Talk:William Colenso

Date of Birth
The article gives Colenso's date of birth as 7 November 1811, yet the Te Ara biography says it was probably 17 November 1811. What is the source of the 7 November date and is it accurate, or is the Te Ara biography more likely to be correct? Can the correct date be verified? - Cameron Dewe (talk) 02:47, 12 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I just checked the source and it actually gives 17th November. Have corrected article to reflect this. Quilt Phase (talk) 00:01, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

Early life as a printer
How did Colenso become the printer for the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand in 1834? The article devotes one sentence to Colenso's life prior to 1834. However it doesn't explain how or why he came to be appointed a printer for the CMS in NZ. Who was he apprenticed to? Why was he printing in Maori in 1827, and where was this happening? And what did he do between 1834 and 1844 as a printer, and botanist, before being ordained in 1844? How come he writes an account of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi yet no mention is made of his role in the lead-up to or documentation of that event. Or why his account is so notable that it is published by the Government Printer in 1890, some 50 years after the event, rather than by Colenso himself at the time the treaty was signed. Perhaps the most notable and significant events that Colenso should be known for are missing because about twenty years of his life have been omitted! He printed translations in Maori of the New Testament, Book of Common Prayer, invitations to sign the Treaty of Waitangi and copies of the treaty itself. He met Charles Darwin and visiting botanists. Maori gave him a Maori name too. His life as a politician is alluded to but poorly documented. What political offices did he contest, when was he elected and what else did he achieve? Today, schools and streets have been named after this person, yet none of this is mentioned, either. - Cameron Dewe (talk) 03:39, 12 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I've added info about his role in the debate and addition to the Treaty of Waitangi. E James Bowman (talk) 02:50, 10 July 2021 (UTC)