What is considered to be New Zealand's first school building opened on 12 August 1816 at the Oihi Mission Station in the Bay of Islands. The school's roll on opening day was 33 Māori and settler students aged between 7-20 and reached 70 students eight months later. Lessons by schoolmaster Thomas Kendall and his assistant William Carlisle were in English and te reo Māori. Kendall had written New Zealand's first Māori lesson book in collaboration with Ngāpuhi Chief Hongi Hika and his nephews Tuai (Tohi) and Titere (Tetere) during 1815: "A korao [kōrero] no New Zealand or, the New Zealander's first book; being an attempt to compose some lessons for the instruction of the natives".

First Mission Station opened in NZ in December 1814

Reverend Samuel Marsden, who lived in New South Wales, had begun lobbying the London-based Society for Missions for a missionary settlement in New Zealand in 1806. The Society agreed in 1809 and advocated that a school also be opened. This led to the first mission station in NZ being sited at the base of Ngāpuhi Chief Ruatara's Rangihoua Pā at Oihi (now known as Hohi).  A sermon held on Christmas morning in 1814 by Reverend Marsden marked the beginnings of the Oihi Mission Station. The Mission Station's settlers lived in temporary homes (raupō whare) built for them by the local Māori whilst buildings were constructed from the timber of felled trees during 1815, followed by the school building in 1816. 

Lessons began in schoolmaster's raupō whare; then school building completed

Appointed as schoolmaster was Englishman Thomas Kendall who arrived with Reverend Marsden at Oihi. He was encouraged by Marsden to begin lessons as soon as possible at his temporary home in a raupō whare whilst the Mission Station's buildings were built. As the whare was only large enough for six students at a time, groups of local Māori and settler children were taught. Later, Kendall was aided by an assistant teacher William Carlisle who arrived at the Mission Station from NSW during 1816. 

The school building was opened on 12 August 1816. Built of sawn kahikatea, it was 10m by 6m and included a separate sleeping area for the Māori students and a cordoned-off raised platform for the teachers and settler students. A fireplace with a brick chimney was used to heat the room and to cook food for the students.

Lessons were conducted in English and te reo Māori

The school roll on opening day was 33 Māori and settler students aged between 7-20, and the roll reached 70 eight months later. Lessons were taught using NZ's first Māori lesson book: A korao [kōrero] no New Zealand or, the New Zealander's first book; being an attempt to compose some lessons for the instruction of the natives. The lesson book was written in 1815 by Kendall in collaboration with Ngāpuhi Chief Hongi Hika and his nephews Tuai (Tohi) and Titere (Tetere). Two hundred copies were printed in Sydney and shipped to Oihi in December 1815. One copy is known to have survived and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The book was also listed in 2014 as an item of documentary importance on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. 

Oihi Mission School eventually closed in Nov 1819

As well as lesson books and writing materials, food and clothing for the students were received from the Church Missionary Society (CMS) which had been renamed from the Society for Missions in 1812. The roll began to fluctuate when the arrival of food from CMS was delayed. This led Kendall and Carlisle to begin lobbying for private trade agreements for food supplies. In November 1819, Reverend Marsden found that both teachers' increasing involvement in trade agreements had led to them neglecting the school whose roll had dwindled. Marsden suspended both of them and the Oihi Mission School closed. The school building was used as the Mission's store until the Oihi Mission Station was replaced in 1832 by the Te Puna Mission Station, which lay 1km to the west. Excavations during 2012 at the former Oihi Mission Station uncovered the brick fireplace. Artefacts were also found including slate and slate pencils.

                                   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Let's explore the events that led to each of these two 'firsts' for NZ - Mission School & lesson book in te reo Māori - taking place in the Bay of Islands at Oihi (Hohi).                  

                                  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>                              

1. NZ Mission & School established by the Society for Missions

The 'Society for Missions to Africa and the East' was formed in April 1799 by members of the Eclectic Society which had been founded in London by a group of Anglican clergy and laymen in 1783.  The founders wished to abolish the slave trade, achieve social reform in England, and embark on world evangelisation. The first secretary, Thomas Scott, was replaced in 1802 by Reverend Josiah Pratt who held that position until 1824.  The Society for Missions was renamed 'The Church Missionary Society [CMS] for Africa and the East' in 1812.    

