22 Facts About Thomas Kendall

Thomas Kendall was a schoolmaster, an early missionary to Maori people in New Zealand, and a recorder of the Maori language.

Thomas Kendall wrote the first book in Maori, published in 1815.

Thomas Kendall grew up in North Thoresby, Lincolnshire, England, where he was influenced by his local minister Reverend William Myers and the evangelical revival within the Anglican Church.

Thomas Kendall tutored a gentleman's children in Immingham, where he met Jane Quickfall.

In 1805, while attempting to sell a cargo of hops in London, Thomas Kendall visited Bentinck Chapel, Marylebone.

Thomas Kendall sold his business and moved his family to live in London, joining the congregation of that church and taking a job as a schoolmaster.

Thomas Kendall learned the Maori language, and wrote the primer A korao no New Zealand; or, the New Zealander's first book, the first book written in Maori, which was published in Sydney.

Thomas Kendall started a school in August 1816 and it ran for over two years until it closed at the end of 1818 due to a lack of supplies.

Thomas Kendall sent off the manuscript of another book of Maori, but Samuel Lee, a linguist at the University of Cambridge, cast doubts on its accuracy.

Thomas Kendall travelled to London in 1820, along with Hongi Hika and minor chief Waikato, on the whaling ship New Zealander.

Thomas Kendall was ordained a priest on 12 November 1820 by the Bishop of Ely.

Hongi and Thomas Kendall spent five months in Britain, mostly working with Lee in Cambridge, where Thomas Kendall's views about the language were justified.

Thomas Kendall was shown over the Woolwich arsenal and given a suit of armour by the king, along with other gifts.

Thomas Kendall relied upon his friendship with Hongi Hika to assert leadership among other settlers, but it was a friendship bought in part by supporting the trade in firearms for Hongi's warriors, a trade Thomas Kendall himself profited by.

The Church Missionary Society were understandably opposed, but Thomas Kendall felt they failed to understand the practicality of the situation, where the Anglican mission existed at Hongi's pleasure.

Around this time Thomas Kendall had begun an affair with Tungaroa, one of his school pupils who worked as a servant in his household.

Thomas Kendall was the daughter of a Rakau, a prominent Maori tohunga or priest and wise man.

Thomas Kendall indeed began a serious flirtation with Maori religious beliefs, an exploration he set out in a series of seven letters between 1822 and 1824.

The Thomas Kendall family remained living in the Bay of Islands until 1825, when he accepted a position as clergyman at the British consulate at Valparaiso, Chile.

Thomas Kendall attempted to continue his work on the Maori language in Australia, having drafted a substantially improved Maori grammar, but Marsden prevented its publication.

Thomas Kendall died in 1832 when the "Brisbane" sank with all hands off Cape St George while bringing wood and cheese from his farm to market.

One of his grandsons, Henry Thomas Kendall, was an Australian poet.