Story: History of immigration

Missionary buildings at Kerikeri (1st of 2)

Missionary buildings at Kerikeri

In 1814 the Sydney chaplain Samuel Marsden established New Zealand’s first mission in the Bay of Islands. The missionaries were never a large community, but they left behind some notable buildings, including Kemp House (shown here), which was built in 1821–22. It was a mission house for the Reverend John Gare Butler, who came as part of Marsden’s second Church Missionary Society mission to New Zealand. Kemp House is the oldest surviving European building in New Zealand. It was lived in and cared for by successive members of the family of missionary James Kemp for 142 years.

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Heritage New Zealand – Pouhere Taonga
Photograph by Grant Sheehan

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How to cite this page:

Jock Phillips, 'History of immigration - Early years', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/1518/missionary-buildings-at-kerikeri (accessed 25 April 2024)

Story by Jock Phillips, published 8 Feb 2005, updated 1 Aug 2015