A Kindly Christian Gentleman: William Garden Cowie, Bishop of Auckland 1869-1902 by Frank Wright (Auckland: Polygraphia, 2007 – NZ$49.50; copies available from the author, 314/9 Shaftesbury Ave., Selwyn Village, Point Chevalier, Auckland; wrightl@clear.net.nz).

In the interval between William Garden Cowie’s consecration as Bishop of Auckland in 1869 and his death in 1902, the Diocese of Auckland expanded enormously, as did the province itself. The number of clergy rose from 28 to 85. In 1870, five of those clergy were Maori, but in 1902 there were 16.

Over 70 churches were built. Confirmees averaged 325 per year in 1870, but in 1902 the figure nearly trebled to 925. When assessing the workload and achievements of Cowie, the reader needs also to realize that at that time, the Diocese of Auckland also encompassed Taranaki, the Waikato, and the King Country.

Just coping with the expectations surrounding a bishop in a diocese over 400 miles long, for almost 33 years, is achievement enough. But Cowie, loyally and ably supported by his wife Eliza, worked to create the Sailors’ Home and the Foundation for the Blind.

He was very supportive of Eliza’s initiatives, which included the Children’s Home and the Women’s Home (ancestors of the Anglican Trust for Women and Children), and the Mission to the Streets and Lanes. The Bishop’s vision and achievements can now be read alongside those of his wife, whose story has been recorded by Beverley Reeves (Looking for Mrs Cowie, 2005).

A true Victorian, with an interesting record as a chaplain in the Bengal Establishment, an English regiment in India, Cowie won great admiration as a caring pastoral bishop and careful administrator. He was never a “party man” who belonged to a recognizable theological/liturgical faction. Instead, he was a leader who could be at ease among all sections of his diocese, and among a wide range of society in colonial northern New Zealand, both rural and urban.

Cowie seems to have lacked the charisma of Selwyn, but worked phenomenally hard and was personally generous with both time and money. His failure to carry out his intention of establishing an Order of Deaconesses suggests a reluctance to challenge the collective prejudices of General Synod.

In many ways, he was a well-loved leader of the settler-dominated church of the time but cared greatly, as Frank Wright makes clear, for the struggling Maori section of his diocese. Cowie sons, John and Edmund, became prominent clergy in the diocese.

The Bishop’s mana and long service ensured that he spent his final years as Primate. When he announced his retirement, he was physically and emotionally spent, and died soon afterwards, before he could enjoy the retirement that had been delayed by lack of adequate financial provision for him.

Frank Wright has done extensive background work, including research into army and parish records in England, and has produced what the Diocese of Auckland has been lacking until now – a thorough, sympathetic and readable study of its first bishop (Selwyn was Bishop of New Zealand), written from conscientious and dogged research into its early history.

This deficiency is also being remedied by Beverley Reeves’ book, and will be further addressed by the planned diocesan history. Photos and other illustrations are well chosen, as are quotations, in keeping with the author’s intention to “let Cowie and his contemporaries speak for themselves as much as he can.”

Wright could have done with the services of an expert and sympathetic editor. The quotations tend to speak for themselves at length, and could have been better focused with pruning and more incisive comment. Errors (like “St Peter’s Cambridge” instead of “St Andrew’s”) might have been weeded out. The sketchy nature of some of the end notes also could have been fleshed out, and the index given a more professional polish.

But these comments are not to detract from Wright’s admirable pursuit of his historical passion. A Kindly Christian Gentleman makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the Victorian settler church, and of the diocesan and regional history of Auckland.

Geoff Haworth is a Associate Ministry Adviser in the Diocese of Christchurch and a historian. assoc@chch.ang.org.nz.