the first sixty years by d.g.roberts 1992methodist.org.nz/files/docs/wesley historical/59... ·...

The First Sixty Years by D.G.Roberts – 1992

Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Publication #59



CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Reflections on Sixty Years by

Robert Thornley

Eric Heggie

John Dawson

Wesley Chambers

John Silvester

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Chapter 2 - The Laws - Frost Years

Chapter 3 - The Pratt - Laurenson Years

Chapter 4 - The Hames - Gilmore Years

Chapter 5 - The Laurenson - Gilmore Years

Chapter 6 - The Chambers - Roberts Years

Appendix A

The Main Office Bearers

Appendix B

Committee Members

Appendix C

A List of Proceedings Published

Appendix D

Annual Meetings



FOREWORD The Wesley Historical society is greatly indebted to its Secretary, Dave Roberts, for

his painstaking and thorough work in researching the first sixty years of the life of the

Society. He has woven together a chronicle of events which will enable members to

look back and identify with particular events and people and will give to the wider

circle of readers a clear picture of the goals and aims of the Society.

The carefully compiled records of officials and financial statements will serve as a

very useful point of reference.

The Society exists to assist us to know and tell our story. As we honour those who, in

the past, have been the custodians of tradition our resolve to carry forward this

responsibility and privilege is increased. We are inspired by their dedication.

Dave Roberts comes to the end of a long and devoted term as Secretary. It is fitting

that this account should serve as a memorial to his loyalty and enthusiasm for the

work of the Society. Thanks Dave.

Scattered through the text are pictures depicting significant happenings in the life of

the church. They are the events which influence our thinking and actions and often

give rise to the stories recorded by the W.H.S.

W.J. Morrison

Editor

From the far north to the deepest south

the Methodist Church sought to

proclaim the gospel. These two scenes

bring the range of the travels of the

early missionaries into clear focus.

The Mangungu Mission Station

Situated on the Hokianga Harbour the

Mangungu Mission Station site is a place

of pilgrimage and memory. This photo

shows the gathering at the re-

establishment of the mission house on its

new site after having been brought from

Onehunga. The church had previously

been moved from Kohukohu.

Waikouaiti Church House

This most southern mission station was

established by the Revd. James Watkin in

1840 to minister to the Maori people and

the whalers. His was a ministry of great

dedication and loyalty in the face of great

obstacles.



INTRODUCTION

Imagine that you find yourself in the situation where, for the first time in your life

(and probably the only time), you are committed to writing a book. Ahead of you

stretch X number of blank pages to be filled in. With what? How? This is how it was

with me and those blank pages had to be filled with the story of the Wesley Historical

Society (N.Z.). Questions needed answering before a start could be made. What would

be the best skeleton for the whole project? What resources were available? What

extras, such as appendices, should be included? Once all the material has been

assembled, how to decide what to include and what to leave out. And so on.

The first chapter presented no problem as that would have to be the beginning of the

Society, The answer to the question of the outline skeleton of the rest was soon

revealed. Having compiled lists of the main officers of the Society over its 60 years, I

noticed that the presidents and secretaries changed at the same time, except in one

instance. Having decided to title the rest of the chapters with the names of the

President & Secretary for each period of years, I was ready to go ahead on that basis.

The one exception referred to was the long period that Leslie Gilmore served as

secretary but the two presidents he worked with enabled that period to divide

conveniently into two chapters.

I discovered that, after 1980, Mr. Gilmore had decided to write a history of the first 50

years of this Society but, at the time of his sudden death, had got no further than

jotting down a few notes. I had found them and they proved a useful resource, While

working through the material that has finished up as this publication, I couldn't help

wondering from time to time how he would have written up our story. How different

from this would it have been? Was there any information that he might have included

that I have not discovered?

One problem probably faced by most writers of history is that of deciding from all the

information that is available, what to include and what to leave out. Though it doesn't

always result in an interesting story, I have tended to err on the side of inclusion rather

than exclusion in order to make the record as complete as possible. It is obviously not

the sort of book of which a reviewer might say that "once I started reading I found it

so gripping that I couldn't put it down", but I hope those who set out to read it find it

of some interest.

I gratefully acknowledge the help I've had from quite a number of people, especially

Mrs. Judith Bright at St. John's College Library (most of the material for chapter 1

came from there), our church archivists in Christchurch (Rev Marcia Baker) and

Auckland (Mrs Verna Mossong) as well as our president, Rev Wesley Chambers for

checking what I had written and making many improvements. I have tried to be as

accurate as possible but if any readers know of anything important that has been



overlooked, or can pick up any errors, or feel that I have been unfair in any opinions

expressed or conclusions arrived at, please let me know so that some way of rectifying

the situation can be arrived at.

In conclusion let us hope that the Society will continue and that someone will write

part two of this story, either as a centennial publication in 2030 or the second sixty

years in 2050.

David Roberts

Secretary.



Rev Robert Thornley

REFLECTIONS ON SIXTY YEARS

OF WESLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

To increase the value and widen the scope of this history, I asked several of those who

had been members of the Society for a long time to contribute their own thoughts. As

a guide, I suggested that they might do three things - to reflect; to reminisce; to ponder

the future - but to feel free to add anything they wished. The results from those who

responded follow and I thank them for accepting the invitation. If readers detect a

certain amount of repitition, it will be because none of us knew what anyone else was

writing.

Dave Roberts

ROBERT THORNLEY writes:

I am writing as one who has received much

from the Society and believes that it is

important and essential that the society

continues in being for the years that are to

come.

Many people within the Methodist Church

have made contributions to the Society and

names that come to mind include C.H. Laws,

E.W. Hames, G.I. Laurenson, L.R.M. Gilmore,

H.L. Fiebig, C.T.J. Luxton, George G. Carter,

Rua D. Rakena, W.W.H. Greenslade, William

Greenwood, J.J. Lewis, W.J. Morrison, W.A.

Chambers, J.B. Dawson, and many more.

A substantial body of historical writing exists

which directly results from the work of the

W.H.S.

Perhaps this is the primary purpose of the Society: to encourage and facilitate the

writing of Methodist history which originates in our New Zealand Church. The

W.H.S. underlines that history exercises a discipline of research and criticism, and

contributes to knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

W.H.S. is important for our New Zealand church and to our special national history

and experience. But equally valuable are the links that W.H.S. maintains with the

Methodist family both regionally and worldwide. One example is the successful

Pacific Regional Conference held at Wesley College, Paerata, in May 1987.



W.H.S. also serves a more than denominational purpose. Certainly it helps to keep

alive our special spirit and ethos. This helps the Methodist Church to make an

informed and relevant contribution to the Ecumenical Movement and the Church

Universal.

History is a living and creative area of human study. W.H.S. serves to provide a record

of Methodism responding and adapting to the changes which the years bring. To

express this in another way. W.H.S. informs us of our story, both our continuity with

the past, and our response to the reality of change.

For this reason, and many others, I believe that the Wesley Historical Society has an

essential function to exercise in the coming years.

FROM ERIC HEGGIE

Reflecting upon over 40 years membership of the Society, my brief comment must be

how much I have been given at such little cost. An ordinary member, I have enjoyed a

wealth of interesting and challenging publications at the price of a modest annual

subscription and the effort entailed in occasional attendances at instructive meetings.

Casting my eye over some of the Journals and other books published by the Society I

am reminded of the very valuable material put together for our Church and its

members by the Society's contributors, most of them busy people within the

leadership of Methodism. I'm quite sure the Society contribution has been a valuable

one. My sole regret is that a greater number of Methodists have not become Society

members with the opportunities to know much more of our heritage.

Many able and dedicated people have provided leadership. It would be invidious as far

as I am concerned to mention names, except that of the late Rev Les Gilmore, who

enrolled me and whose enthusiasm for the Society was, of course, infectious. It is

certainly my hope that the Society will continue its valuable work. I should like to see

a concerted effort made to enrol our younger people as Society members. I believe

there is a convincing story to present to them.

J B DAWSON - A FORMER EDITOR LOOKS BACK

In 1984 the Society initiated a new venture, the annual "Journal". The Editorial was

entitled 'Why history?' It began 'Like so many human activities history is written and

read from strangely mixed motives. For some the records of the past provide for an

orgy of breastbeating and hand wringing as the”good old days'' are seen through rose

coloured spectacles and the "Ain't it awful?" game is played, focused on the present . .

Schegel said "The historian is a prophet looking backwards." If we can see the way we

have come a little more clearly we shall know more surely where we are and by God's

good grace discern more truly where his Spirit would lead us. Such is the Society's

aim in this year of our Lord 1984.'



Rev. J. B. Dawson

Editor 1983-89

Such indeed has been the aim of the

Society ever since its inauguration sixty

years ago, and such remains its aim today

and for the future. To how great a degree

we have been able to achieve our

objective has depended on the wide

variety of contributors to its publications

and the selective process of its editors and

guiding executive committees over the

years. Perhaps others must pronounce on

the success or failure of our work. There

is no doubt a certain value in the accurate

record of the past. We have tried over the

years to see that, what would otherwise

have been forgotten in the mists of the

past, whether crucial or merely incidental,

is kept in the permanent memory of the

Church's life. Undoubtedly much of our

local and national interest, together with

something of the trivia and faithful

witness of other days, have been rescued

from oblivion. Whether we have achieved

any wider aim may be beyond our

knowledge.

For my generation the Society WAS the late Les Gilmore of beloved and even

whimsical memory. Les from our student days at Trinity College was a man of strong

enthusiasms. For these he sought to catch All of us in his net. And in no cause was he

more single minded and a more unflagging advocate than the Wesley Historical

Society. For 34 years of the Society's life he was its editor, secretary, apologist and

publicist. His study was its office, his garage its archives. Les at any Church

Conference not brandishing its publications and enrolment forms was unthinkable. If

his appearance was greeted with laughter and ribbing and provided some light relief to

Conference proceedings this was also mingled with respect and affection. When he

died suddenly on 18 July 1982 the work of the Society came to a full stop and the

executive committee had to take stock of any future.

It was soon realised that it was unlikely and unfair that any one person should be

asked to step into his shoes. In the end Dave Roberts undertook to pick up the

secretarial work and I became editor. Neither of us had been involved with the

direction of the Society previously. We quickly realised we must find our own

methods of working. For Dave this meant a massive task of checking, writing, and



travelling throughout the Connexion. For the editor it meant finding a printer, sorting

out and obtaining copy and attending meetings in Auckland. For both of us it involved

getting to know the executive committee and trying as best we could to pick up the

work where Les had dropped it in midstream.

Living at Rotorua a Rotorua printer seemed essential, since every Proceeding involved

many visits to the printery. I approached all local firms and found in Advocate

Printing Co. Ltd. and its manager Mr Merrick a down to earth firm who took a

personal interest in our work and produced a high quality publication at minimum

cost. We always had the deadline made in time for the booklets to be loaded into my

small car to be taken to the executive meetings in Auckland. I had to rediscover the

traps in proofreading. After two only readings of the first publications I was shocked

to find the number of errors that had slipped through. After that it was a matter of

many careful readings with careful attention to copy and recorrection of corrections.

Readers see what is published but an editor regretfully is aware of what had to be

discarded or held over for lack of space or resources. The committee always had more

projects in view than we could print. A number of manuscripts of great significance to

the authors and their circles never saw the light of print. Many smaller articles would

not make up a Proceeding alone. In 1984 the committee decided on the publication of

an annual Journal. This made possible the printing of many smaller articles although

even then limits of space and other considerations of policy made it necessary to be

selective. The "Journal" has appeared each year since except for 1987 when instead

"Wesley's South Seas Heritage" was produced. This was the official record of the

South Pacific Regional Conference of the World Methodist Historical Society, held at

Paerata College 18 to 23 May that year.

The Conference was the culmination of six years planning by our Society which was

asked in May 1981 by the World Methodist Historical Society to be responsible for

organising it. Dave Roberts and many others put in endless work after Les's death and

the Conference was finally held two years later than originally planned. It was I

believe most successful and our New Zealand Society was given new dimension as for

five days we met with leaders of indigenous churches from all over the region and

church members from New Zealand and Australia as well as the world President, Dr

James Udy and his wife Anne from Australia, our chief speaker Dr Frank Baker,

Methodist Historian from North Carolina, U.S.A. and our then Church President, Rev

Donald Phillipps who attended full time. The Fijian coup took place just as we were

convening and our Fijian speakers gave their contribution and hurriedly departed.

The task of compiling the official record was not easy. Some addresses had to be

reconstructed from tape recordings in which native accents and words proved a

difficulty. The script of one address had not been obtained in time for printing and was



issued as a supplement. However the publication was sent to our members and across

the world and has had favourable mention overseas.

Mission Station Tangiteroria, Northern Wairoa from Morley's History

Another publication the same year was “Not Self – But Others”, the story of the New

Zealand Methodist Deaconess Order, which also included a lengthy Index of all those

who had served in the Order so far as could be known. This major publication was the

result of much labour and research by the Society President, Rev Wesley Chambers.

The shape of things to come was seen in the publication of Douglas Pratt's "An

Ordered Faith", the story of Faith and Order in our Church 1950 to 1984, in that the

copy for this Proceeding in 1989 was entirely set by word processor in Hamilton,

making the task of printing a great deal easier and cheaper since this could be done

without further typing.

The editor was faced with some task in compiling the "Journal '89" since at the time

of the Wesley 250th celebrations I was in transit from Britain and missed the activities

in both New Zealand and Britain. I was soon faced with a large quantity of material

which had been solicited by the Society from local churches and regional groups

recording celebrations. I was able to savour the very varied emphases and enthusiasms

as I sat at my desk.

Rev Bill Morrison is now only the third editor to the Society since 1948. In earlier

years an Editorial committee functioned. He stands in the godly succession of those

many men and women who in various ways have made their contributions to the



Society's work over the past 60 years. We have never been a 'popular' Society in that

our membership has hovered over the 300 mark for many years, unduly loaded no

doubt by the elderly, the male and the clerical. We have never received any

Connexional funds to my knowledge though we have from time to time been given

generous grants by groups whose life we have recorded. Unlike almost all other

Methodist Historical Societies overseas we have not been given the task of official

archivists as part of our work and duly funded by the Conferences involved. We have

however worked closely with those involved in archives and contributed much to such

work. It may have been of some advantage to have functioned independently of

official channels. The healthy state of our finances shows I think that we are still a

viable and appreciated part of the Church's life. The work has been possible only

because we have received the fruit of talented and knowledgeable contributors and

executives totally without payments.

There is much that could still be done. Minutes of Conference and Connexional and

local newspapers and magazines provide a rich mine of reports which should be

researched and analysed. Have we indeed proved prophetic in our concerns in the

fields of public and international affairs? Where were we off the beam? What mistakes

did we make that must not be repeated. What lonely voices proved prophetic so that

later what was advocated became practical politics and engineered change in society?

How did our church life respond over the years to new theological emphases or were

we unduly tied to the outdated? Have we had our share in persecuting our seers and so

fighting against the Spirit? What experiments of other days proved fruitful for the

future? Are we still proceeding down ways which in the past proved to have a 'no exit'

sign ahead? These and many other facets of our history await exploration and there is

scope for many a degree thesis in them. As one who came to take the Society seriously

only in retirement I would hope that younger more alert minds might be placed at the

service of the Society. I am aware that leaders of the Society are also keen that the

memories of those who year by year are passing from us might be tapped in time that

the courage and resource and fervour of those who lay down their burdens might

continue to inspire those who come after.

In particular the present bicultural emphasis of our Church and the growing

recognition that we must get our interracial relations right in church and society in this

era of rapid change call for judicious and calm estimation of past events and attitudes.

Rua Rakena's The Maori Response to the Gospel published by the Society in 1971

appears to be the last non-pakeha Proceeding. This imbalance demands redress. While

many of our authors and interests have been women the new insights of women in the

church and their perspective on our history need expression in print also.

The work of an editor has to do with blue pencil and printers' ink but much more with

people. To have worked alongside such giants as George Laurenson and Eric Hames

has been a great privilege. It was an equal boon to have been able to publish



something of the life of men and women such as Jim Woodhouse who gave his

splendid lifetime of service to the remote town of Ohura, and many another. That such

as they should not be forgotten but should continue to inspire those of us who come

after is, I believe, the bread and butter work of the Society.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE W.H.S. - WA CHAMBERS REFLECTS

ON THE PLACE OF HISTORY IN N.Z. METHODISM

Two volumes every Methodist should have on his shelves are William Morey's

"History Of Methodism In New Zealand" and the trilogy written by E.W. Hames, G.I.

Laurenson and G.G. Carter to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Methodism in

New Zealand. These volumes are important because they bring together the history of

Methodism in this country up to 1900 and 1972 respectively. Any minister worth his

salt will want to know something of the community of faith into which he has been

ordained to exercise leadership.

Before Morley appeared a number of biographies of early missionaries had been

printed and sold quite extensively in this country. They included lives of J.H. Bumby,

James Buller, Nathaniel Turner and Samuel Leigh. Since Morley this tradition has

been continued first through the work of M.A.R. Pratt and T.A. Pybus on James

Watkin and the Otago Mission and more recently volumes on Samuel Ironside, John

Hobbs and William White. Today a more critical examination of missionary work is

taking place. Rua Rakena's “Maori Response to the Gospel" pioneered viewing the

missionary's work from a Maori perspective while academics such as J.M.R. Owens

among many others have applied the insights of social psychology, sociology and

anthropology to the missionary field.

Now it is important to identify the process of cultural change and to understand why

changes took place but it is also important for the church to have models of devotion

in the prosecution of its mission and I for one can never accept a purely secular view

of evangelization. Rather I stand in admiration of the courage of the pioneer men and

women who, without the skills of modern social sciences ventured into unknown

territories in obedience to the dominical command to go into all the world and make

disciples of all the nations.

Biographies of settler and pakeha ministers and laymen have not been so plentiful but

those that have appeared have been of good quality. "Arthur Liversedge" by O.E.

Burton, "Rev C.H. Laws, B.A., D.D. " by Wesley Parker, "Ormond Burton" by Ernie

Crane and "The Fighting Man" (T.E. Taylor) by N.F.H. McLeod are all too few from

our recent past. Today this biographical trend has been accelerated by the genealogical

interest prevalent in the community. Accordingly some supernumerary ministers have

been putting pen to paper primarily for the benefit of their families, but when a man



spends the whole of his working life in the church much of his history is related to his

experience of the church during one of the most rapid periods of change in the

church's history. Those known to have written in this field are Gordon Peterson, who

published his recollections as “People in Glass Houses", George Goodman, Alex

McDowell, and C.H. Bell.

No doubt there are others. While many of these will be valued primarily by those for

when they were written, one would hope that copies of this kind of recollection will be

placed also in the archives in Christchurch and in Auckland.

On Archives.

When Morley produced his "History of Methodism in New Zealand" he was able to

draw upon the memories and records of most of the missionaries who actually shared

in the evangelization of this country as well as upon his own comprehensive

experience of New Zealand Methodism. Previously, in 1881 the General Conference

had appointed Thomas Buddle and William Morely to collect information respecting

the history of Methodism in this country which led in due course to the office of

Custodian of Early Records of which Morley was the first office-holder. From time to

time these records have been added to but the most important acquisition was made in

1937 when Rugby Pratt had access to the Wesleyan missionary correspondence held

at the Mission Office in London and had it laboriously typed and deposited in the

Connexional Office and in the Trinity College Library. This material gave a boost to

publications about the missionary period -C.H. Laws twin volumes "Toil and

Adversity at Whangaroa" and "First Years at Hokianga" and the volumes by Pratt and

Pybus on Watkin and the Otakou mission. Many writers and researchers have drawn

upon that material since, but no major thrust to acquire early records was made until

the Connexional Secretary of the time (Alan Woodley) guided the church in a policy

of collecting archival material and establishing authorised depositories. As a result of

this initiative one might expect a fresh burst of significant church histories. Local

church historians will always be grateful for Moriey's, Pratt's and Woodley's initiatives

and I hope that further histories of Synodal areas will follow those of Canterbury

(W.A. Chambers) Marlborough (C.B. Oldfield and F.W. Smith) and Wellington

(Arthur Olsson).

On Gaps that Exist

Major volumes on our central churches have been published for Pitt Street, Taranaki

Street and Durham Street, as well as a host of smaller churches. Further, the work of

some of the major Methodist institutions and committees has been recorded, e.g.

Wesley College, The Prince Albert and Probert Trusts, and of the Grafton, Three

Kings and Paerata Colleges all by E.W. Hames; The Methodist Connexional funds by

H.L. Fiebig and their updating by Dr Denis Janus; the Trinity College Story by J.J.



Lewis; biographies of significant missionary personnel such as David Voeta and

Misikaram (John Crump) by George Carter; the records of the work of the Faith and

Order Committee by Douglas Pratt, and the story of the movement towards Church

Union told by J.J. Lewis. In addition Ruth Fry's book "Out of the Silence" and “Not

Self But Others'' had done much to redress an imbalance by placing on record the

work of women in the life of the church.

However there are significant gaps. Although the Wesley Historical Society

incorporates the name of the founder of Methodism John Wesley has been largely

overlooked in the proceedings of the Society. In the first decade of W.H.S. (N.Z.) two

of Wesley's letters in New Zealand were published. Between 1930 and 1940 when the

New Zealand proceedings were an inset in the Proceedings of the parent body in

Britain, the New Zealand members would receive ample information on Wesley but

when we severed our links with the British W.H.S., material on John Wesley

disappeared almost completely from our view. Not completely for two W.H.S.

lectures have focuses on catholic spirituality and the General Rules of the United

Societies, and on Law and Grace (John Wesley's Theology Today) These are

exceptional. Our major focus has been on the colonial church and personnel of the

Maori mission.

Apart from recovering some sense of proportion in regard to Wesley study, it would

appear to be appropriate to encourage the study of specific groups within the church as

Ruth Fry did for the women of Methodism. What about the local/lay preachers? The

contribution of the Home Missionaries to the growing edge of the church? What about

the Methodist reformers such as the Isitts, Tommy Taylor, Les Clements; the Pacifists,

the Bible Class and C.Y.M. movements? Then there is a story to be told of the

conflicts within Methodism, the men whose vocation led them out of the ministry into

politics, the bi-cultural history of the church since 1822, the Maori ministers and

Minita a Iwi? What about some of the Methodists who have served with distinction on

Local Bodies? Some of these gaps might have been filled had the Wesley Historical

Society published a separate Journal as has been done since 1984. Had that been so

then annual lectures such as E.W. Hames and W.T. Blight on Methodist

Churchmanship might have been preserved. Some of these annual lectures might still

merit publication for some of the issues remain with us.

On the Future . . .

