William Colenso

William Colenso (7 November 1811 – 10 February 1899) was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an account of the events at Waitangi.

Born in Penzance, Cornwall, he was the cousin of John William Colenso, bishop of Natal. He trained as a printer's apprentice then travelled to New Zealand in 1834 to work for the Church Missionary Society as a printer/missionary. He was responsible for the printing of the Māori language translation of the New Testament. In July 1827 Colenso printed the first Māori Bible comprising three chapters of Genesis, the 20th chapter of Exodus, the first chapter of the Gospel of St John, 30 verses of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St Matthew, the Lord’s Prayer and some hymns. He was ordained a Deacon on 22 September 1844 following his theological studies at St John’s College, which was then located at Te Waimate mission.

He was an avid botanist; detailing and transmitting to Kew Gardens in England previously unrecorded New Zealand flora. In 1866 he was the first New Zealander to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. He wrote several books, and contributed over a hundred papers to scientific journals.

William and Elizabeth Colenso worked at the Waitangi (Ahuriri, Napier) Mission from 1844, In the 1840s, from his mission station in Hawke's Bay, he made several long exploratory journeys through the central North Island in the company of Maori guides with the aim of reaching the inland Maori settlements of Patea, in the Taihape region, and converting them to Christianity. His travels took him through trackless forest, over the high Ruahine Range and across the Rangipo Desert and past the mountains of Ruapehu and Tongariro to the shores of Lake Taupo. In doing so he contributed greatly to the European exploration of the central North Island. One of his journeys, between December 1841 and February 1842, was across the North Island and up to the Kaipara Harbour.

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