Harbouring

How much do we know about early Māori missionaries? How much do we know about Wesleyan Methodist missions in places other than the North and perhaps Taranaki? Too little. Yet what a rich and complex story they can tell Methodists today.

The author of this novel, well known for her earlier popular novel The Denniston Rose, comes from a Methodist background associated with the Wesley Taranaki Street Church, Wellington. Her life has been based in Wellington so she has a strong connection to and understanding of the setting and characters of Harbouring. The harbour of the title is Wellington Harbour, Te Whanganui a Tara, as it was in the 19th century in the years surrounding the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Chapter one introduces us to two of the main characters, Huw and Martha Pengellin, in Newport, Wales where life is grim for them and their families. Huw seizes the opportunity offered to him by Colonel Wakefield of the New Zealand Company and joins a ship bound for the fledgling Wellington settlement. Martha follows on another ship to share the difficulties and possibilities of their new home. Not many pages later we meet the third important character, Hineroa, enslaved to a Kapiti Coast tribe.

The story of these three strong, courageous people unfolds as they meet the challenges of a new life. They come to know Minarapa, himself a former slave, who becomes a friend to them all. He is a Māori missionary, deputed by Revs Bumby and Hobbs to oversee the Wesleyan mission station at Te Aro Pa. Minarapa finds himself under pressure from intertribal hostilities, political influence, the New Zealand Company’s increasing demands for land and Victorian morality. The stresses and struggles of the developing settlement are brought vividly to life through the characters who become real people to us. We feel their hope, exhaustion, anxiety and satisfaction.

The author has researched the history thoroughly and consulted carefully over the use of Te Reo and Tikanga Māori. She is a wonderful storyteller and superb writer who makes accessible to us what has previously been available mostly only through scholarly works. This book is “a good read” which widens and deepens our understanding.

Note: Minarapa, the Wakefield’s and several other characters are figures from our country’s history. Huw, Martha and Hineroa are fictional characters.