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Rangihoua Pā and Oihi Mission Station

Rangihoua Pā and Oihi Mission Station (1814)

Christianity’s detention camp

Picturesque on a sunny day, bleak at any other time, south-facing Oihi provides an object lesson in the importance of geography and topography. Getting there is a breeze by water, but by land, even with modern roads, it is wearying - boats have always worked better than cars in the Bay of Islands. Trek down the farm road, though, and you immediately understand. In 1814 several hundred Ngāi Tawake crowded the now deserted stronghold of Rangihoua, a coastal ridge that looked commandingly south out over the Bay, then bustling with whaling ships and Māori traders. To the north, Rangihoua also looked down on Christianity’s beleaguered first beachhead in New Zealand.

Chief Ruatara was an adventurous young cross-cultural traveller. He had visited New South Wales and, willing to chance his arm, invited ‘the flogging Parson’, Samuel Marsden, to establish a mission in New Zealand. The porcine parson waddled ashore from the ship Active in December 1814 to celebrate New Zealand’s first Christian service. It has been honoured by stamps and by penny-dreadful historiography ever since, but fewer have dwelled on the fact that Marsden’s missionary mechanics had to wait almost two decades to make a single convert. Māori wanted European trade goods, not their superstitions.

If you look hard enough beyond the hefty Celtic ‘Marsden Cross’ in the grass you will see the archaeological platforms of the cottages erected on Oihi’s slopes by the Church Missionary Society’s disputatious guinea pigs. Here Thomas Kendall, William Hall and John King bickered and schemed against each other and sold guns while their Maori overlords looked down on them, literally and metaphorically. ‘Touched by God but otherwise not all that strange’, conservator Fergus Clunie notes, ‘the missionaries wanted to forsake this barren, claustrophobic cove.’ You cannot blame them, especially if you visit on a wet, windy day. Marsden, as usual, thought he knew better and kept them cooped up here until 1832. During that entire time the CMS toilers made no converts, though the same could not be said of Māori.

In 2012/13 the University of Otago and the Department of Conservation conducted the first archaeological survey of the Oihi site in the lead-up to the bicentennial celebrations.

Further information

This site is item number 9 on the History of New Zealand in 100 Places list.

On the ground

At the time of writing (2013) a visitor centre is planned to be ready in time for the site’s bicentennial celebrations in 2014.

Websites

Book

Judith Binney, The legacy of guilt, Bridget Williams Books, Wellington, 2005

Credit:

Text: Gavin McLean, 2013

Contemporary images: Gavin McLean, 1998

Historic images:

Alexander Turnbull Library
References: Curios-021-008, PA1-o-141-87 (photographed by Russell James Duncan) and WA-10311-G (photographed by Whites Aviation)
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of their images.

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Date established:

1814

Samuel Marsden

The Reverend Samuel Marsden, Chaplain to New South Wales, (1765-1838) was the driving force behind the establishment of Anglican mission stations in New Zealand in the early nineteenth century. He was born in England and based in New South Wales, and he was a member of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). His work and that of his missionaries helped build up a relationship of trust with Maori chiefs, paving the way for the acceptance of an official Crown presence in New Zealand.

Marsden protested to the British authorities about the trade in Maori heads, the involvement of the British in tribal conflicts, and lawlessness in Kororareka, a settlement in the Bay of Islands. He had some involvement in convincing the New South Wales Governor to support the appointment of a British Resident in New Zealand to deal with perceived anarchy in British settlements, a crucial link in the chain of events that ultimately led to Britain deciding to seek sovereignty over New Zealand.

See also: biography of Samuel Marsden at DNZB website

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Maori intermediaries: Ruatara

Several Maori men travelled the world after joining the crews of ships visiting New Zealand.

In 1805 the Nga Puhi chief Ruatara, from Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands, left New Zealand on the whaling ship Argo with the intention of meeting King George III. Over the next four years he served on several whaling ships and received mixed treatment. He never met the King, but in 1809 he encountered the missionary Samuel Marsden, who was returning to Port Jackson (Sydney) on the convict vessel Ann.

Marsden ensured that Ruatara, who was in poor physical condition, was cared for and supplied with clothes, and he invited Ruatara to stay with him when they arrived at Port Jackson. Ruatara spent eight months with Marsden at Parramatta, studying European agricultural techniques, carpentry and other skills with the aim of introducing wheat production to New Zealand.

Marsden arranged a passage home for Ruatara aboard the whaling vessel Frederick. Ruatara took tools and a quantity of seed wheat but was defrauded of these items and abandoned on Norfolk Island. He was eventually rescued and taken back to Port Jackson before finally returning to Rangihoua in 1812.

Ruatara returns to New Zealand

Rangihoua

In his absence Ruatara found that his influence had waned and Nga Puhi took some convincing that this new crop had any merit. In 1814 Marsden sent Thomas Kendall to consult Ruatara about establishing a Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission at Rangihoua. Kendall presented him with a hand-powered flour mill that convinced his fellow chiefs of the value of wheat and re-established Ruatara's mana.

