William (Rev) Colenso was a printer, missionary, politician, explorer.
23 Eldest of 9 children ADO
travelled with William WILLIAMS 1838 see DNZB p 598
gave donation to the building fund for the new Christ Church in Russell, 1834
first printer in NZ began 17 feb 1835.
ordained as a Deacon 1843 by Bishop SELWYN FK
1845 missionary at Waitangi ( Hawkes Bay) JAM
undertook some long overland journeys NMT, PMO
1834 Paihia
1842 Waimate
1844 Ahuriri
1852 dismissed from CMS AMID
article from FAMNETTB below:
Part 1: William and Elizabeth and the birth of Wiremu
The marriage of William Colenso (1811-1899) and Elizabeth Fairburn (1821-1904), from various accounts including William?s own, was one of convenience - based on their missionary work and prompted by Bishop Selwyn. Following the couple?s marriage in Otahuhu, Auckland in April 1843, where Elizabeth?s missionary family were now based, Bishop Selwyn sent them to Waimate North, West of Paihia in the Bay of Islands. It was here that William, aged 32, prepared for ordination at St John?s College and 22-year-old Elizabeth, a fluent Te Reo speaker, was put in charge of a Maori Girls? boarding school. William and Elizabeth?s first child Frances Mary, called Fanny, was born in February 1844. William was ordained as deacon in September of that year and in December the family moved to Hawkes Bay to establish Waitangi Mission Station (1844-1852). In the winter of August 1845, William and Elizabeth, 24 years of age and about 8 months pregnant, and daughter Fanny now 18 months, spent two weeks making their way to the mission station in Turanganui near Gisborne. Archdeacon William Williams, a medical doctor and his wife Jane assisted in the birth of their son Ridley Lattimer who arrived in September 1845.
William and Elizabeth?s own mission station was isolated and swampy. William wrote disparagingly of the place in 1846: ?The place is quite out of the way, low, damp, cold and unhealthy ..?(2) ?In 1847 his house was inundated by flood waters, which left a layer of silt 15 centimetres thick after they receded.?(3) Elizabeth was left to deal with all missionary matters, including teaching and acting as a nurse, while her husband journeyed within his vast parish jurisdiction which took him into unchartered territory. Their relationship after the birth of Ridley was strained and from this point, they co-habited as husband and wife in name only.
William?s attention now turned to another. When the family arrived to set up the mission in December 1844 they brought with them several assistants including Ripeka Meretene, a household assistant to Elizabeth. Ripeka (Elizabeth called her Rebecca in her letters) had been with the family since she was a child. William and Ripeka began a liaison from 1848. William wrote ?..she was a merry laughing soul, the idol of the two children and the light in our house, and so the connection between us took place. (William Colenso, p.301)? (4). William?s third child, called Wiremu, was born in May 1851 (unsourced). Ripeka conveniently married Hamuera Te Nehu in 1850, William?s assistant, but this did not immediately halt the affair. Ripeka told Elizabeth who the child?s father was shortly after Wiremu?s birth and she also made the decision to leave the household. The child remained with the family at William?s behest, although it is reported that Ripeka came and went over the next couple of years. Elizabeth, who despite the infidelity of her husband and in William?s words, her ?..anger, humiliation and regret? and the ?? terrible time for us all? (5) that followed, accepted and cared for infant Wi. She did however, return her wedding ring in a sealed envelope, leaving it in William?s writing desk. The marriage was over but her sense of Christian duty to ?the Cause? bound Elizabeth to the mission?s work, which included raising child Wi.
