New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 1800s on a business model focused on the systematic colonisation of New Zealand. The company was formed to carry out the principles devised by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of a new-model English society in the southern hemisphere. Under Wakefield’s model, the colony would attract capitalists who would then have a ready supply of labour—migrant labourers who could not initially afford to be property owners, but who would have the expectation of one day buying land with their savings.
Congregational Union of New Zealand
The Congregational Union of New Zealand was founded in 1841 by Pastor Barzillai Quaife, a Māori missionary. Rev. Jonas Woodward was a leading figure in the denomination; he founded the Congregational church in Wellington in 1842. The congregational church in Auckland was formed in 1851, the congregational churches in Dunedin and Christchurch were formed in 1862 and 1894. Work progressed slowly, 40 years later it had only 12 ministers in New Zealand. Officially it was formed in 1887. In 1890s women were admitted to the Assembly as full members. In 1920 church union with the Presbyterian church was initiated, but declined until the Methodist church could join. In 1947 it accepted responsibility the Former London Missionary Society churches in the Pacific islands in Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue. In 1963 the Pacific Island Congregational Churches split. The majority of the denomination merged with the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. The minority remain independent. In 2004 it had 850 members and 15 congregations and 15 house fellowships.