John Whiteley (20 July 1806 – 13 February 1869) was a missionary for the Wesleyan Missionary Society (WMS) in New Zealand, active from his arrival in the country in 1833 up until his death.
Born in England, he came to New Zealand with his wife and initially settled in the Hokianga where there was an existing WMS mission station. As the WMS expanded its activities in the country, Whiteley later established and ran a mission at Kawhia for several years. He subsequently worked in the Taranaki region, where the colonists there had become embroiled in land disputes with the local Māori. The tensions in the area meant Whiteley, sympathetic to the settlers' cause, found it difficult to carry out his missionary work. On 13 February 1869, he was murdered at Pukearuhe by a Ngāti Maniapoto war party.
Early life
Born on 20 July 1806 at Kneesall in Nottinghamshire, England, John Whiteley was the son of a grocer, James Whiteley, and his wife, Elizabeth . He was educated at Farnsfield, after which he started an apprenticeship as a baker. In 1831, he joined the Wesleyan Missionary Society (WMS) for training in the Wesleyan ministry. In September the following year, he married Mary Ann née Cooke. Soon afterwards, at Lambeth Chapel in London, he was ordained into the ministry.
New Zealand
Whiteley and his wife left for New Zealand in October 1832 aboard the New Zealander, arriving there in May the following year. He was initially based at the WMS Māngungu Mission in the Hokianga. Within a few months, his wife gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl, one of six children he would have with his wife. He studied the Māori language, in which he became sufficiently proficient that he was tasked with helping to establish another mission station. The WMS had decided to expand its activities in New Zealand and Whiteley was sent on a reconnaissance visit to Kawhia. Christianity had already reached Kawhia through the activities of Māori, formerly slaves of the Northland iwi (tribes), who had been freed due to the influence of missionaries. Arriving in Kawhia in March 1834, Whiteley was welcomed by local Māori and invited to set up a mission.
On reporting back to the WMS, it was agreed that a mission would be established there. William Woon, who had been a missionary in Tonga, was dispatched to begin the mission in November. He was joined early in 1835 by Whiteley. However, the station was closed in June the following year. The WMS and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) had reached an agreement to end all WMS missions that were south of the Manukau. Whiteley returned to the Hokianga with his family. He was soon in conflict with the WMS superintendent at Māngungu, William White, over his running of the mission. When allegations of impropriety were raised against White, a synod was raised to investigate and Whiteley was one of its members. As a result, White was recalled to England.
In the meantime, Whiteley was sent to Pākanae, close to the mouth of the Hokianga, where he set up a new station which he called Newark. The local iwi was Ngāti Korokoro, and Moetara, its rangatira (chief), had sought a missionary for the settlement. Land was purchased for the mission in January 1838, Whiteley paying with blankets, tools and tobacco. He baptised Moetara in December 1838, giving him the name William King.
Life in Kawhia
As part of its agreement with the WMS, the Kawhia station was supposed to have been taken over by the CMS. However, this never eventuated and agreement was given for the abandoned WMS stations to be reopened. Whiteley and his family went back to Kawhia and restarted his old mission in 1839. The area where he located the mission became known as Te Waitere, a transliteration of his surname. In its early years, it was also known as Lemon Point, for the lemon trees that he planted there. Their infant son died soon after their arrival.
Whiteley proved to be successful as a missionary, baptising increasing numbers of Māori into the ministry. Among them was Te Ua Haumēne, who later became a supporter of the Kīngitanga (Māori King Movement) and founded the Pai Mārire cult. Whiteley gave him the name Horopapera, a transliteration of the name Zerubbabel. By 1840, he had 300 members for his Church and was working towards eliminating slavery, encouraging the release of slaves captured by the local Māori on raids into the Taranaki region. The same year, Whiteley solicited the local rangatira to sign the Treaty of Waitangi.