CREED, CHARLES (1812-79), who was born in Somersetshire, was a man of great physical strength and determination. He entered the Wesleyan ministry in 1837, was accepted for the mission field and sailed from Gravesend on 20 Sep 1838 with five others in the ship James. After touching at Hobart they reached Hokianga in Feb 1839.

Creed had two years' experience at Hokianga and Kaipara and then went with a mission party in the brig Triton to Taranaki. This landing on the beach at Ngamotu under the superintendence of Waterhouse (14 Jan 1841) is pictured in Baxter's famous print. They were the first resident missionaries in Taranaki and Mrs Creed was the first European woman to settle there. In Mar the missionaries met on the beach their fellow West-Countrymen of Cornwall and Devon coming to settle the province. Creed spent three years in charge of the Maori population between Cook Strait and Waikato. In 1844 the conference sent him to succeed Watkin (q.v.) in Otago, a charge which extended from Stewart Island in the south to Kaikoura. His supply of literature was in the Waikato dialect but, being a good Maori linguist, he was able to overcome the difficulty of the Ngai-Tahu variations. He was a tireless traveller, whether on foot, by canoe or on horseback. In Sep 1845 he tramped all over Banks Peninsula visiting Maori settlements; explored the site afterwards occupied by the city of Christchurch and returned by way of Lake Ellesmere and Temuka to Waikouaiti. He was the first white preacher of any denomination to hold a service on the site of Dunedin. In Feb 1846 Kettle (q.v.) arrived to carry out the survey, and a firm friendship sprang up between the two men. The infant son of Robert Park (q.v.), which was born at Akaroa, was baptised by Creed on 29 Oct, the first European child to be baptised at Dunedin. He also baptised the first white boy (John Anderson) and the first white girl (Elizabeth Kettle) born in Dunedin. He held a service in the immigration barracks on 13 Apr 1848, a few weeks after the arrival of the John Wickliffe. Dr Burns found him "an excellent devoted man," but Cargill resented his influence with the Anglicans and charged him with deserting his own flock and intruding upon the field of another pastor. Creed replied establishing his priority in the field and he continued his work until the arrival of the first Anglican minister (Rev J. A. Fenton) early in 1852. Creed's missionary work amongst the natives was much hampered by the extent of his circuit, and the lack of native teachers. On this account he entrusted the care of those at Otakou to Thomas Ferens, a Durham Methodist. In 1852 he was transferred to the North Island, where he was a colleague of Buller at Hutt (1854). He died in New South Wales on 19 Feb 1879.

Buller; Morley; Hocken, Otago; M. A. R. Pratt (information); G. Smales in N.Z. Herald, 6 Jan 1894.

Reference: Volume 1, page 108

🌳 Further sources