SELWYN, GEORGE AUGUSTUS (1809-78) was the son of William Selwyn, Q.C., and was born in Hampshire. His mother was Letitia Frances, daughter of Thomas Kynaston, of Witham, Essex; and his father, a distinguished constitutional lawyer, was treasurer of Lincoln's Inn and instructor to the Prince Consort in the constitutional laws of England. George was educated under Dr Nicholas Ealing at Eton, where he was a contemporary of W. E. Gladstone and of Bishop Harold Browne, of Winchester. He was the best boy on the river and first in almost every branch of study. At St John's College, Cambridge (1827-30) he did not care for mathematics, and was low among the junior optimes; but he was second classic and was elected a fellow of St John's College. He was a very strong swimmer, a tireless walker and a skilful horseman. From his school days he endured hardness, and was a firm believer in fitness and temperance as the basis of health and efficiency. In the first boat race between the universities (1829) Selwyn pulled seventh oar for Cambridge.

On graduating (B.A., 1831; M.A., 1834) he returned to Eton as private tutor to the sons of the Earl of Powis. He was ordained in 1833, and became curate of Boveney, near Eton, and later assistant curate of Windsor. There he had practically sole charge of the parish and did not omit to devote his attention to its slums. In 1839 he married Sarah Harriet, daughter of Sir J. Richardson, judge of the court of common pleas. Having thus vacated his fellowship, he was dependent on his earnings. In 1841 the episcopal council at Lambeth recommended the appointment of a bishop for New Zealand, and the new see was offered to Selwyn, after it had been declined by his brother William (afterwards Lady Margaret professor of divinity at Cambridge). In the letters-patent the solicitors made a mistake in the latitude describing the bounds of the diocese of New Zealand, the effect of which was to give Selwyn jurisdiction over a region, mostly water, extending many degrees north of the equator. He noted the mistake, but did not challenge it. Before being ordained, he asked the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for an annual grant for the purpose of endowment, so as to ensure that the Church in New Zealand should not be a continually increasing burden. He was consecrated at Lambeth chapel on 17 Oct 1841 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Nine days later he received the degree of doctor of divinity from Cambridge University, and Oxford also conferred its degree on him.

On 26 Dec Selwyn and his wife sailed in the Tomatin from Plymouth, accompanied by the Rev C. L. Reay, of the Church Missionary Society; four other clergymen (the Revs Cotton, Whytehead, Cole and Dudley); three catechists (Messrs Butt, Evans and Nihill) and a schoolmaster and mistress, all placed at his disposal by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. During the voyage, with the help of a Maori passenger, Selwyn mastered the Maori language, and with the aid of the ship's officers the art of navigation. Arriving at Port Jackson on 14 Apr, Selwyn found the brig Bristolian about to sail for Auckland, and with Cotton he took passage by her, leaving the rest of the party in the Tomatin. On the morning of 30 May he landed in Auckland. After one or two small expeditions Selwyn decided to fix his headquarters at Waimate, near Bay of Islands, where the Church Missionary Society had buildings and a farm available for his occupation. At the end of Jul he started on his first visitation, which took him to Taranaki, Nelson and Wellington, and thence overland, up the Manawatu river and into Ahuriri, across country to Rotorua and back to Auckland. He thus visited all the settlements and missions in the North Island, and arrived at Bay of Islands again on 9 Jan 1843, having travelled 2,685 miles, of which 1,400 was accomplished by sea, 397 by boat, 126 on horseback and 762 on foot. The Rev T. B. Whytehead, the head of St John's College, died on 19 Mar. The rest of the year was devoted to establishing the projected Polynesian college and its adjuncts. In Mar Selwyn visited the stations to the northward, and in May opened St Paul's Church in Auckland. He ordained three more European deacons (Bolland, Spencer and Butt). In Oct, with the Revs Cotton and Nihill and George Clarke, the Chief Protector of Aborigines, Selwyn started on another long visitation, diagonally across the North Island through Thames, Rotorua, Taupo (where he met the Chief Justice, W. Martin, q.v.), Wanganui, New Plymouth, Nelson, Wellington and Waikanae. Then he sailed in the schooner Richmond for Otago, and thence with Tuhawaiki to Ruapuke and Stewart Island. Some difference of opinion as to spheres of labour in the south developed between the Bishop and the Wesleyan missionaries. In Feb he reached Wellington on his return and met the Governor (FitzRoy), with whom he had many opinions in common in regard to the natives. On 20 Mar he was back at Bay of Islands. His activities on these important visitations are fully described in the annals published in 1847 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

