Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams (11 February 1792 – 16 July 1867) was the leader of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission in New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century.
Henry Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams about 1865 | |
| Born | 11 February 1792 |
| Died | 16 July 1867 (aged 75) Pakaraka, Bay of Islands, New Zealand |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Te Wiremu and Karu-whā |
| Occupation | Missionary |
| Spouse | Marianne Williams (née Coldham) |
| Relatives | William Williams (brother) Edward Marsh Williams (son) Samuel Williams (son) Henry Williams (son) John William Williams (son) Hugh Carleton (son-in-law) Octavius Hadfield (son-in-law) |
Williams entered the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen and served in the Napoleonic Wars. He went to New Zealand in 1823 as a missionary. The Bay of Islands Māori gave Williams the nickname Karu-whā ("Four-eyes" as he wore spectacles). He was known more widely as Te Wiremu. ('Wiremu' being the Māori form of 'William'). His younger brother, William Williams, was also a missionary in New Zealand and known as "the scholar-surgeon". Their grandfather, the Reverend Thomas Williams (1725–1770), was a Congregational minister at the Independent Chapel of Gosport in England.
Although Williams was not the first missionary in New Zealand – Thomas Kendall, John Gare Butler, John King and William Hall having come before him – he was "the first to make the mission a success, partly because the others had opened up the way, but largely because he was the only man brave enough, stubborn enough, and strong enough to keep going, no matter what the dangers, and no matter what enemies he made".
In 1840, Williams translated the Treaty of Waitangi into the Māori language, with some help from his son Edward.
On 21 September 1844, Williams was installed as Archdeacon of Te Waimate in the diocese centred on Te Waimate mission.