Personal details
Full Name:
- Samuel Marsden
Lifetime:
- 25 Jun 1765–12 May 1838

Reverend Samuel Marsden was the driving force behind the establishment of Anglican mission stations in New Zealand.
Read more...Events In History
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17 April 1820General Gates sent to Sydney under guard
The American sealer General Gates – named for a War of Independence general and commanded by Captain Abimileck Riggs – had sailed from Boston in October 1818. Read more...
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25 September 1819New Zealand's first grapevines planted?
Missionary Samuel Marsden planted a vineyard on the site of a new Church Missionary Society station at Kerikeri. Read more...
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25 December 1814First Christian mission established
At Hohi (Oihi) Beach in the Bay of Islands, Samuel Marsden preached in English to a largely Māori gathering, launching New Zealand’s first Christian mission. Read more...
Articles
Missionaries
The Christian missionaries of the pre-1840s have been described as the 'agents of virtue in a world of vice', although they were not immune to moral blemish themselves.
- Page 2 - Establishing the Church Missionary SocietySamuel Marsden was a key figure in the establishment of the first Christian mission in New Zealand.
Go-betweens
An important feature of early cross-cultural contact in New Zealand was the role of intermediaries (kaiwhakarite) who acted as go-betweens – people from one culture who lived within the other culture and helped bridge the gap between the two.
- Page 3 - Māori intermediaries: RuataraIn 1805 the Ngāpuhi chief Ruatara left New Zealand on the whaling ship Argo with the intention of meeting King George
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Main image: Rangihoua Pā and Oihi (Hohi) Mission Station
The site of the first Christian mission station in New Zealand.