The Octavius Hadfield Papers
The Octavius Hadfield Papers are an extensive collection of letters, diary extracts and miscellaneous documents relating to the Anglican missionary, Octavius Hadfield (1814 - 1904). Together they form a significant collection of correspondence from one of New Zealand's most important early missionaries and supporters of Māori rights.
Hadfield arrived in New Zealand shortly before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. After briefly working as a school teacher in Northland, he made his way to Kapiti where he established missions in both Waikanae and Ōtaki. There he befriended Te Rauparaha and was able to convince the great warrior not to make a retaliatory attack on Wellington following the Wairau 'Affray’ of 1843. Te Rauparaha and his son Tāmihana later encouraged Hadfield to establish the famous Rangiātea church in Ōtaki. He worked closely with Māori communities, introducing them to farming to allow them to engage with the settler economy and became a fierce critic of the NZ Government and the British Colonial Office because of their actions in causing and aggravating the NZ Wars. Despite many Europeans turning against him and even accusing him of being a traitor because of his support for Māori, Hadfield was elected to become the second Bishop of Wellington in 1870 and then went on to head the Anglican church as 'Primate of New Zealand' in 1890.
These letters are some of our most precious taonga and they offer a fascinating insight into the mind and thinking of one of the most significant New Zealanders from the colonial period. Most were written to Hadfield's parents and siblings in England but were later gathered together by a family member and repatriated back to New Zealand. Other material includes letters from his wife, Catherine (Kate) Hadfield, and Catherine's father, the missionary Henry Williams. They were gifted to Wellington City Libraries in several deposits during 1950 and 1951 by Hadfield's youngest daughter, Amelia (Amy) Caroline Hadfield (1869 - 1956). Many of the documents also include a full typed transcription to make it easier to read Hadfield's handwriting; just click on the 'Text' button below the magnifying glass icon to enable this (this functionality works best on a laptop or desktop computer rather than a mobile device). Note that text enclosed within [square brackets] in a transcription indicates an uncertainty in (or a spelling correction of) the original letter.
See the following links for further information about Hadfield's life and work
Brief biography from NZ History (Ministry of Culture & Heritage)
Full entry from the NZ Dictionary of Biography
The Man who saved Wellington, a short documentary film about Octavius Hadfield produced by 'The Incredible Journey' television ministry.
The Rangiatea Story ; a 1966 book detailing the history of the church that Hadfield founded.
Date index to material
1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849
1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859
1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879
1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
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The search facility above operates as an 'exact phrase' search across all letters and other documents in this collection excluding a small number without accompanying transcriptions. Return back to this page to run further searches.
Photo credit: Octavius Hadfield., circa 1880 (photographer unknown), from the collection of Te Papa, Ref: A.000114