Ruatara then returned to Port Jackson to further his study of European agricultural techniques. Governor Macquarie of New South Wales supported Marsden's plans to establish a mission station and gave Ruatara gifts including a mare, a cow and other livestock, and a military uniform to help further this aim.

When Ruatara returned to Rangihoua on 22 December 1814, he made it clear that he was the protector and patron of 'his Pakeha' – the CMS missionaries Samuel Marsden, Thomas Kendall, John King and William Hall – who had now arrived in New Zealand and would live under his protection at Rangihoua.

Warning signs?

In Port Jackson, Ruatara had been warned that the missionaries were the forerunners of settlers and soldiers. He had seen for himself that the Australian Aborigines had not prospered through European contact.

Marsden was aware of Ruatara's reservations and offered to abort the mission before it was established. Ruatara cautioned that other Maori might harm Marsden and his mission and that only by setting up at Rangihoua could he protect them. A relieved Marsden failed to appreciate how this placed the mission firmly under Ruatara's control.

Ruatara was never completely convinced that allowing the missionaries to settle was a good idea. His decision probably reflected a sense of inevitability about European contact and a desire to control proceedings.

On whose terms?

A once popular belief regarding European contact with Maori in the 19th century stressed the fatal impact of this contact and the inability of Maori to withstand the technologically advanced European culture. Maori society was given little credit for its ability to adapt and manage contact on its own terms.

Ruatara's story, however, illustrates that Maori sought to ensure that interaction was on their terms as much as possible. They did not passively sit back and allow contact to wash over them. In this early period Europeans were still dependent on Maori for their physical and economic well-being. Maori actively pursued and engaged with Europeans who, they believed, could increase the personal mana of individuals or the collective interests of hapu and iwi. Interaction with Europeans was dynamic and reflected Maori cultural values and expectations.

Contact with Europeans was increasing but it was still rare; by the early 1830s there were perhaps only a couple of hundred permanent European residents in New Zealand.

Establishing the Church Missionary Society

Samuel Marsden and the Church Missionary Society

Samuel Marsden

A key figure in the establishment of the first Christian mission in New Zealand was Samuel Marsden. During his time in Australia as chaplain to the penal colony, he met many visiting Maori and developed a close association with the Rangihoua chief Ruatara.

Marsden returned to England in 1807 to secure support from the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS) and to recruit lay settlers to prepare the way for ordained ministers. He was convinced that 'commerce and the arts have a natural tendency to inculcate industrious and moral habits. The attention of the heathen can be gained and their vagrant habits corrected.' It was not until 1809 that he was able to return to Sydney with the first lay missionaries or 'mechanics' – William Hall, a joiner, and John King, a rope maker. Ruatara, befriended by Marsden in Britain, was also on board the ship.

Rangihoua

When news of the attack on the Boyd reached the Colonial Office, any settlement in New Zealand was vetoed. It was not until June 1814 that Hall and Thomas Kendall finally arrived in the Bay of Islands as the first missionary mechanics. Marsden arrived on 22 December at Rangihoua, Ruatara's home, where, on Christmas Day, he gave the first Christian service in New Zealand.

Marsden believed Maori were perfect candidates for conversion as they had grasped the benefits of trade, a key aspect in terms of accepting European ideals and beliefs. Trade would make them dependent on Europeans and thus open the way to salvation.

The natives of New Zealand are far advanced in Civilization, and apparently prepared for receiving the Knowledge of Christianity more than any Savage nations I have seen … The more I see of these people, the more I am pleased with … They appear like a superior Race of men.

Claudia Orange, The story of a treaty, p. 9

'Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy'

Marsden's first service

The theme of Marsden's first sermon on Christmas Day 1814 largely fell on deaf ears. Maori were clearly in a position of strength, so there seemed little reason for them to heed the new message. Some aspects of the Old Testament might have been seen as incorporating Maori values such as utu, but, as historian Gavin McLean noted, while men such as Ruatara and Hongi Hika 'listened politely and let children attend the stations' schools', they 'rejected the low-church mechanic missionaries' gloomy emphasis on an angry God' looking to damn their souls to eternal fires. Furthermore, conversion to Christianity was considered to be a blow to the mana of a chief – and to convert the people, the chiefs had to be won over.

Despite increased missionary activity during the 1820s, there were no Maori baptisms before 1830. Maori had their own beliefs and customs, and from a spiritual perspective the missionaries had little to offer. The missionaries were seen largely as another trade opportunity to be manipulated. Missionaries could do little about this as their economic and physical welfare were dependent on the goodwill and patience of Maori.

NZ's first grape vines planted?

