William Gilbert Puckey
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William Gilbert Puckey (born 5 May 1805 in Penrhyn, Cornwall, England in - died 27 March 1878 in Kaitaia) was a British-born, New Zealand raised missionary who arrived in New Zealand at the age of 14. He picked up the Māori language quickly and became fluent, and thus formed friendships with many influential Māori from a young age. This was an effective aid in his building a firm relationship and an understanding with Māori in Northland, as few other Pakeha could communicate effectively between races.
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[edit] Beginnings
Puckey was born in Penrhyn, Cornwall on the 5th May, 1805, and christened there on the 5th of June.[1] His parents were William Puckey and his wife, Margery (nee Gilbert). He left England in 1815 with his parents, who had become lay missionaries with the Church Missionary Society (CMS), and had been to various countries such as Tahiti and Australia. William and his sister Elizabeth, (later to marry Gilbert Mair) came with their parents to New Zealand in 1819 on one of Samuel Marsden's Missions. His father had been a boatbuilder, mariner and carpenter in Cornwall, and it is likely both parents had reared their family with a strong focus on Christian religious values with a practical appreciation of other cultures. This background was significant to his later development of strong and effective bonds with Māori around the mission stations he worked in, Kaitaia and Te Waimate.
At Te Waimate on 11 October 1831 Puckey married Matilda Davis (who was aged 17), second daughter of Rev. Richard Davis, thus becoming the first European couple to be married in New Zealand.
[edit] Exciting experiences
As a boy, Puckey was adventurous, to put it mildly.
The Missionary J.G Butler recorded in his diary of SATURDAY, JANUARY 6th. 1821:
Looking after the stores in the morning; in the afternoon we were much alarmed by fire. One of the carpenters' sons, named Wm. Puckey, a boy of about fourteen years of age, set fire to the fern, which had like to have burned our standing wheat, the day being windy and the fern high. The fire raged with great fury, so that, with the assistance of a great many natives, we had great difficulty in saving the corn, and putting it out. Mr. F. Hall had some barley burned, but not much.[2]
Over the years, Puckey had many different experiences that helped shaped his relationships with Māori people, such as the account of Puckey saving a young Māori boy's life. The unnamed boy was to be thrown into a nearby, raging river by tribesmen. The missionary suggested he buy the boy from them, so he rushed back to the mission station to get some money, and when he returned, he was horrified to see the boy was thrown into the river. Acting bravely, Puckey dived in, fully clothed and rescued the boy who joined the Puckey household and showed immense admiration and respect for the man for the rest of his days.
As an example of his ingenuity, W.G. Puckey can be said to have built New Zealand's first land yacht, as he apparently used to rig a sail on his dray, which he then 'sailed' back down Ninety-Mile Beach after visits and explorations up that beach, letting the horse have an easy run home.
[edit] Impact on Northland
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During Puckey’s lifetime, he influenced the region of Northland greatly. Puckey was a jack-of-all-trades and as well as being a gifted builder, he was also an accomplished linguist. His early 'immersion' experience as a boy of 14, arriving in New Zealand, meant that he had quickly become fluent in te Reo, and that he could correctly translate and communicate parts of the Bible into the Māori idiom and language.
A lot of Puckey’s early life's work was in translating parts of the Bible and Prayer Book into Māori, which was of great assistance not only in his own work of developing new relationships with Maori, but also for other missionaries and their relations with other Maori communities.
Māori that were “saved” in the Christian sense, due to Puckey's ( and his wifes's) evangelical efforts and example, often spent their life on the mission station, helping to convert other Māori. Thus Puckey contributed to a chain reaction of conversion in Nga Puhi communities.
[edit] A Man of Honour
Puckey lived his life as an honest, humane, and truthful man with considerable integrity; he maintained strong connections with the church and with the purpose of converting the Māori into Christianity and translating the Gospel so they could understand it. Even into his later years when he was bedridden and hard of hearing, he still maintained time to give a ‘nugget’ of wisdom to a young Māori that might happen to come by. Acts like these gave him the respect of Nga Puhi chiefs, such as Paerata and Pana-kareao.
