author
Henry Thomas Purchas
1860–1921
A New Zealand clergyman and church historian, he wrote clear, detailed accounts of Anglican life in the country at a time when its institutions were still taking shape. His books remain useful for readers interested in the religious and colonial history of New Zealand.
1 Audiobook
A History of the English Church in New Zealand
by Henry Thomas Purchas
About the author
Born in 1860, Henry Thomas Purchas was an Anglican clergyman whose writing focused on the history of the church in New Zealand. Records from the National Library of New Zealand identify him as the author of A History of the English Church in New Zealand, and contemporary title pages describe him as Vicar of Glenmark, a canon of Christchurch Cathedral, and an examining chaplain to the bishop.
Purchas is best known for A History of the English Church in New Zealand (1914), a substantial account of how Anglicanism developed in the country. He also wrote Bishop Harper and the Canterbury Settlement, showing a strong interest in the people and institutions that shaped the early church in Canterbury and beyond.
He died in 1921. While not a widely known literary figure today, his work still offers a valuable window into New Zealand's religious and colonial past, especially for listeners who enjoy firsthand historical perspectives from the early twentieth century.