Marianne Williams
Encyclopedia
Marianne Williams together with her sister-in-law Jane Williams
Jane Williams (missionary)
Jane Williams née Jane Nelson , was a pioneering educator in New Zealand. Together with her sister-in-law Marianne Williams and others she set up the first schools for Māori children and adults...

 were pioneering educators in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. They set up the first schools for Māori children and adults as well as educating the children of the Church Missionary Society in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The Māori women called her Mata Wiremu (Mother Williams).

Early life

Marianne Williams, née Marianne Coldham, was born in Yorkshire, England, 12 December 1793. Marianne was the oldest child of Wright and Anne Coldham. In 1796 the family moved to Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 as Wright Coldham intended to establish himself in the lace-making industry. In 1810 Wright Coldham became the Mayor of Nottingham. Anne Coldham died and at the age 16 Marianne took over raising her three sisters, Sarah, Maria and Anne, her blind grandmother Mrs Temple, the running of the mayoral household and acting as Lady Mayoress at civic events. In 1815 Wright Coldham died.

Marianne and Henry Williams
Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....

 were married on 20 January 1818 by Henry’s cousin and brother-in law, the Rev. Edward Marsh, a member of the Church Missionary Society. Both families were involved in the lace-making industry with both Wright Coldham and Thomas Williams having acted as the Sheriff of Nottingham
Sheriff of Nottingham
The Sheriff of Nottingham was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order in Nottingham and bringing criminals to justice. For years the post has been directly appointed by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and in modern times, with the existence of the police force, the position is...

.
Marianne and Henry shared a Christian faith and they joined the Church Missionary Society, with the decision eventually being made that Henry would become an ordained minister and CMS missionary in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. In a letter to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society of 6 August 1822, Henry said of Marianne: “she does not accompany me merely as my wife, but as a fellow-helper in the work”.

The early years in the Bay of Islands

In 1822, with three young children, Marianne and Henry sailed on Lord Sidmouth, a convict ship carrying women convicts to Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...

, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australian. After a short stay with Rev. Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden was an English born Anglican cleric and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand...

, he accompanied them on ship the Brampton from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 to the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 where they arrived at Kerikeri
Kerikeri
Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...

 on 7 August 1823.

The Church Missionary Society had an established mission at Kerikeri
Kerikeri
Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...

 where they stayed while Henry and other CMS members and built a store of plank and timber and a raupo
Raupo
Raupo may refer to:*Typha orientalis, a New Zealand wetland plant*Typha muelleri, a New Zealand wetland plant *Raupo, a fictional town in the Footrot Flats cartoon...

 hut on Paihia
Paihia
Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...

 beach. On 15 September 1823 the family moved into the raupo
Raupo
Raupo may refer to:*Typha orientalis, a New Zealand wetland plant*Typha muelleri, a New Zealand wetland plant *Raupo, a fictional town in the Footrot Flats cartoon...

 hut, which Marianne described as having the appearance of a beehive. In 1830 a more substantial house was built using lath and plaster.

Chickens, ducks, goats and a horse were brought from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. A garden was soon cultivated. Food was either cultivated or imported on the infrequent ships from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. Pork and Kumera could be traded from the Māori, however in the early days musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....

s were the item of barter which Māori wanted to trade, but Henry Williams
Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....

 refused to trade muskets. The supply of pork and other food was withheld in an attempt to pressure Henry to trade muskets for food.

The protection of the mission by the chiefs of the Ngāpuhi

The members of the Church Missionary Society were under the protection of Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

, the rangatira
Rangatira
Rangatira are the hereditary Māori leaders of hapū, and were described by ethnologists such as Elsdon Best as chieftains . Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that of other tribes...

 (chief) and war leader of the Ngāpuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...

 iwi
Iwi
In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...

 (tribe). The immediate protector of the Paihia
Paihia
Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...

 mission was the chief Te Koki and his wife Hamu, a woman of high rank and the owner of the land occupied by the mission at Paihia
Paihia
Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...

.

