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Bennett, Frederick Augustus

1871–1950

Ngāti Whakaue; Anglican clergyman and bishop

This biography, written by Manu A. Bennett, was first published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography in 1996. It was translated into te reo Māori by the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team.

Frederick Augustus Bennett was born on 15 November 1871 at Ōhinemutu, Lake Rotorua. His mother, Raiha Ratete (Eliza Rogers), a high-born woman of Ngāti Whakaue section of Te Arawa, gave to her son the culture and whakapapa of her race. His father was Thomas Jackson Bennett, a storekeeper, who had emigrated to New Zealand from Ireland in 1849. He had a splendid command of the English language and was a keen church worker. Frederick's dual ancestry equipped him powerfully for his life's work.

His early years were spent in Maketū, where he was baptised by S. M. Spencer. He attended Maketū Native School, and, on the family's return to Rotorua, Ōhinemutu Native School. In 1883 he gained a scholarship to St Stephen's Native Boys' School in Auckland, and in 1884 studies were continued at Te Wairoa Native School at Lake Tarawera. The Pink and White Terraces there were the centre of the tourist trade; consequent problems developed with liquor traffic and a temperance organisation was formed. Frederick, at 14, was secretary of this society, and the interpreter for guests. It was here that Bishop A. B. Suter of Nelson met him. With parental consent he took Frederick back to Nelson to continue his education at Bishop's School, then Nelson College where he was a prefect and member of the First XV. He sang in the Nelson cathedral choir, taught Sunday school, and assisted at services in outlying areas.

In 1893 Bennett accepted a post at Pūtiki, Whanganui, as lay reader under A. O. Williams at the Māori mission. Anxious that others should have the advantages of education, he immediately began to raise funds to build a school. He had returned to Nelson by the end of 1895 to engage in further study. He was ordained deacon in 1896, completed his licentiate in theology and was ordained priest in 1897. As assistant curate at All Saints' Church he organised the choral singing, but his ministry was far flung. Bennett was influential in building a church at Motueka, and a school at Whangarae Bay, Croisilles Harbour.

From the 1890s Bennett was associated with Te Aute College Students' Association (precursor of the Young Māori Party). He attended their conferences and resolved to devote his life to mission work, supporting the association's aims of improving the physical, intellectual, social and spiritual condition of Māori people.

On 11 May 1899 he married Hana Te Unuhī Mere Paaka (Hannah Mary Park) of Te Āti Awa at Motueka. She had been educated at Hukarere Native Girls' School and together they accepted a call to Bell Block in Taranaki. Bennett's first task was to raise funds, through concerts, for the erection of a hall as a centre for mission work. In 1903 he was involved in the opening of the first native school in Taranaki, at Pūniho. Bennett showed considerable courage in going as a representative of a Pākehā religion to a territory where Pākehā were scorned and hated following the conflicts of the 1860s. He attacked the liquor traffic and appealed to James Carroll, the minister of native affairs, to introduce legislation against the sale of liquor to Māori for consumption off licensed premises. This led to the Licensing Acts Amendment Act 1904. The time and energy he gave to this campaign brought him into conflict with his diocesan superiors. Despite support from local Māori and Pākehā, Bennett's resignation followed.

Bennett moved to Rotorua in 1905 as superintendent of the Māori mission. His area extended from Rotorua to Taupō and south to Tokaanu. Fund-raising to establish buildings was again a priority. A special concert party was formed, and with the income from tours a church was built at Whakarewarewa, and a hall at Ōhinemutu. Additional churches were later established throughout the mission area. New recruits for the ministry were sought, and during Bennett's tenure a number of students were sent to Gisborne for training at Te Rau Theological College.

One of these students was the catalyst for the famous Rotorua Lakes case. Returning home on holiday in 1907, Mānihera Tūmātahi was apprehended by an acclimatisation society ranger for fishing from the foreshore of his parents' property. When Mānihera was fined, Bennett spoke out against the injustice of fining a man for fishing on his own lake frontage for fish liberated in the lakes without the consent of the lake owners. Others joined the protest and the matter was taken to the Native Land Commission (the Stout–Ngata commission) in 1908. The case hinged on ownership of the lake bed, and the commission encouraged Te Arawa to take it to the Supreme Court. Eventually, in 1922, a compromise was reached, whereby the government agreed to pay the Māori owners £6,000 per annum in perpetuity. This money was placed under the control of the Arawa District Trust Board (now Te Arawa Māori Trust Board) which continues to use this income for the welfare of the Māori people.

