About: Sarah Selwyn

Sarah Harriet Selwyn née Richardson (2 September 1807 – 24 March 1907) was the wife of George Augustus Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand and later of Lichfield. Often left behind to manage missionary stations while her husband travelled throughout New Zealand and the islands of the western Pacific Ocean, Sarah Selwyn contributed to the work of building the hierarchy of the Church of England in New Zealand from 1841 to 1868. Her humanitarian idealism as well as her own personal experiences among the Māori people fuelled her criticism of British and New Zealand policy. Together with Mary Ann Martin and Caroline Abraham, Sarah Selwyn contributed her private correspondence for a publication protesting at the British colonial policies of land confiscation and military conquests