In 1827 Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

 lead the Ngāpuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...

 against the tribes at Whangaroa which caused anxiety amongst the missionaries as they feared they would be caught up in the fighting. The fears of the missionaries were increased when some of the warriors of Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

, acting contrary to his orders, plundered and burnt the Wesleyan
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...

 mission at Whangaroa. During a skirmish Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

 was shot in the chest by one of his warriors, which resulted in the missionaries fearing that they would suffer upon the death of Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

 in any muru or attack launched out of respect for Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

 following his death. On 6th March 1828 Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...

 spent his last moments "exhorting his followers to be valiant, and repel any force, however great, which might come against them - telling them this was all the utu, or satisfaction, that he desired". There were outbreaks of fighting in the subsequent days in the Hokianga
Hokianga
Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as The Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand....

, as a result of the death of a son of Pomare, a Bay of Islands chief; the fighting escalated following the death of Whareumu, a Ngāpuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...

 chief who went to the Hokianga
Hokianga
Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as The Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand....

 to negotiate. Henry Williams
Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....

 was asked to mediate between the combatants. As they did not want to escalate the fighting, a peaceful resolution was achieved.

In 1830 there was a battle, at Kororareka (Russell), that is called the Girls War, which also caused the missionaries to fear they would be caught up in the fighting.

While there were misunderstandings and arguments between the missionaries and the Ngāpuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...

, the CMS mission was never threatened.

The Paihia mission

The missionary work of Henry Williams
Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....

 and his attempts to act as peacemaker in inter-tribal conflicts meant that he spent months at a time travelling through the North Island of New Zealand. Marianne shared mission responsibilities with her sister-in-law, Jane Williams, together they cared for and educated their families. Together with Jane Williams
Jane Williams (missionary)
Jane Williams née Jane Nelson , was a pioneering educator in New Zealand. Together with her sister-in-law Marianne Williams and others she set up the first schools for Māori children and adults...

, Marianne set up a boarding school for Māori girls; and provided classes to the children of CMS missionaries in the morning with schools for Māori children and adults in the afternoon. Schools were established in the communities inland from the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....

. Marianne trained and supervised the teachers, who were her daughters, nieces or future daughters-in-law.

The domestic responsibilities of Marianne extended beyond her large family and included Māori and Pakeha
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...

 visitors to the mission as well as providing assistance to other CMS members in Paihia
Paihia
Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...

, Kerikeri
Kerikeri
Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...

 and Waimate North
Waimate North
Waimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand. It is situated between Kerikeri and Lake Omapere, west of the Bay of Islands.Okuratope Pa was situated here and was the home to chief Te Hotete of the Ngai Tawake hapu in the late 18th-early 19th centuries...

.

Marianne and Henry had eleven children:
  • Edward Marsh (2 November 1818 – 11 October 1909). Married Jane Davis, daughter of CMS member Richard Davis of Kawakawa
    Kawakawa, New Zealand
    Kawakawa is a small town in the Northland Region of northern New Zealand. It had a population of 1347 at the 2006 census, down from 1401 in 2001. Kawakawa developed as a service town when coal was found in the area in 1861, but there is no longer coal mining here...

    .
  • Marianne (28 April 1820 – 25 November 1919). Married Christopher Pearson Davies.
  • Samuel (17 January 1822 – 14 March 1907). Married Mary Williams, daughter of William and Jane Williams.
  • Henry (10 November 1823 – 6 December 1907). Married Jane Elizabeth Williams (also a daughter of William and Jane).
  • Thomas Coldham (18 July 1825 – 19 May 1912). Married Annie Palmer Beetham.
  • John William (6 April 1827 – 27 April 1904). Married Sarah Busby, daughter of James Busby
    James Busby
    James Busby is widely regarded as the "father" of the Australian wine industry, as he took the first collection of vine stock from Spain and France to Australia. Later he become a British Resident who traveled to New Zealand, involved in the drafting of the Declaration of the Independence of New...