Source:  Marsden Online Archive: Church Missionary Society, URL: https://marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/

Marsden lobbied for a mission station in NZ, 1806 - 1809

'Laymen' missionaries requested by Marsden

During the first few decades after forming, the CMS had difficulty in attracting ordained Anglican clergy and appointed German Lutheran clergy, of which two began working in West Africa in 1804. The CMS also began appointing Christians who were 'laymen' skilled in trades, such as carpentry, to set up mission stations. These laymen became known as 'mechanic missionaries' and 'laymen missionaries'.  

Society agreed to a mission with a school, 1809

The Society for Missions saw the reading of the Bible as an essential skill to open the Word of God to individuals. Hence, schooling was seen as the means to teach people to read the Bible for themselves.  Furthermore, the teaching of Western education would help to convert them to becoming Christians. With mission stations having a school, this would also draw the local people to interact with the missionaries and to participate in the mission's activities.

Thomas Kendall appointed as schoolmaster, 1813

Thomas Kendall (1778 - 1832) had lived in Lincolnshire and became an assistant teacher when aged eighteen years. He then became a draper and grocer after marrying in 1803.  When visiting London in 1805 Kendall had heard Basil Woodd & William Mann preach at the Bentinck Chapel, Marylebone. Inspired, he moved to London, joined the congregation and became a schoolmaster. Then he applied in 1808 to be a missionary.

Kendall arrived at NSW to join Marsden, Oct 1813

Kendall learnt te reo Māori when at NSW

In a letter to Reverend Basil Woodd  (11 March 1814), Kendall wrote: 

" A young man, a Native of New Zealand, whose name is Tohi [Tuai] has been with me about a month. He can speak English a little, and we can now begin to understand each other tolerably well. I am trying to learn the language, and Tohi who knows what I want, makes himself to be as clearly understood as possible. He says he will return with me in the Active and dwell with me." 

2. Site for Mission Station & School chosen at Oihi

NSW Governor gave permission for the mission, Nov 1814

The Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, gave permission for the foundation of the mission in November 1814. He appointed Kendall as the Justice of the Peace and magistrate. Macquarie also extended his own powers over New Zealand, issuing a proclamation on 9 November that "Natives are not to be carried off from New Zealand or the Bay of Islands by masters of vessels, or seamen or other persons without permission of chiefs, made in writing under hand of Revd Thomas Kendall, resident magistrate".  (Source: Colonial Secretary Index, 1788-1825): New Zealand Bay of Islands)  Macquarie gave Marsden leave of absence for four months to travel to New Zealand to set up the mission station.  

3. Preparations for Oihi Mission School, 1814

Separate funding for Mission School

School building to be built by carpenter William Hall

In preparation for their arrival in NZ, Marsden advised Rev Pratt (30 Sept 1814) that he intended the following:

"It may be necessary for me to acquaint you with my intentions relative to the final arrangement and settlement of the Missionaries at New Zealand, for the information of the Society.

Mr. Kendall is to devote the whole of his time to the acquirement of the native language, and in educating the children; and to depend upon the Society for the supply of all his necessary wants: he is now making considerable progress in the language. Mr. Hall will be employed in erecting the necessary Buildings for all the Missionaries, and the Public School; for which purpose I must engage our Carpenter, and one pair of Sawyers to assist him, till this work is done: he will also occasionally be occupied, in collecting timber to load the Active, for her to bring to Port Jackson, and in agriculture. Mr. King will have to attend his flax-dressing and shoe making, &c. I wish them all clearly to understand their respective duties, and to interfere with one another as little as possible; as they will have no Head present, to settle any little differences that might arise among them.

The place on which they settle I shall purchase from one of the Chiefs; and also a piece of land for the purposes of feeding stock, or cultivation."

Source: ENZB: 1814-1853: The Missionary Register, p. 482

4. Arrival at Oihi in Bay of Islands, 22 Dec 1814

 Marsden wrote in his Journal (p.79),

"When I was preparing for New Zealand, Mr. John Liddiard Nicholas, a gentleman who came out to settle in this colony about two years ago, voluntarily proposed to accompany me. I readily accepted his offer. We embarked on board the Active brig on Saturday, the 19th of November, 1814, and sailed down the harbour early that morning, but were obliged to anchor again near the mouth of it by contrary winds; here we were detained nine days. On Monday, the 28th, we weighed anchor and got out to sea. The number of persons on board the Active, including women and children, were 35--Mr. Hanson (Hansen), master, his wife and son, Messrs. Kendall, Hall, and King, with their wives and five children, eight New Zealanders, two Otaheitans [Tahitians], and four Europeans belonging to the vessel, besides Mr. Nicholas, myself, two sawyers, one smith, and one runaway convict whom we afterwards found on board. We had also on board one entire horse, two mares, one bull, and two cows, with a few sheep and poultry of different kinds intended for the island. The cows and bull had been presented by Governor Macquarie from His Majesty's herd."   [The five children included Hall 's son, King's son and three of Kendall's five children.]

