Henry Williams was a missionary who supported British annexation. He believed that Māori should be protected from lawless Europeans and fraudulent dealings. He and his son Edward translated the Treaty of Waitangi into Māori.
Henry Williams
Personal details
Full Name:
Henry Williams
Lifetime:
11 Feb 1792 – 16 Jul 1867
Biography
Events In History
20 December 1832
Church Missionary Society (CMS) leader Henry Williams gave the male pupils (Māori and Pākehā) of his mission school at Paihia in the Bay of Islands a rare day off.
Articles
Treaty signatories and signing locations
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on nine separate sheets by more than 500 Māori. Find out more about the sheets, the signatories and the signing locations Read the full article
Page 4 - Making the Treaty of Waitangi
New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was prepared over just a few days in February 1840. Several versions of the treaty were taken around the country for
Page 5 - Signing the treaty
By the end of 1840 about 540 Māori, including 13 women, had signed the Treaty of Waitangi; all but 39 signed the Māori text. While some had clear expectations about what their
Missionaries
The Christian missionaries of the pre-1840s have been described as the 'agents of virtue in a world of vice', although they were not immune to moral blemish themselves. Read the full article
Page 4 - Fixing God's house
Henry Williams, who had been ordained a priest in 1822 'for the cure of souls in his majesty's foreign possessions', inherited a mission beset by
Related Biographies
Ngāpuhi chief Hōne Heke was an influential northern Māori voice in favour of the Treaty of Waitangi. However, he later became a leading opponent of British rule in New Zealand.
Main image: Horotutu, Bay of Islands, 1859
This sketch shows Henry Williams's house and premises from behind Horotutu, Bay of Islands, March 1859.