In the future it should be possible to fill some of these gaps by means of research

commissioned by the Society under the terms of the Gilmore-Smith Memorial Fund.

The aim of this fund, set up to commemorate two distinguished members, is to put the

Society into a position where it can request a person to undertake a specific piece of

research considered to be desirable by the Society. Such a fund would have gladdened

the hearts of both Les Gilmore and Frank Smith. This fund is not intended to be a



substitute for individual interests and initiative - only a means whereby the Society

can take initiatives for research in desirable and important areas for the history of the

church.

The future may also see two other developments. The first could be the development

of branches in centres where there is sufficient membership to do so. In 1986 regional

representatives of the Society were appointed in most Synodal and Union District

council areas. Their function was to handle matters pertaining to the Society in their

Synods. Where areas have quite a considerable number of members, is it not possible

for them to meet occasionally or regularly to consider the aspects of the history of the

church in their area or to initiate commemoration of some specific local event

significant for that area? In Britain these regional groups are both numerous and

active. Given the enthusiasm of one or two people with an historical knowledge of the

regions, such sub-groups could perform a useful function in the area.

The other feature we may well hear more about is the work of the World Methodist

Historical Society. We became more aware of this body through the visit of Dr Homer

Calkin who, on behalf of the World Methodist Historical Society, is listing worldwide

the Methodist archival and manuscript material. What is not so widely known is that

for Methodist historical purposes the world has been divided into six regions - Africa,

Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands, Europe and Britain, Latin America and the

Caribbean, and North America. In all these regions conferences about relevant

Methodist topics are held. One such was held at Paerata College in May 1985 when

representatives from the South Pacific shared their experience of 'Mission, Ministry

and Culture in the South Pacific'. Among those attending were several from the

faculty of Pacific Studies of several New Zealand universities. Another conference is

being planned for the South Pacific region to be held in Tonga in 1992, one for the

Asia and Pacific combined region is being planned in conjunction with the World

Methodist Council in Singapore in 1991, while a consultation on the roots of

Methodist and Benedictine spirituality is being planned for Rome in 1993 or 1994.

The Wesley Historical Society has come a long way since 1930. It has much more

ground to cover yet. The progress it has made has been due to the leadership and

scholarship of such former presidents as C.H. Laws, M.A.R. Pratt, E.W. Hames, and

G.I. Laurenson - in all five presidents in sixty years! And to the unforgettable and

indefatigable secretaryship of L.R.M. Gilmore for thirty seven years!!! In the

intervening years it has grown from fifty-three New Zealanders being members of the

British Wesley Historical Society to an independent Society of over three hundred

members marshalling resources to be handmaid of the church in historical matters and

grateful indeed for the growing awareness of the importance of archives and the roots

of faith in the Methodist community.



JOHN SILVESTER - THE WRITING AND READING OF

HISTORY

Some years ago now I was accorded the privilege of writing the story of the Church to

which my family had belonged since the foundation stone was laid in 1912: The first

thing of which I was reminded as I embarked on this task was that we historians are

required to be efficient recorders of history. The first responsibility of every writer of

history is to be as factually accurate as circumstances permit. Minute books, letters,

newspapers and any other sources of information must be sought out and carefully

scrutinised. Memories of the past must be gathered and evaluated. This demands

painstaking work and the utmost sensitivity.

This aspect of historical work is what I would call Microhistory. Those who do

historical research for university degrees and those who write books on selected fields

of history are made aware of the strict protocols which they are required to observe.

Such research must be as thorough as possible. Sources must be acknowledged. They

must be evaluated. If there are differing evaluations they must be fairly compared.

Reasons for any conclusions drawn must be clearly stated. In short, the writing of

history, to start with is a strictly scientific exercise. Those who read any history

whatsoever are entitled to feel confident that it is the result of faithful work; that the

initial task of microhistory has been well done. This applies to the history of the

Church whether on a small scale or large, as it does to all other historical writing.

Yes, we historians are recorders of history, gatherers of the microscopic details which

are the stuff of history. But we are called to be more than recorders of history.

Recording facts alone can be a rather futile exercise. If we are mature historians we

will also be interpreters of our subject matter. This means that while we gather facts

we are concerned to say how those facts speak to the present and point to the future.

The work of microhistory is justified and fulfilled only when the historian moves on to

Macrohistory. The many facts have significance only when they are seen as part of a

larger course of events. My task of writing the history of St James Church, Frankton

was particularly interesting in this respect. From its beginning it had been a Church

which had served mainly a community of railway workers; it had been severely

affected by two world wars and the depression of the 1930's; but despite these

setbacks it had developed into a significant church unit, and at the time of writing a

decision had been made to close the Church to make way for a co-operative venture in

the locality. There was, obviously, scope for thoughtful comment and interpretation of

the facts.

It is salutary to think of history on a larger scale. Indeed, the greater part of our

historical research and thinking is concerned with the national, regional, or world

scene, with macrohistory rather than the local. As the field of research widens the

necessity for interpretation increases. The supreme example of this is the Bible. The



Bible records a great sweep of history but it does not give us a lot of detail. It is

mostly the result of profound thought. Some historians made a serious mistake when

they imagined that by scientific literary analysis they could extract from the Gospels a

"Jesus of History". The Gospels are certainly grounded in history but the most

important thing about them, by far, is that they are interpretative. The truth of the

matter seems to be that they are kerygmatic, that is they are actively proclaiming, even

preaching Jesus Christ. That is why they took so long to produce. That is why the

Gospel according to St John appeared later than the others. It was the product of long

reflection upon the fact of Jesus. The Prologue to this Gospel could be born only after

a long gestation.

The Church's interpretation of its primordial history was a lengthy process extending

into the sixth century. The Christology which emerged from this process was not a

matter of historical or philosophical interest per se. It was the answer to the Church's

question, 'Who is Jesus Christ?' and was crucial for the Church then and for all time.

I am particularly interested in the Epistle to the Ephesians which, presumably,

expressed the mind of St Paul. This is almost pure interpretation of the fact of Jesus

Christ. Its value to me is that it shapes the Christian Gospel into a cosmology with the

divine purpose in Creation and Redemption fulfilled in Christ. Here we are given a

world view in which Jesus Christ and the Church play a central role, a framework

which gives meaning to our living. It is a magnificent interpretation of the facts, a

thrilling and completely satisfying example of macrohistory.

So we in the Wesley Historical Society, along with other historians, are called to be

sound recorders and perceptive interpreters of'the historical field in which we are so

deeply interested, doing justice to the microscopic details and making it all meaningful

and instructive by pointing with precision to macroscopic patterns and purposes.



CHAPTER 1

IN THE BEGINNING

It would seem that, to many organisations, the idea of systematically preserving their

history comes rather late. The beginnings of Methodism in England are usually

reckoned as dating from 1783 but the British Wesley Historical Society was founded

in 1893! Methodism in New Zealand began with the arrival of Rev. Samuel Leigh in

1822 but 108 years had elapsed before this Society was founded in 1930., though, as is

often said, better late than never.

Of course, this doesn't mean that no church history had been written before this time; a

keen historian could already have acquired quite an extensive library of books for

reading or research. It is fitting that we should remind ourselves of some that would

probably be found on his shelves and any list must surely begin with Rev. William

Morley's monumental volume of 528 pages "The History Of Methodism In N.Z"

published in 1900. For anyone with access to a copy, it is still the starting point for

most who want information of the pre-1900 church. Its collection of hundreds of

photographs is invaluable, including as it does, most of the ministers (and often their

wives) who served the church during that period as well as many laypeople and most

of the church buildings. Much earlier than this, that group of pioneer Wesleyans

usually designated as 'missionaries' became the subject matter for several books such

as Alfred Barrett's "Life Of The Rev. John Hewgill Bumby" (London 1852), J.G

Turner's "The Pioneer Missionary: Life of The Rev. Nathaniel Turner" (Melbourne

1872) and Rev James Buller's own account of "Forty years In New Zealand" (London

1878). Anyone who today owns a copy of such books as these would count it among

their treasures. In 1922, the centenary of N.Z. Methodism saw the publication of Rev

W.J. William's "Centenary Sketches Of New Zealand Methodism". Particular areas had

occasionally become the subject of a publication, a good example being Rev T.G.

Hammond's "In The Beginning - The History Of A Mission" being an account of the

south Taranaki area. By 1922, the Rev T.J. Pinfold had published two editions of that

very useful reference book “New Zealand Methodist Index'' which lists the ministers

with the dates and circuits in which they served as well as listing the circuits with

dates and names of all ministers appointed to them. Also, by 1930, the custom of local

churches publishing their own jubilee booklets for significant anniversaries was

becoming established. In the Society's collection of these the earliest I have been able

to find are Trinity Church (Dunedin) Golden Jubilee in 1912; St Pauls (Palmerston

North) Golden Jubilee in 1925; Pitt St (Auckland) Diamond Jubilee in 1926.

Perhaps by the late 1920's, it was a case of the time being ripe for church history to be

put on a more systematic and planned basis but, if anything was to be done, it would

most likely be the result of the enthusiasm of either one person or a small group. By



the time you reach the end of this chapter you can decide this for yourself. Now to

recount the events that led to our founding as far as I have been able to discover them.

The first official mention of a Historical Society seems to be in the Minutes of the 1929 Conference which was held in Auckland in February with Rev John

F Goldie as President. A resolution was passed to the effect "That the

Conference request the Trinity College Council to consider the formation of a

New Zealand branch of the Wesley Historical Society''. (This was a reference

to the British Society.) It would be interesting to know what prompted such a resolution at all. The principal of Trinity College at this time was Rev Dr

Charles H Laws.

Rev C.H. Laws President 1930-42

The College Council met on 11th April that year and, when considering Conference

remits, it was resolved "that the question of the formation of a NZ branch of the

Wesley Historical Society be referred to the Board of Studies for report later." The

Board of Studies had a meeting on 2nd September at which the Principal was thanked

for his offer to draft a circular for distribution setting forth the aims and objects of the

proposed Society.

This formed part of the report of the Board of Studies to the next meeting of the

College Council on 10th October at which the endeavours of the Board of Studies to

secure these objects were approved by the Council.



The 1930 Church Conference was held in Wellington but prior to that Dr Laws

prepared and distributed a circular (printed on Page 23) based on that mentioned

above and inviting people to a meeting during the Conference as well as gauging

possible support from those who couldn't attend the meeting. The meeting was held

and I quote the complete minutes.

"Minutes of the first meeting of the Wesley Historical Society in New Zealand

held in Wesley Schoolroom, Taranaki St., Wellington on Monday, 24th

February, 1930. The President of Conference, Rev A.N. Scotter, B.A. was voted

to the chair. Rev Dr C.H. Laws, as representing the Council of Trinity College to

whom the matter was remitted by the 1929 Conference, stated the steps that had

been taken to secure the meeting. After Dr Laws' interesting speech, he proposed

that a Society be formed with the title 'Wesley Historical Society - N.Z. branch'.

Seconded by Rev P.R. Paris and carried. Dr Laws was elected President on the

motion of Revs G. Frost and A. Ashcroft. Rev George Frost was elected

secretary and Treasurer on the motion of Revs P.R. Paris and F. Copeland.

Names were suggested for the office of vice-president but election was deferred

to the 1931 Conference. A small committee in Auckland was nominated with

power to add. They were Revs Dr Laws, G. Frost, P.R. Paris with Messrs A.

Peak, W. Ambury and W.S. Mackay."

In the Conference minutes for that year, under the heading of the General Purposes

Board, is the following resolution -' "The Conference learns with pleasure of the

formation of a branch of the Wesley Historical Society in N.Z. and wishes the Society

success in its valuable work.'' The Society was now in business, ready to take its place

in the life of the Church. It is of interest to note that, of the members of that first

committee. Rev Percy Paris was President of Conference in 1938, Mr Arch. Peak was

Vice-President at this 1930 Conference and Mr William Mackay the following year.

The name of Ambury is still remembered in Auckland with Ambury Park in Mangere

and Ambury's Milk Co at Takanini. But obviously the key figure in all this was Dr

Laws, one of the 'giants' of the Church and at this stage only a year away from

retirement. Much could be written about him (and has been by Rev Wesley Parker in

his 1954 biography) but we will summarise. He was the first New Zealand trained

minister to get a B.A. degree, the only one to have been twice elected President of

Conference - for the Wesleyan Methodists in 1910 and the united church in 1922, -

Secretary of the Wesleyan Conference 1904-7 and the newly united church 1913-14

and, finally, principal of the Theological College 1920-31 (at Dunholme until Trinity

was opened in 1929). During his 1922 presidential year he received the Doctorate of

Divinity, conferred by the Victoria University of Toronto.

In light of the subsequent development of the Society, three points suggest themselves

as worthy of note.



(1) Though we can assume that it was primarily the result of the personal

enthusiasm of Dr Laws, it was officially regarded as a development from the

Trinity College Council with which it was to continue to be strongly linked.

(2) The emphasis on being a branch of the British society suggests much closer

ties to the parent Society than is the case now, 60 years later.

(3) The objects set out in the circular by Dr Laws indicate a much wider field of

interest than just New Zealand Methodism.

New Zealand is not mentioned in the objects and the explanatory section further down

shows that it would receive about equal study with that of 'Methodism in the Old

Land'.

The Rapaki church on the shores of the Lyttelton Harbour, centre of influence for the South Island.



THE WESLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Proposed New Zealand Branch

The last Conference requested the Council of Trinity Theological

college to consider the formation of a branch of the Wesley Historical

Society in New Zealand. (See Minutes, p.85, res. 11)

The objects of the society are set forth as:-

(1) To promote the study of the history and literature of early

Methodism.

(2) To accumulate exact knowledge.

(3) to provide a medium of intercourse on all related subjects.

The membership fee is 5/- per annum and members receive, post free,

the quarterly "Proceedings" of the Society and any additional

publications at the lowest cost.

It is clear, from the objects as stated above, that a New Zealand branch

of the Society might interest itself not only in studying the beginnings

of Methodism in the Old Land but, as other ends, in promoting the

study of the early history of our New Zealand Methodism, in seeking

to obtain and in publishing full and accurate information thereupon, in

aiming to secure the originals and, where that is impossible, copies of

documents bearing upon those important years and, generally, in

quickening among church people a just pride in the story of our New

Zealand Church.

It is proposed to call a meeting, to be held during Conference, of all

interested in the formation of such a New Zealand Branch and you are

heartily invited to attend. Should you not intend being at Conference,

we shall be glad to know whether you are favourable to the proposal

and would be willing to join in membership.

Kindly reply to me, prior to the Opening of Conference, at 38 Kainui

Road, Hataitai, Wellington.

On behalf of the college Council,

C.H. Laws, Principal

February 6th, 1930

The circular sent out by Dr. Laws to ensure interest in the formation of the Society.



Whiteley Memorial Church, New

Plymouth – a new standard of

architecture is set.

A predecessor of Whiteley built in

1856 and in use until 1898 – from

the Taranaki Museum.



The Rev G. Frost

The First Secretary

1930-38

Chapter 2

THE LAWS-FROST YEARS - 1930-1942

The chapter title refers to the fact that Dr. Laws was President for these 12 years and

Rev. George Frost was secretary-treasurer for most of them. Dr. Laws' career has been

briefly summarised in chapter 1 and during this period we note that he retired as

Principal of Trinity College in 1931 but continued to serve the Church in many ways -

as a lecturer at the College for several years, as editor of the Methodist Times from

April 1934 until a period of ill health caused him to retire in July 1936, as the author

of a steady stream of articles on a variety of topics in the Methodist Times. He was

generally regarded by all as a 'Father of the Church'.

Mr. Frost's career had been quite different. He had

never been a prominent figure in the life of the

Church nor occupied any prominent office but,

since 1893, he had been appointed to a series of

mainly country circuits. In 1930 he took up his last

appointment at Ponsonby (Auckland), his first in any

of the four main cities. He was a tremendous reader

and his main claim to fame could be indicated by

this item from the Methodist Times when he retired

in 1933. "Rev. G. Frost moved from Ponsonby to

Epsom with his library of 5000 books. Is this the

largest in N.Z. Methodism?"

Sources of information about this period are fairly

scanty. The Minute Book for Committee meetings in

Auckland starts in 1941 though minutes for Annual

meetings, often very brief, are available (there were no Annual meetings in 1932 and

1936). It has been quite fascinating scanning all issues of the Methodist Times for

those years but more about that later.

PEOPLE

Apart from the President and Secretary and the members of the first Committee, who

else was prominent in the life of the Society during the first 12 years? As decided at

the inaugural meeting, the first Annual meeting, held in Dunedin, in 1931, appointed

the first Vice Presidents - Rev. Percy Paris and Mr. W.S. Mackay. Other Vice

Presidents during this period were Revs. Dr. James Pinfold, M.A. Rugby Pratt and

A.B. Chappell. In 1931, Rev. J.H. Haslam was added to the committee but for the

remaining years other members either went unmentioned in the minutes or were



covered by such phrases as "the officers of the Society were re-elected for another

year".

At the 1938 meeting, Mr. Frost resigned on the ground of illness and Rev. John

Grocott became secretary-treasurer but resigned a year later when Mr. Frost agreed to

resume his old job. He retired finally in 1941 (aged 75) when Rev. George Laurenson

agreed to become the new secretary.

It is worth noting this sentence from the 1941 minutes - "Miss Norah Buttle, a

granddaughter of the Rev. George Buttle, an early missionary, had joined the Society

during the year - its first lady member."

MEMBERSHIP

The original list of members printed in June 1930 had 53 names (43 ministers and 10

laymen). The 1931 Annual Meeting decided that a minimum of 60 was required to

cover the Society's expenses. The next printed list in September 1932 had 61 names;

in March 1935 there were 63 but in December 1936 the total was down to 57. So for

several years the membership hovered around that 60 mark until in March 1938,

secretary John Grocott, in a letter to all members, commented on the declining

numbers. At Annual Meeting, 1942, secretary George Laurenson's annual report stated

that “membership had declined seriously during the last 2 or 3 years". Thus within ten

years of its founding, serious difficulties were being experienced. Throughout this

period, the annual subscription remained unchanged at 5/- (50c).

THE SOCIETY IN ACTION

Since the beginning, the basic activity of the Society has been the publication of

'Proceedings", a term deriving from the custom of the British Society. In return for

paying their subscription, members received printed matter near the value of that

payment. What they received during this first 10 years or so was very different from

that by present day members.

We noticed in chapter 1 how the Society was formed as a branch of the British

Historical Society and the closeness of this connection is revealed in that the New

Zealand members received the quarterly Proceedings of that Society (usually 24

pages) and the New Zealand committee attached a 4 page supplement to the outside of

each copy before posting to the New Zealand members. In June 1930 the first mailing

went out to members who received from the New Zealand Branch a title page, a page

in which Dr. Laws described his aims and hopes, a poem by Rev. Jonathon Haslam

and the first list of members (those with JOURNAL '86 will find it reproduced there),

and from Britain articles about the New Room in Bristol, the oldest Methodist Chapel

in Scotland, early Methodist meeting places in Hereford, two previously unpublished

letters by John Wesley and Rev. J Hames Bogie's Ordination Diploma from Wesley in



1788. This set the pattern for eight years and members could expect their mailing

every three months. Most of the writers of the New Zealand supplements were a group

of ministers whose names have already been mentioned - A.B. Chappell, M.A. Rugby

Pratt, T.A. Pybus, Dr. J.T. Pinfold and J.H. Haslam. The subject matter was mostly of

the early days; in fact you would search hard to find any mention of events later than

1870. (See Appendix C for a complete list)

In September 1938, when members opened their latest British Proceedings they found,

not a New Zealand Supplement, but a letter from John Grocott who had just taken

over as secretary. This is what they read -

To Members of Wesley

Historical Society:-

The Auckland members have discussed the financial position of the

Society and to meet an emergency, recommend to the secretary to

forward the enclosed three volumes without any N.Z. inset.

The position is as follows: -

Tbe amount on hand is £4:10:0 [$9]

The amount owing to Mr. Bretherton of the parent body is £10 [$20].

Each N.Z. inset plus postage costs £2[$4] and three insets would

require £6 [$12].

Exchange etc. on the £10 is £2:12:6 [$5.251.

Thus if we forwarded the inset we would be £14:2:6 [$28.25] in debt by

Church Conference. The annual income approximates £15 [$30] and

the annual expenditure £20:12:6 [$41.25].

Therefore by the end of 1939 our debt would be £20 [$40].

Because of this whole situation, I have been advised and accept the

responsibility for forwarding the (British) Proceedings without the

insets and am asking that the whole position be examined at the Annual

Meeting during Conference.

The difficult financial position results from unpaid subscriptions,

declining membership, increased cost of printing and cost of exchange.

A further feature that will need to be considered at the

Annual meeting is the failure of members to forward material for the

inset.

John Grocott,

Secretary.



This indicates that by the end of 1938 there was a shortage of funds, a shortage or

members and a shortage of material for publication in New Zealand. The Society was

obviously struggling yet the brief minutes of the next Annual Meeting in February

1939 do not mention anything about this. Held at Durham St. Church in Christchurch,

they only mention that there was an attendance of 12, Rev. E. Drake as chairman, a

letter of resignation from Mr. Grocott, whose report and financial statement was read

and adopted and that Mr. Frost offered to resume the office of secretary-treasurer for 1

year.

Minutes for the 1940 meeting are more revealing. There was an attendance of 9 at the

Trinity schoolroom, Dunedin and Rev. Rugby Pratt was in the chair. Mr. Frost's

financial statement "showed that considerable arrears were owing by members and

consequently a large amount was owing to the parent Society in U.K. " After the re-

election of the officers, 'a hearty discussion ensued and most of the members present

voiced the hope that when the A.G M met in Auckland in 1941, a new lease of life

would ensue. "

By this time, of course, the war had started with its consequent disruption to normal

life in society generally and the Church as well. Reviving an ailing tiny historical

society was a very low priority on anybody’s list An immediate effect on the Society

was also reported at the 1941 meeting in Auckland - "Two numbers of the Proceedinqs

of the Parent Society had reached N.Z. in 1940 but others had been lost by enemy

action" so that now members couldn't be sure of receiving even the British

Proceedings for their subscription. But with the two that did arrive and after a break of

over two years a New Zealand inset, the last to be written, was included. The 1941

meeting also saw the final retirement of George Frost and the appointment of Rev.

George Laurenson as the new secretary-treasurer. It also decided to appoint an

Auckland committee to plan the future of the Society. The attendance was 30.

THE METHODIST TIMES

The “Methodist Times” was a strong presence and influence in the life of the Church

during these years and a perusal of all issues during the 1930-42 period reveals that its

contribution to the field of church history was quite significant. It was a fortnightly

journal (no break during the summer holiday period) usually of about 16 large well-

filled pages covering in detail every aspect of Church activities and liberally sprinkled

with photographs. A large part of 3 issues each year was needed to report on every

function and discussion of the Annual Church Conference (then held in February).