Source:  Early New Zealand Books:  Elder, J. (Ed.) The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, 1932, p.79. http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=1060&page=1&action=null 

5. Lessons initially held in Kendall's raupō whare

Soon after arriving at the Mission Station, Samuel Marsden had encouraged Thomas Kendall to begin lessons with students. As a school building had yet to be built, the lessons were held in Kendall's raupō whare.

The settlers lived in raupō huts built for them by the local Māori which they found to be a difficult and uncomfortable experience. The whare were without flooring, a chimney or windows, and were not wind-proof or rain-proof.  This situation was especially trying for King and his wife whose second son was born on 29 Feb 1815. In a letter to Reverend Daniel Willson (15 Feb 1815, King had said, "'We expect to have a good house before long, but I fear not before winter.' Timber was not readily available with the nearest supply of trees twenty miles away. The trees needed to be bought, felled, transported to the Mission, and sawn before building could begin. As well as building timber houses, ground had to be prepared so that wheat and vegetables could be grown.  

6. Wrote first lesson book in te reo Māori, 1815

Thomas Kendall began writing a lesson book of te reo Māori for students in collaboration with Chief Hongi Hika and his nephews Tuai and Titere. The book included word lists, numbers, phrases, and religious instruction. Kendall's students would recite the alphabet and syllables to learn how to read and write.  

 Kendall had drawn on his knowledge of  te reo Māori when living in NSW during 1814. He had begun learning te reo Māori with Tuai (Tohi) who had been staying at Samuel Marsden's farm since 1813, as described in a letter to Reverend Basil Woodd  (11 March 1814). He spelled the words according to the sounds he heard. For example:  a Chief was written down as “Areekee”, the moon as "Marammah' and woman as  "Whyheenee".  He was aware of his shortcomings, writing in a letter to Rev Pratt on 15 June 1814 in which he had listed words and their translation: "...I have no doubt but I shall find it necessary to make many alterations in the above words when I get better acquainted with the Language".  

The manuscript entitled "A korao [korero] no New Zealand; or, the New Zealander's first book : being an attempt to compose some lessons for the instruction of the natives" was sent to Samuel Marsden for publication. Marsden arranged for copies to be printed in Sydney by George Howe, the Government Printer. Two hundred copies of the 54-paged book were sent to NZ from Sydney on Marsden's ship, the 'Active', in December 1815.  

The 1815 edition was the first book published in te reo Māori. It is listed in Phil Parkinson and Penny Griffith’s Books in Māori, 1815-1900: an annotated bibliography = Nga tanga reo Māori: nga kohikohinga me ona whakamarama published by the Alexander Turnbull Library in 2004 and digitised in 2015. The bibliography gives the following description:  

An elementary primer comprising alphabetical and numbers (p. [1]-3), syllables in 12 numbered exercises (p. 4-7), word lists and sentences (exercises [13]-52, p. 7-39), alphabetical dictionary (p.40-51), parts of speech (p. 52-53) and a few fragments of syntax (p.54). Text from exercise [13] to end is in parallel Māori and English.  

In 2014, Kendall's book was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.  See information provided on the Memory of the World nomination form.  

7. Kendall to build school after house finished

 Extracts from Kendall's letter to Rev Pratt (19 October 1815): 

"I must now communicate my thoughts on the subject of raising a School here. I have before stated my opinion that I can have plenty of scholars as soon as convenient Apartments are prepared for their accommodation. This will be accomplished as I hope in a short time... 

It is my intention to take about forty children under my care. These must be clothed and fed. Such brown Cloth & Stuff as is used in charity Schools in England would suit very well. The clothing which can be procured from the Natives will greatly assist. With a little alteration it will do for working days.  I trust I shall also be enabled to procure plenty of Pork and Potatoes for a few Axes which will serve the School the whole year. I shall apply to Mr Marsden for rice or a little wheat if he should think it advisable to let them have any bread... The Committee could easily bear the Expence of the School and might support it out of the Separate School fund, if that way should be most agreeable.

