Wiremu Tamihana standing, photograph by John Kinder

John Kinder (17 September 1819 5 September 1903) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman, teacher, artist and photographer.

Life

Kinder was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, United Kingdom, on 17 September 1819, the oldest surviving child of a wealthy merchant and his second wife. In 1838 Kinder attended

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

originally studying Mathematics but Classics and Theology were where his true interests lay. He graduated in 1845 with a MA. While at Cambridge he joined the

Cambridge Camden Society The Cambridge Camden Society, known from 1845 (when it moved to London) as the Ecclesiological Society,Histor ...

which was a group interested in church architecture. Kinder received his Anglican priesthood in 1845 and became an ordained deacon in 1846. In 1848, Kinder was the new Master at Alleyne's Grammar School where he remained for eight years. However, after he was petitioned to be removed from his post due to his strict religious practices, he was interviewed by Bishop G. A Selwyn to relocate to Auckland, New Zealand to be the headmaster of the

Church of England Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Q ...

. Kinder began his journey to New Zealand in July 1855. He moved into the headmasters house across the road from the school which is now a heritage site known as

Kinder House Kinder House is a List of category 1 historic places in Auckland, historic house on Ayr Street, in the suburb of Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand. History Kinder House, sometimes known as "The Headmaster's House" was built ...

. During the

New Zealand Land Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

of the 1860s, Kinder was a Chaplain to the British Forces. In 1872, Kinder became the Master of St John's College in Tamaki. Kinder received a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

in 1873 by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. In December 1859, at Te Papa in Tauranga, Kinder married Marianne Celia Brown. The couple had no children of their own, but they adopted Kinder's youngest brother's children after he was murdered in 1865.

Painting and photography

While most of Kinder's life was devoted to theology and education, he became known after his death as an artist and photographer. Most of his work centred around landscape and architectural portraits. He is particularly known for his water colour paintings. One of his most well known photographic works was the portrait of Wiremu Tamihana, which was used as the front cover of the 1864 book, ''The Maori King'' by John Gorst. Kinder's photographs of Parnell in the 1860s have been preserved as a historical record of colonial Auckland. His works as an artist and photographer have only been exhibited on a few occasions. They were first shown in 1871 and again 1873 by the Auckland Society of Artists of which Kinder was a founding member.

Death and legacy

Kinder died on 5 September 1903, aged 83, in Remuera, Auckland, and was buried at St John's College. The John Kinder Theological Library is the library and archives for St John's College as well as for the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia. From September 2013 to April 2014, Kinder was the subject of an exhibition at the

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

titled ''Kinder's Presence''. A topographical map of Auckland which Kinder drew is now held in the

Hocken Library Hocken Collections (, formerly the Hocken Library) is a research library, historical archive, and art gallery based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Its library collection, which is of national significance, is administered by the University of Otago. T ...

in Dunedin.

References

External links

Works of Kinder
are held in the collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinder, John 1819 births 1903 deaths New Zealand artists New Zealand educators New Zealand photographers 19th-century New Zealand Anglican priests Anglican clergy from London English emigrants to New Zealand