The correspondence columns are a good guide to the matters that aroused the most

controversy at any particular time (How many still living would remember that in the

mid-thirties this seemed to be the question of dancing on church property?). As this

was a paper by subscription only a fraction of Methodists read it and in many

congregations the number of subscribers was small.



In going through these issues, what surprises is the number of articles dealing with

Church history. In total they probably exceeded the number of those written for and

issued by the Society for the New Zealand inserts, several of which were printed in the

TIMES anyway. Articles with titles such as "Old Marlborough", "Old North Otago",

"Kawhia Centenary", etc. appear quite frequently along with reports on functions of

historical interest such as the opening of the Otakou Church near Dunedin in 1940 and

the centenary gathering at Port Underwood in 1941 in tribute to Ironside. At the 1940

Conference there was a pageant on 100 years of South Island Christianity. So readers

were kept very well informed on many aspects of our history. References to the

Wesley Historical Society and its activities are few. When perusing the period from

April 1934 when our President, Dr Laws, became editor I anticipated more

prominence being given to the Society. In his first issue there is a full report on the

1934 annual meeting - but after that for the rest of his 2 year editorship, nothing at all.

He retired from that position in July 1936 because of ill health.

Finally, here are two quotations from Conference reports with historical interest. (A)

From the Wesley Historical Society Annual meeting it is stated that "Rev Rugby Pratt

reported on an entry he had found in an old Quarterly meeting minute book where, in

response to the usual last question on the agenda "What more can be done to promote

the work of God in the circuit?" was the answer, "It was resolved to sell the old gray

mare." (B) A 1935 Conference session under the heading "Museum Contents and

"Early Church Records'" is described thus -

"The presentation by Mr Pratt of the Report on Early Church Records was the

occasion of a query from Dr Laws as to by what process of reasoning the

Connexiona! Secretary could include among early church records such things as

a cannon ball from the ship "Boyd" 1809, and a piece of timber from the original

bell-post at Mangungu, Hokianga - relics reported as having been added to the

Methodist Cbristchurch Museum. The Dr in whose eye, we suspect, lurked just

the suspicion of a twinkle, considered that some contents of the Auckland

Methodist Museum, scarcely of an ecclesiastical nature, might be as justly

entitled as early church records.

The Connexional Secretary felt somewhat pained that the doctor's 'shafts' should

year by year be directed against the practice of the Christchurch museum

custodian in these matters and claimed that the association of the relics

mentioned with early Methodist history in N.Z. justified their inclusion in early

church records.

Enlivened by interjections concerning 'teapots' and 'cannon balls', there followed

a verbal interchange between prominent church leaders which at least

contributed somewhat to the gaiety of Conference during a somewhat dull

session."



THE METHODIST LITERATURE AND COLPORTEUR

SOCIETY (NZ):

In one of the issues for January 1941, the "Methodist Times" announced the

publication of a book about Rev Thomas and Mrs Buddle. It was written by a grand-

daughter and printed mainly for the family but the Publications Committee asked for it

to be generally available. The only copy which I have seen shows it to be issued by

the above Society and this reminds us of one more Church organisation which, over a

period of several years, has been responsible for several publications dealing with our

history. (Perhaps someone may be 'inspired' to research the story of that Society and

write it up before it is lost.)

CHANGING DIRECTION:

The Auckland committee appointed by the 1941 Annual meeting was soon under way.

It held 4 meetings during the year and made several recommendations for change to

be approved at the 1942 Annual meeting. Only President Laws and Secretary

Laurenson attended all 4 meetings but others who helped were Revs Albert Chappell,

George Frost, and Eric Hames, Miss Norah Buttle and Mr T.L. Hames. The most

important results of their year's work were –

(1) That the close links with the parent Society in the U.K. be discontinued along

with the purchase of their Proceedings.

(2) That this Society issue its own series of Proceedings as from 1941 with one

volume a year made up of four separate numbers.

(3) Arrangements for this first volume were made by arranging with the trustees

of Pitt St Church, Auckland and Taranaki St Church, Wellington to purchase 50

copies of their Centennial Souvenir booklets for Wesley Historical Society

members and asking Rev T.A. Pybus for his latest manuscript on the history

behind the newOtakou church near Dunedin and Rev. A. B. Chappell to prepare

articles on South Taranaki (these were first published in the “Hawera Star").

(4) A report was sent to Synods for later presentation to the 1942 Conference.

(5) More carefully researched work was to be organised in New Zealand, and

(6) greater recognition by the Conference as a branch of Connexional work and a

report to the Annual Conference was to be sought.

All this set the Society on a path that has continued with very little change until the

present time. Using political terminology, it could be said that we moved from

'colonial' status to 'commonwealth'. At the 1942 Annual Meeting, Dr Laws, now 75,

retired as President. This is as good a place as any to mark the end of the first stage of



our story. As we shall see, this did not mean that he had ceased to work for the Society

- far from it. He was succeeded by Rev Albert Chappell.

A FOOTNOTE:

In trying to find a photo of Rev George Frost, I was told that his daughter (and only

child), Eileen, was still living in Epsom, Auckland. When I finally visited her

(October 1990), it was to discover that Miss Frost was 92, completely blind, and still

living alone in the house her father retired to in 1933. It was a pleasure to talk to her,

with her clear memory for names and happenings going back to the early years of the

century as well as a good knowledge of what is happening in the Church today.

Trinity College. Opened 1929

A new dimension added to ministerial training

- from the Trinity College Story



Chapter 3

THE PRATT-LAURENSON YEARS

1942 - 47

The new President, Rev A.B. Chappell, now 69, had had an interesting career. Born in

England in 1872, he had entered the New Zealand ministry in 1896 which included 2

years as Organising secretary for the Bible Class movement (1908-9). In 1919, after 5

years at New Plymouth, he was left without pastoral charge because of a 'disciplinary

matter'. He was then 6 years as Registrar of Auckland university and also spent 16

years as sub-editor of the "N.Z. Herald", retiring in May 1941. In 1934 he became the

first President of the Auckland Historical Society by which time he was an M.A.,

F.R.G.S. and Dip. Journ. He had joined the Wesley Historical Society at its beginnings

in 1930 and written several of the N.Z. inserts during that first period. He had acted as

auditor and then became a vice-president in 1937. He obviously had the qualifications

to make an excellent President BUT, having chaired one committee meeting, he died

suddenly in August. A few months earlier, the first vice-president, Rev Percy Paris,

had also died suddenly so the Society had been dealt another blow to its top

leadership.

Rev. M.A. Rugby Pratt

President 1943-46

There were no more committee meetings before the 1943 Annual Meeting in

Christchurch. Rev George Laurenson was in his third year as General Superintendent

of the Home and Maori Mission Dept. which meant that he was often travelling

around the country and therefore committee meetings needed to be held when he was

in Auckland. Chaired by Rev M.A. Rugby Pratt, the 1943 A.G.M. had a small



attendance which .was "affected by the exceptionally inclement weather". Mr Pratt

was elected as the new President.

He was born in Gisborne in 1875, entered the ministry in 1902 and had been

Connexional Secretary since 1927. He was one of the Society's original members and

had been a vice-president since 1934. Much writing on Church history had come from

his pen over a long period of years e.g. in the "Methodist Times" for 18 May 1940 he

wrote the editorial about Rev James Watkin, as well as articles on the Rev Samuel

Ironside, Rev Charles Creed and early Methodism in Canterbury. There was also an

article on Watkin and Otakou by Rev T.A. Pybus. Quite impressive for one issue! The

situation with his job which meant living and working in Christchurch and therefore

unable to chair the standing committee in Auckland, was resolved by appointing Dr

Laws as chairman of that committee with the title of senior Vice-President. The other

vice-presidents were Rev George Frost and Mr A.H. Reed. In addition to the secretary

the other committee members were Revs Eric Hames and Andrew Johnston, Miss

Norah Buttle and Mr T.L. Hames.

Rev G.I. Laurenson

President 1974-82

Nobody realised at the time that there would not be another annual meeting until 1946

so this committee became particularly important. The 1944 Conference for Dunedin

was cancelled because of wartime travelling restrictions imposed by the government.

This made the agenda for the 1945 Conference so crowded that no meeting was



possible. This committee was also given the task of preparing a constitution as well as

donating suitable books of historical interest to the Wesley Circulating Library. (This

was a library formed at the office of the Home Mission Dept. in Auckland, mainly

through the enthusiasm of George Laurenson, to be used by ministers, home

missionaries, etc.)

MEMBERSHIP

In 1942 the secretary reported to the A.G.M. that the financial membership was up to

50 'again'. This included the Mitchell Library of Sydney which had requested

membership thus becoming the first library on the list (It was still a member in 1990).

The list of members printed in May 1942 now included 3 women as Norah Buttle had

been joined by Miss A Arthur and Sister Mabel Morley. Rev T.A. Pybus of Dunedin

was made the first honorary member as a tribute to his work over a long period of

years on church history in Otago. The 1946 A.G.M. recorded 67 as the total

membership but the immediate post-war years must have been a period of almost

phenomenal growth since a members list printed in February 1948 has 147 names. It

seems strange, therefore that no committee or A.G.M. minutes of those two years has

any mention of this. The annual subscription remained at 5/ - (50 cents) throughout

this period. Rev George Frost died in 1944 aged 78.

FINANCE

For a society depending almost completely on members' subscriptions for its finance,

the last few years of dwindling membership had become quite a strain. In 1941, two

things helped to improve the situation. First was the fact that membership was

increasing and half the subscription payments came from those paying arrears almost

doubling the income and, second, the final payment for U.K. Proceedings was made to

the parent society thus reducing the indebtedness. Here is a copy of the financial

statement for 1942 presented to the 1943 A.G.M. It is short simple and revealing.

(Dollar terms are used from here on.)

Receipts Payments

Balance in hand, 11.2.42 38.33 Printing of Proceedings 35.10

Subscriptions 28.50 Postage and Stationary 3.07

Sales of Proceedings 13.00 Balance in hand 42.58

Interest from A.S.B. 0.92

$80-75 80.75

The selling of spare copies of our own N.Z. Proceedings provided a source of income

that hadn't been available previously. The number of issues that the $35.10 paid for is

not indicated but the fact that Mr Chappell's "Early Missionary Days In South



Taranaki” was on sale for 6 cents is a good indication of the effect of inflation on our

currency in the last 50 years.

The 1945 statement shows an interesting new item in the RECEIPTS column - a grant

of $30 from the church's Contingent Fund. This was a subsidy towards the cost of two

particular Proceedings (see below) but was also a practical sign that the work of the

Society was being accorded greater recognition by the Connexion. (A further sign of

greater recognition was in 1944 when, for the first time, the Annual Report was

included in the Conference Minutes. Though this was the Conference that was

cancelled, a small group of Church leaders met in Auckland to transact the most

essential Church business.)

PUBLICATIONS

The commissioning and publishing of our own Proceedings was just getting under

way at the beginning of this period and a pattern was set during these years which has

continued with very little change since then. It quickly became the most important

activity and a reading of committee meeting minutes that most time was spent making

the decisions about future issues. The original plan of having one volume per year

consisting of four separate issues proved too difficult to put into practice so that, for

the last 7 years of 1941-47 inclusive, there were 17 issues instead of the 28 expected.

However, in spite of the difficulties of the war years, that was a very creditable result.

The numbering system was given a gentle nudge by giving some issues two numbers

e.g. Vol. 3, Nos. 1 & 2. (see Appendix C)

How did this steady stream of booklets originate? The main sources can be

summarised as follows:

1 Those that resulted from a request from the committee to someone to cover a

particular topic.

2. Those that resulted from an offer from someone to write about a topic or with

something that they had already written and perhaps had already been printed

elsewhere.

3. Those from an agreement that would be made with the trustees of a particular

church which was publishing a jubilee booklet, to purchase enough copies for

distribution to our members.

Right up to the present day, most of the 110 proceedings we have published could be

fitted into one of these three categories.

And who were the people that produced all this material? All except one were

ministers (the exception was Mr C.J. Freeman who wrote the "Centenary of Wesley

Church, Wellington"). Of the ministers, 8 were written by men who had been, or

would be President of the Society. As already mentioned, there is a complete list in



Appendix C, but two of these early ones deserve special mention. The grant from the

Contingency Fund already referred to was for two written by Dr Laws and considered

quite outstanding for their time. They were entitled "Toil & Adversity At Whangaroa"

and "First Years At Hokianga -1827-36 ", issued in 1944 and 1945 respectively and,

so far, are the only Proceedings that have been accorded the honour of being reprinted

(which was in 1977).

"Men" was the operative word in the last paragraph and it is worth noting at this stage

that in our complete list of authors, only four Proceedings have been written by

women - Miss Norah Buttle (2), Sister Rita Snowden and Miss Inez Hames.

CALENDAR OF DATES

About 1935, Rev Rugby Pratt had compiled a list of significant events in the life of the

Church that could be used by those wanting to celebrate anniversaries. There were

about 900 entries in the list arranged under the days of the year. They were printed in

the "Methodist Times" once a month for a year. In 1943 the standing committee

decided it was time to repeat this and arranged with Mr Pratt to bring the list up-to-

date before doing so. This was done from September 1943 to August 1944, each list

acknowledging the Wesley Historical Society as the source thus giving the Society a

bit more publicity. We still possess a copy of this list.

GENERAL

The Auckland Committee had full control for the 3 years between 1943 and 1946

A.G.M's. yet only met 4 times, twice in 1943 and twice in 1945 - no meetings at all in

1944. We have already noted two matters passed on to it by the 1943 A.G.M. so what

happened? As far as the constitution was concerned a small sub-committee was set up

in 1943 to draft a revised version and the secretary was to obtain a copy of the N.S.W.

Society's Constitution. There is no further mention of this until 1948 when another

sub-committee was formed for the same purpose! Also in 1943 it was decided to

donate books of historical interest to the Wesley Circulating Library to the value of

$4.20. It would be interesting to find out what books were bought for that amount!

During this period there were the first signs of the Society trying to become a more

influential body in the Church and to widen its field of activities. We have already

noted the grant from the Contingency Fund and the inclusion of the Annual Report in

the Conference Minutes. Society business could be raised at Conference when it was

included in the agenda under the question - "What is the report of the Custodian of

early Records, Libraries and Museums?" and Part C of this was the Wesley Historical

Society. More opportunities were taken to send reports to the "Methodist Times" of

activities. One A.G.M. passed resolutions to the effect that



(1) we recommend to Conference that in future, when local church officials

desire to publish local historical brochures, they be urged to refer their

manuscripts to the Standing Committee before publishing it: and

(2) we request Conference to renew its instruction to local officials to send all

minute books, etc. for safe keeping and classification, to the Connexional Office.

Even if little notice was taken, we were at least trying. In 1947 there is the first

reference to a 'pilgrimage' (see below). I hope it is of interest to note in passing some

of the proposed Proceedings that never reached the publishing stage –

(a) Correspondence with Mr E.H. Schnackenburg re articles on Kawhia:

(b) Mr Pratt to prepare an issue to deal with the Wairau tragedy:

(c) Putting the story of the Grey Institute on record to be investigated:

(d) "Southwards" - Dr Laws urged to prepare material for a further brochure

dealing with the southward development from Hokianga:

(e) Mid-Canterbury Methodism - Rev W.T. Blight to be approached:

(f) Theological training in New Zealand:

(g) North Shore Methodism -Rev Peterson to be asked:

(h) An article by Rev J.C. Draper on "Beginnings at Russell".

A LEADERLESS SOCIETY!

In his report to the 1946 A.G.M., George Laurenson finished by saying:

“I feel bound to report that the duties of secretary-treasurer have not been

fulfilled as they should have been, owing to the extreme pressure of the work

carried in my official service for the Church.

Regretfully, but to enable the work to be done more effectively,I must withhold

my name from nomination for re-appointment.''

He would remain a member of the standing committee which was re-appointed with

the addition of Revs. Wesley Parker and Bernard Chrystall and Mr E.P. Salmon and

empowered to find a new secretary. A month later, President Rugby Pratt, who had

just retired as Connexional Secretary, died suddenly so the Society found itself

without President or Secretary. He was 71. Dr Laws, now nearly 80 and in ill health

wished to retire as chairman of the committee.

At the only meeting of the standing committee that year, Rev Eric Hames was

appointed the new chairman, and Mr F.E. Blakey was to be approached about

becoming secretary while Mr Laurenson carried on as "acting secretary'. Mr Blakey



apparently declined. At the 1947 A.G.M. in Wellington, Rev Eric Hames became the

new President. Born in Takapuna in 1897, he had entered the ministry in 1923. In

1939 he joined the staff of Trinity College of which he became Principal in 1941. He

was a founding member of the society. New appointments to the standing committee

were Revs. Leslie Gilmore and Eruera Te Tuhi and Mr H.P. Mourant. It was still

empowered to find a new secretary which it did at its only meeting in 1947 when Rev.

Leslie Gilmore was appointed. He was 32 years old, had joined the ministry in 1940

and joined the Society about 1944. Since 1942 he had been minister at Mangonui,

north of the Bay of Islands, and the first mention of him in our records seems to be at

the 1947 Annual meeting where he reported on his successful pilgrimage to the Bay of

Islands on 22nd January to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the arrival of Rev.

Samuel Leigh. We can assume that he helped organise this which would seem to be a

first in the widening activities of the Society. In 1947 he moved to Takapuna Church

in Auckland which meant he was able to join the standing committee. Thus was

formed a partnership that was to last longer than any other in our history so far.

Durham St. Church, Christchurch – emanates strength and continuity. The ‘cathedral’ of

Canterbury Methodism.

(A different picture after the 2010-2011 earthquakes! Alec Utting OnLine editor 2014)



Rev. E.W.Hames

President 1947-74

Chapter 4

THE HAMES-GILMORE YEARS

1947 - 74 When people accept appointment to

administrative positions that have not got a built-

in constitutional time limit, they probably give

very little thought as to how long they might be

there. We can imagine that neither Eric Hames

nor Leslie Gilmore had any idea that they were

forming a 27 year partnership and even less

likely for Mr Gilmore that he would be the

secretary for the rest of his life. His name quickly

became so closely linked with that of the Society

that they became synonymous. His enthusiastic

promotion of its activities at Conferences and

throughout the Connexion became so noted a

feature of church life that if there ever was a title

of MR WESLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, it

must belong to him.

MEMBERSHIP

The sudden surge in membership in two years from 67 (in 1946) to 147 (in 1948)

augured well for the future. At his first Annual Meeting as secretary, Mr Gilmore set a

target of 500 members as being necessary for the Society to function well.

Unfortunately, this target has never been reached, but figures available for the next

few years do show a steady growth. Our records give the following:

1949 - 155

1951 -just over 200

1954 - 300

1956 - 316

1958 - 350

That 350 seems to have been the peak membership total and it was reached once more

in 1964. Reference to actual numbers becomes quite scarce from 1960 on but it can

probably be taken as correct to say that, since then, the membership has remained

remarkably stable at between 300 and 330.

About 80 of the original members of 1930 were ministers. This proportion slowly

decreased until by 1954 about 50 were ministers, a situation that still persists. This



also shows that in the post-war years there was a much increased interest from lay

people in the church. But, if statistics have anything to say about our position in the

whole church, comparison with church membership totals can be rather deflating. At

our peak of 350 in 1964, the church also reached a peak about then of nearly 33,000.

Remembering that part of our membership is not Methodist or is overseas, 350 out of

33,000 is slightly over 1%!!! Luckily statistics can also be used to brighten the picture

a little when we remember that since 1965, the church membership in 1990 had almost

halved to about 16,600 but with our total still at about 325, we can now claim to be

2%! It is recognised however that the work of church history has always been pursued

by a small group of enthusiasts.

ADMINISTRATION

From the beginning in 1930, the committee that met in Auckland to manage the affairs

of the Society between annual meetings was known as the "Standing Committee". The

1948 sub-committee to revise the Constitution proceeded at a leisurely pace over the

next few years, being delayed at one stage until a new constitution adopted by the

British Society could be studied. The 1954 annual meeting finally approved the

constitution and a month later the Society was incorporated under the "Religious,

Charitable & Educational Trusts Act". Amongst other changes, the 'standing

committee' became the 'council' - quite a promotion! This did not necessarily mean

more work for the committee members. From a number of sources I have heard or

read of the Society being a 'one-man band' during this period and, hoping it is not

being unfair to others, it certainly must have seemed this way to many observers. This

impression is confirmed when a study of the minute book reveals that between

meetings held in June 1958 and August 1963 there was only one other meeting in that

5-year period!

The Annual Meeting of 1962 changed the appointment of the committee members

from naming particular individuals to "such W.H.S. members as were also members

of the Methodist Board of Publications, thus enabling the Committee to meet

following any meeting of the Board." This arrangement, which continued until 1968,

was decided on because of the overlap in membership of these two bodies. Leslie

Gilmore was the secretary of both, one of our committee members, Mr E P Salmon,

was the chairman of the Board of Publications and our President, Eric Hames, was a

member along with others such as Sister Rita Snowden and Mr G.S. Gapper. This was

a good, practical solution for two committees whose work overlapped to some extent

and for people often overburdened with committee meetings.

From 1947 to 1968, Mr Gilmore was appointed as minister to Auckland churches

(Takapuna, Mt Eden, Otahuhu) which meant he was on the spot for carrying out his

secretarial work. In 1969 he moved to a new appointment at Morrinsville in the

Waikato and the 1968 annual meeting decided that the Council should meet in



Rev L.R.M. Gilmore

Secretary 1948-82

Hamilton and the committee members be found in

that area (see Appendix B). This arrangement

continued for the rest of this period and into 1975.

But there was also a small 'inner' executive which

met occasionally in Auckland when this was

considered necessary.

The other administrative change worth noting

during this period was the appointment of a

treasurer. Since our founding in 1930 the secretary

had also been treasurer but in 1963, Mr Gilmore

advocated the separation of the jobs because of the

increasing workload. The 1963 Annual meeting

approved the change and Rev Derek Laws was

elected treasurer which office he continued to fill

during his ministerial appointments at Hamilton

and later at Invercargill. The latter was rather an

inconvenient place to work from but he continued

until a new treasurer was found in Auckland. This

was Mr Keith Lawry whose family has occupied a prominent place in the history of

NZ Methodism since the arrival of the Rev Walter Lawry in 1844. Mr Lawry was

appointed by the 1971 annual meeting and settled in to a lengthy period of service. He

was also the first layman appointed to one of the main offices in the Society.

