Henry Williams (missionary)

For other uses, see Henry Williams.

Holy Trinity Church at Pakaraka.

Interior of the Holy Trinity.

A plaque in the church.

Henry Williams (born 11 February 1782 in Nottingham, England - died 16 July 1867 in Pakaraka, Bay of Islands) was one of the many European missionaries who arrived in New Zealand in an attempt to bring Christianity to the Māori people.

Williams was in the Royal Navy from 1806 until 1815. He married Marianne Coldham in 1818 and under the influence of her brother-in-law became a member of the Church Missionary Society. He and his wife travelled to Australia in 1822 and there met Samuel Marsden. Williams accompanied Marsden on his trip to New Zealand the following year and subsequently settled in Paihia.

During the 1830s Williams tavelled widely throughout the North Island and helped to establish a number of mission stations.

In February 1840 he translated the Treaty of Waitangi into the Māori language, along with some help from his son Edward. They used a dialect known as "Missionary Māori", which was not traditional Māori, but had been made up by the missionaries. The Māori were thus confused by some of the wording.

An example of this in the Treaty is kawanatanga, a cognate word which Williams is believed to have transplanted from English. It appeared in the Māori language for the first time in the Treaty and hence, some argue, was an inappropriate choice.

References

New Zealand Encyclopaedia 1966: Henry Williams Biography