William White, Horeke
.jpg)
A cabinet maker by trade, he was also a lay preacher in the Wesleyan Church and was ordained as a missionary in 1822 then was sent to New Zealand to assist Reverend Samuel Leigh in forming the first WMS mission in the country.
He later took charge of the Mangungu Mission station in Horeke having returned to England in the meantime to find a wife. He was well known as having a rather difficult personality and seemed to alienate fellow missionaries and was recalled to England in 1836.
After a full investigation he was dismissed from the ministry 2 years later after he was found to have been conducting inappropriate commercial activity while in charge of the New Zealand missions.
He briefly worked for the New Zealand Company, who is now known to have been selling land off while ignoring the Treaty of Waitangi.
After returning to New Zealand he settled in the Hokianga preaching and trading but his business interests suffered when a cargo of timber was lost in a shipwreck William died at his home on 25th November 1875 aged 81 after he had ridden a horse for 40 miles and then exhausted himself gardening the following day. He was survived by his wife Eliza and 2 adult children. John Hobbs presided over the interment of White's remains in Symonds Street Cemetery, Auckland.
More information here.
Join us on Facebook at the Northland Heritage Group and Old Northland NZ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1109709272401824/
Comments
https://www.melodyjacob.com/2023/09/a-step-by-step-guide-on-how-to-style-a-green-flare-pleated-dress.html
Did the Church do any interviewing of the men before they were sent away to distant lands? White must have been very lonely, especially since he wasn't married then.