MORGAN, JOHN (1810-65). Came to Bay of Islands in the Prince of Denmark in 1833 to join the Church Missionary Society. He accompanied the Revs Henry Williams and A. N. Brown on a visit to Waharoa, and with Mr and Mrs Preece established the mission at Puriri (Thames). In 1835 he settled at Mangapouri with a carpenter's equipment and garden seeds, but at the end of the year he was withdrawn. Morgan was for some years engaged amongst the Ngati-Haua and Arawa tribes on the Waihou, and at Matamata and Rotorua. At the last station he passed through a very anxious time, being driven by tribal wars to refuge with the Rev Thomas Chapman and their wives on Mokoia island.

In 1841 Morgan took over the station at Otawhao, where he built a new mission house and for 20 years carried on a most successful ministration as missionary and instructor to the tribes on the Waipa river. The Ngati-Maniapoto and Ngati-Ruru in particular he instructed in the arts of agriculture and fruitgrowing. In a variety of ways he scattered grass seed on his journeys. The Ngati-Apakura district at Rangiaowhia became a granary of fine wheat, studded with flourmills, and on this account was one of the principal meeting places of the King movement. The large gatherings of 1858-60 required plentiful supplies of food which only this district could furnish. He thus christianised the Waikato in a practical manner.

Morgan attended St John's College, where he was ordained deacon (1849) and priest (1853). In 1863 he handed over his principal school to the resident magistrate (Gorst) and left the district. He was a man of genuine piety and usefulness. During the troubles of the sixties he kept the government closely informed of the plans of the King party. He died at Mangere on 8 Jun 1865.

Davis; Wily and Maunsell; Sherrin and Wallace (p); typescript letters and journals in Turnbull Library; Gorst; Cowan, The Old Frontier; Te Awamutu Centenary; N.Z. Herald, 9 Jun 1865; 4 Aug 1934.

Reference: Volume 2, page 53

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