Story: Intelligence services

On 15 January 1864 missionary Carl Völkner wrote to Governor George Grey, informing him of secret plans for a Māori attack on Auckland. Völkner included with the letter a sketch plan of a pā at Rangiaohia (Rangiaowhia). He also mentioned a Māori spy network in Auckland. Völkner, based at Ōpōtiki in Bay of Plenty, was one of many government informants in Māori-dominated territory. Others included fellow missionaries John Whiteley in Taranaki and John Morgan in Waikato. John Gorst, resident magistrate in Waikato in the early 1860s, also acted as an intelligence agent. Völkner paid a high price for his spying – it was one of the reasons why he was executed on 2 March 1865 by adherents of the Pai Mārire religion (also known as Hauhau).