Consecrated at Lambeth on 17 October 1841, Bishop Selwyn embarked for his new missionary diocese on 26 December. In April 1842 the
Tomatin arrived in
Sydney. The boat hit a rock on landing and, rather than wait for its repair, some of the party, including Selwyn and Cotton, set sail for New Zealand on the
brig Bristolian on 19 May. They arrived in
Auckland on 30 May. After spending some time as guests of Captain
William Hobson, the first
Governor of New Zealand, Selwyn and Cotton set sail on 6 June on the
schooner Wave to visit the mission stations on the
Hauraki Gulf, then north to the
Bay of Islands. where he arrived on 20 June. Among the party was a clerk,
William Bambridge, who was also an accomplished artist and was later to become photographer to
Queen Victoria. In June 1842, Selwyn set up residence at
Te Waimate mission, some inland from
Paihia where the
Church Missionary Society (CMS) had established a settlement 11 years earlier. Some buildings at Waimate were converted for use by the
College of St John the Evangelist, to teach theology to candidates for ordination. Their journey was made partly by canoe but mainly by walking, often for large distances over difficult and dangerous terrain. Part way through the tour Selwyn decided to split the party into two sections with one section led by himself and the other by Cotton. After being away for nearly three months, Cotton arrived back at Waimate early in 1844 and Selwyn returned a few weeks later. , painted by
Caroline Abraham, 1862 Later in 1844 Selwyn decided to move some south to
Tāmaki near
Auckland where he bought of land, giving it the name of Bishop's Auckland. The party left on 23 October and arrived in Auckland on 17 November. The staff and students lived in huts at the head of the Purewa Creek which served as the port while the college was constructed upstream. The first buildings were built of
scoria, with the kitchen / dining hall erected in 1846, but additional buildings were constructed in wood. The
Collegiate Chapel was consecrated in 1847. During the first six months of 1845 Selwyn was away for much of the time and management of the settlement, and particularly the schools, fell to Cotton. The Bishop of New Zealand's seat was
St Paul's Church, Auckland which served as Auckland's Cathedral for over 40 years, including the whole 28 years Selwyn had the role. Selwyn clashed with
Archdeacon Henry Williams, the leader of the CMS in New Zealand, when he supported
Governor George Grey's accusations of improper
land purchases by Williams. Grey twice failed to recover the land in the Supreme Court, and when Williams refused to give up the land unless the charges were retracted, he was dismissed from the CMS in November 1849. However Selwyn later regretted the position he had taken and in 1854 Williams was reinstated to the CMS after the bishop lobbied for his return to membership. The CMS missionaries held the
low church beliefs that were common among
Evangelical members of the
Anglican Church. There was often a wide gap between the views of the CMS missionaries and the bishops and other clergy of the
high church traditions of the
Oxford Movement (also known as the Tractarians) as to the proper form of ritual and religious practice. Selwyn held high church (Tractarian) views although he appointed CMS missionaries to positions in the Anglican Church of New Zealand including appointing
William Williams as the first
Bishop of Waiapu. Bishop Selwyn's
see was an early foundation in the series of colonial sees organised by the English church, and his organisation and government of his diocese proved of special importance. In six years he completed a thorough visitation of the whole of New Zealand, and in December 1847 began a series of voyages to the Pacific Islands, which were included in his
diocese by a clerical error in his
letters patent. His see should have been defined as lying between 34th and 50th degrees of south latitude. The clerk drafted the boundaries as lying between 34th degrees of
north latitude and 50th degrees of south latitude, which included islands to the north of New Zealand. His voyages and the administrative work described below resulted in 1861 in the consecration of
John Coleridge Patteson as the first
Bishop of Melanesia. Selwyn elaborated a scheme for the self-government of his diocese. In 1854 he visited England to secure authorisation to subdivide his diocese, as well as permission for the church of New Zealand to manage its own affairs by a "general synod" of bishops, presbyters, and laity. His addresses before the University of Cambridge produced a great impression. On his return to New Zealand four bishops were consecrated, two to the North Island and two to the South Island, and the legal constitution of the church was finally established. His diocese having been subdivided,
letters patent were issued (dated 27 September 1858) appointing Selwyn
metropolitan bishop over all the dioceses of New Zealand. The first general synod was held in 1859. Selwyn's constitution of the
Anglican Church of New Zealand greatly influenced the development of the colonial church. By the time of the 1858 revision of the General Synod's constitution, his role as metropolitan had come to be called "
the Primate"; that title was added to the constitution at that synod and remains today. Selwyn was criticised by missioners in New Zealand like
Thomas Grace, and by the CMS in London, including
Henry Venn, for being ineffective in training and ordaining New Zealand teachers, deacons and priests – especially Māori. The CMS had funded half of his role on the condition that he ordain as many people as possible, but Selwyn slowed this down by insisting those in training learn Greek and Latin first. It would be 11 years until the first Māori deacon,
Rota Waitoa, would be ordained by the Bishop at
St Paul's, Auckland, and 24 years before he ordained a Māori priest. Selwyn was blamed for undermining the work of the CMS and damaging the enthusiasm Māori had for Christianity. Selwyn generally advocated for Māori rights and was often a critic of the unjust and reckless land acquisition practices that led to the
New Zealand Wars. In April 1860, following
a land dispute in Taranaki, Selwyn wrote to
Henry Tancred, acting Colonial Secretary, protesting how premature the Government had been in declaring
martial law against
Te Ati Awa, claiming this tribe had been 'faithful and efficient allies of the Government'. In the letter he further held that military action should not have been engaged in before exploring 'civil power' to resolve the dispute, called for a full scale investigation and concluded that Māori deserved the government's 'respect and gratitude...[instead of]...bullets'. However his support of the
Invasion of the Waikato, where, as
chaplain, he was frequently seen riding on horseback on the frontlines with the British and colonial forces, damaged his and the church's relationship with Māori, which is still felt today. After an engagement which resulted in the deaths of women and children in a burning whare at Rangiaowhia on 21 February 1864, it was charged that the bishop had treacherously misled them into believing the village was a safe haven. Other stories claimed that Selwyn assisted in the massacre and blessed the troops involved. A pamphlet, Ngā minita i roto i te whawhai (The ministers involved in the war), contains Māori testimony which exonerates Selwyn and confirms his presence on the fateful day at Te Awamutu, where he rendered assistance to Māori casualties from nearby Hairini. His acute sense of duty, and his desire to bring compassion to both sides, blinded him to the ambiguity of his presence with the military. He was pained by these charges, and by the damage done to the standing of the church among Māori. One historian has concluded that Selwyn "never recovered the trust he had earlier enjoyed". ==Final years==