New Zealand & Polynesian Records from Colonial Missionaries, 1838-1958
This collection contains records compiled by the United Society Partners in Gospel (USPG), a UK-based Anglican missionary organisation that operates around the world. From the 18th to the early-20th century, the USPG went by the name of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG).
Anglican missionaries first arrived in New Zealand and Polynesia in the 17th century, their mission was to spread the gospel to the indigenous Māori and Polynesian people. The arrival of Europeans disrupted traditional ways of life.
This collection includes letters, journals and supplementary material composed by the SPG’s New Zealand and Polynesian branches during the period 1838-1958. These documents contain a wealth of information, including: progress of the mission, relations with the indigenous Polynesians, the geography of the land, and insights into how monetary grants were spent.
The missionaries were not lacking in courage and resolution, but inevitably they saw the Māori from a vastly different cultural vantage point. They were not qualified by education… to recognise that the Māori had a way of life in some respects superior to the European.
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