William Gilbert Puckey - A Man of Honour

A Man of Honour

Puckey lived his life as an honest, humane, and sincere man with considerable integrity; he maintained strong connections with the church and with the purpose of converting Māori to Christianity and translating the Gospel so that Maori could understand it. Even into his later years when he was bedridden and hard of hearing, he still maintained time to give a ‘nugget’ of wisdom to a young Māori that might happen to come by. Acts like these earned him the respect of Nga Puhi chiefs, such as Paerata and Pana-kareao.

However, some thought he could have improved his contributions. The Waitangi Commission's 'Muriwhenua Land Report' rather condescendingly said - "William Puckey was an honest man, and a fluent Māori speaker, but he was more of a faithful artisan than a wordsmith. He was a layman throughout his missionary service, being neither admitted to the diaconate nor ordained as a priest. His use of the Māori language left good scope for improvement, in our view, and as for legal draftsmanship his deeds were in urgent need of repair". But Puckey's own writings are often very insightful, and well seasoned with illuminating metaphor. Puckey recorded a letter he had received from a Maori correspondent in the 'Missionary Register' in 1836, that said "the Holy Spirit has begun to dig at the top of my heart, but works downward very slowly. He seems to stand in need of a spade".