William Ellis (missionary) - Mission To Polynesia

Mission To Polynesia

After attending Homerton College, then in Hampstead, he was ordained in 1815, and married Mary Mercy Moor on 9 November 1815. He was posted to the South Sea Islands with his wife, leaving England on 23 January 1816. They arrived at Eimeo, one of the Windward Islands, via Sydney and learned the language there. During their stay there several chiefs of nearby Pacific islands who had assisted Pomare in regaining sovereignty of Tahiti, visited Eimeo and welcomed the LMS missionaries (including John Orsmond and John Williams and their wives) to their own islands. All three missionary families went to Huahine, arriving in June 1818, drawing crowds from neighbouring islands, including King Tamatoa of Raiatea.

Ellis and a small group travelled from Tahiti on the schooner Mermaid to the Hawaiian Islands, known then as the "Sandwich Islands". On the same voyage, another small schooner called Prince Regent with six cannons was presented to King Kamehameha II. They arrived in Honolulu on 16 April 1822, and although the plan had been to visit the Marquesas Islands, they returned to Tahiti on 27 August 1822. He was invited to stay, and brought his family to Hawaii, arriving on the Active on 4 February 1823. In June 1823 Ellis joined American Missionaries Asa Thurston, Artemas Bishop and Joseph Goodrich on a tour of the island of Hawaiʻi, to investigate suitable sites for mission stations. On the way he stopped at Maui and met Queen Keōpūolani. Their first stop was Kailua-Kona, where they met the Governor of the island Kuakini, known as "John Adams".

They visited Kealakekua Bay, and toured the historic sites nearby, such as the Puʻuhonoua o Hōnaunau. They traveled south past the Mauna Loa volcano. They were some of the first Europeans to visit the caldera of the Kīlauea volcano, which was active at the time. On the eastern side they visited Hilo and Waipiʻo Valley, and some of the party continued up snow-covered Mauna Kea. Some of the important missions set up as a result of this trip include Mokuaikaua Church, Imiola Church, Kealakekua Church, and the Haili Church. Returning to Honolulu, he learned the Hawaiian language, transcribed the language into a roman alphabet and helped set up a printing press.