PEOPLE

Apart from the president, secretary and two treasurers we recognise long and loyal

service by many others. Dr Laws continued to be there in the background under such

titles as Patron and Founding President until his death in 1958 aged 91. Mr A.H. Reed

was a vice-president right through (he became Sir Alfred in 1974). Others with

lengthy terms as a Vice President were Revs George Laurenson, Eruera Te Tuhi,

C.T.J. Luxton and Messrs C.J. Freeman and A.H. Harman. Those who served as

committee members for many years were Sister Rita Snowden, Revs B.M. Chrystall,

G.E. Brown, H.C. Dixon, Messrs T.L. Hames, E.P. Salmon, H.P. Mourant, S.E.

Chappell, G.S. Gapper and Miss Norah Buttle. Many others listed in appendices C and

D furthered the work of the Society with their writing or speaking but more of them

later.

FINANCES

The basic source of income for the Society has always been the members' annual

subscription. To those of us who have become so accustomed to the inflation spiral of

the last 20 years, it seems almost unbelievable that the original 50c of 1930 continued



unchanged for 24 years. It was not until 1954 that the annual meeting agreed to

increase this by 50 to 75c and this was after members had been polled, giving over 90

approval. During these years some members were known as 'sustaining members',

paying a sub of $2.10 which entitled them to membership of the parent Society in

Britain as well.

During the remainder of the time covered by this chapter there were two further

increases. In 1964 the sub went from 75c to $1 and in 1971 to $1.50. The inflationary

spiral was beginning to make itself felt. This basic income only just ensured the

survival of the Society from year to year. Considerable supplementary help was

available from time to time from various other sources. These can be summarised as

follows:

(a) From 1952 to about 1964 an annual grant was received from the church's

Contingent Fund. It started at $10 a year but later rose to $20.

(b) Donations towards the cost of individual Proceedings were often received

from family or friends interested in its subject.

Some examples that could be noted are (1950) $50 from

- Prince Albert College Board for "A Tale of Two Colleges": (1955)

- the Reed Trust subsidised A.W. Reed's "Impact of Christianity on the

Maori": (1962)

- the Winstone family donated the full cost of the proceeding on Rev. J. B.

Richardson: (1963)

- $90 from the Pollard family for C.T.J. Luxton's "Rev

- James Wallis": $50 from the Connexional Funds for H L Fiebig's

"Inheritance": (1965)

- $140 from descendants of missionaries who arrived on the "Triton" for Miss

Buttle's "Voyage of the Triton": (1967)

- gifts from the Lawry family for E.W. Hames' "Rev Walter Lawry".

(c) Many local church histories that joined our list of Proceedings were sold to

the Society at a greatly reduced price, e.g. Durham St, Christchurch sold copies

of W.T. Blight's "House Not Made With Hands" for 25c each, a quarter of the

usual sale price in 1965: E.W. Hames’ “100 Years at Pitt St” was offered at a

low price in 1971.

(d) So far the Society has not appeared very often in Wills but a legacy of $50 is

recorded in 1963. For the record, I include here a copy of the financial statement

for the year ended 30th September, 1952. I note that it was audited by Rev W.A.

Chambers, now our President.

Receipts Payments



Balance at 1.10.51 20.06 Postages, stationery, etc 15.10

Subscriptions 133.00 Publications:

Sales of Proceedings 32.31 New Plymouth booklets 22.20

"World Parish" subs 1.43 Woodville booklets (extras) 1.80

Adjustment of error .60 "Our Yesteryears" booklets 8.26

Tawa Flat booklet 39.80

Hawera booklet 1.50

Motueka booklet 37.55

Sundry donations 4.74

"World Parish" exps. .15

Balance at 30.9.52 56.30

$187.40 $187.40

Also during that year, an appeal to members to subsidise the printing of E.P. Blamires'

"Youth Movement" brought in $148.30.

Another statement towards the end of this period (year ended 30th June 1969) shows

that the income from subscriptions had risen to $305.25 and from the sale of

publications to $179.80 but the cost of printing W.W.H. Greenslade's "John Whiteley"

was $325.63.

PUBLICATIONS

The pattern for producing the Society's publications had been set during the period

described in Chapter 3 and continued in much the same way throughout these years.

Though referred to variously as 'brochures' or 'booklets', we will use the official title

of 'proceedings'. There were 63 titles issued during these 27 years which is an average

of just over two a year, culminating in the four substantial books of the 150th church

anniversary set. These will be dealt with as a separate topic.

Titles can be divided into two main groups. The first group (22) is composed of local

church histories which originated in the local churches and then, by arrangement with

the church trustees become available to be issued to our members as one of our

proceedings. The second group originated within the Society and, with few

exceptions, would be unobtainable except through the Society. The main exceptions to

this would be Sister Rita Snowden's "Ladies Of Wesleydale" which was published by

Epworth Press in England and District histories for Canterbury and for Southland. For

a complete list see Appendix C.

I have set out to try to discover in greater detail the story behind some of the titles on

the list. Fortunately some of the authors are still readily available to supply me with

this information.

Wesley Chambers



(1) 1948) - Volume 6, No 4 - "Woodend Methodism" - a local church history,

written when he was minister there. It is of interest to note that this is the

earliest of our proceedings with the author still living.

(2)1950- Volume 8, No 3 - "Our Yesteryears – Canterbury Methodism"- This

was for the North and South Canterbury District Synods in connection with

the centennial of the Canterbury Province. When nobody else wanted to do it,

Wesley offered at a Ministers' Fraternal meeting.

Frank Glen

(1) 1956-Volume 14, No 1 - "Methodism In Southland"-This started as an article

for the "Methodist Times" to coincide with the centennial of Southland but

grew too big for that. After some fund-raising, the Southland sub-district

(chairman - Rev Arthur Witheford) decided to print enough for all church

members in the district. It was then offered to the Society which paid 25c

each for 350 copies.

(2) 1958 - Volume 16, No 1 - "Methodism In Auckland During The Maori Wars"

- In 1957, Frank was in his final year as a student at Trinity College, and was

encouraged by Principal Eric Hames to explore the religious, social and

political involvement of the church during the Land War period as it related

to Auckland. Mr Gilmore invited him to give the Annual Lecture that year,

the only time that a student has done so. It was printed and issued the

following year.

(3) 1961 - Volume 19 No 1 - "Methodism In Auckland During The Maori Wars"-

In 1958, Frank took up his first ministerial appointment in Western Southland

and, as a result, this was written and published as a circuit history but not

before secretary Gilmore had encouraged him to go ahead and promised to

buy 400 copies as a Society proceeding.

(4) 1967-Volume 23,No 3- "Padre Luxford"-by 1966, Frank was serving as a

National Service Chaplain and decided it was time something was published

about a Methodist chaplain. Luxford was an obvious choice as his career had

included being at Parihaka during the Land War period, in South Africa

during the Boer War and in Europe during World War 1, finishing up minus a

leg. Messrs Hames & Gilmore had agreed that the publication be fully funded

by the Society.

T.G.M. (Tom) Spooner



(1) 1955 -Volume 13, No 2 - "Brother John"- In 1934, while at university, Tom

wrote a thesis on Rev John Hobbs. The 1946 W.H.S. Annual meeting decided

to approach him with a view to preparing it for issue as a proceeding.

Personal circumstances delayed work on it and it was not until 1955 that it

was finally printed under the above title after subsidies towards the cost had

been offered. It was the largest proceeding originating within the Society that

had been issued up till that time.

Bernard Gadd

(1) 1964 - Volume 20, No 1 - "William Morley - Statesman" - In 1963 Bernard

lived at Pukekohe and was a member of the management committee that was

developing a new church campsite on the southern shore of Manukau

Harbour. The site was named Camp Morley and he agreed to write a

pamphlet about the man after whom the camp was named. Mr Gilmore heard

about this and persuaded him to write a much fuller account of Morley's life.

This became the proceeding as printed the following year.

(2) 1966 - Volume 23, No 1 - "Rev James Buller -1812-84" - In 1955 the Society

became interested in a degree thesis on Buller by Miss Margaret Blight and

she was approached with a view to writing a condensed version as a

proceeding. There were delays until, in 1961, Margaret (now Mrs Turnbull)

asked for this project to be dropped as she felt her views had changed and

matured. In 1965, Bernard was commissioned by Mr Gilmore to write a

biography of Buller based on Margaret's thesis and this proceeding was the

result. (He remembers how impressed he was with the meticulous way in

which Mr Gilmore did the proof-reading and other tasks involved in the

preparation of proceedings).

Dr J.M.R. Owens

(1) 1973-Volume 27, No 6- "The Unexpected Impact"-This issue was a departure

from 'normal' in two ways. Dr Owens (History Department of Massey

University) was the first of our authors from the staff of a university and also,

as far as can be ascertained, the first non-Methodist. He gained his Ph.D. at

Victoria University, Wellington with a thesis entitled "The Wesleyan Mission

to New Zealand, 1819-40" and, knowing about this, the executive invited him

to deliver the Annual Lecture to the 150th Jubilee Conference at Whangarei

in 1972. It was this lecture that was published under the above title. Dr

Owens continues to be a good friend of the Society.

These accounts of ten issues hopefully give a fair picture of the variety of ways by

which our proceedings originated.

A few other issues deserve comment for various reasons.



A) 1948 - Volume 6, No 2 - Mr F.W. Reed's "Leigh's visit To Wbangarei

Harbour In 1823" was the shortest one - just 4 pages. It first appeared as a

newspaper article in the “Northern Advocate”. Today it would appear as a

“Journal'' article.

B) 1949 - Volume 7, No 2 "Some Letters Of Baron De Thierry" edited by Les

Gilmore. This seems to be the only one the subject of which is not a

Methodist.

C) 1969 - Volume 25, No 1 - Rev Rua Rakena's "The Maori Response To The

Gospel" still, sadly, stands as the only issue by a Maori author. With todays

different attitudes being manifested through the bi-cultural policy of the

church, he would probably now want to change much of what he wrote then.

D) In 1973-74 just at the end of this period, another 'barrier' is broken with the

first issues dealing with the overseas outreach of the New Zealand Church.

We find in quick succession Miss Inez Hames' "I Remember" (Volume 27,

No 5) being personal reminiscences of her years as a missionary in Fiji: Rev

George Carter's "A Family Affair" as one of the 150th Anniversary series (see

below): quickly followed by two others from George with “David Voeta "and

"Misakaram" (Rev John Crump).

OUR FINEST HOUR

The last few years of the period covered by this chapter saw the completion of the

most ambitious project of the Society's first sixty years. This arose from the fact that

1972 was the year in which the New Zealand Church planned to celebrate its 150th

Anniverary. The Society took the initiative by asking the 1969 Church Conference to

set up a special committee to plan the celebrations. A few months before the

Conference preliminary ideas of what might happen were revealed in a Newsletter to

W.H.S. members by secretary Gilmore. To quote - "We plan to inform overseas

Methodist Churches in the hope that they will send special representatives here for the

launching of the Celebrations. We envisage the setting up of area committees to

prepare for suitable activities during 1971-72, using overseas visitors where possible.

As a Society, we plan to publish a popular 'History of Methodism in New Zealand' to

be written in collaboration by the Revs E.W. Hames, G.I. Laurenson and G.G. Carter.

With the possible near approach of Church Union, our plan is to make this book a

means of informing our people about their Methodist heritage. At the same time, we

hope it will have a ready sale in the other negotiating churches".

Conference duly set up the 'Committee on 150th Anniversary of Methodism in New

Zealand' and we find that its leaders were Revs Eric Hames and George Laurenson as

joint chairmen with the Rev Leslie Gilmore as secretary. This conveys an impression



of the W.H.S. leadership doubling its workload! Their first report was made to the

1970 Conference which adopted the following recommendations -

(a) That it learns with pleasure that, in conjunction with the Wesley Historical

Society, they will issue a series of 150th

Anniversary 'histories' and

commends these to our people.

(b) That as an Anniversary gesture. Conference authorises the immediate

establishment of a fund from an appropriate appeal to provide a range of

scholarships or bursaries to be available for Maori, Pacific Islanders and

members of the United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon

Islands - such fund to be spent over a limited period of years.

(c) That the Church Council nominate the personnel of a committee to plan and

administer the Scholarship Fund.

(d) That Conference request the Board of Evangelism to prepare study material

relating to a programme of witness and evangelism, emphasising the

evangelical interpretation of the Gospel as Methodists see it - such material

to be available for use between Easter and Whitsuntide 1972.

(e) That Conference request the Church Council to consider the matter of

invitations to Overseas Visitors at the 150th

Anniversary Celebrations.

(f) That a grant of $10 be made to the committee through the Contingent Fund.

(That amount seems almost ludicrous today).

Conference approval set in motion the work necessary to implement its resolutions.

Let us see how they progressed.

1) The Scholarship Fund

At the 1971 Conference, the Anniversary Comm presented a detailed set of proposed

regulations for the administration of the Fund, suggesting that a minimum target

should be $50,000. At the 1972 Conference, they reported that during the year the

fund was opened with a $5000 grant from the Hamilton Methodist Trust and by the

end of August it had reached $13,060. Conference approval was sought for a grant of

$4500 from the Connexional Fire Insurance Fund. It approved the appointment of Rev

B.M. Chrystall as convenor of the committee to administer the fund and two reps

would be appointed by each of the Development, Maori and Overseas Divisions. At

the 1973 Conference it was reported that by 30 June 1973, the fund had reached

$22,500. This was considered disappointing. The first grants had been made to

students and a limit of 10 years was suggested to expend the fund. By the 1974

Conference the donations had reached just on $24,000 and not much more was

expected. Fifteen grants had been made during the year and Mrs A.H. Gorringe was

appointed as convenor, as Mr Chrystall had died during the year.



2) Study Material

At the 1971 Conference, the Board on Evangelism presented a very detailed summary

of a three session study programme that could be used by local churches. This was to

be implemented by the Board in cooperation with the Departments of Christian

Education and Home Missions. As none of these bodies mention these studies in their

reports to the 1972 Conference, one can only assume that the study was written,

printed and distributed. How many congregations actually used it will probably

remain a mystery.

3) Overseas Visitors

Having found no further reference to this, it would seem that it was not followed up.

4) The Histories

This is the W.H.S.'s particular contribution to the Anniversary. The reference to 'a

history' in that 1969 Newsletter was changed to the plural by mid-1970 when it was

decided that the three collaborators mentioned would write four separate books that

would be on a larger scale than anything previously undertaken. They were recognised

as the leading authorities in the church on their respective topic. Rev Eric Hames.

President of the Society, h ad retired in 1963 from 22 years as Principal of Trinity

Theological College and his history of the European Church was issued in 2 volumes

with 1913 as the dividing point. Rev George Laurenson had retired in 1968 from 29

years as Superintendent of the Home and Maori Mission Department and he wrote the

story of the Maori Mission and the ongoing Maori part of the church. Rev George

Carter was, at this time, General Secretary of the Overseas Mission Department after

having spent 16 years working in the mission field in the Solomon Islands. The

overseas outreach of the church was to be his subject. The original plan was that the

set would be issued one a year over a four year period, depending on their readiness

and finance being available. It finally worked out that Laurenson's "Te Habi

Weteriana" was issued first in September 1972 and Hames' first volume of the

European Church, "Out Of The Common Way" followed in time for Conference in

November. The other two were not ready until 1974, Carter's "A Family Affair" in

March and Hames' second volume "Coming Of Age" in December.

The cost of all this was, of course, far beyond the normal resources of the Society so

grants were sought. Much depended on good sales. The financial statements up to

1974 reveal that $4400 was received from sales and $2900 in grants. The printing of

the first three books had cost about $9200 but there were still many available for

future sales. Though the rest of the story continues into the period of the next chapter,

it can be noted that when the last book was printed complete sets were then available

for purchase and they were offered to Society members at a reduced price. Other

grants were received and some church boards were ready to make available certain



amounts if they were needed. Some typical grants that can be noted were from The

Maori Trustees ($600), Connexional Office ($500), Hamilton Church ($250) and

Methodist Women's Fellowship ($200).

As an extra fund-raiser the Society printed and sold special commemorative envelopes

for 1972, many as first day covers by arrangement with the Post Office. This raised

nearly $1000. In this way a set of books has become a standard reference work, 854

pages in all was bequeathed to the Church.

ANNUAL MEETINGS

We have noticed in earlier chapters that an Annual meeting was not always a certainty

and some that were held were just a small group fitting in a brief meeting at any time

that could be found during the Church Conference timetable. Only six had a speaker

on a suitable topic. The situation improved considerably during the years of this

chapter and a meeting was held every year with a speaker for all of them except one.

Attendances varied considerably (see appendix D) but, as the membership increased

over the years, they increased on average also. In the minutes for the 1951 meeting in

Auckland the term 'Annual Lecture' is first used. This was for Miss Margaret Blight

whose subject was Rev James Buller based on her university degree thesis, and given

to an audience of 80, the largest recorded up to then. The following year at Nelson,

over 100 attended to hear Mr Frank Smith of Blenheim speak on Ironside and the

Cloudy Bay Mission.

A variant of the Annual Lecture developed when, for some special reason, the lecture

was delivered to the whole Conference or at a special meeting thus ensuring a much

greater audience. This first occurred in 1956 when Sister Rita Snowden spoke on her

forthcoming book, “Ladies Of Wesleydale''. The Pitt Street Bi-Centenary Hall was

full. At the preliminary tea and meeting, the minutes record that "many more people

were present than had notified their intention of coming with the result that 'tea' was

more or less a sacramental meal". There were two other occasions when this happened

- at New Plymouth in 1968 when Rev W.W.H. Greenslade addressed the whole

Conference on "Pages from the Life of Rev John Whiteley" and at the 150th

Anniversary Conference at Whangarei when Dr John Owens topic was "The

Unexpected Impact".

Though annual meetings are most important for the business done and the lecture

heard, they are also significant as being the only time during the normal life of the

Society when members gather in sufficient numbers to get to know one another and

socialise, especially when a meal is a regular part of the programme.

MISCELLANEOUS



Though the preceding topics cover the most important aspects of the Society's work,

many others find their way onto the agendas for meetings from time to time. Some are

extra activities originating from within the leadership while others land 'on our plate'

from outside sources. Here follows a summary of the most important ones during this

period.

Historic Sites.

These are quite varied - churches, houses and other buildings, graves and cemeteries,

memorials, plaques, even the odd tree! This is a problematical topic for the Society

because many of those who have a concern for a particular site but do not know what

to do about it think that the Historical Society is the obvious group to approach with

their concern. The reality is that there are no sites over which we have any direct

control or can make definite decisions about. They are all the direct responsibility of

someone else. This could be a local body, a nearby local church, the Historic Places

Trust, etc.

Many are situated on private property. The most we can usually do is to seek

information, make recommendations to those in charge or offer some practical help if

it is within our capability. Often that which needs doing involves considerable

financial expense and our finances are usually such that any contribution can only be a

token one. Here are some minute book entries concerning this topic.

1) 1951 - Dargaville Circuit plan to put a memorial to Buller at the old

Tangitereria Mission Site.

2) 1951 and 1955 - The poor state of the Hobbs and Warren graves in Symonds

Street Cemetery, Auckland.

3) 1953 - secretary visited Raglan re the moving of monument to Wiremu Neera.

4) 1954-55 - plans for memorial font with plaque in Kaeo Church for pioneering

missionary women.

5) 1954-55 - legislation before parliament on marking of historic sites.

Information to be sought from Internal Affairs Department.

6) 1955 - approach Auckland City Council re park seat at site of first Methodist

service in Auckland. In 1957 there was an offer of a donation to pay for this.

7) 1959 - memorial to W.T. Miller unveiled near Te Kuiti at the old

Whakatumutumu Mission site, Rev George Laurenson officiating. (Miller is

the subject of Volume 16, No 5 "Sowing the Seed in Pioneer New Zealand"

by G. Elliott, issued that same year).



8) 1960 - the owner of the Port Underwood land with the Ironside memorial has

given land for road access. Conference members to be asked to donate

towards his land transfer costs.

9) 1965 - the marking of the Aotea Mission Station site was reported by Mr

Douglas Payne.

10) 1970-73 - it is reported that the Historic Places Trust is to put a marker at the

site of the Te Waitere Mission Station near Kawhia. The graves of two

missionary children are there. The Society offers $50 towards cost if it is

needed. The marker was dedicated by Mr Laurenson on 9 September 1972.

11) 1971 - it is reported that the Papakarewa Site (also near Kawhia) is not

marked so Historic Places Trust to be approached about this. Mrs Moke, the

current owner of this land, wants a small cemetery set aside as a reserve.

12) 1972 - last, but most important of all and coinciding with the 150th

Anniversary, was the moving of the old Mangungu Mission House back to its

original site from Onehunga where it had been since 1855. This was mainly

the work of the Historic Places Trust in co-operation with the Hokianga

Historical Society and the Methodist Church. In 1973, Mrs Cleave of the

Hokianga Historical Society sought help from us to supply information that

would assist in the restoration of the house. It is now the church's most

important historic centre.

Rallies

Because of the widely scattered location of the Society's membership, it is not possible

to meet in large numbers very easily. We have already noted the importance of the

Annual Meeting as the main opportunity for this to happen to any extent. Records

show that from time to time 'rallies', as they were called, were planned in Auckland

which has always been one of the centres where membership is strongest. (If it has

happened anywhere else there is no record of them). Attendance at these does not

seem to have been very large but we can note the following:

1948 - 1) Mr Tom Spooner speaking on Hobbs.

2) Mr George Carter speaking on Whiteley.

3) A gathering to mark the centenary of the Auckland Primitive

Methodist Church organised by Rev Harold Sharp.

1950 - 4) Mr B.T. Smith speaking on missions in the Waikato area.

5) Rev George Laurenson speaking on Scandinavian missions.



1966 - 6) On Queen's Birthday at Trinity College library, Mr Hames

displayed historic treasures and Mr & Mrs R.T. Clark spoke on

"Early Mission Station sites in Northland".

Pilgrimages

Dismiss any images this word may conjure up of Moslems going to Mecca or

Catholics to Rome. The modern New Zealand Methodist type pilgrimage is a way of

introducing people to their church history by visiting the places where it happened.

The Rev Les Gilmore was very keen on this idea, especially when there was a

significant anniversary to provide the reason. However, such events need quite a lot of

time to plan and this was not normally available to a busy minister. The first that Les

was closely involved with was mentioned at the end of the last chapter. Others on

record during this period were:

1) January 1953 - To mark the 125th anniversary of the founding of the

Mangungu Mission Station, it was planned that a small party representing

the leadership of the Society would tour the Hokianga area. It finally

consisted of Revs George Laurenson, Eruera Te Tuhi, Les Gilmore, Mrs

Laurenson and Mr Tom Spooner who was a teacher at Rawene at the

time. They met groups of local people at various places. Included in the

itinerary was a service at Mangungu after a boat trip up the harbour and a

service and open air dinner at the Waima Mission oak.

