Abstract
THE death is reported from Wellington, New Zealand, of Dr. Herbert William Williams, Bishop of Waiapu and well known as a Maori scholar, which took place on December 7 at the age of seventy-seven years. Dr. Williams was the third in descent of his family to hold this bishopric, both his grandfather and his father having held it before him. Dr. Williams was born at Waeranga-a-hika and was educated at Christ's College, Christchurch, and Canterbury College. After graduating in the University of New Zealand, he held a scholarship at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated as a senior optime in 1884. After a brief period as a master at Haileybury he was ordained. In 1888 he returned to New Zealand, and in 1929 was elected to succeed Bishop Sedgwich in this diocese. Dr. Williams's life-long acquaintance and friendship with the Maori gave him an exceptional position as an authority on their history and culture. He was the author of a Maori dictionary, which appeared in 1917, of a bibliography of printed Maori, which appeared in 1924, and of "First Lessons in Maori". His scholarship was recognized by the award of the degree of Litt.D. of the University of New Zealand in 1924 and of the Litt.D. of Cambridge in 1925. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, of which he was president in 1935. He was also president of the Polynesian Society in 1929.
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Obituaries. Nature 141, 67 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/141067a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/141067a0