Mr Hall has built a house for himself a few miles distant from me. Mr King will have one built next near me. I hope I shall then be enabled to get forward with my house and School room. Mr Marsden has sent a Carpenter who will remain here until Mr Kings house and my own are completed."

8. Requested a second schoolmaster, Oct 1815

He also let Rev Pratt know, that,  "I have in my last letter to Mr Woodd written home for assistance. A person of talent to assist in writing down the language, a Blacksmith and another Schoolmaster would be of great service at New Zealand.... "

9. Plans for a library, Jan 1816

10. Requested supplies for students, March 1816

11. School building opened on 12 August 1816 

"The simple building measured about 10m x 6m and included an area for Māori students to sleep and a cordoned-off platform for teachers and Pākehā students. It was constructed of kahikatea boards pit-sawn by mission workers. A fireplace with a brick chimney enabled heating and cooking. "

Source:  'New Zealand’s first mission school opens', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/new-zealands-first-school-opens, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 8-Jul-2020 

Teaching staff - Superintendent (Thomas Kendall) & Assistant teacher (William Carlisle)

In a letter to Rev Woodd (16 Oct 1816), Kendall described himself as being the Superintendent. He was assisted in teaching the students by William Carlisle who had arrived from NSW in February 1816. Carlisle had emigrated from London as a free settler on board the 'Experiment' and arrived at Sydney on 24 June 1804. He was allocated 100 acres to farm at Richmond Hill by Governor King. On 11 September 1811, he married 18 year old Mary Ann Gordon who had emigrated with her parents on the same ship as Carlisle and were farming next door. Their daughter Amelia was born on 29 January 1813, after which an unwell Mary Ann passed away two weeks later. At that time Carlisle had become a coach builder/painter; and then he applied to become a missionary. After marrying Elizabeth Blackman on 7 January 1816, he journeyed the following month to the Bay of Islands as the assistant to Kendall. Elizabeth remained behind with Amelia who also became known as Emily. After several months in NZ, Carlisle wrote a letter to the Church Missionary Society in November 1816 in which he stated that he wished "to be received as a schoolmaster and settler under the Society". 

William Carlisle returned to Sydney in December 1816 to collect his wife Elizabeth, daughter Amelia, and former brother-in-law Charles Gordon to live in NZ. Gordon was to be employed at the Oihi Mission Station teaching agriculture. Whilst in Sydney, Carlisle informed the newspaper that the school was attended daily by nearly 60 children "many of whom begin to read and spell and are all very attentive to some Gospel passages which have been printed in their own language". He also shared a drawing of the Bay of Islands settlement "which boasted several houses erected for the accommodation of the missionaries."  They departed from Sydney to Oihi in Marsden's ship 'Active' in April 1817.

School continued to require funding support

Kendall wrote to Reverend Woodd (16 Oct 1816) requesting financial support for the school, including food rations and clothing for the children:

"By the Divine care and goodness I and my family have been preserved in peace and safety nearly two years at New Zealand, and altho’ my time has hitherto been very much occupied in mechanical pursuits yet I bless God I have with the assistance of Mr Carlisle been enabled to attend to my main object “the Instruction of the children... When I left London, it was expected I should reside at New South Wales for a term of three years before I embarked again for this place. I had therefore no particular instructions from Mr Pratt how I was to support a School here, neither has Mr Marsden expressed himself fully, to me upon this subject. At present, now I have every thing ready, as I have mentioned above, my hands are completely tied up...You can assist me greatly by putting Mr Pratt and the Committee in mind of the real necessity of attending to my observations. I think the School at least can be provided for without hurting the feelings of Mr Marsden to whom great credit is due, but who alas! Is so overwhelmed with cares that I cannot really expect he can afford me steady support. I believe also Mr Marsden is greatly imposed upon by the people of port Jackson in many articles he sends out to us, as he is in the Iron sent out..."