2) 20 June 1958 - A one day gathering was held at the Rev Gideon Smale's St

Johns Church at East Tamaki in South Auckland. A service was led by

Revs Eric Hames and John Silverster followed by a talk from the

secretary about the life of Smales.

3) November 1972 - At the time of the 150th Anniversary Conference, 24

Methodists did a bus tour round historical sites in the Waikato-King

Country area. This was planned and led by Mr Doug Payne, well known

in the Waikato for his enthusiasm for all aspects of local history.

Other Historic Societies

This history has already made clear how, from the very beginning, our links with the

British Wesley Historical Society were very close. Though it was found necessary to

'cut the apron strings' during the early years of the war, the close ties have continued.

Our minutes record that, in 1954, we received greetings from the parent body through

Dr Frank Baker and our annual meeting decided to reciprocate. For many years, we

had a category of 'Sustaining Membership' by which those who paid a double

subscription had membership of both Societies. In 1971 this category was abolished.



The 1948 annual meeting was informed that the International Methodist Historical

Society had been founded in the USA and would publish a quarterly called "World

Parish". We decided to join, the secretary was appointed the New Zealand

correspondent and a $10 grant was made. In 1950, Mr Hames was appointed as our

representative to a meeting of the International Methodist Historical Society and in

1951 he was congratulated on becoming its President. We still belong but somewhere

along the line it has become the World M.H.S. and the quarterly journal is now called

the "Historical Bulletin".

A 1958 committee meeting decided we should affiliate with the Auckland Historical

Society but, as there is no further mention of this it may never have happened. There

was also brief reference to the founding of Societies in New Zealand by the Baptist

and Presbyterian Churches and the hope that we would have regular contact with

them.

Odd and Ends

To complete this 'Miscellaneous' section, I report briefly on a few other items of

interest that gained our attention over these years.

1) 1949 - After consulting with the President of Conference and District

Chairmen, the secretary forwarded a list of 100 New Zealand names for

inclusion in a "Who's Who Of Methodism" being prepared in America.

2) 1951 - The annual meeting appointed an agent in each district to be our

'official representative'. As there is no further reference to this scheme, it

is not known how it fared.

3) 1953 - A.H. & A.W. Reed Publishers made available to our members a

discount price on books about Methodism. This was cancelled in 1955

when the business was being reorganised.

4) 1953 - The Canberra Methodist Church launched an appeal for funding

the building of a Samuel Leigh Memorial Vestry and the New Zealand

Church promised $800. Though the W.H.S. helped publicise it, the appeal

languished until the 1955 Conference empowered the Society to prosecute

the appeal for another year. Was the target reached?

5) 1958 - The Annual Meeting learned that Wesley Chambers now had the

original diaries in German of Rev J.F. Wohlers and had obtained a

Carnegie grant of $200 to help with the cost of translating them.

6) 1961 - 30 people had written 200 articles for the New Zealand section of

the "World Methodist Dictionary" being compiled in USA.



Epsom church - an active

suburban church in

former years

7) 1963 - The Thomson Set of Historic Slides was shown for the first time. It

was decided to use the money from the Freeman legacy to purchase a

duplicate set. Mr Thomson showed them as the annual lecture in 1966 but

sadly he died suddenly a week later.

8) 1967 - The secretary reported that he had edited New Zealand material for

an “Encyclopedia Of World Methodism'' to be published in USA. (This is

the third mention of material sent for an American publication. Has

anyone ever seen any of them?)

9) 1973 - A special meeting of the 'inner executive' considered only one

matter introduced by Rev Harry Voyce. This concerned two paintings by

Rev Samuel Leigh of Maori Chiefs - probably Te Puhi and Te Ara - the

originals of which were with the Methodist Missionary Society in

London. Colour negatives and prints had been obtained and two large

ones were to be presented to Kaeo Church at its 150th

Anniversary Service

on 10th June. (More about these paintings in the next chapter).

TIME FOR A CHANGE

By 1974, the 150th Anniversary Celebrations were over and the books were written so

President Eric Hames, now aged 77, announced to the annual meeting in Auckland

that he had decided it was time to retire. A successor seemed fairly obvious - the only

other active original member who had been a staunch supporter of the Society from

the beginning was Rev George Laurenson, now aged 72. He was elected unanimously.

Unfortunately, secretary Les Gilmore was not present at this meeting. He was on sick

leave. In his absence, Mr Tom Spooner carried out the essential secretarial work.

Chapter 5



THE LAURENSON-GILMORE YEARS

1975-82

This chapter reaches a period which many 1990 members find recent enough to have

quite clear memories of so each one can check on his/ her memory as they read.

ADMINISTRATION

At this time, there was a minimal change in the Society's leadership as the three who

had been the main leaders for a considerable time were still there but Mr Hames and

Mr Laurenson had changed places. Secretary Gilmore and treasurer Lawry continued

in those positions. The most important change occurred as a result of the secretary

being appointed to a church in Tauranga so the 1975 annual meeting decided to move

the executive back to Auckland. This brought a small group of names back onto the

committee as well as gradually building up a new group, many of whom are still

serving in various capacities. The first of the new intake appointed in 1975 were Rev

George Carter as a vice-president and Sister Rita Snowden, Rev 'Buddy' Te Whare,

Messrs H.R. Gapper and Tom Spooner to the committee. All meetings of the

executive during these years were held at the Hames residence in Remuera. At the

beginning of 1980, the secretary retired from the active ministry and moved to

Manurewa in South Auckland to live.

Good friends and supporters of the Society who died during these years were Sir

Alfred Reed in 1975, Rev Eruera Te Tuhi in 1976, Mr Frank Smith in 1978 and Rev

Clarence Luxton in 1980. They were all vice-presidents at the time of their death.

Others appointed as vice-presidents were Mr Frank Smith in 1976, Mr Tom Spooner

in 1977, Sister Rita and Rev Dr John Lewis in 1978, Mr Bruce Verry in 1979 and Rev

Donald Phillipps in 1982.

As the last chapter covered the subject of MEMBERSHIP up to 1990, no further

comment is needed about that in these last two chapters.

FINANCES

Substantial inflation was by now well established in New Zealand society and this is

reflected in the fact that during these eight years Annual Meetings changed the

subscription rates four times, tabulated as follows:

1976 From $1.50 to $2 - Retired ministers stay on $1.50 - Overseas $2.50

1978 Up to $3 - Retired ministers still $1.50 - Overseas $3.50

1979 $3 to include retired ministers - Overseas $4

1980 Up to $5 - Overseas $6

The extra charge to overseas members, mostly libraries, was first introduced in 1976

and is mainly to cover the postage on overseas mail.



During the period of publishing the 150th Anniversary set of proceedings, the amount

of money passing through the treasurer's hands increased considerably. This continued

into the period of this chapter but disappeared over the next two or three years e.g. in

the income for the year ended 30 June 1975, income from subsidies and grants was

$2850 and from sales of books $1370 compared with $296 from subscriptions. The

following year, there was nothing from grants and sales were down to $804. However

the growth in income from subscriptions was considerable as these figures show:

1975 $296

1977 $267

1979 $616

1981 $1750

Here is the annual statement for year ended 30 June 1980 which I have included for

comparison with earlier ones and which is as near as one can get to a 'normal' year.

Receipts Payments

Funds in hand at 30.6.79 1853.20 Cost of Proceedings

Subscriptions 1167.75 "James Watkins" 387.00

Sales from "Peacemakers" 1260.00 1647.00

General literature 207.45 Subscription 10.00

"Peacemakers" 359.00 Advertising 10.00

150th Ann histories 115.23 681.68 Postage and General 302.45

Donations 108.00

Interest 65.04

Sundry 37.50 Funds in hand at 30.6.80 1943.72

$3913.17 $3913.17

The other financial items worth noting here seem to prove that it was the extra income

from grants and donations which decided whether the Society finished in the black or

the red. During these years the following grants were received:

1977 $250 from Connexional Funds towards Wesley Chambers' "Winds of Change".

1978 $500 from Board of Publications to general funds.

1979 $634 from Prince Albert College Trust covered full cost of printing Eric Hames

proceeding about the Trust.

1982 Wesley College Trust Board gifted to the Society Eric Hames' "From Grafton to

Three Kings to Paerata".

In 1981 there was also the legacy of $7000 from the will of the late Frank Smith but

that is a special story which we come to soon.

PUBLICATIONS



During these eight years, 12 proceedings were issued representing a slowing of the

rate to 1½ a year. Four of them carry the names of Society presidents as author. One

noticeable trend in their subject matter is the near disappearance of local church

histories which had been such a large component of our output up till 1968. George

Laurenson's little book on Waterview Church in Auckland was the only one in this

group. Overseas New Zealand Methodism was covered in two issues - George Carter's

"Misakaram" and Harry Voyce's "Peacemakers". Church institutions received

considerable attention with Dr John Lewis' 'Trinity College'', and Eric Hames’ “Prince

Albert College Trust" and "From Grafton To Three Kings To Paerata (Wesley

College)". Wesley Chambers followed up his 1950 account of Canterbury Methodism

with “Winds Of Change'' covering the period 1950-75. In addition to

“Misakaram"(Rev John Crump), biographies on by Alex Harding, "Rev I. Harding"

by Alex Harding, "Rev James Watkin" by Roy Belmer and a condensed group in Dr

Owen's "Wesleyan Missionaries Before 1840” (a further fruit of his study of that

period) were printed. Contributors from outside Methodism were J.E. Traue, Chief

Librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Roy Belmer, a Presbyterian minister and

Dr John Owens of Massey University History Dept. At the time of his death, Mr

Gilmore had already initiated plans for five more proceedings which eventually

appeared during the early years of the next chapter. It is also worth noting here that in

1978, the system of numbering proceedings was changed to a much simpler one.

Instead of one volume being divided into 4, 5 or 6 numbers each issue was given its

own volume number. This started with Volume 32, the first 31 volumes having

covered 92 issues.

In 1977, it was decided to issue facsimile reprints of Dr Laws' two proceedings from

1944-45 on the early missions at Whangaroa and Hokianga. This was done at the

request of the Historic Places Trust so that these issues could be placed on sale at the

recently re-opened Mangungu Mission House. It also meant that current members had

the opportunity to purchase these issues which had been out of print for some time.

FRANK SMITH - WESLEY CHAMBERS -SAMUEL IRONSIDE

For many years Mr Frank Smith of Tuamarina had been the enthusiastic authority on

the Methodist history of Marlborough which began with the Cloudy Bay Mission

established by Rev Samuel Ironside in 1840. He had already appeared as author of two

of the Society's proceedings - "Trinity Methodist Church, Tuamarina" in 1951 and

"Samuel Ironside and the Cloudy Bay Mission" in 1952. An executive meeting in

1974 received an offer from Mr Smith to set aside $2000 to re-publish Samuel

Ironside's "Missionary Reminiscences'' which first appeared in “The New Zealand

Methodist'' from November 1890 to January 1892. The offer was accepted but, as

prospective publishers would not re-publish the original articles, it was suggested to

Mr Smith that a biography of Ironside's years in New Zealand would be the best way

to proceed. To this Mr Smith agreed. The next meeting of the executive decided that



Rev. Wesley Chambers be the first choice as author. An October 1975 meeting

received a report from him outlining the progress he had made in research and

expressed the hope that he would be able to continue.

By 1976 it was becoming apparent that $2000 wouldn't go very far towards printing a

book of the size contemplated by Mr Smith, especially if the author was to go to

Australia for further research. Later that year it became known that Mr Smith would

be increasing the amount he would leave as a legacy to about $6000. A meeting in

April 1977 records that "Mr Frank Smith wrote expressing the hope that Mr Chambers

would press on with the book and assuring us that the money for publication would be

available." In 1978, Mr Smith died and the November meeting received a report from

Wesley that he was continuing with the writing and also negotiating with Mrs Smith

re the promised subsidy. In 1979, some difficulties in the interpretation of the will

were overcome and the annual financial statement for the year ended 30 June 1980

records that the amount of $7000 was received.

A meeting in October 1980 reports that the completed Manuscript had been received

and read by Revs. Hames and Laurenson who described it as "a careful and exhaustive

record but it was too long for publication and would need pruning to bring it within a

reasonable budget". This meeting also decided that Mr Ray Richards (himself the son

of a Methodist Minister) would be the publisher and he was to be consulted about the

best procedures to adopt. Xerox copies of the full manuscript were to be lodged with

St Johns College Library, Turnbull Library, Connexional Office and Knox College.

The May 1981 meeting made all the final decisions necessary for the printing to

proceed including

(a) that the cost to the Society be no more than the $7000 of the Smith Bequest:

(b) that the title page have the words "Published by RAY RICHARDS

PUBLISHER (in association with the Wesley Historical Society NZ)":

(c) that Sir John Marshall had agreed to write the Foreword:

(d) that 750 copies be printed.

A meeting in July 1982 saw the printing well in hand and the final 'product was

expected to be ready for release in October or November with Society members being

granted the opportunity to order copies at a reduced pre-publication price. Sadly,

neither Frank Smith nor Les Gilmore saw the book in print. Both had died shortly

before its publication. The annual meeting in November congratulated Wesley

Chambers on the completion of his work and the production of a very fine volume. An

important sequel to this unique project in the Society's life comes into the next

chapter.

PORTRAITS OF TWO MAORI CHIEFS



Another 'ongoing saga' that occupied the attention of the executive through these years

was introduced at the end of the last chapter. This was the matter of the early portraits

of two Maori Chiefs that Rev. Harry Voyce had become aware of and that had become

his personal project. At that 1973 meeting it was also decided that steps should be

taken for the N.Z. Methodist Church to gain copyright protection against the use of the

photographs by any unauthorised person: that the Methodist Missionary Society in

London be asked to forward urgently a copy of the "unpublished list of pictures of

Australian and Pacific interest". In 1974 it was agreed that a further 50 5"x4" pictures

should be ordered as soon as possible and Mr Voyce reported that he had sold two sets

of 16"x20" enlargements at $35 per set.

Te Puhi and Te Ara

Will the matter ever be settled?

There the matter seems to have rested until April 1977, when "Rev. E.W. Hames

expressed some doubt about Samuel Leigh having been the artist who painted Te Ara

and Te Puhi, and he would like to investigate the matter." In October, Mr Voyce

reported that he had written to an Australian expert - Eve Buscombe, who replied that

there was good there was good evidence that Leigh was something of an artist but that

didn't constitute proof that he painted these ones. In 1978, Mr Gilmore found one of

Leigh's letters at the Mitchell Library (Sydney) which mentioned that he had sent the

portrait of Te Ara to London in mid-1822 while he was still a guest of the Anglican

missionaries. By April 1980, Mr Voyce had found a portrait of a Maori Chief in a

book on Australian artists. It closely resembled Te Puhi but was called Te Toro. In

October, the British Methodist Overseas Division offered the originals on long term

loan with a tight legal agreement but the executive resolved "that - on mature

reflection - we decline the offer and ask instead for good quality colour negatives from

which enlargements could be made or, alternatively, that we ask the London Office if

they would be prepared to lend them to the N.Z. National Gallery (if it is interested)

on similar terms."



There was no further mention of them until the annual meeting in November 1982

when it was reported that the originals had been brought to N.Z. by Rev. Alan

Woodley, Connexional Secretary, on loan to the New Zealand Church and that they

would be deposited in the Auckland City art gallery. This was done early in 1983. It

seems that in the meantime, the task of making the legal agreement with London had

been undertaken by the Connexional Office with the authority of the whole church.

The debate over who the artist really was does not appear to have been conclusively

settled yet.

ANNUAL MEETINGS

Of the eight annual meetings held during this period, the following comments can be

made:

a) One annual lecture was delivered to the full Conference. That was by Rev.

George Carter, speaking on Sister Lina Jones in 1981. It was appropriate that

this was in Christchurch which was Sister Lina's home town.

b) 1975 was the only year since 1950 that there was no annual lecture. This was

because the Church Conference that year was held at the Turangawaewae Pa

at Ngaruawahia. Because of uncertainty as to how the lecture would affect

the Conference programme it was decided not to include one.

c) If the meaning of 'lecture' can be stretched, there were two other years in

which the traditional lecture was altered. In 1979, the annual meeting was at

St John's Theological College in Auckland and the opportunity was used for

Rev. Dr Ken Booth (Lecturer in Church history) and Rev. Eric Hames to

show the group the Anglican and Methodist treasures held at the College. In

1980, Mrs Verna Mossong and Rev. Norman Brookes reported on the South

Pacific Regional Conference that was held in Sydney that year.

MISCELLANEOUS

Other matters which occupied the attention of the executive and which are important

or interesting enough to be recorded here, relate to:

Historic Sites

1. The moving of the Mission House from Onehunga to its original site at

Mangungu was described in the last chapter. It took considerable time and

effort before it was ready to be opened to the public. This took place on

30th April 1977 at a special service organised by all parties concerned.

Tributes were paid to Miss Jean Irvine and Rev. Richard Hendry whose

enthusiasm had initiated the project in the first place, as well as to the

work of the Historic Places trust. Fund raising was assisted at the 1976



Church Conference, when 35,000 souvenir envelopes were on sale and

Mr John Craig had made souvenir mission-house teaspoons for sale at

$1.20. To furnish the house, many old articles and books with links to the

early mission days were donated. An Australian descendant of Rev.

Nathanael Turner (the first resident of the house) sent a small travelling

trunk which had belonged to him; a descendant of Rev. Gideon Smales

(Pamela Watson) painted a portrait of him from an old photograph for

framing and hanging; the Society paid for the rebinding of 3 rare books.

In addition, a small church from Kohukohu was moved onto the site and

has since been used for regular services for Horeke residents, while a

house on the property became the residence of Margaret and Barry Exton,

the first custodians. On the site a small cemetery dating back to early

mission days is also of interest. Today, the site is administered by a

management committee made up of representatives of the Historic Places

Trust, the local residents, the Tai Tokerau Maori Circuit and the

Methodist Church.

2. Grafton Cemetery in Auckland contained the graves of several of the early

missionaries (Hobbs, Schnackenberg, Wallis and Warren) which had

fallen into disrepair and were difficult to find. President George

Laurenson decided that something should be done. In 1975, he had a

scheme prepared by a monumental mason to restore them. He then called

a meeting of members of the families of the missionaries concerned to

raise the necessary funds. The Wesley Historical Society contributed $100

and on 2nd May 1976 a service of dedication was held. The siting fitted in

with a scheme for historic walk-ways being developed by the City

Council.

Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London

In 1975, the executive received a request for financial help from the New

Zealand Church committee planning major renovations to this very historic

building. It was decided to ask Conference to commend the appeal and

authorise the Society to act as publicity and receiving agent. As a result every

circuit was asked to organise one fund raising event. Eventually about $1650

was sent to London. As Tonga had raised $4000, ours was considered rather

disappointing. Wesley's Chapel was re-opened on 1 November 1978 with a

special service attended by Queen Elizabeth, the first time a reigning

monarch had ever attended a Methodist service.

N.Z. Methodist Coat-of-Arms

In 1976, Rev. Wesley Chambers raised with the executive the question of a

coat-of-arms for the New Zealand Church, submitting some suggestions. Mr



Laurenson linked these with a similar design on a pulpit frontal being made

for Wesley College Chapel by Mrs. Aldwyn Williams. The executive

recommended to the 1976 Conference that a committee be set up in

Christchurch with Mr. Chambers as convener to report back to the 1977

Conference which received their report with a suggested emblem for experi-

mental purposes.

Rev. William White

White had been an energetic leader amongst the early missionaries at Kaeo

and Hokianga. Various allegations against him led to his dismissal from the

mission in 1836. Because of this, his name had been omitted from the lists of

missionaries on the memorials at Kaeo and Mangungu but Mr Laurenson felt

that it was time he was 'rehabilitated' and his name added. The executive

agreed that after consultation with the Kaeo trustees it should ask Conference

to pass a resolution to this effect. This was done in 1976. At the 1977 annual

meeting it was reported that the Historical Places Trust had prepared a new

bronze plaque to go on the Mangungu monument.

World Methodist Historical Society

During this period the W.M.H.S. was becoming more active. With the world

divided into several regions it has been possible to organise occasional

conferences in historical matters. In this organisation New Zealand, Australia

and the South Pacific Islands form the Oceania Region of which Rev. Dr

James Udy of Sydney became the first Vice President. Where conferences

were held in other regions, we tried to have at least one N.Z representative

present if possible. In June 1977, Mrs. Elizabeth Bloomfield (daughter of

Rev. & Mrs. Stan Andrews) attended one at Toronto Canada. In July 1978,

Rev. Norman Brookes went to one at Birmingham, England. At Easter 1980,

Rev. Bob Alien represented us at another at Wimbledon in England. In July

1981, Mrs. Miriel Fisher went to another in Hawaii. But more important than

any of these was the first conference held in our own Oceania region. At an

executive meeting in June 1979, the secretary gave the first news that the

conference would be held in Sydney during August 1980 at Wesley College,

Sydney University. The leading Methodist historian in N.S.W., Rev. Dr.

James Udy, was responsible for organising it. It was decided that secretary

Gilmore would lead the N.Z. Group that attended. This eventually numbered

twelve and included Rev. Ruawai Rakena who presented one of the lectures

on “Methodism and the Maori". Mr. Gilmore was one of a panel of four who

dealt with the topic of "Preserving and Using Wesleyana". As already noted,

Mrs. Mossong and Mr. Brookes reported on the conference to the 1980

Annual Meeting. Later a book which included all the lectures was published



under the title "Dig or Die". At a meeting in May 1981, the executive

received a request that the N.Z. Society plan for a second Oceania conference

in New Zealand in 1985. In July, 1982 a sub committee to do this was set up

with Rev. Norman Brookes as convenor.

Presbyterian Historical Society

In 1976 as the result of an approach from their president, we established a

much closer liaison with the Presbyterian Historical Society. Since that time

there has been an exchange of all publications, minutes, annual reports, etc.

Rev. Harry Voyce

Mr Voyce who had retired in 1959 from 33 years service in the Solomon

Islands Mission, had become known world-wide as an authority on postal

history, especially that connected with the Methodist Church and had built up

a magnificent collection. In 1977, through the President of Conference, he

offered the Methodist Postal History part of his collection to the Church. He

would keep the collection up-to-date during his lifetime and the Wesley

Historical Society would be responsible for maintenance after that. The offer

was accepted.

