Charles Baker - Journals and papers, 1827 - 1869

1827-1978

Parent

Provenance: The originals were first lent by Mr V.H. [Victor Horace] Baker, 22 Rothesay Bay Road, Auckland, during the 1950s for copying. This was completed in 1959. One copy was sent to the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington; one to Mr Baker, and one retained by the library. In February 1960, Mr Baker, after consulting with other members of his family, donated all the journals. There was a gap in the journals, to which Mr Baker later acquired a handwritten copy of September 1839 to July 1844. Typescripts were made of these in 1961-62. The originals of this handwritten copy may be in the possession of Miss Marie King, of Russell.

Charles Baker was born on 5 August 1803, at Packington, Leicestershire, England. After the death of his first wife Sophia in 1826, Baker joined the Anglican Church Missionary Society. He was soon appointed to New Zealand, and set sail from Woolwich, England, aboard the brig 'Minerva' with his second wife Hannah, arriving in the Bay of Islands on 9 June 1828. Baker and his family lived and worked at the Kerikeri Mission Station until 1834. They then moved to the Paihia Mission Station where, in 1835, Baker was instrumental in the building of Christ Church at Kororareka (now Russell). It is now the oldest church in New Zealand. Baker assisted with the translation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) into Māori, and was present at its signing on 6 February 1840. The Baker family was stationed at Waikare (1840-42), Tolaga Bay (1843-51), Rangitukia (1854-57), and Tauranga (1860-63), where he was ordained. In 1865 Baker retired to Auckland. He died on 6 February 1875, and was buried at St. Stephen’s Church Cemetery in Parnell, Auckland.

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26 Jul 2023