The CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY (CMS) was founded in London in 1799 by a group of Evangelical Anglicans, including the anti-slavery campaigners known as the 'Clapham Sect'. It was not part of any State or established church hierarchy; but a private, independent association, funded entirely by the subscriptions and donations of its members. Relatives and others in England raised and forwarded large amounts of money and goods to New Zealand through the CMS to support the missionaries.
It was a strictly voluntary society holding 'Low Church', or Evangelical, beliefs — placing emphasis on personal conversion, the supreme authority of the Bible, and simple worship over formal ritual. It valued local, self-governing independence, which clashed strongly with the more ceremonial 'High Church' position, which held that missions should be managed directly by bishops.
HENRY WILLIAMS: Born in Gosport, England in 1792, he was the older brother of William. Gosport at the time supplied armaments, stores and cloth*1 to the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and Henry, drawn in by the events unfolding around him, joined the Navy himself at fourteen. He saw heavy action at sea — broadsides exchanged at close range, cannon fire tearing through the hold, men killed and maimed within feet of him — and was wounded in one engagement before retiring as a Lieutenant in 1815. He married Marianne Coldham in 1818 and arrived in New Zealand in 1823.
Henry was fearless and firm; a peacemaker who stood for no nonsense, becoming highly respected among the tribes and other settlers. He was a main translater of the Treaty of Waitangi into te reo. He was no soft-spoken missionary, and carried to New Zealand a plain determination to prevent the native people being dealt with in a manner he had witnessed while serving in the Navy, very much aware of the death and atrocities that greed and warfare brought about in countries being conquered. This was true CMS conviction being lived out, not just preached: faith proved by action, not ritual.
WILLIAM WILLIAMS: Born in Nottingham, England in 1800, married Jane Nelson in 1825 and arrived in New Zealand in 1826. He was a meticulous scholar, surgeon and exceptional linguist, translating and completing the te reo New Testament in 1837; compiled the highly influential A Dictionary of the New Zealand Language, which became the definitive guide to the language; and other works. He worked to protect tribal autonomy against Roman and High Church influence.
WILLIAM COLENSO: A CMS printer and passionate botanist, who ran the Paihia mission press, printing the te reo New Testament and the historic Treaty of Waitangi.
Note: "te reo" is used above rather than "Māori" for anything before 1840, as that name was not yet in use for the people or the language at the time — read here.
*1. Henry and William's father, Thomas Williams, was a clothier who supplied uniform and sailcloth to the Navy — the same trade that later took the family to Nottingham, where William was born. See williams.gen.nz for the fuller family story.
Will add more to this with Hugh Carleton etc.
Last updated 2nd Oct 2026.
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