MARY ANN PREECE (1801 - 1879)
James Preece grew up in Kingstone Herefordshire where his father was Parish Clerk.
From an early age he wanted to be a missionary. To this end he applied to the Church Missionary Society (CMS) to train as a teacher in Sierra Leone, "The White Man’s Graveyard" but as nearly all the young men and women who had already gone to East Africa had died within weeks, the CMS was rethinking its agenda.
It was suggested that James prepare for the possibility of other work. He was to undertake training in a "useful occupation" and in James’ case, that of a wheelwright.
After a period of study at Islington College in London, it was decided to send him out to Samuel Marsden in New South Wales. Marsden believed that by teaching the skills of farming, industry and trade (while at the same time expounding the "simple truths" of the Bible) the Maori would become prosperous and peaceful. To this end, Marsden had set up the Waimate Mission Station farm in the Bay of Islands. New Zealand had been an sphere of CMS missionary effort since 1814.
James Preece, Catechist Lay Missionary of the CMS, landed at Paihia in the Bay of Islands on February 6th 1831.
He was sent immediately to the new Waimate mission station and put to work. He began to learn the language.
While there existed a considerable degree of good will and harmony amongst the men and women of the Church Missionary Society (and also the local Wesleyan missionaries) it is evident from letters and reports that there were difficulties. Contrary expectations and goals were made worse by a cumbersome administrative structure. There was also the "Divinely Ordained" pecking order within the mission. Brother Preece, with his lowly birth and attainments, was on the bottom perch.
MARY ANN PREECE (1801 - 1879)
James Preece married fellow missionary Mary Ann Williams at Kerikeri on 25th of January 1833. Mary Ann was not related to the other Williams families of the Mission. James and Mary Ann opened mission stations at Puriri and Parawai near the present town of Thames, at Ahikereru in the Urewera mountains and at Whakatane. Eight of the Preece children survived into adulthood. After leaving the mission the Preeces lived near the Coromandel township.
From the 1840’s the London based Parent Committee of the CMS (which had for the most part been founded by laymen) was gradually taken over by ordained men of the Church of England. These men changed the mission and made it their tool. From its humanitarian, evangelical, Low Church beginnings it evolved into an extension of the Church of England.
When Bishop Selwyn arrived in 1842, further difficulties were experienced. The Bishop came with pre-conceived ideas and an agenda for establishing the Church of England in New Zealand. He had, as well, a masterplan for re-organising the mission. He claimed total control over the appointment and disposition of the missionaries, and planned to move men and families to suit his strategy. He did however work diligently to establish the Anglican Church of New Zealand amongst the newly arrived European settlers. He also assumed responsibility for the Melanesian Mission.
Selwyn expected Obedience from those who served under him. There was no room for dialogue. It appeared to the missionaries, that he sought to destroy those who questioned his judgement. In this he had an ally in Governor Grey. James Preece, working in the most isolated stations in New Zealand, struggled with the discordant features of the Missions.
James Preece’s written reports to the Church Missionary Society show mistakes in grammatical construction. He was trying to provide that High Tone which he believed would make a mention in the Missionary Register. His enthusiasm was seen as tiresome boastfulness. The Rev A N Brown judged him to be too unpolished to deal with Peter Dillon and the Catholic faction. Selwyn judged Preece too common for the cloth, unsuitably eager to be priested, unfit to minister to European congregations. Selwyn did however offer him the herculean task of establishing the remote Urewera mission at Te Whaiti. However, because of the enormous workload, the climate, isolation and lack of support, Preece became ill. This led to his eventual failure and humiliation. His whole family suffered.
The last period of his missionary work proved to be a trial of suffering and betrayal. Too ill to work, the Church Missionary Society now viewed him as disposable. Those who could have stood with him, did not. One took thirty pieces of silver while whispering in Pilate’s ear. Only Henry Williams spoke on his behalf.
JAMES PREECE'S GRAVE AT COROMANDEL
Preece however achieved his purpose. The simple country man had contributed greatly to the mission cause. He had spent forty years amongst the Maori people whom he loved, succeeding in his role of teacher and friend.
He died at Coromandel on Christmas Day 1870.
Look at other parts of the Preece story by following the links to the Index page.