Reverend Samuel Marsden is generally credited with planting the first grapevines in New Zealand. The vines were planted as part of Marsden’s efforts to establish a settlement for the Church Missionary Society at Kerikeri. He recorded the planting in his journal of his second visit to New Zealand:

We had a small spot of land cleared and broken up, in which I planted about a hundred grape vines of different kinds brought from Port Jackson. New Zealand promises to be very favourable to the vine, as far as I can judge at the present of the nature of the soil and climate. Should the vine succeed it will prove of vast importance in this part of the globe.

Marsden does not suggest that these were the first grapevines planted in New Zealand, and Frank Thorpy, author of Wine in New Zealand, argues that it is likely they were not. He suggests that Charles Gordon, the Society’s superintendent of agriculture, may have already planted vines at the Society’s other settlements of Rangihoua and Waitangi, perhaps as early as 1817.

While Marsden may not have been first, he was certainly correct in his belief that New Zealand would prove ‘favourable to the vine’. In 2007 New Zealand’s wine exports were worth almost $700 million. Market New Zealand describes New Zealand’s wine-growing region as ‘spanning the latitudes of 34 to 47 degrees and covering the length of 1,600 kilometres’, and states that ‘grapes are grown in a diverse range of climates and soil types, producing an exciting array of styles’.

Image: Marlborough vineyards (Te Ara)

Outbreak of the Girls' War at Kororāreka

The Girls’ War is the name given to a conflict fought in March 1830 between northern and southern Ngāpuhi. It had its roots in inter-hapū rivalry and competition for European trade at Kororāreka in the Bay of Islands. The conflict was sparked by a fight among some young high-born Māori women, including the wives of a European whaler, W.D. Brind. A minor incident led to an exchange of threats between the girls’ tribes. Things turned violent when someone was accidentally shot.

At Kororāreka, northern Ngāpuhi under the leadership of Ururoa (the brother-in-law of Hongi Hika) clashed with southern Ngāpuhi led by Kiwikiwi. The battle was inconclusive but Kiwikiwi retreated to Ōtuihu, a headland about 10 km to the south. The missionaries Samuel Marsden and Henry Williams acted as intermediaries in the peace negotiations that followed. Despite intermittent fighting over the next seven years, Kororāreka remained under the control of northern Ngāpuhi.

NZ's first Christian service?

At Oihi Beach in the Bay of Islands, Samuel Marsden preached in English to a largely Māori gathering, launching the Christian missionary phase of New Zealand history.

Marsden’s service was translated by the Ngāpuhi leader Ruatara. The two men had first met in Port Jackson (Sydney) in 1809. In 1814 Marsden sent Thomas Kendall to consult Ruatara about establishing a Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission at Rangihoua. Ruatara became the patron of the first Christian mission established in New Zealand, making it known to all that he was the protector and patron of ‘his Pakeha’ – the CMS missionaries Marsden, Kendall, John King and William Hall, who had now arrived in New Zealand.

It is the possible, however, that the French had beaten the CMS to the altar 45 years earlier. On Christmas Day 1769 the French explorer Jean François Marie de Surville and his crew were in Doubtless Bay in the Far North. On board the Saint Jean Baptiste was a Dominican priest, Paul-Antoine de Villefeix. While no records survive, it seems highly likely that such an important Catholic festival would have been celebrated with a mass. In the absence of hard evidence, New Zealand’s English colonial traditions have favoured Marsden’s claim to fame.

Image: Samuel Marsden’s first service (detail)

Samuel Marsden's first service

Russell Clark's reconstruction of Samuel Marsden's Christmas Day service at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands in 1814 is how many New Zealanders have visualised the first Christmas service in this country.

Clark’s work commemorated the 150th anniversary of the event and shows Marsden at a makeshift pulpit preaching to a large group of Maori and Europeans. Ruatara, the Ngāpuhi leader Marsden had met in Port Jackson (Sydney), translated the service and can be seen to Marsden’s right. This service marked the beginnings of the Christian mission to New Zealand, but was it the first Christmas service or, indeed, the first preaching of the gospel in New Zealand?

On Christmas Day 1769 the French explorer Jean François Marie de Surville and his crew were in Doubtless Bay in the Far North. On board the Saint Jean Baptiste was a Dominican priest, Paul-Antoine de Villefeix. While no records survive, it seems highly likely that such an important Catholic festival would have been marked with a mass. In the absence of hard evidence, New Zealand’s English colonial traditions have favoured Marsden’s claim to fame.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington
Reference: B-077-006
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Samuel Marsden

Convict artist Joseph Backler's painting of Samuel Marsden shortly before his death in 1838

Known in Australia as the 'flogging parson', Marsden was once asked to give a reference for a boy. He claimed not to know the boy in question but added that 'if he had been bad I should have known him'.

Frustrated at his lack of success in Australia, Marsden saw New Zealand as his chance to make some progress in spreading the gospel.

Read more about Samuel Marsden

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington
Reference: G-620
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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tags:

missionaries

samuel marsden

painting