Self government for the Anglican Church in New Zealand, 1838 to 1865

Abstract

This thesis was written during 1964 and 1965 after five months of full-time research in 1964 at the Alexander Turnbull Library, the General Assembly Library and the National Archives, Wellington. I recognize fully that there remains much material at the Library of the Auckland Institute Museum and the Hocken Library, Dunedin which should be searched before any fully definitive treatment of the subject over a longer period in time can be produced. Although a considerable quantity of Gladstone - Selwyn correspondence was ordered on microfilm from the British Museum, it did not arrive in New Zealand before I left for England and so I could not incorporate it in the research for this thesis. Since coming to England, I have been fortunate to be employed as a research assistant for the Australian National University and National Library's projected guide to manuscripts in Great Britain relating to Australia, New Zealand and the South West Pacific. In the course of describing the archives of various institutions, especially the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Formerly the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. I have discovered further material, some of which casts light on the subject of this thesis and related topics. Although I have not found anything which would lead me to alter my general conclusions, further time for wider research would make possible a more detailed and documented consideration of the changing nature of the church’s relationship with the state in Australia and New Zealand. There are still rich resources to be studied in England and New Zealand for those interested in the study of religion and society or the character of religious effort in New Zealand and the Pacific.