12.  Lessons used slate boards & pencils   

Class activities, Aug 1816 - July 1817

A summary of classroom activities since August 1816 was given by Kendall in a letter to Rev Mann on 14 July 1817:

" I commenced teaching School in August 1816. My little wild pupils were all noise and play during the first four months. We could scarcely hear them read for their incessant shouting, singing and dancing. The first month they attempted to repeat their lessons in the School house very well, but we soon had to follow them to a short distance into the bushes. I had no command over them, having at that time neither provisions nor rewards to give them. Since I received these, my authority and influence have been greatly augmented amongst them. I can now command their attention. They will learn to read and write, work at their raiment, make fences and fetch water and firewood very chearfully [sic]. They rise at daylight according to the custom of the natives in general, and repeat their lessons to me. After breakfast several of the boys write a copy. The girls are employed in making their raiment the whole of the Day. After Dinner the Native children repeat their lessons to my colleague Mr Carlisle. The Boys learn to write on every day of the week except Sundays. The children of the settlers are also instructed by myself and Mr Carlisle. The Settlers join in Public Worship twice on every Lords Day, the Prayers of the Church of England are read alternately by myself & Messrs Hall and King. We also meet on the Wednesday evening for the purpose of reading the Holy Scriptures and Prayer. Many Natives attend on the Sunday. The Service is performed in the School House."

Spelling book compiled for students, 1818

Kendall continued with learning and writing down spoken Māori. He compiled a spelling book which he sent for approval to Marsden in March 1818. 

13. Issues with supplies & student attendance, 1818-1819

During December 1818, Kendall requested in letters to Reverend Pratte the need for supplies of classroom materials and food. He also outlined the lack of support received from Marsden and the ongoing issue of insufficient food being sent by CMS leading to an increase in private trading for supplies and food shortages causing a drop in attendance at school by students.

Kendall wrote in his letter to Rev Pratt (14 Dec 1818): "In all Mr Marsden’s Letters to me, he has promised to assist me in every possible way, and I do not doubt his willingness to do it, yet it so happens, and it is a subject of too great importance to conceal it, That no settled plan has hitherto been adopted for the support of the School. The consequence has been that almost all the succours have fallen into the hands of an individual settler. Private trade has completely over balanced the Society’s trade, and the latter is so much reduced in value that the settlers in general can scarce procure a good Hog, or provide for the wants of their families: much less can they procure a sufficient supply as to enable them to carry on their respective callings, and the School of course has been almost reduced to nothing, merely for want of a handful of potatoes to give each Scholar to eat. Some order of a positive nature must be given by the Society and Mr Marsden too, or else I am certain the Settlement will be in a  short time deserted by many." 

William Carlisle wrote to the Secretary of the Society in December 1819, to suggest that the settlers be permitted to engage in private trade in order that they may improve their lot. Carlisle's letter also revealed a concern that their suffering was in vain as the school was failing: "We really have not been able to provide for the children (of the school) for some months past, nor never yet wholly, for want of supplies. It would be a great thing if separate allowance were made for the support of the school. It is very distressing to our feelings - after having persevered for so long upon a scanty supply, we should now have the mortification to see the scholars leaving daily because we cannot feed them. The school, in short, is dwindling to a mere nothing."

The settlers then took matters into their own hands on 30 March, 1819 -  Kendall, Carlisle, Gordon and King signed an Agreement relative to private trade of which a copy was received by the Society on 26 September 1819. 

Rev Marsden visited Mission Station, Aug-Nov 1819 

Reverend Samuel Marsden returned to the Oihi Mission, arriving on 12 August 1819 on the chartered American brig General Gates. He was accompanied by John Gare Butler (1781-1841) who had left England with his wife and two children on 15 December 1818 for New Zealand as superintendent designate. After Butler arrived in Sydney, Marsden requested that the Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, appoint Butler as a Justice of the Peace for New Zealand, as from 24 July 1819.

Also on board were Tuai and Tītere who had been at Marsden's Parramata seminary since end of 1815 till March 1817, when Marsden sent them to England. During their stay in England, they met Francis Hall who became their travelling companion - attending church, visiting schools and homes, working on farms, and sightseeing. Hall also instructed them in reading and writing, as well as in the scriptures. Tuai and Tītere sent 19 letters home about their adventures in England by dictating their letters to Hall who wrote their words on slate so that they could copy the words onto paper with quill and ink. Copies of these letters, which represent the first written Māori expression in English, are held by the Alexander Turnbull  Library and Hocken Library. The Church Missionary Society arranged for James Barry to paint silhouettes and formal oil portraits of both Tuai and Tītere before they left England which are now held in the Alexander Turnbull Library.   

