Abstract:
This is a study of four Church Missionary Society (CMS) wives in New Zealand in the
nineteenth century. The women are Charlotte Brown (nde Arnett), Anne Wilson (nee
Hawker), Elizabeth Colenso (n6e Fairburn) and Catherine Hadfield (nde Williams).
My thesis is that these women who were regarded by the CMS as adjuncts to their
husbands were in fact "more than wives." Until recently women, especially wiveso
have been virtually invisible in the history of mission. If we train a camera lens back
through history we find that the women have been shadowy figures, blurred at the
edges so this thesis is an attempt to refocus the camera and to train the lens on these
women It brings their lives and experiences into focus and asks certain questions of
and about them. A narrative approach is used in collating the lives and stories of these
four women.
The work begins by surveying the range of literature available on Protestant women in
mission in the nineteenth century. This introductory chapter also examines and
discusses Dana Robertos framework of the model Christian home as a conscious and
intentional paradigm for mission. The next chapter considers and reflects on the British
evangelical context which shaped the background and worldview of these women.
The chapters on each of the women bring their lives into focus and out of invisibility by
asking new analytical questions. These chapters examine whether these women had
their own vocation for missionary service and whether they could fulfil this as a
missionary wife. They look at how these women understood their role and calling and
what kind of work they were involved in and consider to what extent each woman
served as an active missionary in her own right and not just as an adjunct to her
husband. These chapters also reflect on what we learn from their daily lives and
routines that provides a more holistic understandlng of missionary life and service
during this period.
The thesis concludes by considering how far the model Christian home was a rationale
for mission service for these four women and to what extent they were "more than
wives."