William James Habens (17 June 1839 – 3 February 1899) 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 ...

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister and educationalist. He was born in Brighton, Sussex, England on 17 June 1839. He and his wife emigrated to

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 ...

, New Zealand, arriving on 10 January 1864. He was the first minister of the Trinity Congregational Church in Christchurch and held this post until 1877. He was deeply involved in educational matters and taught as a classics master at the High School of Christchurch from 1868 where he eventually became a rector. He became the inspector general of schools in the newly created Department of Education in Wellington in 1878. He became the secretary for education in 1886.

References

1839 births 1899 deaths New Zealand educators People from Brighton New Zealand Congregationalists English emigrants to New Zealand {{NewZealand-reli-bio-stub