14. Oihi Mission Station School closed, Nov 1819

Marsden found that at the Oihi Mission Station "everyone was more or less seeking his own gain; the school and agriculture had been neglected by Messrs Kendall, Carlisle and Gordon and John King refused to make or mend shoes." Marsden dismissed Kendall, Carlisle and Gordon and suspended King. The Mission School closed and began to be used as the Mission Station's store.

A second Mission Station to be opened at Kerikeri

15.  POSTSCRIPT:

      15a. What happened to Thomas Kendall?

      15b. What happened to the Oihi  Mission Station? 

15a. What happened to Thomas Kendall? 

After Nov 1819: Kendall built a home at Matauwhi on south side of Oihi Bay

When Reverend Marsden returned to Sydney in November 1819 after dismissing Thomas Kendall as schoolteacher, he was accompanied by the Carlisle and Gordon families. Kendall and King stayed near the Oihi Mission Station. Kendall and his wife Jane built a home at Matauwhi on the south side of the Oihi Bay.   

1820: Kendall visited England to publish a spelling book

Kendall's spelling book, which had been sent to Marsden in March 1818, had been shared by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) with Professor Samuel Lee, oriental linguist at Cambridge University. When doubts were raised by Lee about the content, Kendall decided to travel to England to meet with Lee.   

Marsden had arrived in NZ for his third visit on 17 Feb 1820 which coincided with Kendall's imminent departure to visit Lee. Although Marsden advised Kendall not to travel to England, Kendall chose to proceed without the authorisation of the CMS to met with Lee.  In 1820 Kendall visited Cambridge University accompanied by Hongi Hika and the younger chief Hohaia Parata Waikato of Rangihoua. The outcome was Lee wrote the sounds from the dictation of Hongi and Waikato, and Kendall translated the words from material he had collected over five years. 

The book, A grammar and vocabulary of the language of New Zealand, was published at the end of 1820.  By developing written conventions for an oral language, the CMS were able to make scriptures available to Māori in their own language. This would enable Māori to read the Bible, which would assist with their conversion to Christianity. However, this entailed early missionaries, like Kendall, learning to speak Māori.  

 12 Nov 1820: Kendall was ordained a priest

Aug 1822: Kendall dismissed from Church Missionary Society (CMS)

Kendall arrived back from England to the Bay of Islands in July 1821.  He was dismissed from his post by the CMS in August 1822 for refusing an order to stop trading muskets to Hongi Hika. Kendall had sent a letter to Marsden on 27 Sept 1821 defending the gun trade in which he had begun dealing in arms. The letter signed by all the missionaries stated that Kendall could not dictate what was sold to Māori: "The natives regard fish hooks equivalent to copper, axes and hoes to silver and muskets and powder to our gold. Nor can we dictate to them which of these they must receive in payment for their property and services. They dictate to us! It is evident that ambition and self interest are amongst the principal causes of our security amongst them." After being dismissed, Kendall and his family returned to stay at their home at Matauwhi. 

9 August 1823: Kendall to be banished from NZ

Towards the latter part of 1821,  rumours had begun circulating of Kendall's affair with a 17 year old servant in his household who was a former student - Tungaroa, daughter of Rakau, the old tohunga of Rangihoua. Kendall and Tungaroa left Oihi to live at Kaihiki, a village on the Te Puna inlet, near to the mission station, but their relationship ended in April 1822.  There were also rumours that Kendall's wife Jane had an affair with their servant and ex-convict Richard Stockwell who was thought to have fathered one of her children. Both Kendall and Jane resumed living together at the home they had built at Matauwhi on the south side of the Bay near the Mission Station. On learning of Kendall's adultery, Marsden came to Oihi in August 1823 to have him leave NZ.  Kendall agreed to depart with his family, but when their ship Brampton was wrecked on a shoal in the Bay, he saw this as a sign from God that he still had tasks to carry out in NZ. Kendall, his wife Jane and their family returned to their home at Matauwhi. In a letter of 25 July 1824 to the Church Missionary Society, Kendall confessed his past "errors". 

1822-1824: Kendall on Māori cosmology

Between 1822 and 1824, Kendall wrote a series of letters where he described his understandings of Māori cosmological thought gained from conversation with Tungaroa and others. He also sent to the CMS three shipments of carvings, which he described as being images depicting three 'states' of existence.  The first state was 'Union' or perfection, a timeless existence of undistinguished, formless embryonic matter before creation or conception. The second was  a state 'Equal and Dual', the state of creation and, therefore, life in this world. The third state was 'Triune', or the end, and a state of rest, without motion—existence beyond death. Kendall also included a sketch of Nukutawhiti at the entrance to a carved storehouse, which is the earliest known illustration of such a structural feature. He suggests that Nukutawhiti was not only the canoe ancestor of Ngāpuhi but also part of a wider cosmological system and that the carving depicted the first 'state' of existence.  One of the three shipments of carvings was lost at sea, and the whereabouts of the carvings from the other two shipments is unknown.

