James West Stack (27 March 1835 – 13 October 1919) was a New Zealand missionary, clergyman, writer and interpreter. He was born in

Puriri ''Vitex lucens'', or pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was excellently described by Soland ...

Thames/Coromandel The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the w ...

, New Zealand, in 1835. His father, James Stack, had been a

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

missionary at

Whangaroa Whangaroa is a settlement on Whangaroa Harbour in the Far North District of New Zealand. It is 8 km north-west of Kaeo and 35 km north-west of Kerikeri. The harbour is almost landlocked and is popular both as a fishing spot in its o ...

, who later joined the Church Mission Society (CMS), which followed the Anglican traditions. James Stack was sent to the CMS mission in Puriri, where his son was born. He started at the boys college of St. John Evangelist, Auckland in 1846; then he attended Sydney College (later Sydney Grammar School) from 1847. From 1851 to 1852 he attended

Highbury College, London Highbury College was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. Its most famous student was Christopher Newman Hall. It had a high reputation, and in time it was amalgamated into New College London. History ...

. From 1853 to 1860 he was a teacher at the CMS school at Kohanga Mission of the Rev. Robert Maunsell at the

Port Waikato Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Port Waikato is a well-known surfing and whitebaiting destination and a popular holiday spot. Fish can be caught off the rocks ...

. He was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

on 23 December 1860 at Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton, and he was appointed to the Diocese of Christchurch at the Tuahiwi mission among the Māori in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

. In 1861, Stack married botanist Elizabeth Jones in Auckland. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

on 21 December 1862 at

Church of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch The Church of St Michael and All Angels is an Anglican church in Christchurch, New Zealand. The church building at 84 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch, is registered as Category I by Heritage New Zealand. Its freestanding belfry is registered separa ...

. From 1864 to 1879 he worked at the Māori mission at

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It is cons ...

. From 1880 to 1898 he was appointed to various churches in the Banks Peninsula and

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

districts. On 11 September 1894 he was appointed as

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Christchurch Cathedral ChristChurch Cathedral, also called Christ Church Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecrated Anglican cathedral in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 and 1904 in the centre of the city ...

. In 1898 he retired and went to live with his brother-in-law in

Bordighera Bordighera (; lij, A Bordighea, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, and it is possible to see the French coast with a nak ...

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy. From 1907 until his death in 1919 he lived at

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

, England.

Publications

The following books were written by James West Stack. Some were published posthumously and most are still available in various formats. Some have been later re-published under slightly different titles. * South Island Maoris (1893) * Kaiapohia. The Story of a Siege (1893) * Tales of Banks Peninsula (Contributor),(1884) * Koro, A Maori Churchworker (1909) * Through Canterbury and Otago With Bishop Harper 1859–1860 (1909) * A White Boy Among Maoris (1934) (autobiography) * Early Maoriland Adventures (1935) * More Maoriland Adventures (c1936) * Further Maoriland Adventures (1937) * Family Life in New Zealand 1840–1850 (1969) * Letters to my Grandchildren; About my Childhood in New Zealand 1835–1846

Notelist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stack, James West 1835 births 1919 deaths 19th-century New Zealand Anglican priests Interpreters People from Coromandel Peninsula 19th-century translators New Zealand Anglican missionaries Anglican missionaries in New Zealand Missionary linguists