In September1852, Elizabeth?s younger brother John Fairburn took his niece and nephew, Frances and Ridley, aged about 8 and 7 years, to Auckland for alternative schooling. Bishop Selwyn, finally apprised of the situation by William himself, suspended William from the CMS. Elizabeth remained at the Waitangi mission until August 1853, then left for the Wairoa missionary station, in the company of missionary James Hamlin, with the intention to carry on to Auckland to be with her children. Elizabeth took Wiremu with her rather than handing him to his relatives, as expected by Bishop Selwyn. While she was still at the Waitangi station recovering from illness, she had written letters to William that suggested that she still cared about him and she wrote that she loved Wiremu as if her own. William, upon the day of their parting, had expressed regret at the outcome of the situation, and it was on this basis that Elizabeth appears to have responded with some compassion, as noted in her letters to William from November 1852 through to November 1853. Elizabeth?s arrival at her family home with Wi was not however, what she had anticipated. Her father she wrote to William in December 1853 would not receive Wi into his house; her brother also refused them. Elizabeth, after finding Wi temporary lodging, found a home for him in Auckland with a family she deemed suitable. From February 1854 however, her letters to William took on a formal tone and Wi was now referred to as ?the child.? She asked William to arrange for Wi to be taken to him, effectively extricating herself from the responsibility of his care.
Elizabeth?s attitude upon return to her family changed in every regard. Ultimately, she had been betrayed and humiliated by both William and Ripeka. William however, was somewhat mystified by her change in heart, which he raised in a letter in March 1854. He reminded her of her struggle to keep Ripeka and Hamuera from taking Wi from the house with them up North. Elizabeth?s letter in May 1854, which commenced ?Dear Sir? provides no doubt of her bitter resentment if not despise for William. She referred to his domination over her and his lack of remorse beyond his words on the day of their parting. She also reminded how she was obeying his wish to keep Wi from being taken up North at all costs. The marriage was definitely over. Elizabeth turned back to teaching, leaving the past behind as best she could. She and daughter Fanny never saw William again. Elizabeth appears to have remained in William?s mind however, for better or worse, as evident from his final Will:
?I give and bequeath to my wife Elizabeth if living at the time of my decease (she having left me against my wish and of her own accord in 1853 and I never having heard from her since that year) the sum of One hundred pounds but merely as a token of forgiveness, she having real property of her own.?
We can only wonder what he refers to as his ?forgiveness.?
Wiremu was per Prof. Sarah Carter, ??boarded with a Maori family, and somehow got to his grandparents in Hokianga.? (6)
William, who was ex-communicated from both the CMS and his family, stayed in the Hawkes Bay area but became a recluse for a few years. During this time, ironically he earnt a good living through land trading and sales ? flouting his own past advice and admonitions to the Maori about selling their land. By 1858 William had moved to Napier and had entered into local politics, and in 1861 he had his beloved Wiremu, or Willie as he called him, living at home with him.
(Part one of two parts)
Footnote Refs:
1. Biography of Wiremu in paper by Professor Sarah Carter in proceedings of the William Colenso bicentenary conference (2013: Napier, New Zealand), available in print form only: http://nzlc.natlib.govt.nz/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=15069715
2. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Stout79-t28-body-d1.html
3. https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/23894/site-of-william-colensos-mission-station-clive; (Quoted in Waitangi Tribunal, Mohaka ki Ahuriri Report. Wellington: Legislation Direct, 2004, p. 34.)
4. My Hand Will Write What My Heart Dictates: Edited by Frances Porter, Charlotte, Macdonald, Tui MacDonald, 1996 Bridget Williams Books; p. 297.
5. colensoandtherepublicofletters.weebly.com / Personal letters of William Colenso transcribed by Ian st George Part 1 12.9.11
6. The Colenso Society; eColenso: July 2014 Volume 5 No. 7 Article: Why Was Willie at Walsall? - Professor Sarah Carter
Other Refs:
http://www.nzcms.org.nz/200-years/2014-pilgrimage/2014-colenso/
http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/c-d/colenso-elizabeth-fairburn-1821-1904-and-william-1811-1899/
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1c22/colenso-elizabeth
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1c23/colenso-william. He was baptized on 13 December 1811 in Penzance, Cormwall, ENG.
1 He immigrated to arrived Bay of Islands 30 dec 1834 from Sydney on the Blackbird in June 1834 JGOC has 1835.
23,1,18,19