For more details, see:

• Judith Binney,The heritage of Isaiah: Thomas Kendall and Maori religion. New Zealand Journal of History,  1, No 2 (1967), pp. 124 - 127

• Judith Binney, The lost drawing of Nukutawhiti,  New Zealand Journal of History, 14, No 1 (1980): 3–24  

Feb 1825: Kendall and his family left NZ

Kendall left New Zealand with his wife and family in February 1825 for Chile where Kendall became the clergyman attached to the British consulate at Valparaiso. Later in 1827, he and his family returned to New South Wales and were given a land grant of 1,280 acres at Narrawallee Creek in Ulladulla which they farmed. Kendall drowned in early August 1832 when his boat the Brisbane with its cargo of cedar and cheese being taken to the Sydney markets was wrecked in a storm. Thomas and his wife Jane had ten children of which 8 survived him. Jane passed away in 1866 at age 82.

15b. What happened to the Oihi Mission Station? 

Oihi Mission Station closed when Te Puna Mission Station opened in 1832

By 1831, Oihi was one of five mission stations in the Bay of Islands and Hokianga area. After the Anglican missionary settlement opened at Kerikeri with Rev John Butler in November 1819, Marsden stationed James Shepherd with Ngāpuhi chief Te Morenga of Tai-a-mai near Waimate North (1820), and Reverend Henry Williams at Paihia (August 1823). Marsden also gave assistance to the Wesleyan Methodist mission which had opened at Kaeo, near Whangaroa, in 1823. 

The Oihi Mission Station was closed in 1832, as the decision had been made to replace it by opening the Te Puna Mission Station, which lay 1km to the west. The land near Te Puna was considered to be a more suitable flat level for agricultural purposes. Crops were grown to supply the other mission stations. John King and James Shepherd moved their families from Oihi to Te Puna. King, with the assistance of Shepherd and later John Wilson, taught and held weekly church services,  KIng's wife, Hannah, and their daughters held school lessons and taught domestic skills to Māori women and children. By June 1834, there were 200 Māori involved with the Te Puna Mission Station and by 1842 over 100 Māori had been baptized at the Mission Station.

See: Archeopedia New Zealand: Te Puna Mission Station

Archaeological exploration of the Oihi Mission Station, 2012-2013

Rangihoua Heritage Park opened on 21 Dec 2014

 On 21 December 2014 the Rangihoua Heritage Park was opened at Oihi Bay. (See website which has an interactive tour with an audio guide). The Park was established by the Marsden Cross Trust Board together with its partners Ngāti Torehina, the Rangihoua Native Reserve Board and the Department of Conservation. Architect Pip Cheshire of Auckland designed an interpretative centre and a larger building called the Gathering Place, built on a ridge near the road overlooking the Bay.   

16.  Find out more

Angela Ballara, 'Ruatara', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. URL: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/128351/related-biographies

Angela Ballara, 'Te Pahi', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. URL: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1t53/te-pahi

Archeopedia New Zealand: Te Puna Mission Station

Early New Zealand Books:  Elder, J. (Ed.) "The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, 1932". URL: http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=1060&page=1&action=null  

Early New Zealand Books: 1808 - 1863: The Missionary Register. URL: http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/epubs

G. S. Parsonson. 'Marsden, Samuel', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990, updated May, 2013. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1m16/marsden-samuel

Judith Binney, 'Kendall, Thomas', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1990. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. URL: https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1k9/kendall-thomas

Marsden Online Archive: https://marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/

Peter J. Lineham, 'Missions and missionaries - First missionaries', published 23 March 2011. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. URL: https://teara.govt.nz/en/missions-and-missionaries

Rangihoua Heritage Park. URL: https://rangihouaheritage.co.nz/

Stock, Eugene (1913), The story of the New Zealand Mission (London Church Missionary Society & Nelson New Zealand C.M. Association Dept). URL: https://anglicanhistory.org/nz/stock1913/

This DigitalNZ story was updated in November 2023 & August 2025