Herbert Williams (bishop)

The Rt Rev'd Herbert William Williams FRS (10 October 1860 – 7 December 1937)^[2] was the 6th Anglican Bishop of Waiapu and a distinguished Māori scholar.^[3][4]

Williams was born at Waerenga-ā-Hika, Gisborne, New Zealand and educated at Christ's College, Canterbury, The University of New Zealand and Jesus College, Cambridge; graduating B.A. in 1884.^[3][5] He was ordained in 1886,^[6] then embarked on his ecclesiastical career with a curacy at West Wratting. In 1870 Williams established Te Rau Kahikatea College in Gisborne, which trained of Māori students as ordinands to the Anglican ministry.^[1] He was appointed as the Superintendent of the Missionary East Coast District. From 1907 to 1930 he was Archdeacon of Waiapu. In that year he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather (Rt Rev'd William Williams, the first Bishop of Waiapu) ^[7] and father (Rt Rev'd Leonard Williams, the third)^[8][9] and was elevated to the Episcopate.^[10]

Williams campaigned with Apirana Ngata for the recognition of Māori language as a subject for study in the University of New Zealand, with the study of Māori becoming eligible for a degree of bachelor of arts in 1928.^[3]

In 1917 Williams published the fifth edition of A dictionary of the New Zealand language, which updated the work of his father and grandfather. Williams received honorary doctorates in literature from the Universities of New Zealand (1924) and Cambridge (1925). Williams was the president of the Royal Society of New Zealand (1935–36), and of the Polynesian Society from 1929 until his death.^[3]

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