Richard Taylor (1805–1873) was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1829. He was later appointed a missionary with the Church Missionary Society (CMS), and settled at the Bay of Islands in 1839.
In January 1840 he acquired a large tract of land in the far north – including Cape Reinga and Spirits Bay/Kapowairua – from the Kaitaia chief Nopera Panakareao. His main purpose appears to have been to create a permanent endowment for the local tribe, Te Aupouri, but he was heavily criticised by those who did not appreciate his motives.
Octavius Hadfield was born around 1814. He joined the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1837. The next year, at Paihia, Bay of Islands, he became the first priest to be ordained in New Zealand.
Hadfield studied the Maori language while working at Waimate North, and in 1839 became the CMS missionary on the Kapiti coast. By late 1841 he was ministering to about 7,000 Maori on both sides of Cook Strait, and in charge of 18 mission schools. Often resolving disputes among Maori, he became widely respected. Te Rauparaha supported him, but was never converted to Christianity.
Thomas Grace (1815–1879) joined the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in 1844 and was soon ordained as a deacon. He arrived in New Zealand to take up missionary work among Maori in 1850.
He began work in Poverty Bay. Unlike other CMS missionaries he did not seek the rapid assimilation of Maori. Instead he encouraged Maori to gain some economic independence, and to retain their lands. This made him very unpopular with settlers.
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 problems.
