William White

William White (11 February 1794 – 25 November 1875) was an English-born missionary for the Wesleyan Church in early colonial New Zealand.

Born in England, White came to New Zealand in 1823 to establish the first Wesleyan mission in the country, Wesleydale, at Kaeo, near Whangaroa Harbour. He later took charge of Māngungu Mission in the Hokianga, having returned to England to find a wife in the interim. Further stations were established along the west coast of the North Island. A difficult personality, he soon alienated fellow missionaries over the running of the mission and was recalled to England in 1836. After an investigation, he was dismissed from the Wesleyan ministry two years later due to having been deemed to have conducted inappropriate commercial activity while in charge of the missions in New Zealand. He briefly worked for the New Zealand Company until he fell out with its leaders. He went back to New Zealand and settled in the Hokianga, preaching and trading. His business interests suffered when a cargo of timber was lost in a shipwreck. He died in Auckland, aged 81.

Early life Born in Ingleton, County Durham, on 11 February 1794, William White was the eldest son of Francis and Hannah White. He was a cabinet maker by trade but was also a lay preacher in the Wesleyan Church. He was ordained as a missionary in the Wesleyan Missionary Society (WMS) on 23 January 1822, on the same day as his fellow missionary Nathaniel Turner, and dispatched to New Zealand to assist the Reverend Samuel Leigh in forming the first WMS mission in the country.

Missionary Shortly after his ordination, White left for Australia aboard the Deveron, where he transferred to the St. Michael, which carried supplies for the proposed WMS station. Other missionaries, including Nathaniel Turner, John Hobbs and James Stack, joined them. White soon found himself in charge, due to Leigh relocating to Sydney on account of his poor health. Conflict with local Māori, who were more interested in the commercial opportunities provided by the mission's stores than adapting to Christianity, soon arose. The tensions in the area were such that White scouted out possible locations for a new station, travelling as far as the central Waikato in 1825. John Hobbs presided over the interment of White's remains at Symonds Street Cemetery in Auckland, at which several other clergymen were present.

Legacy The events of the 1830s meant that White was often used as a scapegoat for the relatively poor results achieved by the Wesleyan mission to New Zealand. His reputation was such that in 1927, when a memorial to Methodist missionaries was erected at Māngungu, his name was omitted from the list of names engraved on the memorial. However, fifty years later an additional plaque was added to the memorial, on which his name was included.