Mangugu Mission Sation and its old documents
Mangungu Mission Station was established in 1828 as the second Wesleyan Mission station in New Zealand, the first being destroyed in 1827. The existing house was built ca 1838 for the head of the Methodist Mission in New Zealand, the Rev. Nathaniel Turner. The station is the oldest surviving structure associated with the Methodist Church in New Zealand.
The archive consists of a handwritten history by John Hobb’s descendant Mrs Emma Kirk, (54 p.) which was intended for “Dr Morley to use in his history”; a typescript history by Jean Irvine, Secretary of the Hokianga Historical Society; an account book of the Mangungu Mission station, 1837; a New Zealand Historic Places Trust ‘Mangungu Mission House research progress report’, 1973 and a pamphlet – ‘the Wesleyan Mission Primer’, Mangungu, 1884.
The featured primer contains ‘alphabets, lists of words, and easy reading lessons’ as well as the ten commandments in Maori, ‘Ko nga ture a te atua’. The 1837 account book includes several ‘house lists’ which itemise the contents of the house and a letter from Rev. Nathaniel Turner in October 1837
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