The Church Missionary Society having resolved to resume possession of the farm and mission buildings at Waimate, Selwyn decided to remove his headquarters to Auckland so as to be more centrally situated for the white and native population and the Government, with which he was to have many dealings. He had intended in 1844 to visit the Bishop of Australia to discuss church matters, but was deterred by the first symptoms of disaffection towards the Government on the part of some of the native tribes. The year was marked by the holding of the first synod (without full ecclesiastical authority) to frame regulations for the management of the mission and the government of the church in New Zealand. The move to Auckland involved heavy work and thought in connection with the establishment of the college in its new surroundings, with schools for boys, girls, native adults, half-castes and English children, and a hospital. Selwyn did not soon live down the suspicion in the minds of some natives that he was sent on behalf of the Queen to help undermine Maori customs and the mana of the chiefs. On the day the flagstaff at Kororareka was first cut down (Aug 1844) Heke proceeded straight from that deed to the beach at Paihia, where Selwyn was busy with the native school, and danced the war dance before him. FitzRoy was a guest at St John's College, Waimate, during these disturbed days. When fighting broke out Selwyn, with a complete disregard of danger, moved from point to point without fear or fatigue ministering to the spiritual needs of the soldiers and wounded of both sides and both races. Throughout the day on which Kororareka was sacked (11 Mar 1845) Selwyn and Archdeacon Henry Williams moved about in the town tending the wounded and getting them off to the ships, and next morning burying the dead. In council, too, he was fearless, speaking his mind freely to those in authority, and not refraining from warm controversy when the natives were ill-treated or deceived or their interests seemed in danger of being ignored. During the next year he again undertook a task of some danger in mediating between the Christian tribes of the West Coast and the invaders from Taupo.

The arrival of Sir George Grey as Governor (1845), with personal introductions from Gladstone, inaugurated a period of interesting cooperation for the benefit of the Maori people, which was marred, however, by serious disagreements on the interpretation of Earl Grey's despatches relating to the Maori title to their lands. About this time Selwyn had an unhappy dispute with some of the senior missionaries regarding their land purchases. During the troubles at Wellington he remained at Waikanae to restrain Te Rauparaha, whose son was a zealous native Christian. In 1848 the arrival of H.M.S. Dido gave Selwyn an opportunity (as temporary chaplain) of visiting the islands of Melanesia and making his plans for evangelising them. Visiting Tonga, Samoa, New Hebrides and New Caledonia, he brought back some Melanesian young men for instruction at St John's. The little schooner Flying Fish, 17 tons, which he had used for the past few years in his visitations, was unequal to the longer voyages which he now contemplated, and he acquired the Undine, 22 tons. His first voyage in her, to the South Island and the Chathams, was of 3,000 miles. In 1849 he took some of his young Melanesians as evangelists back to their homes in the New Hebrides. On this voyage he met H.M.S. Havannah, and again he took some boys for training in his college. In 1850 the Rev C. J. Abraham (q.v.) arrived to take charge of the college. In May some Melanesian boys were returned to their own islands, others being brought away to take their places in the college. Later in the year Selwyn paid a visit to Australia for the meeting of the synod. There the Australian board of missions was formed, and it was decided to obtain a larger vessel, the Border Maid, of 100 tons. In her Selwyn, with Bishop Tyrrell of Newcastle, made a perilous voyage to the New Hebrides. While watering at Malekula the party, divided into three, was surrounded by strong bands of hostile natives and in grave danger of being attacked. Selwyn's courage never flagged. With great self-possession and deliberation he completed his task and led his party back to the shore, where they managed to board the vessel and to get her under sail amidst a fleet of hostile canoes. In Oct he reached Auckland, bringing 13 new boys for the work. Two years later it was decided to establish a mission at Nengone, in New Hebrides, with a resident missionary (Rev W. Nihill) in charge. In 1852 he held a synod at Canterbury with four clergy, met J. R. Godley, and before returning to Auckland visited Otago, Ruapuke, and Chatham islands. In 1853 he ordained his first Maori deacon (Rota Waitoa).

After again visiting Melanesia (1853) Selwyn left for England in 1854 with his wife and two eldest children. His main objects were to visit his ageing father, and to lay before the authorities a scheme which he had elaborated for the self-government of the diocese of New Zealand (by means of a general synod), and the formation of new dioceses. His mission was entirely successful. His plans were adopted, Melanesia was created a separate see and £10,000 raised for this purpose. Friends of the mission gave the schooner Southern Cross, and Charlotte Yonge set aside all the profits of The Daisy Chain for the purpose. To his disappointment, the schooner was not ready for the voyage out, and he had to come back in the Duke of Portland (1855) in company with Henry Sewell. He left his two elder sons in England, and brought out John Coleridge Patteson (q.v.), who later became Bishop of Melanesia. On his arrival he left at once for Taranaki to mediate in a tribal dispute, a task in which he incurred the anger of the settlers. He explained his position in a pastoral letter. Selwyn made one voyage in the Southern Cross, visiting 66 islands and effectively occupying the field where other organisations were not already in charge. On a visit to New South Wales he tried to persuade the governor to allow the headquarters of the Melanesian mission to be located at Norfolk Island, but Denison required it for the Pitcairn people.