In ealier days in New Zealand, Puckey’s sister, Elizabeth, got into an argument with the daughter of Hongi Heke, and apparently in the way children do, insults had escalated to the point where Elizabeth told Heke's daughter that her father would cut off Heke’s head, and cook it in a pot!. This was obviously a much greater insult than Elizabeth could have realised, with the head, especially of a Chief of Heke's standing, being considered tapu . Possibly as a result of some misinterpretation or jealousy, this childish prattle was taken by some members of the tribe as a mortal insult, and a Māori war party was sent to raid and loot the Puckey residence, without Heke's knowledge, and to his later disapproval. In this incident, William was apparently threatened with his life, which most likely had a formative effect on his character and attitudes in later life.
[edit] Significance of lifework
Puckey’s relationship with Māori was well documented in Journals he wrote (some with Rev Joseph Matthews) as reports and letters to the CMS. A particularly interesting Journal was one of his travel in 1834 up to the 'Reinga', the departing point of spirits in the Maori world-view.
He was the first Pakeha to travel up the 'Ninety-Mile' Beach to what is now known as Cape Reinga, the very northern-most tip of New Zealand.
That he was allowed to go to the Reinga in the first place says something about the relationship he had been able to form with local Maori. He travelled in the company of an older Chief, Paerata, who had indicated he was willing to be a guide to Puckey. On their way north, Paerata and Puckey were questioned as to their motives for wanting to travel to this most sacred place, and on their return were confronted by a large gathering of tribes who were had become stirred up with anxiety that somehow Puckey might be damaging the Aka, or ladder down to the sea, whereby spirits were understood to depart for Hawaiiki .
A large hui sat to allow all opinions to be voiced, and at the end, Paerata stood and spoke for 2-3 hours on end, explaining exactly what Puckey and he had done & said on their travels, and how the new Christian beliefs and philosophy that Puckey was espousing were not to be construed as a threat to the customary beliefs of the Maori.
[edit] Legacy
William Gilbert Puckey left a legacy that enriched Kaitaia and the Northland region. Because he was a skilled builder, carpenter, inventor and architect, many of Kaitaia’s original buildings and roads were made by the great man. Tools that he used still remain in the Far North Museum today. Some prominent relatives of William Gilbert Puckey include his son Edward Walter Puckey, who became a Māori Land Court judge, and the current Minister of Health, Pete Hodgson. William Gilbert Puckey died in 1878, age 73, and was buried at St Saviours Church, Kaitaia. His wife Matilda died on 15 July 1884 in Thames.[3]
William and Matilda's 11 children were[3]:
- Frederick James Puckey (1834-1834)Died aged 7 weeks at Waimate.
- William George Puckey (1835-1918) m. Margaret Hunt in 1872. 6 children.
- Edward Walter Puckey (1837-1924) m. Annie Russell in 1863. 2 children.
- Mary Serena Puckey (1839-1927) m. Dr Thomas Trimnell in 1864. 2 children.
- Margarita Jane Puckey (1844-1930)m. William Henry Blyth in 1866
- Caroline Elizabeth Puckey (1842-1849) died from ear infection.
- Frederick Coleman Puckey (1847-1848)
- Charles Iselton Puckey (1848-1934) m. Doris Sophia Subritzky on 14 May 1873. 9 children.
- Richard Henry Martyn Puckey (1852-1934 ) m. Alice Marion masters in 1883. 7 children
- Annie Matilda Sophia Marella Puckey (1855?-1932?) m. William Temple Williams in 1891. 4 children
- Albert Francis Puckey (1858-1936) m.Gertrude Robinson. No children
[edit] References
- ^ The Family Research of Monique Jones
- ^ Earliest New Zealand: The Journals and Correspondence of the Rev. John Butler accessed 11 September 2007
- ^ a b The Descendants of Richard Davis
- Pickmere, Nancy; The Story of Paihia
Calder’s Design and Print, Whangarei, 2000 Pg: 26 ISBN 0-473-06767-6
- Keene, Florence; Kaitaia and its People
Allied Graphics, Whangarei, 1989 Pg: 82-84 ISBN: 0-908817-05-3
- Preece, Nancy; A Lamp Shines in Kerikeri
News Limited, Kaikohe, 1969 Pg: 10, 11, 12, 27, 28
- Williams, A.M.S.M; Life of W.G. Puckey
1932 Pg: 1, 7, 11, 23
- Journals and Letters of the Rev. W.G. Puckey – 1831 – 1868
Special Collections, Auckland Public Library Pg: 3, 98, 141, 201, 299, 385, 453
- Fitzgerald, C (Editor);
Letters From the Bay of Islands: The Story of Marianne Williams Penguin Books, Auckland, 2004 Pg: 61, 87, 251