Rev. Dr. Homer Calkin

This important American visitor in 1980, was editor for the World Methodist

Historical Society, but his visit here was part of a world trip gathering

information for a tremendous project known as "Union Catalogue of World

Methodist Manuscript Collections", a comprehensive index of unpublished

Methodist manuscripts and other source materials. This Society was able to

help by inviting 24 major New Zealand libraries to contribute lists of any

material they might have and that should be listed. This provided Dr. Calkin

with plenty of information. Publishing it in several regional volumes, he was

able to provide us with the South Pacific Volume a couple of years later.

END OF AN ERA

Early in 1980, secretary Leslie Gilmore had retired from the active ministry and

moved to Auckland. In a Newsletter to members a few months later he wrote these

words -"It's hard to realise that I have been retired for a whole four months. Most of

my books are unpacked but I still have to complete the housing of Wesley Historical

Society records and publications. I hope to make the work of the Society an important

retirement interest until I'm 70, i.e. in 1985. After that (D.V. and unless I am

"compulsorily retired" early), I'll be ready to hand over to someone else." These

remarks suddenly became more poignant two years later when, on 18th July 1982, he

died suddenly and unexpectedly. To quote the tribute in the Conference Minutes, "we



acknowledge the passing of one of Methodism's unforgettable characters. His 35 years

of service to the Wesley Historical Society as secretary, promoter, proof-reader and

enthusiastic correspondent will remain a byword." (He was also the treasurer 1947-

63). That he did so much for us through so many years of active ministry prompts a

small attempt at prophecy - there never will be another Leslie Gilmore in the life of

the Society.

But this wasn't all. Earlier that year, Mr Laurenson had let it be known that, on

medical advice, he would retire from the position of President at the next Annual

meeting. He was 80 and Mr Gilmore was 67. As from 18th July, it was obvious that

important changes were ahead and on the 31st July a hastily called executive meeting

was held to start planning these changes. Mr Tom Spooner, as once before, would

become acting secretary until members were able to find a new one. Rev. Wesley

Chambers, attending his first executive meeting, would be nominated to the annual

meeting as the new President. As he lived in Tauranga, the position of 'chairman' was

revived for someone in Auckland to co-ordinate the work of the executive there. The

Rev. George Carter was appointed. As Mr Gilmore was to have given the annual

lecture in November, it was agreed the Dr Peter Lineham of Massey University be

approached to present his paper on "New Zealanders and the Methodist Evangel". At

the Annual meeting in November, the appointments of Wesley chambers and George

Carter were confirmed but there was still no nomination for secretary. The name of

Chambers had become well known to Society members over a considerable period,

particularly as a writer and annual lecturer but, because most of his ministry had been

in North Canterbury he had never been able to join the administration side. However

in 1980, he moved to Tauranga, to the same church that Mr Gilmore had retired from,

thus close enough to be able to accept the post of President. In 1984 he retired also,

remaining close to Tauranga.



Rev. W. A. Chambers

President 1982-

Chapter 6

THE CHAMBERS-ROBERTS - ETC. YEARS

1983 - 1990

WRITER'S NOTE: Up till now I have been writing this history as a total outsider, one

who has taken no part in the life of the society, or had any knowledge of its activities.

Everything I have written has had to be researched from available sources. For this

chapter, suddenly, as the new secretary, I am at the heart of most that happens and it

all becomes more personal. If the first person pronouns become overused, please

forgive me.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

The 1982 Annual Meeting at Napier closed

off the last period with tributes to the two

leaders. The first to the late secretary reads -

"The death of Leslie Gilmore in July last

reminds us of the noted contribution he made

to Wesley Historical Society over a period of

35 years. He was an innovator enthusiastic,

persistent, tireless and inescapable... it

almost seemed he was the Society. After his

retirement he was able to travel on its behalf

and thus widen his horizons. The church is

permanently indebted to him." The second to

the retiring president records that "The Rev.

G.I. Laurenson has served the Society well

through many years. As member, secretary-

treasurer (1941-47), vice-president and as

president (1974-82). In addition, his

contribution to our written history, especially

through “Te Hahi Weteriana'', the largest and most detailed of our 150th anniversary

books, has been very great. We thank him for his service and are glad that we will still

have his advice and knowledge to draw on."

In looking ahead, the meeting realized that it was unlikely that a new secretary would

do all the work that Mr. Gilmore did. It was decided to seek two people - one for the

general secretarial work and one for the publishing & editorial work.

By the time the executive met in early March 1983, the chairman had two names to

present to the meeting for its approval. For the publishing-editorial work an offer had



Rev Dr J J Lewis

Chairman 1986-90

George C. Carter

been received from Rev. John Dawson, living in

retirement at Rotorua. For the secretarial work,

George Carter had approached me in February. We

had known one another very well when he was my

minister at Paraparaumu for 2 years (1976-77) and

my recent move to Auckland had put me within

range before becoming committed too much to

other tasks. Without even being a member or having

any real idea of what I was committing myself to, I

decided to try what promised to be an interesting

new avenue of service. The meeting apparently had

no difficulty in accepting both names and we were

in business. For me it meant becoming a member

and secretary in one operation. Thus was formed the

'triumvirate' of chairman, secretary & editor to

continue the work of the one former secretary –

hence the “etc.” In this chapter title.

The first year was a year of learning. George

Carter and I made several visits to Mrs. Gilmore.

We collected everything belonging to the Society

from her garage -mostly the remaining stocks of

earlier proceedings and transferred it to my

garage. Fortunately, this was only a temporary

measure as my appointment coincided with the

establishment at Hames House in Auckland of a

branch of the church archives. It had also been

approved that these premises would become a

repository for the Society as well. Thus, for the

first time, Wesley Historical Society had an

official H.Q. instead of being housed in the

secretary's garage or basement. In Hames House,

we have also been able to house a growing library

of books on various aspects of church history that come into our possession from a

variety of sources. When Mr. Carter was appointed as the Auckland Archivist, the link

between the church archives and the Wesley Historical Society was made that much

closer.

Because the previous secretary was unavailable to help sort out the multitudinous

details of the Society's activities that only the secretary usually knows, it was

necessary to do a lot of enquiring plus a certain amount of guesswork. The only

members list that came to me was already 4 years old and needed up-dating. My first



Mr D. G. Roberts

Secretary 1982-92

contact with church administration meant discovering the place of the Society in the

Connexion as well as unravelling the mysteries of how the church 'bureaucracy'

functioned! Soon, especially with the help of George Carter, the most important things

began to fall into place.

ADMINISTRATION & PEOPLE

It was now time to settle down with a president, secretary and editor who were new to

the executive. Fortunately, treasurer Keith Lawry agreed to continue to serve, and the

two ex-presidents, Eric Hames & George Laurenson attended meetings when health

permitted. I hope it is not being unfair to say that administration now became more

committee orientated rather than the 'one man band' or 'big three' style already referred

to. The important changes during the rest of the decade were as follows:

(a) Because of George Carter's work as archivist, Rev. Dr. John Lewis replaced

him as chairman in 1986. In 1990, John Lewis retired, to be replaced by Mrs.

Verna Mossong.

(b) Keith Lawry retired as treasurer in 1988 after 17 years to be replaced by Rev.

Richard Waugh.

(c) John Dawson moved to Christchurch in late 1989 and Rev. William J.

Morrison agreed to become the new editor and convenor of an editorial

committee.

During these years, the last two of the original

1930 members died. They were the Rev. Eric

Hames in 1984 (aged 87) and Rev. George

Laurenson in 1988 (aged 86) who had been

members for 54 & 58 years respectively.

Perhaps this is a record that will never be

beaten. Others who died were Rev. George

Carter in 1990 (aged 68), Rev. Harry Voyce in

1984 and Mr. Bert Harman of Central Otago,

one of our vice-presidents.

Two projects carried out by the executive were

(a) An updating of the constitution, and (b) the

compiling and printing of a paper on

PUBLICATION POLICY to act as a guide to

the future. This was done after consideration of

all that had been published during the first 60

years.



FINANCES

During this period, the ongoing rate of inflation in the N.Z. economy necessitated an

increase in the annual subscription almost as an annual occurrence. Between 1983 and

1990. the subscription increased from $8 to $14 with overseas subscriptions rising

from $9 to $16. When the government introduced Goods and Services Tax in 1987,

the extra amount added to all N.Z. subscriptions meant that we took on the role of tax-

collector thus making the treasurer's job that much more complicated.

Early in this period, an important new element was added to our finances. This was

the establishment of two memorial funds. It so happened that both funds were started

in March 1983. By arrangement with the publisher, any copies of Wesley Chambers

"Samuel Ironside In N.Z." sold by the Society would result in a few dollars

commission being added to our funds. Mr. Chambers, as author and now president,

also suggested that all funds from this source be used to form the Frank Smith

Memorial Fund with interest earned to be used for research and publication in the

future. This was agreed to. The meeting also received an anonymous donation of $100

with the request that it be used to start a fund as a memorial to the late Rev. Leslie

Gilmore The meeting decided to add $500 from the general funds, and then to

organise an appeal to Wesley Historical Society members and the wider church for

contributions. This became one of the first important tasks that required my attention.

The next year, to maximise their earning capacity, it was decided to invest these funds

in the Methodist Trust Association. By 30 June 1984, funds totalled $2750. In March

1988, when the total with interest had reached $7800, the two fundswere combined

into the Gilmore-Smith Research & Publication Memorial Fund and a target of

$10,000 was set as a capital base. By the end of 1990, with some unexpected

windfalls, the total had reached $17,560 and a target of $20,000 was set. Though these

decisions have delayed the time when research and publication funds become

available, there will be a much more substantial capital base from which to work.

For comparison with those in previous chapters, the financial statement for the year

ended 30 June, 1986 follows.

Receipts Payments

General funds at 30.6.85 $2902 Printing of "Journal'85 $1237

Subscriptions received 2759 Subs to other societies 33

Proceeds from sales 724 Conference rep. expenses 216

Smethurst Trust grant 1000 General expenses 449

(for "Deaconess Register") General funds at 30.6.86 5732

Donations 26 ($2000 invested in deposit a/c)

Bank Interest 247

Sundries 9

$7667 $7667



The total-in the Methodist Trust Association (Memorial Fund) at 30.6.86 was $4028.

The big increase in General Funds at the end of that year was due to the fact that only

one printing bill had been paid during the year plus the inclusion of the Smethurst

Trust grant. To bring comparisons up-to-date, we can note in the latest year ended 30

June 1991 that the income from subscriptions was $4583 but the printing bills were

$667 for "Return to Mangungu", $2750 for "Journal '90" and $3500 for

"Schnackenberg". Important grants or donations received during this time were –

1984 - $760 from World Methodist History. Soc. towards funding of the South

Pacific Regional Conference.

1986 - $1000 from Smethurst Trust towards Wesley Chambers' "Not Self - But

Others"

1987 - $1000 from Methodist Women's Fellowship to Frank Smith Memorial

Fund and $1000 towards "Not Self But Others".

1988 - $500 from General Purposes Trust towards Dr. Denis Janus' "With

Renewed Vigour".

1989- $2137 from Methodist Provident Society to the Gilmore-Smith Memorial

Fund.

1990 - $3000fromtheBradleyTrusttotheGilmore-SmithMemorial Fund.

1990 - Prince Albert College Trust paid for the printing of William J. Morrison's

"A Dream to Fulfil".

1991 - $2300 from descendants of Rev. Cort Schnackenberg towards cost of

George Hammer's biography.

The Society is most grateful for such a record of generosity.

PUBLICATIONS

In the 9½ years from 1983 to mid-1991 another 19 proceedings reached the hands of

members bringing the total since Vol. 1, No. 1 in 1941 to 112. The new executive was

helped by the fact that there were four volumes in course of preparation. These were

Eric Hames final writing on various church bodies, this time the Probert Trust: lan

Faulkner's thesis on the Colin Scrimgeour years at Auckland Central Mission "The

Decisive Decade": the study of Methodism and Ecumenicism in N.Z. by three writers:

and George Carter was working on his biography of Sister Una Jones. All had been

initiated by Leslie Gilmore.

Throughout our history there are many instances of planned publications which, for

some reason or other, didn't actually happen. In 1980, the Society was 50 years old

and Mr. Gilmore had decided to write that 50-year story but, at the time of his death



Rev. W. J. Morrison

Editor 1990-

only preliminary notes had been made. The idea faded for another 10 years when this

account resulted.

There has been one important innovation in the type of Proceedings issued. From a

glance at the list of titles the change will immediately become evident. There are now

6 volumes bearing the one word title "Journal". This idea arose from a conversation

between The secretary and George Carter. Having become familiar with the type of

proceedings issued by other societies such as the U.K. and N.S.W., I had started

wondering if at least some of ours could be in the format of several shorter articles on

a variety of topics rather than a one topic issue. On mentioning this to George, I found

that he had been thinking along the same lines. The executive agreed that it was worth

trying and "Journal '84 "was the result. This was well received by the members and in

most years since one Journal has been printed. The variety of manuscripts from a

number of writers makes the editor's job that much more ... interesting? Since 1984

these Journals make up about 50% of our output.

Other Proceedings illustrate the various sources

from which the manuscripts originate. Some are

commissioned by a particular organisation and

passed to us to be published e.g. Dr. Janus'

"With Renewed Vigour" came from the

Connexional Office; Wesley Chambers' "Not

Self - But Others" from the Deaconess Order;

Dr. Peter Lineham's "New Zealanders & the

Methodist Evangel" from the Making Disciples

Task Group; William Morrison's "A Dream to

Fulfil" from the Prince Albert College Trust. A

university degree thesis was the source for Dr.

Douglas Pratt's "An Ordered Faith" as was

George Hammer's Schackenberg biography.

During this period the Rotorua Church

Centenary was the only proceeding about a local

church history. “Wesley's South Seas Heritage''

is the record of a regional conference (see

below) and “Return to Mangungu" of a commemorative weekend. Two authors from

outside Methodism were Dr. Peter Lineham from Massey University History Dept.

and George Hammer, a retired secondary school principal.

WORLD METHODIST HISTORICAL SOCIETY (W.M.H.S.)

& A MILESTONE

As mentioned in the last chapter, after the first South Pacific Regional Conference in

Sydney in 1980, this Society had been approached to organise a second one in N.Z. in



1985. This was accepted and a small sub-committee under the convenorship of Rev.

Norman Brookes was appointed to plan it. This would be a first for N.Z. and

eventually became the most important single event in the history of this decade By

mid 1984, it was realised that for various reasons, it would be almost impossible to

plan a satisfactory conference for May 1985. The W.M.H.S. was notified and its

suggestion of having it in 1987 was accepted. A grant of $760 from the W.M.H.S.

towards expenses had been received.

When the planning committee re-convened, it was led by the Rev. Ted Grounds and,

later, Rev William Morrison. The venue was fixed for Wesley College, Paerata, the

only Methodist secondary school in N Z for 18th-23rd May 1987. Rev. Dr. Frank

Baker had agreed to come from U.S.A. to be the key speaker and the rest of the

programme centred on one speaker from each of the indigenous churches of the

region. For the record, they were Rev. Sevati Tuwere (Fiji) Rev Albert Burua (Papua-

New Guinea), Rev. Dr. Amanaki Havea (Tonga) Rev. Esau Tuza (Solomon Islands),

Rev. Siatua Leuluaiali'i (Samoa),' Rev. Dr. James Udy (Aboriginal) and a group from

the N.Z. Maori Division. Eventually a group of approx. 50 gathered at the college for

a most interesting week. The written record of this week is contained in our Vol. 50

"Wesley s South Seas Heritage". The financing of such an event had been a constant

worry in the preparation stages but unexpectedly, it finished with a surplus of almost

$5000. Half was used to pay the cost of printing vol. 50 and the other $2500 was

invested to help finance the next Regional Conference. It was decided that Tonga

should host this and New Zealand assist with the planning of the programme. At the

time of writing, a sub-committee is working towards this conference which is

scheduled for August 1992. (It has since been cancelled).

During the lead up to the Conference our ties with the W.M.H.S. were strengthened.

In its constitution, the World Society appoints a vice-president for each of its regions.

For many years the Oceania vice-president had been Dr. Udy of Sydney but in 1986

when he became president of the W.M.H.S., our president, Wesley Chambers, was

appointed as the new vice-president for Oceania, a position he still holds.

MISCELLANEOUS

Mangungu

We have continued to assist in the development of the Mission House site at

Mangungu and now almost 'dare' any Methodists travelling in Northland NOT to pay

it a visit. The executive and other members were well represented at the

commemoration gatherings in March 1990 for the 150th anniversary of the signing of

the Treaty of Waitangi there. Vol. 55 "Return to Mangungu" is the report on this

weekend.



Mrs Verna Mossong

"Dictionary of New Zealand Biography"

This is a massive governmental project which will

consist of several volumes. This Society has shared

with other church organisations some input to this

e.g. suggesting names of Methodists worthy of

inclusion, some have been asked to write the

biographies of some of those to be included, and

Mrs. Mossong has been appointed as a member of

the Auckland committee. Final decisions are out of

our hands and there was some disappointment

expressed at the Methodist 'quota' in Volume One.

District Resource Persons

At the annual meeting at Blenheim in 1984, Rev.

Richard Waugh suggested a scheme of having one

member in each synodal district who would be

regarded as the Society's Resource Person to help in various ways when the

opportunity arose. This was agreed to and since then most districts (Auckland &

Manukau excepted because most of the executive members live there) have found a

volunteer to fill this post. Perhaps not as much has been achieved through this as was

at first envisaged but it is a help to the secretary to have someone there when needed.

"Newsletter of N.Z. Religious History"

This was an idea that arose in 1985 by which all organisations that have an interest in

church history could keep in touch with each other activities through the medium of a

Newsletter to which they would contribute their own news. Dr. Colin Brown of the

Dept. of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Canterbury University became the co-

ordinator and editor of this. The first Newsletter was issued in 1987 and in most years

since then, a Newsletter has been circulated.

The Harry Voyce Postal History Collection

When Rev. Harry Voyce died at the end of 1984, the executive members were either

unaware of, or had forgotten, the arrangement he had made with Mr. Gilmore in 1977.

It came as quite a surprise when in May 1985, the secretary was informed the Mr.

Voyce's History collection was now ready for the Society to take into its custody. It

was decided to keep it in the Auckland archives. The most important thing was to find

an interested person to maintain it and keep it up-to-date in the manner which Mr.

Voyce had developed over the years and for which he was regarded as a world

authority. In late 1987 the Rev. Douglas Burt, who had retired to live in Cambridge,

became curator of this collection. His enthusiasm has resulted in several activities,



some raising funds to help with the care & growth of the collection (e.g. the souvenir

envelopes with special postmark on sale at the Palmerston North Conference in 1988

to mark the 75th anniversary of a united Methodist Church in N.Z.) and some for

publicity (e.g. displays at church conferences) under his guidance. The Society has

become a member of the World Methodist Philatelic Society.

Other Societies

The links with the W.M.H.S. have already been covered, but we continue our contacts

with several other societies. These are mainly on a reciprocal basis in that we don't

pay one another their membership subscriptions but exchange all issues of

publications or proceedings. They are our parent Wesley Historical Society in U.K.,

those linked with the Uniting Church of Australia in N.S.W., Victoria & South

Australia, and the Presbyterian Society in N.Z.

A Resource

One of the things I discovered soon after becoming secretary was the value of the

Society as a resource for information. There is a constant stream of requests from

those seeking to fill gaps in their family history, those writing books, doing a

university thesis, etc. In most cases, we are able to be of some help. From my point of

view, many of the requests are about someone of whom I know little or nothing and

therefore give me the opportunity to add to my own knowledge. Requests for support

also arrive every now and then. One good example was from the Lower Hutt Church,

when they were reaching an agreement with the City Council about the administration

of the old Wesleyan Cemetery, just when a neighbouring business man was wanting to

purchase some cemetery land to improve his entrance. We can only hope that a letter

from us helped to prevent this.

A Unique Commemoration

The 26th June 1990 was the 150th anniversary of the drowning of Rev. John Bumby

with others while travelling by canoe north of Rakino Island. He had recently arrived

in N.Z. as the new superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission. To Ivan Whyle goes the

credit of remembering this date and then planning a commemorative event which

resulted in hiring a boat to take about 60 people to a service held close to the spot

where the drowning occurred. Along with this went an excellent booklet containing

the results of his research.

THOSE OTHER BOOKS

Back in chapter 1 we noticed that by 1930, when this Society was founded, there was

already an impressive stream of written church history in existence. This didn't dry up

because the Wesley Historical Society started. We have always been keen to support



and publicise other writing whenever asked to. Before bringing this history to a

conclusion, we pay tribute to the amount and variety of this literature by listing as

completely as possible those that have been brought to our attention during the time of

these two last chapters -

1) "The Wreck of the Tararua" by Joan Macintosh (The four members of a N.Z.

Methodist delegation to an Australian conference were drowned)

2) "Hadfield of the Kapiti Coast" by Ormond Burton.

3) "Young Kauri" - Memoirs of Sir Alfred Reed.

4) "Prophets in the Wilderness" by Dr. John Owens.

5) "The Upraised Hand" by William Greenwood - about the Ringatu Church.

6) “Tie Varane'' by George Carter - stories from the Solomons.

7) "Mana at Mangungu" by Murray Gittos - rehabilitation of Rev. William

White.

8) "Men of Faith & Courage" - A history of N.Z. Army Chaplains.

9) "The Gaoler" by Elsie Locke - Story of Henry Momson, a Wesleyan, who was

an early gaoler in Dunedin.

10) "Of Toffs & Toilers" by Geoffrey Buckley – Cornish Methodists in N.Z.

11) “John Hobbs" by Tolla Williment

12) "A Bibliography of Religious History in N.Z." by Drs. Peter Lineham and

Tony Grigg.

13) "I Can Do No Other" by Ernest Crane - biography of Ormond Burton.

14) “Currency Lass'' by Margaret Reeson - biography of Mrs. Walter Lawry.

15) "For Glory & A Farm" by Frank Glen - Australians recruited to N.Z. during

the Land Wars.

16) "John & Susan Orchard Centennial History 1886-1986" by Barbara Peddie -

the Orchard Family history.

17) "Prepare Your Servant"- Stan Andrews' autobiography.

18) “Out of the Silence'' by Ruth Fry - celebrating Methodist women.

19) "And Not To Yield" by Thora Parker - story of the Jenkins family.

20) "The Missionary Diary of Rev. George Harper'' by Patricia Booth - the diary

of Harper's voyage from England to N.Z.



21) "Unto the Perfect Day" by Esther Keesing-Styles, editing the diaries of Rev.

Thomas Jaggar, missionary in Fiji and home missionary in N.Z.