Hana Bennett died in August 1909. She and Frederick had had three sons and two daughters. On 14 December 1911 at Gisborne Frederick remarried. His wife, Arihia Rangioue Pōkiha, the daughter of Hēmana Pōkiha of Ngāti Pikiao, was his constant helper.

After 13 years at Rotorua Bennett went to carry out Māori mission work in Hawke's Bay. He was installed in 1917 as pastor at Waipatu, and his mission area extended from Nūhaka to Waipāwa. He was elected a member of the standing committee for the diocese of Waiapu, and served on the Te Aute Trust Board. Throughout his ministry Bennett devoted much time to the publication of pamphlets and periodicals. This began in Nelson with He Kupu Whakamārama and Te Pīpīwharauroa, and continued with Te KōparaTe Toa Takitini and later Te Reo o Aotearoa. These publications provided a link between Anglican Māori throughout New Zealand, to communicate ideas, opinions and news.

The rise of T. W. Rātana's influence from 1918 brought difficulties for the Anglican church and for Bennett's own ministry. He was caught between the disillusionment of Māori which had given rise to the movement, and the arrogance of the settlers and their church, of which his ministry was a part. The Anglican church was initially supportive of Rātana, but when he proclaimed his own church in 1925 he and his followers were regarded with hostility. For Bennett and many others the duty to remain loyal to their priestly vows was to cause them great personal distress.

Partly in response to the formation of the Rātana church, in 1925 it was suggested at General Synod that a Māori diocese be established with its own bishop. Progress became deadlocked over the issue of the bishop's race. The Pākehā church and its bishops insisted that a Pākehā be the first bishop, while the Māori section of the church, under the leadership of Apirana Ngata, was just as insistent that the bishop be Māori. This issue caused tension between Ngata and Bennett, who was prepared to accept a Māori-speaking Pākehā bishop. The deadlock remained until the 1928 General Synod, which passed a compromise statute creating a titular bishopric of Aotearoa but without any territorial jurisdiction of its own. The bishop was to be an assistant to the bishop of Waiapu.

The choice fell on Frederick Bennett. On 2 December 1928 he was consecrated bishop of Aotearoa, the first Māori bishop in New Zealand's history. His work was to minister to Māori in all the dioceses of New Zealand, under licence from diocesan bishops, but many bishops refused to license him. They preferred to carry on Māori pastoral work themselves, a sad hindrance to Bennett's vision of a reorganised Māori mission. (These conditions were to survive until 1978, when the bishop of Aotearoa was licensed by the primate.)

Along with his spiritual duties, Bennett participated enthusiastically in social activities. He encouraged the development of Māori cultural groups; in 1938 he was elected president of the New Zealand Alliance, which continued to battle for liquor law reform; he was a member of the Hawke's Bay Radio Society and the Rotary Club. In 1938 Bennett attended a missionary conference in India, where he was able to meet Christian missioners from all parts of the world.

In August 1946 Bennett celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination. In 1948 he attended the Lambeth Conference in London, and during this visit preached at Westminster Abbey. He then proceeded to the first assembly of the World Council of Churches at Amsterdam. Along with these overseas commitments he was engaged in the revision of the Māori Bible. In the New Year's honours in 1948 he was made a CMG. His work was complex and beset with difficulties, calling for talent, infinite patience and an ungrudging sacrifice of time. Bennett's loyalty to his church never flagged and he maintained a constant faith, a catholicity of outlook, and a quiet, unruffled calm.

All but one of Bennett's 19 children survived into adulthood. Seven sons served in the armed forces during the Second World War and were commissioned; the service of Charles with the 28th (Māori) Battalion was particularly distinguished. Bennett was determined to give his children the best advantages his meagre resources would allow, and most graduated from tertiary institutions. All were active in public life and many received honours and awards. His son Manuhuia became the third bishop of Aotearoa.

Frederick Augustus Bennett died at his home at Kohupātiki, Hawke's Bay, on 16 September 1950, survived by his second wife and 18 children. He was buried beneath the sanctuary of St Faith's Church, Ōhinemutu, a stone's throw from where he was born.

How to cite this page:

Manu A. Bennett. 'Bennett, Frederick Augustus', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3b29/bennett-frederick-augustus (accessed 19 March 2024)