Four new bishops were now consecrated, and the legal constitution of the Church in New Zealand was put forward in 1857, adopted by Parliament in 1858, and fully established at the first general synod in 1859. As an organiser, Selwyn had great influence on the church both in New Zealand and abroad. In 1861 Patteson was appointed Bishop of Melanesia, and Selwyn paid several visits with him to the northern islands. The mission headquarters were removed from St John's to Kohimarama, where they remained till 1867. Selwyn at this time was in a financial quandary. The Parliament of New Zealand, when responsible government was introduced, declined to recognise the existence of an established church in New Zealand by continuing to vote each year the moiety (£600) of the salary of the bishop. Selwyn had already donated the other half of his salary to the fund for the establishment of new sees. When he heard of the decision of Parliament he determined to return to New Zealand in any circumstances, and declined the offer of the bishopric of Sydney. Shortly after his return he became involved again in controversy on behalf of the Maori chiefs who resisted the sale of their lands to the Government. He was uncompromising in insisting that the good faith of the British Government, upon the strength of which the chiefs had signed the Treaty of Waitangi, should be vindicated. He attended the King conference of 1857, when Potatau was elected, and again in 1860, but withdrew when the King flag was hoisted. In 1862 he exerted all his influence at Wi Tamihana's conference at Matamata. With Martin, Hadfield and Swainson he firmly maintained his position, incurring the censure of the government and the opprobrium of the settlers of Taranaki, who upbraided him in warm terms for taking the part of the natives. Selwyn even found himself at variance with Grey on the interpretation of despatches from the Imperial government. The Government of the day, he thought, showed too little regard for the rights of the Maori, who were at the mercy of the more sophisticated whites. Throughout the wars in Taranaki and Waikato Selwyn was constantly in the field as chaplain to the troops, ministering without distinction to the needs of both races and both sides in the conflict. After the murder of Volkner he hastened to Opotiki to bring away Grace.

The influx of diggers to Otago (1861), Westland (1865) and Thames (1867) raised new problems of organisation which Selwyn promptly solved. In 1867 he again visited England, to attend the first Pan-Anglican synod, which had originated in his own work of church organisation. While there he was offered the vacant see of Lichfield, which he firmly refused because 'the native race, to whose service I was first called, requires all the efforts of the few friends that remain to them.' He wished no new field of work. His organisation there was not yet complete, the church was not endowed, his health was still good, and his heart was in New Zealand and Melanesia. The Archbishop of Canterbury urged the appointment upon him, and finally at Windsor Castle (on 1 Dec 1867) the Queen expressed her strong desire that he would accept the see in England. Yielding as an act of obedience, he was enthroned on 9 Jan 1868, and at once returned to New Zealand to close up his activities here. His final departure from the colony (20 Oct 1868) was marked by widespread demonstrations of regret.

Selwyn introduced in his new sphere the methods of church organisation and administration which he had adopted in New Zealand. He was again a missionary in his approach to the needs of the Black Country; distinguished himself by his exertions in the colliery disaster at Pelsall in 1872, and established a mission to the bargees, appointing a resident chaplain in the barge Messenger who ministered to the large floating population on the Trent and Mersey canals. Amongst Selwyn's publications, apart from official reports and controversial letters, are: Are Cathedrals Useless? (1838), Sermons Preached in the Church of St John, New Windsor (1842), and A Verbal Analysis of the Holy Bible (1855). Selwyn paid two visits to Canada and the United States (1871 and 1874). He was deeply affected by the martyrdom of Patteson in the Melanesian islands in 1871. His own son, J. R. SELWYN (q.v.), whom he had ordained, became a worker in these dangerous islands and was eventually selected as Patteson's successor and consecrated on 18 Feb 1877. Selwyn died on 11 Apr 1878, and his widow on 25 Mar 1907.

G.B.O.P., 1849/1120; App. H.R., 1853-66 (notably 1854 I, p. 300, 1856 AG, 1858 L.C. E5, 1860 E1, E1b, E4, 1861 D10, E3, E3b, E3f, 1863 E7, E7I, 1864 E2, E2a E2c, E5; Buick, First War; Selwyn, op. cit.; Gorst; Thomson; Carleton; Rusden; Saunders; Buller; Davis; Gudgeon; Gisborne (p); Curteis; Godley, Letters; Hampstead Parish Church Magazine, Apr-Aug 1909 (p); Tucker; Boreham; How; Southern Cross, 21 Oct 1868; The Times, 12 Apr 1878.

Reference: Volume 2, page 146

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