22) “Methodism in Wellington 1839-1989'' by Arthur Olsson - a district history

that is a good model for other districts to emulate.

23) A growing series of impressive, large-scale local church histories such as

"Cross Currents" (Hamilton), "On Our Way" (Lower Hutt) and "Central

Taranaki Methodism".

24) "Transplanted Christianity" by Drs. Allan Davisdson & Peter Lineham - a

resource book of documents illustrating most aspects of N.Z. Church History.

25) “The Religious Factor in N.Z. Society" by Alan Webster & Paul Perry.

26) "Yours in His Service" - George Carter's biography of Rev. Belshazzar Gina.

27) "It Happened in Eketahuna" by Rev. Wesley Parker - his teen years there

when his father was the minister.

Quite an impressive list! An apology is given for any omissions. How many have you

read?

CONCLUSION

As this account comes to its conclusion it is not really the conclusion to anything and

is only happening now because of the human habit of counting in tens. As this

paragraph is being written, things continue as usual. The secretary is preparing for the

next executive meeting and has some requests for information to answer: the editor is

preparing the next issue of a Journal and considering other manuscripts: a new

treasurer is preparing to take over as the subs for the current year are arriving in

goodly numbers: No doubt, somewhere out there someone is writing something that

will come into our orbit sooner or later. I will resist the temptation to philosophise or

prophesy here but will pose the question - "Has all the writing and other activities of

the last 60 years been worthwhile?" In the total context of the whole church we

occupy but a small corner. The amount of time spent on Wesley Historical Society

business at church conferences over the years is hardly noticeable and many members

are hardly aware of our existence. So, though we may be but a 'pimple on the body

ecclesiastic', even a pimple has a useful function! Let us finish by paying tribute to the

small group of enthusiasts, including many of the most prominent leaders of the

church, who have been responsible for most of the Society's achievements and

expressing gratitude to that much larger group who have paid their membership dues

for without them it could not have continued.



Wesley Hall, St John's College, Meadowbank, opened in 1975 as an administration and teaching

centre for the combined college of St John's and Trinity. The plaque in the main entrance bears the

text from Galatians

‘Kotahi Katoa I Roto I A Karaiti Ihu' - "You are all one in Christ Jesus"



Appendix "A"

MAIN OFFICE BEARERS

PRESIDENTS

Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws - 1930-42

Rev. Albert Chappell -1942

Rev. Rugby Pratt - 1943-46

Rev. E.W. Hames - 1947-74

Rev. G. I. Laurenson - 1974-82

Rev. Wesley Chambers - 1982-

SECRETARIES

Rev. George Frost - 1930-38

Rev. John Grocott - 1938-39


Rev. G.I. Laurenson - 1941-47

Rev. Leslie Gilmore - 1947-82

Mr. David Roberts - 1982-

TREASURERS

This task was carried out by the secretary until 1963.

Rev. Derek Laws - 1963-71

Mr. Keith Lawry - 1971-88

Rev. Richard Waugh - 1988-

EDITORS

This task was carried out by the secretary until 1982.

Rev. John Dawson - 1983-89

Rev. W.J. Morrison - 1989-

CHAIRMAN

This office has only been used when the President did not live in Auckland.

Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws 1943-46

Rev. G.G. Carter -1982-86

Rev. Dr. John Lewis -1986-90

Mrs. Verna Mossong -1990-



VICE PRESIDENTS

The number of Vice Presidents at any one time has varied but tended to increase over

the years. It has usually been used as recognition of services to the Society.

Rev. P.R.Paris-1931-42

Mr. W.S.Mackay-1931-33

Rev. Dr. J.T. Pinfold - 1933-34

Rev. Rugby Pratt - 1934-43

Rev. A.B. Chappell - 1937-42


Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws-1943-57

Mr. (later Sir) Alfred Reed - 1943-75

Rev. T.A.Pybus-1947-52

Rev. G.I. Laurenson 1948-57

Mr. S.E. Chappell - 1950-52

Mr. J.H. Oldham - 1951-52

Mr. C.J. Freeman - 1951-63

Sir Ernest Andrews - 1952-57

Mr. E.L.F. Buxton - 1954-57

Mr. P.A. Le Brun - 1957-58

Mr. A.A. Dingwall - 1958-59

Rev. Eruera Te Tuhi - 1959-76

Mr. A.H. Harman - 1959-87


Rev. C.T.J. Luxton - 1963-80

Rev.E.W. Hames - 1974-84

Rev. G.G. Carter - 1975-90

Mr. F.W. Smith - 1976-78

Mr. Tom Spooner - 1977-

Rev. Dr. John Lewis - 1978-

Sister Rita Snowden -1978-

Mr. BruceVerry- 1979-


Rev. D.J. Phillipps - 1982-

Mrs. Verna Mossong - 1988-

Mr. Keith Lawry - 1988-

Rev. John Dawson - 1989-



Appendix "B"

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

This is an attempt to present as complete a list as possible of all who have served as

committee members during this period. Sometimes the records are scanty or

confusing, especially in the late 30's so apologies to any who may have been missed.

Mr. W. Ambury - 1930-?

Mr. W.S. Mackay - 1930-31, 1933-?

Mr. A. Peak - 1930-33

Rev. J.H. Haslam - 1931-33

Rev. A.B. Chappell - 1933-37 (to V-P)

Mr. J.H. Blackwell - 1941-42

Mr. F. Penn - 1941-42

Rev. E.W. Hames - 1941-47 (to President)

MissN.Buttle - 1941-48, 1954-62

Mr. T.L. Hames - 1941-62

Rev. A.J. Johnston - 1943-46

Rev. J. Wesley Parker - 1946-49

Rev. B.M. Chrystall - 1946-57

Mr. E.P. Salmon - 1946-62

Rev. E. Te Tuhi - 1947-52 (to V-P)

Mr. H.P. Mourant - 1947-62

Rev. G.I. Laurenson - 1947-48 (to V-P)

Mr. W.E. Burley - 1948-52

Mr. S.E. Chappell - 1948-56

Sister Rita Snowden - 1948-62

Rev. G.E. Brown - 1950-60

Rev. W.F. Ford - 1952-54

Rev. H.C. Dixon - 1952-60

Rev. L.G. Hanna - 1954-56

Mr. G.S. Gapper - 1956-62

Rev. G.I. Laurenson - 1957-60 (to V-P)

Mr. W.E. Donnelly - 1958-60

Rev. S.G. Andrews - 1960-62

1962-68:

During these years the committee members appointed were 'any W.H.S.

members who were on the Board of Publications'. Mr. E.P. Salmon was

chairman of this, Rev. Leslie Gilmore was secretary of both and Rev. Eric

Hames (our President), Sister Rita Snowden and Mr. G.S. Gapper were



members. Other members of the Board of Publications who attended our

committee meetings were

Rev. O.M. Olds,

Rev. L.A. Bowen,

Rev. L.G. Hanna,

Rev. B.M. Chrystall,

Rev. J.A. Penman

Rev. A. Jolly,

Dr. O. Parnaby,

Mr. B.R.Burton,

Mr. M.A. Berry

Mr. R.A. Woodhams.

1969-75:

Mr Gilmore was stationed at Morrinsville during these years and the W.H.S. executive

was moved to Hamilton. Waikato members who attended any meetings in that time

were

Rev. L. Shapcott,

Rev. T. Shepherd,

Rev. A.R.G. Nuttall,

Rev. P.A. Stead,

Mr. L. Fow,

Mr. N.H. Watson

Mr. D.H. Payne.

An 'inner' executive also met in Auckland occasionally during this time. Apart from

the President, Secretary and Treasurer, others who attended at least once were

Rev. G.G. Carter,

Rev. B.M. Chrystall,

Rev. A.H. Voyce,

Rev. R Rakana

Rev. C.T.L. Luxton,

Mr. H.R. Gapper

Mr. T.G.M. Spooner.

In 1976 the executive returned to Auckland since when the following joined the

committee:



Mr. H.R. Gapper - 1975-80

Mr. T.G.M. Spooner - 1975-77 (to V-P)

Rev.M Te Whare - 1975-77

Sister Rita Snowden - 1975-78 (to V-P)

Rev R.D. Rakena - 1976-

Rev. S.G. Andrews - 1976-

Rev. J. Silvester - 1977-

Mr. R.B. Verry - 1977-79 (to V-P)

Rev. A.H. Voyce - 1978-84

Mrs. V. Mossong - 1978-88 (to V-P)

Rev. Dr. J. Stuart - 1980-84

Rev. N.E. Brookes - 1980-

Mrs. L. Marshall - 1980-

Rev. B.K. Rowe - 1985-88

Rev. J. Manihera - 1986-

Rev. W.J. Morrison - 1987-89 (to Editor)

Mrs. J. Weeks - 1988-



Appendix "C"

A LIST OF THE PROCEEDINGS PUBLISHED

PART ONE

The 4-page inserts issued with the U.K. proceedings. Sometimes one page was a

title page and sometimes another page had a list of members. Until June 1934

they were given a N.Z. number and date but after that were given the number of

the U.K. issue they went with and were normally issued here 6 months after the

date on the U.K. issue.

N.Z. NUMBER & DATE

Vol. 1

Pt.1 Jun. 1930 Introductory (Dr.C.H.Laws) and poem. (J.H.Haslam)

Pt.2 Sep 1930 Methodism and the Treaty of Waitangi. (A.B.Chappell)

Pt.3 Dec. 1930 Herald of a Higher Race. (M.A.Rugby Pratt)

Pt.4 Mar.1931 How the Waitara War Ended. (J.T. Pinfold)

Vol.2

Pt.1 Jun. 1931 Missionary Sequel to a Famous Treaty. (A.B.Chappell)

Pt.2 Sep. 1931 Pioneer Days in the South Island. (M.A.Rugby Pratt)

Pt.3 Dec.1931 Otakou Harbour. (T.A. Pybus)

Pt.4 Mar.1932 Notes - main one on Wesley letters in N.Z. (Dr C.H.Laws)

Vol.3

Pt.l Jun. 1932 Hokianga Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery. (Mrs W.Gittos)

Pt.2 Sep. 1932 The Wairau ‘Massacre’ - a letter of Samuel Ironside.

Pt.3 Dec.1932 Old Otakau. (T.A.Pybus)

Pt.4 Mar.1933 Methodism and the Treaty of Waitangi. (A.B.Chappell)

Vol.4

Pt.1 Jul. 1933 Hobson Thanks Wesleyan Missionaries. (M.A.Rugby Pratt)

Pt.2 Oct. 1933 Bumby and the N.Z. Mission. (M.A.Rugby Pratt)

Pt.3 Mar.1934 Old British Residency at Bay of Islands. (T.Lindsay Buick)

Pt.4 Jun. 1934 (a) Extracts from letters of Watkins and Lawry.

(b) Diary of Mr. E. Meurant - Pt.1. (J.H.Haslam)

U.K. NUMBER & DATE

Vol. 19

Pt.5 Mar. 1935 Diary of Mr. E. Meurant - Pt.2. (J.H.Haslam)

Pt.6 Jun. 1934 Governors of N. Z. - What we are Indebted to Them.

Pt.7 Sep. 1934 Governors of N.Z. - What we are Indebted to Them.

Pt.8 Dec. 1934 The Romance of the Fiji Isles. (R.B.Gosnell)



Vol. 20

Pt.1 Mar. 1935 Methodism in Westland - Pt. 1. (J.H. Haslam)

Pt.2 Jun. 1935 Otakou Harbour and the First Christian Mission.

(T.A.Pybus)

Pt.3 Sep. 1935 Methodism in Westland - Pt.2. (J.H.Haslam)

Pt.4 Dec. 1935 John Whiteley, Missionary Martyr - Pt. 1.(A.B.Chappell)

Pt.5 Mar. 1936 John Whiteley, Missionary Martyr - Pt. 2. (A.B.Chappell)

Pt.6 Jun. 1936 John Whiteley, Missionary Martyr - Pt. 3. (A.B.Chappell)

Pt.7 Sep. 1936 John Whiteley, Missionary Martyr - Pt.4. (A.B.Chappell)

Pt.8 Dec. 1936 Methodism in Westland - Pt.3. (J.H.Haslam)

Vol. 21

Pt.1 Mar. 1937 An Unforgettable Chapter in N.Z. Early Methodist History

- Excerpts from Rev. Walter Lawry's Journal on

establishing an educational institution for Maori in

Auckland.

Pt.2 Jun. 1937 First 50 Years of Our Maori Mission - How to Help in

Writing History.(A.B.Chappell)

Pt.3 Sep. 1937 Wesleyana in N.Z. (George Frost)

Pt.4 Dec. 1937 Extension of the N.Z. Mission – 1834. (A.B.Chappell)

Pt.5 Mar. 1938 (Letter from secretary John Grocott )

There appear to have been no more N.Z. inserts until these last two listed in 1940.

Vol.22

Pt.5 Mar.1940 Centenary of South Island Methodism. (M.A.Rugby Pratt)

Pt.6 Jun. 1940 Letters to Mr. Joseph Newman of Auckland in 1843 from

Revs. J. Whiteley and G. Buttle.



PART TWO

Our own New Zealand Proceedings, starting in 1941 with the change of policy as

described at the end of chapter 2. This issue brings the total to 113. (To these I have

added all the publications up to 2012, indicating which have been placed online at

history.methodist.org.nz Others will be added.--- Alec Utting May 2014)

1941/1

No.1 Across a Hundred Years Online

(Early Methodism in Auckland) (A.B.Chappell) 63 pages

No.2 Otakou - A Story of Far-off Days. OnLine (T.A.Pybus) 20 pages

No.3 Centenary of Wesley Church, Wellington. OnLine (C.J.Freeman) 67 pages

1942/1

No.4 Early Missionary Days in South Taranaki Online.

(A.B.Chappell) 15 pages

1942/2

No. 1 Centenary of Nelson Methodism. OnLine M.A.Rugby Pratt) 20 pages

No.2 Souvenir of Waikato Methodism. OnLine (C.H.Olds, etc.) 19 pages

1943/2

No.3 Methodism in Napier Online; The First Decade.

(Dr. C.H.Laws) 16 pages

No.4 Oruaiti Chapel in North Auckland. OnLine (A.J. Johnston) 7 pages

1944/3

No.1&2 Toil and Adversity in Whangaroa Online.

The First Methodist Mission (Dr. C.H.Laws) 25 pages

No.3 Primitive Methodism in N.Z. OnLine (E.Drake) 16 pages

1945/4

No.1 Wesley College Centenary. OnLine (E.W.Hames) 25 pages

No.2&3 First Years at Hokianga Online (Dr. C.H.Laws) 38 pages

No.4 Northcote Methodism OnLine. (A.J.Johnston) 15 pages

1946/5

No.1 Karori Methodism 1843-1946. OnLine (J.D.Grocott) 28 pages

No.2 Methodist Maori Missions - Yesterday & Today. OnLine

(G.I.Laurenson) 17 pages



1947/5

No.3 The Bible Christian Church in N.Z. Online (L.R.M.Gilmore) 16 pages

No.4 Minniesdale Chapel Online. (G.R.Thompson) 6 pages

1948/6

No.1 Before 1848 and After - Otago Methodism OnLine

(D.J.D.Hickman) 25 pages

No.2 Leigh's Visit to Whangarei Harbour 1823 Online. (F.W.Reed) 4 pages

No.3 Instructions to Early Missionaries Online (C.J.Freeman) 8 pages

No.4 Woodend Methodism Online. (W.A.Chambers) 15 pages

1949/7

No.1 Primitive Methodism in Auckland 1849-1913 Online

(J.Olphert) 19 pages

No.2 Some Letters of Baron de Thierry Online.

Letters to John Hobbs (compiled by L.R.M.Gilmore) 6 pages

No.3 Methodism in Stoke Online, Nelson. (C.B.Jordan) 46 pages

No.4

1950/8

No.1 The Flowing Tide - Onehunga Methodism. Online (F.E.Leadley)

28 pages

No.2 A Tale of Two Colleges - Wesley & Prince Albert. Online

(Aylesbeare Arthur and Nora Buttle) 39 pages

No.3&4 Our Yesteryears - Canterbury Methodism Online (W.A.Chambers)

70 pages

1951/9

No.1 Trinity Methodist Church, Tuamarina OnLine. (F.W.Smith) 26 pages

No.2 'Dunholme' Theological College Online. (R.E.Fordyce) 16 pages

No.3 75 Years of Woodville Methodism OnLine (C.B.Oldfield) 23 pages

No.4 A Goodly Heritage - New Plymouth Youth Work OnLine

(R.L.Cooper) 30 pages

1951/10

No.1 Yes, God is Good - Tawa Methodism OnLine. (A.H.Carman)

40 pages

No.2 Some Yesterdays of Motueka Methodism OnLine (C.B.Jordan)

32 pages



1952/10

No.3 John Whiteley - Missionary Martyr OnLine. (G.G.Carter) 12 pages

No.4

1952/11

No.1 Samuel Ironside and the Cloudy Bay Mission Online

(F.W.Smith) 21 pages

1953/11

No.2&3 St Albans Methodist Centenary OnLine. (Sir Ernest Andrews)

36 pages

No.4 Trinity Methodist Church, Kingsland OnLine. (D.M.Heape) 16 pages

1953/12

No.1 Wesley Church, Petone - 70 Years OnLine. (J.B.Dawson) 12 pages

1954/12

No.2&3 Papanui Methodist Church -100 Years OnLine. (W.T.Blight)

17 pages

1955/12

No.4 The Impact of Christianity on the Maori OnLine (A.W.Reed)

38 pages

1955/13

No.1 The Scandinavian Mission -1872-94 OnLine (G.I.Laurenson)

16 pages

No.2-4 Brother John (Hobbs) OnLine (T.G.M.Spooner) 54 pages

1956/14

No.1&2 Methodism in Southland OnLine (F.G.Glen) 47 pages

No.3 More Precious than Gold - Waihi Methodism Online. (J.B.Beeche)

27 pages

No.4 Free Methodism in N.Z. OnLine (S.G.Macfarlane) 20 pages

1956/15

No.1 Through Changing Scenes - Rawene 80th Anniversary OnLine.

(K.Abercrombie) 29 pages

1957/15

No.2&3 The Ladies of Wesleydale. OnLine (Sister Rita Snowden) 38 pages



No.4 Methodist Deaconess Order 1907-57 OnLine.

(Deaconess Board) 32 pages

1958/16

No.1&2 Methodism in Auckland During the Wars -1860-64 OnLine

(F.G.Glen) 37 pages

No.3&4 Masterton - the First 100 Years OnLine. (J.B.Dawson) 28 pages

1959/16

No.5 Sowing the Seed in Pioneer N.Z. - Frederick Miller of

Wakatumutumu (G.Elliott) 32 pages OnLine

1960/17

No. 1-3 Centenary of First Methodist Church in Dunedin OnLine

A.R.Brown) 32 pages

No.4 Methodist Beginnings in the Manukau OnLine (C.T.J.Luxton)

20 pages

1960/18

No.1&2 A Century of Witness – Pukekohe OnLine. (E.L.Curnow) 27 pages

No.3 J.M. White and the Coast Mission OnLine. (H.R.Wright) 11 pages

1961/18

No.4 Early Methodism in the Upper Thames Valley OnLine (J.B.Beeche)

40 pages

1961/19

No.1&2 Methodism in the Coalfields of Southland OnLine (F.G.Glen)

31 pages

1962/19

No.3 John Bell Richardson OnLine (C.T.J.Luxton) 27 pages

1963/19

No.4 What God Hath Wrought - Gore Methodism OnLine (T.R.Benny)

64 pages

1964/20

No.1&2 William Morley - Statesman of God OnLine. (B.Gadd) 50 pages

No.3 Gold Digging and the Gospel - Westland Diary of Rev. G.S. Harper.

(J.H.Haslam) 40 pages OnLine



No.4 100 Years of Hamilton Methodism OnLine (H.R.Vyle, etc.) 44

pages

1965/21

No.1&2 Rev. James Wallis OnLine (C.T.J.Luxton) 36 pages

No.3&4 Inheritance - Methodist Connexional Funds OnLine (H.L.Fiebig)

28 pages

1965/22

No.1&2 The Voyage of the 'Triton' OnLine (Nora Buttle) 32 pages

No.3&4 Durham St. Church -1864-1964 OnLine (W.T.Blight) 120 pages

1966/23

No.1&2 Rev James Buller OnLine (B.Gadd) 40 pages

1967/23

No.3 Padre John Luxford, C.M.G. OnLine (F.G.Glen) 20 pages

No.4 Rev. Walter Lawry OnLine (E.W.Hames) 48 pages

1968/24

No.1&2 A Century of Light - Thames Methodism OnLine (Hazel Harris) 44

pages

No.3&4 Rev John Whiteley 1806-69 OnLine (W.W.H.Greenslade) 42 pages

1971/25

No.1-4 The Maori Response to the Gospel Online (R.D.Rakena) 40 pages

1971/26

No.1-4 100 Years in Pitt Street, Auckland OnLine (E.W.Hames) 78 pages

1972/27

No.1&2 Te Hahi Weteriana OnLine (G.I.Laurenson) 272 pages

No.3&4 Out Of The Common Way - European Church 1840-1913 OnLine

(E.W.Hames) 152 pages

1973/27

No.5 I Remember - A Missionary in Fiji OnLine (Inez Hames) 90 pages

No.6 The Unexpected Impact. OnLine (Dr. J.M.R.Owens) 37 pages



1973/28

No.1&2 Coming Of Age - European Church 1913-1972 OnLine


No.3&4 A Family Affair - N.Z. Methodism's Missions Overseas 1822-1972

(G.G.Carter) 266 pages OnLine

1974/28

No.5 David Voeta - Pioneer Missionary OnLine (G.G.Carter) 16 pages

1975/29

No.1-4 Misakaram - Rev. John Crump. OnLine (G.G.Carter) 57 pages

No.5 Waterview - Story of a Little Church Online.

(G.I.Laurenson) 32 pages

1976/30

No.1-4 The Winds of Change - Canterbury 1950-75 OnLine

W.A.Chambers) 90 pages

1977/31

No.1&2 Glimpses of the Work of Rev. I. Harding OnLine (A.Harding)

16 pages

1978/31

No.3 &4 The Trinity College Story OnLine (Dr. J.J.Lewis) 64 pages

From here on, use of numbers was discontinued and each issue was given its own

volume number

1978/32

Methodism in N.Z.- Pioneer Resources in the Turnbull Library Online.

(J.E.Traue) 15 pages

1978/33

James Watkin - Pioneer Missionary OnLine (R.Belmer) 35 pages

1979/34

The Prince Albert College Trust OnLine (E.W.Hames) 34 pages

1979/35

Peacemakers - David Pausu and the United Church of South Bougainville.

