The coronation celebrations certainly captured the attention of the media in Aotearoa. The fact that newspaper and television reports are quick to inform us of the shortcomings of various members of the royal family made the extent of their coverage somewhat artificial in this writer’s judgment. However, there is no doubt that for millions in the UK and around the world there is still a mystique about royalty that captures heart and mind. The occasion brought back memories - I was in the crowd in Parliament Square in London 70 years ago, sitting in the Commonwealth Stand. And it drizzled then, too! In 2023 we became, if we chose, part of the audience in Westminster Abbey. I wonder how many stayed tuned in for the whole service on this side of the world. And how many responded to the suggestion that we join in when the crowning moment came and said those words: “God save the King!”

An ancient phrase, coming straight out of the Hebrew scriptures, as far as the Coronation Service is concerned. That word ‘save’ has such a variety of meanings. Probably the most apt is the idea that the monarch should enjoy a long life, kept safe by God. Not just for months or a few years but forever. “May the King live forever!” We would not really wish that on anyone nowadays, surely. And yet the idea of lengthened life is still at the heart of medical science. Recently we heard news of research that is based on the idea that the ageing process can be refined/improved to the point where we live to be 130. Is that what being ‘saved’ is going to mean?

This month’s offering is about a quite different understanding of that word; one that is even more relevant to our present situation. The cost of living is likely going to be a major factor in the way we make our democratic choice of a candidate at the coming elections. Too many people are living beyond their means - and they can hardly be blamed for their predicament. Some have decided to adopt the risky expedient of drawing on their savings. Money put aside for retirement or for buying a house sometime in the future is being used simply to live from week-to-week. This predicament draws attention to the role that banks in general play in our lives and the life of our country. Savings banks were established in Auckland and Wellington in the 1840s, and Methodist ministers contributed to their operation from the beginning.

An early Auckland Methodist played a significant role in the establishment of the country’s banking system. That man was Thomas Russell “arguably the outstanding commercial figure in 19th century New Zealand” as his entry in the New Zealand Dictionary of Biography states. First employed in a legal office, Russell was from his earliest years involved in Auckland Methodism. Walter Lawry, himself a man of considerable business acumen, took him under his wing when Russell was in his mid-teens. Much of the Wesleyan Mission’s legal work was put his way and he managed the Wesleyan funds with such prudence that he “soon amassed a considerable sum of money.” Lawry encouraged Auckland Wesleyan leaders to give their business to him and these links were further strengthened when Russell married Lawry’s niece, Emeline Vercoe.

Russell’s legal practice had much more to do with conveyancing than consultation - he was businessman first and lawyer second. It was largely on his initiative that the New Zealand Insurance Company was formed and it is said that more than anyone else he was responsible for the founding of the Bank of New Zealand. At first there was no suggestion that he was anything other than a man of “good practice in good circumstances.” Long before he was 40, he was regarded as the leader of the Auckland business community. Increasingly he became involved in politics and was a cabinet minister by 1863 but at the same time his relationship with Governor Grey started to break down. When the site of the capital moved to Wellington, Russell dropped out of formal politics.

As Russell dropped out of politics, he increasingly became involved in an issue that has dominated relationships in Aotearoa for two centuries - land. Typical of so many of his cast of mind, Russell thought of land as a commodity. It was something to be obtained and developed and sold - something that would prove profitable for the investor. Russell the capitalist had the ability to organize what we now call infrastructure. But the other side was more concerned with personal advantage. He engaged in land development schemes on a grand scale and was not always successful. It is hard to imagine that his involvement was in line with the thinking of the average Methodist of his time.

His involvement with Methodist affairs dwindled as he became totally involved in business and political affairs. He and his family migrated to England in 1874 but he continued his involvement in land development (speculation), among other things, in this country. As the 1880s depression deepened, his personal circumstances changed and his reputation was called into question. Such an attitude had been long in the making, and it had taken a long time to forget. He died in relatively comfortable circumstances in Surrey in 1904 and this former Methodist lay preacher no longer warranted an obituary in the church newspaper.