Henry Williams

Apr 24

The majority of Maori signatories signed Te Tiriti, written in Te Reo Maori by Henry Williams, an Anglican missionary of the Church Missionary Society.

Henry Williams translated the treaty overnight from English to Te Reo Maori. Whatever the initial English draft said, Te Tiriti was what was signed.

Missionaries had agitated for engagement with the Crown and were key influencers on the signatories.

Henry Williams (Dictionary of NZ Biography)

Williams Museum

Portrait of Henry Williams, translator of the Treaty of Waitangi — The life of Henry Williams, Archdeacon of Waimate, 1877, Auckland, by Hugh Francis Carleton, Wilson & Horton Ltd. Gift of Charles Rooking Carter. Te Papa (RB001168)

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Henry Williams

The majority of Maori signatories signed Te Tiriti, written in Te Reo Maori by Henry Williams, an Anglican missionary of the Church Missionary Society.

Old Land Claims

The first claims heard after the Treaty of Waitangi were the “Old Land Claims” by missionaries, early settlers, and the New Zealand Company that they had bought land before Aotearoa came under British jurisdiction. Some claims were made in the name of the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Other claims were made by missionaries like Henry Williams who had bought larger areas to support their children.

Tauranga Apology

In 2018 the Anglican Church made a formal apology to the iwi of Tauranga Moana for yielding to pressure from the Crown to sell the Te Papa block (stretching from the modern Tauranga central business district to Gate Pa), which the Church Missionary Society held in trust for Ngati Tapu and Ngai Tamarawaho.

Opawa-St Martins Parish