(A.H.Voyce) 95 pages OnLine



1981/36

For All the Saints - Waimate Primitive Methodists. OnLine

(W.Greenwood) 22 pages

1982/37

The Decisive Decade - Auckland Central Mission 1927-37. OnLine

(I.F.Faulkner) 34 pages

1982/38

Wesleyan Missionaries in N.Z. before 1840 OnLine

(Dr.J.M.R.Owens) 28 pages

1982/39

From Grafton to Three Kings to Paerata – Wesley College 1844-1982. OnLine


1983/40

The Saga of the Probert Trust. OnLine (E.W.Hames) 16 pages

1983/41

The Search for Unity - Methodism and Ecumenism in N.Z. OnLine

(Dr. J.J.Lewis, A.K.Petch, R.D.Rakena) 58 pages

1983/42

New Zealanders and Methodist Evangel. OnLine

(Dr. P.J.Lineham) 47 pages

1983/43

The Bainbridge (Rotorua) Church Story. OnLine (J.B.Dawson) 60 pages

The WHS(NZ) Journals published from this date onwards comprise collections

of shorter articles, with the major ones in each issue listed. See also the Index of

Names.

1984/44

JOURNAL 1984 - 48 pages OnLine

- Les Gilmore as His Contemporaries Knew Him.

- Rev Charles Harris, 1877-1918: He Saved Others. (J.L.Woodhouse)



1985/45

Valuable-Beyond-Price - Sister Lina Jones. OnLine (G.G.Carter) 68 pages

1985/46


- Eric Hames:Churchman-Historian-Friend.

- Samuel Ironside in Church and Community.(W.A.Chambers)

- The Cruise of the Fauro Chief.

- A Man and His Church.(D.G.Roberts)

1986/47

With Renewed Vigour - Connexional Finances 1966-86. OnLine

(Dr. D.J.Janus) 57 pages

1986/48

Not Self - But Others: The Deaconess Order. OnLine (W.A.Chambers) 151 pp

1986/49


- Alternative Tourism With a Bicultural Slant:Canterbury Methodists

- Journey Into Their Past. (J.Roberts)

- Missionaries and the Treaty of Waitangi.(J.M.R.Owens)

- Strengths and Weaknesses of Methodism in New Zealand to 1913.

(G.M.Watkin)

1987/50

Wesley's South Seas Heritage - OnLine

Report of South Pacific Regional Conference, Paerata.110 pages

1988/51


- George Irvine Laurenson, C.B.E.

- Law and Grace, John Wesley's Theology Today. (Dr.Robert G.Tuttle Jr.)

- John and Susan Orchard, Bible Christians.

- William & Dinah Hall and the First Wesleyan Missionaries, 1819-1825.

(K.J.Knobbs)

1989/52 OnLine

JOURNAL 1989 - 84 pages

- The Seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Methodist Church.

(W.J.Morrison)



- How NZ Methodism kept the Feast, 1738-1988.(J.B.Dawson)

- William Slade of Fiji.(W.G.Slade)

- Tomasi: For Islands Far Away.(H.Bray)

1989/53

An Ordered Faith - Faith and Order Committee 1950-84. OnLine

(Dr. G.D.Pratt) 100 pages

1990/54

A Dream to Fulfil - Prince Albert College Trust 1979-89. OnLine

(W.J.Morrison) 29 pages

1990/55

Return to Mangungu Online

- Commemoration of Signing of Treaty of Waitangi at Mangungu 1840.

(W.A.Chambers and B.J.Jones) 15 pages

1990/56


- The Wesleyan Maori Mission at Te Aro.(J.Roberts)

- Ko Te Kotahi Rau E Rima Tekau Tau o Te Unga Mai o

- Te Whakapono o Te Haahi Weteriana Ki Te Whanganui-A-Tara,

Hune 1839. (R.Cope)

- Compiling a District History. (Arthur Olsson)

- By A Mysterious Providence. (I.Whyle)

1991/57

A Pioneer Missionary - Cort Henry Schnackenberg. OnLine

(G.E.J.Hammer) 108 pages

1992/58

JOURNAL 1991-92 - 83 pages OnLine

- John Whiteley and the land question. (G.Brazendale)

- Springboks and NZ Methodists. (Dr E.Bolitho)

- The Tour 1981- An Auckland Perspective. (G.Tucker)

- 10 Years on and the Tension Remains. (B.Turner)

- 150th Anniversary 'Heretoa' Wesleyan Mission Station. (G. Clover)

1993/59

The Wesley Historical Society in Aotearoa/New Zealand: the first Sixty Years.

(D.G.Roberts) 107 pages OnLine



1993/60

The Call of the Solomons: the New Zealand Methodist Women's Response.

(D.Beniston) 100 pages OnLine

1994/61


- Forty up and Going Strong.(Dame P.Guthardt)

- Portraits of Women.

1995/62


- Rev. Wesley Albert Chambers. [Tributes and writings]

- Methodist Churches in New Zealand.

- The Master Builder.(James Buller and the colonial Church in Canterbury)

- A packet of Leigh Letters. (Rev Samuel Leigh)

- A tale of two brothers.

- Two poems.

1996/63


- Primitive Methodism in New Zealand - Sesquicentenary.(I.Whyle)

- From Mow Cop to Airdale St.(D.Phillipps)

- Remember the Primitive Methodists. (V.Mossong)

1996/64

John Whiteley: Land Sovereignty & the Land Wars of the 19th C. OnLine

(G.Brazendale) 54 pages

1997/65


- The Evangelical/Charismatic Aspect of Methodism in New Zealand

(W.G.Clifford)

- Aldersgate/Affirm in the 1990s.(G.Bryant)

1997/66

The Sunday School in New Zealand Methodism. OnLine

(F.Hanson) 44 pages



1998/67


- Changing maps of the Universe.( Dr D.Bell)

- From Where I'm Standing.(J.Penman)

- Celebration in Kaeo.(V.Mossong)

1999/68 OnLine

Women Local Preachers in the British Isles.(Dr.D.Graham) 35 pages

William Hough: Catechist and Lay Preacher.(V.Mossong)

1999/69


- Te Haeata - Wesleyan Maori Newsletter.(Y.Sutherland)

- Doctrines of John Wesley in the late 20th Century.(J.Keating)

2000/70

Trinity College: an account of the early years. (S.Thompson) 34 pages

and Later Musings on Ministry. (J.Penman) (S.Dawson)

2000/71

Yours in His Service: Reflection on the life and times of the Rev. Belshazzar

Gina. [Reprint] (G.Carter)

2000/72


- Methodist Archives: an historical survey.(D.Phillipps)

- 1999-2000 photos of Churches

previously featured in Morley's 1900 history.(D.G.Roberts)

2001/73

John J. Lewis - Gracious Prophet.(Dr. D.Pratt & Dr. L.Wall) 52 pages

2001/74


- Methodist Mission Northern: the Sesquicentennial.(I.Whyle)

- Establishment of Solomon Islands Mission.(V.Mossong)

- Nathan Sipisong- Wartime Adventures. (A.Bruce)

- Fifty Years in the Papua New Guinea Highlands.(F.Baker)

- Writing a Parish History: Some Basic Guidelines. (Dr A.K.Davidson)



2002/75

Ever Widening Circles:

Stories of Some Influential Methodist Leaders in Solomon Islands and

Bougainville/Buka. (Ed. A.Leadley) 83 pages

2002/76


- Solomon Islands Revisited.(P.Taylor)

- The Story of My Life in the Church Ministry. (Mareta Tahu)

- Division and reunion in Tongan Methodism.(Dr A.K.Davidson)

- A trip to Tonga 1922.( M.A. Rugby Pratt )

- 'Box Organizer': a Labour of love.(M.Baker)

2003/77


- Free Methodism in Nineteenth Century New Zealand. (W.F.F.Thomas)

- The Bible Christians in New Zealand.(F. Baker)

- The Forgotten Prims. (I.Whyle)

2003/78

Methodists and a Questioning Faith. (Ed. Dr John Salmon) 48 pages

- Garland's Ghosts.(Dr David Bell)

- The 1912 Heresy Hunt.(Donald Phillipps)

- A Spiritual Journey. (Dr J. Salmon)

2004/79


- Being 'As good as a woman':

Women at Trinity Methodist Theological College.

(Dr Susan Thompson)

- Spiritual Journey.(Barbara Miller)

- Spiritual Journey.(Jill Richards)

- A 'little Bethel' in Epsom, Auckland. (Helen Laurenson)

- Passionfruit Sundays. (Alwyn Owen)

- Obituaries: Gordon Cornwell, Michael King.

2005/80

William Morley: a man for his time. (Ed. Donald Phillipps) 52 pages

- William Morley – Lecture for the AGM of the WHS, 2003.



(William F.F.Thomas)

- William Morley- Address to the Friends of Queen's College Library,

Melbourne, 2004.(W.F.F.Thomas)

- A Companion to Morley's History.( D.Phillipps)

2006/81


- Retiring Editor Bernie Le Heron thanked. (Dr S. Thompson)

- David Lange and his Methodism. (John Roberts)

- Primitive Methodism in Hamilton. (Dr P. Lineham)

- Obituary – Bruce Verry. (Jill Weeks)

- Obituary – Rev. Esau Tusa. (Alan Leadley and Jocelyn Howie)

- Charles Creed – Intrepid Traveller. ( Frank Paine)

- The Joy of Reading. (Selwyn Dawson)

- John and Susan Orchard. (Barbara Peddie)

- Pot-pourri of Catholicity. (Brian Turner)

2006/82


- New Zealand Methodists and "Missionary Propaganda" in the 1920s.

(Dr A.K. Davidson)

- My Years at Goldie College. (Jim Cropp)

- Harold Whitmore Williams – The Forgotten Genius.

(Fred Baker and Tatiana Blagova)

- Spirituality in Biblical Perspective. ( J.J. Lewis)

- The Search for Descendants. (Val. Payne)

- Book Review: Gardner, Helen Bethea,

Gathering for God: George Brown in Oceania, (John Roberts)

2007/83 & 84

Weaving the Unfinished Mats:

Wesley's Legacy – Conflict, Confusion and Challenge in the South Pacific.

Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society (NZ) Conference,

January 2005, ed. by Dr Peter Lineham. 160 pages

2007/85


- 'Saddlebags and Navvies':

The Methodist Mission to Railway Construction Workers on the



North Island Main Trunk Line, 1985-1908. (Douglas H. Burt)

- Obituary – Irene Eva Cornwell. (Stan Goudge)

- Charles Wesley – Protagonist or 'push over'? (Norman Brookes)

- Spiritual Journey. (Graham Whaley)

- The Marsden Cross Heritage Centre and Chapel. (Patricia Bawden)

2008/86

JOURNAL 2008 52 pages

- Tribute to Jack Penman. (Mary Caygill)

- Tribute to Jack Penman. (Keith Taylor)

- Growth in Love-a Sermon. (Jack Penman)

- Ordination Charge. (Jack Penman)

- Wesley College to Prince Albert College: The Years Between.

(Helen Laurenson)

- Paul Wynyard Fairclough F.R.A.S. (Frank Paine)

- A Sunday School Scholar:

Memories of Pitt Street Sunday School, Auckland. (Joyce K. Dey)

-Book Reviews:

- Alston, Charlotte, Russia's Greatest Enemy?

Harold Williams and the Russian Revolutions,

reviewed by Garth Cant.

-Roberts, John H., Neighbours Not Strangers:

Methodists Exploring Relationships with People of Other

Religions. Reviewed by Terry Wall.

2009 87/88

Making Connexions Down-Under

-Reflections of a United Methodist in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Rev. Dr Jim Stuart.

2009/89


- Spiritual Journey. (Phil Taylor)

- Travelling with Methodists (and others)

on the Good Ship Oikoumene:

- Reflections from an (Ecumenical) Ancient Mariner.

(Rev. Dr Allan K. Davidson)

- Rescuing From Obscurity:

A Life of the Reverend John Skevington 1815-1845.

(Gary A.Clover)

- Book Reviews:



- Stuart, James, The John Wesley Code

Finding a Faith that Matters,

reviewed by Norman E. Brookes.

- Lenton, John, John Wesley's Preachers:

A Social and Statistical Analysis of the British and Irish

Preachers who entered the Methodist Itinerancy

before 1791, reviewed by Terry Wall.

2010 90/91

KNOWLEDGE & VITAL PIETY by Rev Dr Susan J Thompson

275 pages

Education for Methodist ministry in New Zealand from the 1840s

2010 92


- Te Putakarua, Te Awaroa, Te Matoe and Te Hau Maringi

Why Methodists should know and Commemorate them.

Gary Clover

- Dr Gerald Hoult - Helena Goldie Hospital - Phil Taylor

- Obituaries

- Douglas Howard Burt - by Lindsay Cumberpatch

- Ivan John Whyle - by Helen and Eric Laurenson

- Bernard Le Heron - By Jill Weeks

- Te Rua Winiata and the World Council of Churches

February 1991 to December 1998 - Garth Cant

- Book Review - Donald Phillipps

- Bible and Treaty

Missionaries Among the Maori - a New Perspective

by Keith Newman

2011/93


- MORE HEROES OF THE FAITH by Gary A Clover

The two Methodist Maori missionaries martyred near Mangataipa

in the Hokianga in 1837.

- A DAY IN MY LIFE AT GOLDIE COLLEGE in the early 1990s

by Kath Kerr

- 'A REAL GOOD, SENSIBLE CHRISTIAN WOMAN ...'

by Lynne McDonald

- HYMN-WRITER CHARLES WESLEY by Alison Fields

- THE PRAYER OF FAITH CAN VINDICATE' by Anthony Tedeschi

Two Wesley Letters in the Alfred & Isabel Reed Collection



- BOOK REVIEWS

- KNOWLEDGE & VITAL PIETY by Susan J Thompson

Education for Methodist ministry in New Zealand

from the 1840s

- UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH by Len and Hilda Schroeder

- THE STORY OF GEORGE LOVELESS AND THE

TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS by Andrew Norman

2012/94

"A KIND OF OPENING" a tribute to Dame Phyllis Guthardt

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Ordination of

Women in the Methodist Church of New Zealand

- Introduction: A Kind of Opening by Lynne Frith

- Church and Women's Agency: Contributors to the Early

Ordination of Women to the Ministry within the Methodist

Church of New Zealand by Val Bailey

- Phyllis Guthardt: Ecumenical Leader by Janet Crawford

- From Cambridge to Christchurch: Reflections on Women's

Ordination by Lynne J. Wall

- A Trail Blazer's Legacy by SyM'a 'Akau'ola Tongotongo

- 'Staying silent is grossly over-rated' by Susan Thompson

- 'We claim the heritage of Christ' by Colin Gibson

- In Memoriam: Methodist Women Presbyters

2012/95

JOURNAL 2012 60 Pages

-'MORE THAN JUST AN HOUR ON SUNDAY'

Methodist Church Architecture in Aotearoa 1960-2000

a personal perspective by Eric Laurenson

-A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WAIATA MAORI CHOIR,

1924-1938 by Michelle Willyams

-MORE HEROES OF THE FAITH

Minarapa Te Rangi-hatu-ake and Te Aro Pa, 1839-1841

by Gary Clover

-BOOK REVIEWS

- SCRIM - the man with a mike. Author: William Renwick

- A NEW CHURCH FOR A NEW CENTURY:

East City Wesleyan's Early Story Author: Richard Waugh

- FOR OTHERS WITH LOVE - A Story of Early Sisters and

Methodist Deaconesses Author: Marcia Baker



Appendix "D'

ANNUAL MEETINGS

YEAR PLACE CHAIRMAN ATTENDANCE

(Feb) (if known)

1930 Wellington Rev. A.N. Scotter ?

1931 Dunedin Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws c40

1932 (NONE)

1933 Auckland Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws 30+

1934 Wellington Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws 18

1935 Dunedin Rev. P.R. Paris 11

1936 (NONE)

1937 Auckland Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws 25

1938 Wellington Rev. P.R. Paris 10

1939 Christchurch Rev. E. Drake 12

1940 Dunedin Rev. M.A. Rugby Pratt 9


1942 Wellington Rev. A.B. Chappell 'small group'

1943 Christchurch Rev. M.A. Rugby Pratt 8

1944 (NONE)

1945 (NONE)


1947 Wellington Rev. E.W. Hames 28

1948 Christchurch Rev. E.W. Hames 30

(Nov.)

1949 Napier Rev. E.W. Hames ?

1950 Dunedin Rev. C.I. Laurenson c30

1951 Auckland Rev. G.I. Laurenson c80

1952 Nelson Rev. E.W. Hames over 100'

1953 Wellington Rev. E.W. Hames ?

1954 Christchurch Rev. E.W. Hames ?

1955 Dunedin Rev. E.W. Hames 40

1956 Auckland Rev. E.W. Hames 'large'

1957 Palmerston Nth Rev. E.W. Hames 80

1958 Christchurch Rev. E.W. Hames ?

1959 Wellington Rev. E.W. Hames 45

1960 Invercargill Rev. G.I. Laurenson ?

1961 Auckland Rev. E.W. Hames ?


1963 Wellington Rev. G.I. Laurenson c40

YEAR PLACE CHAIRMAN ATTENDANCE



1964 Hamilton Rev. E.W. Hames c40

1965 Christchurch Rev .E.W. Hames 32

1966 Auckland Rev. E.W. Hames 'heartening'

1967 Dunedin Mr. A.H. Harman 30

1968 New Plymouth Rev. E.W. Hames 20

1969 Wellington Rev. C.T.J. Luxton ?


1971 Wellington Rev. C.T.J. Luxton 30

1972 Whangarei Mr. W.E. Domelly 30

1973 Christchurch Rev. G.G. Carter 35

1974 Auckland Rev. E.W. Hames 24

1975 Ngaruawahia Rev. G.I. Laurenson 29

1976 Wellington Rev. G.I. Laurenson 27

1977 Christchurch Rev. D.J. Phillipps 40

1978 Hamilton Rev. J. Silverster 47

1979 Auckland Rev. G.I. Laurenson 76

1980 Wellington Rev. G.G. Carter 62

1981 Christchurch Rev. W.A. Chambers 48

1982 Napier Rev. W.A. Chambers 46

1983 Takapuna Rev. W.A. Chambers 72

1984 Blenheim Rev. I.C.E. Ramage 38

1985 New Plymouth Rev. W.A. Chambers 60+

1986 Manukau City Rev. W.A. Chambers c60

1987 Nelson Rev. W.A. Chambers 52

1988 Palmerston Nth Rev. W.A. Chambers 53

1989 Wellington Rev. W A Chambers c90

1990 Dunedin Rev. W.A. Chambers 42



ANNUAL LECTURES

(The term "ANNUAL LECTURE" was used from 1951. Before that, speakers gave a

"talk" or "address".)

YEAR SPEAKER SUBJECT

1930 Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws The forming and aims of the Society

1933 Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws Objects of the Society

Rev. A.B. Chappell Treaty of Waitangi & the Bledisloe Gift to New

Zealand

1937 Rev. A.B. Chappell The Background of History

1938 Rev. M.A. Rugby Pratt New Material

Available for the First 50 Years of N.Z.

Methodism

1946 Rev. Dr. C.H. Laws Trinity College Library & Museum (with visit)

1947 Mr. C.J. Freeman Methodist Background to History of Wellington

1948 Rev. Andrew Johnston The Use of Historical Material

1949 Mrs, Joan Cochran The Amsterdam Ecumenical Conference

1951 Miss Margaret Blight Rev. James Buller

1952 Mr. Frank Smith Ironside and the Cloudy Bay Mission

1953 Mr. A.W. Reed Impact of Christianity on the Maori

1954 Mr. S.G. Macfarlane United Methodist Free Churches in N.Z.

1955 Rev. Wesley Chambers Rev. John Aldred

1956 Sister Rita Snowden The Ladies of Wesleydale (Kaeo)

1957 Mr. Frank Glen Methodism in Early Auckland During the Wars -

1861-65

1958 Rev. W.T. Blight Beginnings of Circuit Life in N.Z.

1959 Rev. C.T.J. Luxton Early Methodism Around Manukau Harbour

1960 Rev. Wesley Chambers Life and Work of Rev. J.K.H. Wohlers

1961 Rev. Eric Hames Notes On The Albertlanders

1962 Rev. H.L. Fiebig Growth of Connexional Funds

1963 Rev. C.T.J. Luxton Life and Work of Rev. James Wallis

1964 Mr. C.G. Hunt Early Wesleyan Missions in the Waikato

1965 Mr. W. Greenwood Rev. J.C. Reimenschneider

1966 Mr. W.P. Thompson Wesleyan Missions in N.Z. to 1950 (with 100

slides)

1967 Rev. Leslie Gilmore Life and Work of Rev. Cort Schnackenberg

1968 Rev.W.W.H. Greenslade Pages from the Life of Rev. John Whiteley*

1969 Rev. Rua Rakena Maori Response to the Gospel

1970 Rev. Wesley Chambers Effect of Roman Catholic Spirituality on John

Wesley



1971 Mr. & Mrs. Williment A New Look at John Hobbs

1972 Dr. J.M.R. Owens The Unexpected Impact*

1973 Rev. G.G. Carter Rev. Jack Crump

1974 Rev. Harry Voyce Methodist Postal History in the Pacific

1976 Mr. J.E. Traue Resources for Research in the Turnbull Library

1977 Rev. W.R. Laws Resources for Research at Connexional Office

1978 Rev. Dr. John Lewis The Trinity College Story

1979 Rev. Dr. Ken Booth and Rev. E.W. Hames showed groups around the

Anglican and Methodist treasures, etc. at St. John's College.

1980 Mrs. V. Mossong and Rev. N.E. Brookes reported on the South Pacific

Conference held at Sydney.

1981 Rev. G.G. Carter Sister Lina Jones*

1982 Dr. Peter Lineham New Zealanders and the Methodist Evangel

1983 Rev. N.E. Brookes History of Church Union Negotiations in N.Z.

Rev. W.J. Morrison

1984 Rev. Wesley Chambers Methodism in Marlborough

1985 Dr. J.M.R. Owens Missionaries and the Treaty of Waitangi*

1986 Rev. Dr. D.H. Pratt History of the Faith and Order Committee

1987 Rev. Dr. Robert Tuttle Law and Grace - John Wesley's Theology Today

1988 Rev. W.J. Morrison 75 Years of United Methodism*

1989 Rev John Roberts Wesleyan Maori Mission at Te Aro. Wellington

1990 Rev. D.J. Phillipps Rev. James Watkin

*Lecture delivered to the Church Conference

the first sixty years by d.g.roberts 1992methodist.org.nz/files/docs/wesley historical/59... ·...

Documents