late Rev. Herman Foston who kept minutes, records and correspondence with a care no one in all our hundred years has excelled. There are two important gaps in our records. These are the first Trust Minute Book from J. W. Wallis's time to 1880, and the Circuit Quarterly Meeting Minute Book prior to 1898. Let those who read be sensitive of the future. C. B. OLDFIELD, Superintendent of the Circuit, Chairman of the District. 9th February 1965. Page 4 Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 PART I ESTABLISHMENT of the WESLEYAN MISSION NGAKUTA BAY - 1840 Rev. & Mrs SAMUEL IRONSIDE Contributed by F. W. SMITH The first known contact by a Wesleyan missionary to Marlborough was in April 1836 to Port Underwood by the Rev. William White, one of the missionaries then stationed at Hokianga. It was not planned, as he was on the ship Martha returning from Sydney to Hokianga. They put into Port Underwood through stress of weather. It was a brief visit of one day, and whether Mr White landed is not known, as he left no record of what he saw. A year later in June 1837 Cloudy Bay and Cook Strait were visited by the Rev. Samuel Marsden of the Church of England Mission. He was then an old man paying his last visit to New Zealand. He went ashore at Kakapo Bay and in his report he was definite a missionary was needed in the area, where he estimated there were 1,500 Maoris besides the whalers. KAKAPO BAY, PORT UNDERWOOD In May 1839 the Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission, Rev. J. H. Bumby, left Hokianga accompanied by the Rev. John Hobbs and twenty Maori youths who had Page 5 Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 been educated at the Mission School. Some of these youths were left at Port Nicholson (now Wellington) during the week they spent there. They then crossed in their schooner the Hokianga to Port Underwood and Te Awaiti where more of the young Maoris were left. On arriving at Port Underwood they were pleased to find that the Maoris had accepted the Christian faith and Mr Bumby in his report says: "They observe the Sabbath and worship God, they meet twice a day and as a substitute for Church bells they used old musket barrels suspended by cords and struck by stones. A few of the young people can read and all are anxious to learn, etc." It is a pity that no record can be found of who the earlier converts were, and when they brought Christianity to Port Underwood, but it must have been very gratifying to the two missionaries to be greeted in a Christian manner. Messrs Bumby and Hobbs were impressed with the need for a missionary in the area and on their return to the Mission headquarters at Hokianga urged that one be sent, with the result that the Rev. Samuel Ironside was appointed. SAMUEL IRONSIDE Rev. Samuel Ironside Sarah Ironside b. Sheffield 9 September 1814 b. Sheffield 23 April 1818 d. Hobart 24 April 1897 d. Hobart 1 December 1890 Page 6 Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 Samuel Ironside at this time was twenty-four years of age and his wife Sarah was twenty. They had arrived at Hokianga on 19th March 1839 and such was his ability that he had had no difficulty in picking up the language and spoke it fluently. They left Hokianga on 19th May 1840 to take up their appointment but owing to being shipwrecked, were badly delayed at Kawhia. They finally left there on the barque Magnet and to quote Mr Ironside's own words: "After about a week's fine weather sailing we entered Port Underwood and anchored off Kakapo, Guard's Bay on 20th December 1840. We were expeditiously and unceremoniously landed on the beach and the Magnet pursued her voyage to Port Nicholson." A few days were spent looking round and deciding on a site for a Station and on 31st December they shifted up to Ngakuta Bay at the head of the Port. Mr Ironside considered he was especially a Missionary to the Maoris and from that spot easier supervision could be given to the large number living over the saddle on Arapawa Island and the outer part of the Sounds, and at the same time be able to see to the Maoris in the Port itself and also the Europeans at the whaling stations there, whom he estimated to number about sixty. In looking over the work of Mr Ironside and the Cloudy Bay Mission one thing is most noticeable and that is the achievements of the first two years. Page 7 Methodism in Marlborough 1840-1965 THE CHURCH The erection of Ebenezer Church at Ngakuta Bay, size 66 x 36ft, and in those days estimated to cost up to £1,500 was no small feat, as also was the erection and supervision of eleven Chapels in the villages on Tory Channel and the North Entrance. One Chapel was built at the outer part of Pelorus Sound and another on D'Urville Island. He also visited and supervised the work at Motueka and Aorere (now Collingwood) where there were large Maori settlements. The eagerness of the Maori people to attend school and learn to read and write must have taken some planning for. His report for 1842 of the numbers attending school contains the following: Cloudy Bay 150 Adults 35 Children Te Awaiti 116 Adults 40 Children Totaranui 175 Adults 63 Children (Totaranui is now known as Ship Cove) It is most regrettable that work of such a promising nature, and into which both Mr and Mrs Ironside were putting their entire energies, should have practically come to an end in two and a half years, through no fault of theirs. WAIRAU INCIDENT 1843 The brutal murder of Kuika, a Maori woman of good rank, by Richard Cook, a whaler at Kakapo Bay, and the miscarriage of justice by which he was allowed to go scot free, to be followed a few months later by the illegal sending of surveyors to survey the Wairau Plain, got the Maoris worked up into a ferment. This came to a head at Tua Marina on 17th June 1843 when twenty-two white men and four Maoris were killed. The part that Mr Ironside played in the aftermath of that trouble is well known. It took a man of great courage to interview the chiefs and get permission to bury the dead, and then to cross Cloudy Bay in the teeth of a southeaster to the Bar in an open whale boat with a crew of whalers, and up the Wairau River to Tua Marina.