Mission Cemetery c2000

A visit to the Mission Cemetery gives the visitor an insight into Tauranga’s early history. 

This northern point of the Te Papa peninsula was once the site of the busy Otamataha pa.  In 1828, a raid by Ngati Tapu from the Thames district led to the death of most of the inhabitants, and the abandonment of the pa.  Bones dating from this time are still sometimes found when erosion of the cliffs occurs. 

When the nearby Mission Station was established in 1838, this tapu (sacred) area was chosen by the missionaries as a suitable place for a graveyard.  The first burial took place all too soon.  Ann Catherine Wilson, wife of one of the missionaries, died of breast cancer in November of that year. 

As well as the graves of mission families, monuments in the cemetery tell the story of soldiers, sailors and Maori who died during the land wars of the 1860s, enemies in battle, but all equally honoured in death. 

Although the cemetery was officially closed in 1881, some of the early settlers and their families are also buried here. 

See also The Missionaries, The Elms. 

Further information and photographs of Historic places are available through the Tauranga City Libraries’ New Zealand Room.