Alfred Nesbitt Brown

Alfred Nesbitt Brown (23 October 1803 – 7 September 1884) was a member of the Church Missionary Society and one of a number of missionaries who travelled to New Zealand in the early 19th century to bring Christianity to the Māori people.

Brown was born in Colchester, England and joined the CMS at the age of 20 and was ordained as a priest in 1828. The following year he married his first wife Charlotte and travelled with her to New Zealand arriving at Paihia on 29 November 1829.

From late 1833 to late 1834 Brown made several long journeys through the Auckland and Waikato regions before starting the Matamata mission in early 1835. Due to persistent inter-tribal warfare he was forced to abandon the mission in late 1836.

In 1838 Brown re-opened the Tauranga mission and was created Archdeacon there on 31 december 1843. He travelled widely throughout his archdeaconry until the New Zealand Land Wars effectively brought an end to all mission work in the 1860s.

References

[http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/B/BrownAlfredNesbitt/BrownAlfredNesbitt/en New Zealand Encyclopaedia 1966: Brown Biography]