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Percy Smith (ethnologist)
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Percy Smith (ethnologist)
Stephenson Percy Smith (11 June 1840 – 19 April 1922) was a New Zealand ethnologist and surveyor. He researched and wrote about the origins of the Māori people and was one of the founders of the Polynesian Society. While his research has been criticised as flawed, it set a foundation for ethnological study in New Zealand.
Stephenson Percy Smith, known as Percy, was born on 11 June 1840 at Beccles, Suffolk, in England. He was the eldest son of Hannah Hursthouse and John Stephenson Smith, who emigrated to New Zealand when he was nine years old. They left London on the New Zealand Company ship Pekin on 9 August 1849, arriving in Wellington on 26 December. John travelled to New Plymouth first, followed by Hannah and the children soon afterwards.
Percy went to school first at New Plymouth and then in Ōmatā, until 1854. Working on the family farm, he developed an interest in the local flora and fauna, and was taught to paint by landscape artist John Gully.
He married Mary Anne Crompton (1842–1911) on 23 April 1863. They had four children.
He died at his home in New Plymouth on 19 April 1922.
Smith joined the survey department of province of Taranaki in February 1855. He subsequently spent months in the bush with other surveyors, which brought him into contact with the indigenous Māori people. Some of this work took place during the Taranaki wars.
In 1862 Smith moved to Auckland, spending three years there before being sent to New Plymouth as district surveyor. His work included surveys of Waiuku, Taranaki, Pitt Island, and the Chatham Islands. Returning to the North Island, with his family based in Auckland from 1871, he oversaw the surveying of Auckland and Hawke's Bay, and laid out plans for Rotorua in 1880.
He rose through the ranks of the civil service:
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Percy Smith (ethnologist)
Stephenson Percy Smith (11 June 1840 – 19 April 1922) was a New Zealand ethnologist and surveyor. He researched and wrote about the origins of the Māori people and was one of the founders of the Polynesian Society. While his research has been criticised as flawed, it set a foundation for ethnological study in New Zealand.
Stephenson Percy Smith, known as Percy, was born on 11 June 1840 at Beccles, Suffolk, in England. He was the eldest son of Hannah Hursthouse and John Stephenson Smith, who emigrated to New Zealand when he was nine years old. They left London on the New Zealand Company ship Pekin on 9 August 1849, arriving in Wellington on 26 December. John travelled to New Plymouth first, followed by Hannah and the children soon afterwards.
Percy went to school first at New Plymouth and then in Ōmatā, until 1854. Working on the family farm, he developed an interest in the local flora and fauna, and was taught to paint by landscape artist John Gully.
He married Mary Anne Crompton (1842–1911) on 23 April 1863. They had four children.
He died at his home in New Plymouth on 19 April 1922.
Smith joined the survey department of province of Taranaki in February 1855. He subsequently spent months in the bush with other surveyors, which brought him into contact with the indigenous Māori people. Some of this work took place during the Taranaki wars.
In 1862 Smith moved to Auckland, spending three years there before being sent to New Plymouth as district surveyor. His work included surveys of Waiuku, Taranaki, Pitt Island, and the Chatham Islands. Returning to the North Island, with his family based in Auckland from 1871, he oversaw the surveying of Auckland and Hawke's Bay, and laid out plans for Rotorua in 1880.
He rose through the ranks of the civil service:
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