Kōrero: Missions and missionaries

Baptism of Te Puni

Baptism of Te Puni

When a chief was baptised into the Christian faith, his whole tribe sometimes followed him. This 1853 painting shows Te Puni, a leading chief of Te Āti Awa in the Wellington region, being baptised by Octavius Hadfield in his church of Rangiātea in Ōtaki. The painting, by Charles Barraud, was commissioned by Governor George Grey (fifth from right), who appears with his wife, Eliza, standing beside Hadfield. Grey may have commissioned this painting to show the success of his policy of assimilating Māori into European settler society. However Te Puni was actually baptised in more modest circumstances in Petone, Wellington.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

National Library of Australia
Reference: nla.pic-an2273028
Oil on canvas by Charles Decimus Barraud

Permission of the National Library of Australia must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Peter J. Lineham, 'Missions and missionaries - Māori converts', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/artwork/28017/baptism-of-te-puni (accessed 30 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Peter J. Lineham, i tāngia i te 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 8 Aug 2018