George and Martha Clarke

Photographer unknown - circa 1868

Here's something of an old original pioneer. George Clarke was born on 27th January 1798 in Wymondhan, Norfolk, England and between the ages of 11-20 he served in the gun making trade under his father (William) before travelling to London to gain further experience. After joining the Church Missionary Society training school in Islington, he was not ordained but later served as a catechist and a lay missionary. In October 1820 he caught up with his friend Reverend Henry Tacy who was an evangelist. Henry persuaded both James Kemp and George to join the missionary cause and once George too became a missionary teacher he was assigned to New Zealand by the Church Missionary Society in 1822.

There is speculation of how George came to marry his future wife Martha Elizabeth Blomfield - perhaps it was an arranged marriage or one of convenience. They knew each other from when they both attended the same school together in Wymondham and because the Church Missionary Society regarded a wife as essential for a missionary in a strange land it was possible that Henry Tacy acted as a type of go-between or match maker in fact he was the one who married them at at Swanton Morley in Norfolk on 14th March 1822 - some 5 weeks before they sailed to New Zealand.

On April 17th 1822 the Clarkes arrived 6 months later arrived at Samuel Marsden's residence in Paramatta, Australia. Samuel Marsden who was the senior government chaplain in New South Wales, was also the founder of the New Zealand Mission and the agent for the Church Missionary Society in the South Pacific. In January 1824 they sailed to New Zealand with their first child, a son named George Junior where they lived in Kerikeri at what became known later on as the "Kemp Mission House".  They went onto have 12 more children; Henry Tacy, Marsden, John, Mary, Sarah, Henrietta, Samuel, William, Edward, Hopkins, Jane and Thomas.

Previously in 1822 Hongi Hika and his Ngapuhi warriors were fighting in the New Zealand wars and once George and him met up, George came to respect Hongi and enjoyed their friendship. George established a Maori school along with becoming fluent in the language/te reo.

George became very important to William Hobson as a language interpretor and was instrumental at the Treaty of Waitangi. In 1830-1831 George along with 3 other missionaries formed the Waimate Missioni Station just out of Kerikeri which included a house, sheds, agricultural land able to be farmed and a bridge.  George died on 29th July 1875, his funeral was held at Waimate North Cemetery and Church and the service was conducted by a Maori minister.

There is so much more information about this man and his family and the information in this post is based on the Clarke family website.

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