    .
  • Sarah (26 February 1829 – 5 April 1866). Married Thomas Bidulph Hutton.
  • Catherine (Kate) (24 February 1831 – 8 January 1902). Married Octavius Hadfield
    Octavius Hadfield
    Octavius Hadfield was Archdeacon of Kapiti, Bishop of Wellington from 1870 to 1893 and Primate of New Zealand from 1890 to 1893. A missionary for thirty years, he was recognised as an authority on Maori customs and language...

    .
  • Caroline Elizabeth (13 November 1832 – 20 January 1916). Married Samuel Bloomfield Ludbrook.
  • Lydia Jane (2 December 1834 – 28 November 1891). Married Hugh Francis Carleton.
  • Joseph Marsden (5 March 1837 – 30 March 1892)

Life at Pakaraka

Henry and Marianne moved to Pakaraka
Pakaraka
Pakaraka is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand and is one of the oldest settlements in the Bay of Islands. It is located at the junction of State Highway 1 and 10....

 when Henry refused to back down in an argument with Governor George Grey
George Grey
George Grey may refer to:*Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet , British politician*George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent *Sir George Grey , Governor of Cape Colony, South Australia and New Zealand...

 over the amount of land Henry had acquired so as to provide for his children. In this argument Bishop Selwyn took the side of Grey, and in 1849 the CMS decided to dismiss Henry from service. Henry and Marianne Williams moved to Pakaraka
Pakaraka
Pakaraka is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand and is one of the oldest settlements in the Bay of Islands. It is located at the junction of State Highway 1 and 10....

, to live in house known as The Retreat, that still stands.

Marianne died at Pakaraka
Pakaraka
Pakaraka is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand and is one of the oldest settlements in the Bay of Islands. It is located at the junction of State Highway 1 and 10....

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, 16 December 1879 and was buried in the grounds of the Holy Trinity Church at Pakaraka
Pakaraka
Pakaraka is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand and is one of the oldest settlements in the Bay of Islands. It is located at the junction of State Highway 1 and 10....

 alongside the grave of Henry Williams
Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....

.

Literature and sources

  • Carleton, Hugh (1874) The life of Henry Williams, Archdeacon of Waimate. Auckland NZ. Online available from Early New Zealand Books
    Early New Zealand Books
    Early New Zealand Books is a project from the library of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, launched in 2005, that aims at providing keyword-searchable text of significant books published about New Zealand in the nineteenth century. Each page is linked to an image of that page in the...

     (ENZB).
  • Evans, Rex D. (compiler) (1992) Faith and farming Te huarahi ki te ora; The Legacy of Henry Williams and William Williams. Published by Evagean Publishing, 266 Shaw Road, Titirangi, Auckland NZ. ISBN 0-908951-16-7 (soft cover), ISBN 0-908951-17-5 (hard cover), ISBN 0-908951-18-3 (leather bound)
  • Fitzgerald, Caroline (2004) Letters from the Bay of Islands, Sutton Publishing Limited, United Kingdom; ISBN 0-7509-3696-7 (Hardcover). Penguin Books, New Zealand, (Paperback) ISBN 0-14-301929-5
  • Fitzgerald, Caroline (2011) Te Wiremu - Henry Williams: Early Years in the North, Huia Publishers, New Zealand ISBN 978-1-86969-439-5
  • Gillies, Iain and John (1998) East Coast Pioneers. A Williams Family Portrait; A Legacy of Land, Love and Partnership. Published by The Gisborne Herald Co. Ltd, Gladstone Road, Gisborne NZ. ISBN 0-473-05118-4
  • Mitcalfe, Barry (1963) Nine New Zealanders. Christchurch NZ. The chapter 'Angry peacemaker: Henry Williams – A missionary's courage wins Maori converts' (p. 32 - 36)
  • Rogers, Lawrence M., (1973) Te Wiremu: A Biography of Henry Williams, Pegasus Press
  • Williams, William (1867) Christianity among the New Zealanders. London. Online available from ENZB.
  • Woods, S. M. Marianne Williams, Christchurch, 1977

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK