John King’s Bible is a link to the very earliest days of the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand
The Kinder Library records of the Church Missionary Society’s earliest days in New Zealand, have been strengthened with the recent gift of John King’s Bible by descendants of John King, for which we are very grateful.
Rangihoua Bay was the cradle of Anglicanism in New Zealand, with the Church Missionary Society in London (at the request of Samuel Marsden – CMS Missionary in Sydney) sending out those first three missionary families: William Hall, Thomas Kendall and John King. They arrived in New Zealand in 1814, and settled at Hohi, and later Te Puna.
William Hall and John King were tradespeople, while Thomas Kendall was a school teacher. King and his wife Hannah were there with Marsden at Oihi Bay when he delivered his Christmas Day sermon, the first in New Zealand, in 1814, and were the only missionaries from this first group that remained in New Zealand for the rest of their lives.
John King’s bible
This bible (above) belonged to John King, and is inscribed with: ‘John King Bay of Islands, New Zealand’
Along with the handwritten notation is a death notice from a newspaper, part of reads:
On Saturday, May 6, 1854, Mr. King of Tepuna, Bay of Islands, full of years and full of faith, in the 67th year of his age, and the 40th of his sojourn in New Zealand. He had been for a long period the senior member on the list of Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society and the oldest European inhabitant in this colony. He has left a numerous family, fives sons, and four daughters … He was greatly esteemed by all who knew him. His walk and conversations were such as adorned a lively Christian: his faith was sound – his end was perfect peace.
In the New Testament section, there is a list of family births. These include Philip Hansen King who was born August 28, 1813, near Paramatta, New South Wales, and 11 more children all born in the Bay of Islands. The death of John’s wife Hannah in 1851 is also inscribed in the bible.
John King’s Book of Common Prayer
Interestingly, the Library also holds John King’s copy of the Book of Common Prayer, published by Oxford University Press I 1836. It was sent to John King much later when the Mission had moved to Te Puna. It is inscribed ‘John King Tepuna B. of I. NZ. 1844’. See below.
The Auckland Museum holds the Kings’ chest of drawers, as well as other items from the first missionaries to New Zealand.