Story: Tuai

Tuai’s letter, 1818

Tuai’s letter to the secretary of the Church Missionary Society in London reports in vivid detail his experiences in Wellington and at Hawkstone Park in Shropshire. Neither Tuai nor Tītere learned to write much more than their own names, so they dictated their letters in English to their missionary friend, Francis Hall, who wrote down their words on a slate. Tuai and Tītere then copied this writing onto paper with quill and ink.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: MS-Papers-0288-04

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page:

Alison Jones. 'Tuai', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2018. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6t3/tuai (accessed 30 March 2024)