Whakatane Man In Honours List

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 54, 11 June 1948, Page 5

Whakatane Man In Honours List

C.M.G. CONFERRED ON REV LAUGHTON Very Rev John George Laughton, of Ohope, has had conferred upon him the honour of C.M.G. (Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and the St George) in the Birthday honours announcBernard Freyberg, on behalf of ed by the Governor General, Sir his Majesty the King yesterday. Mr Laughton is the Superintendent of Maori Missions of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, and the honour acknowledges both a devotion to Missionary work amongst the Maori people and scholarship in a new translation of the Bible* into 'Maori. Born in Orkney, Scotland, fiftyseven years ago, he came to this -country as a child, and was reared in his father’s home on the Taieri Plains. On dedicating his life to the work of the Church he took the usual course for the ministry at •Otago University and Knox College.' But he did not remain long in Pakeha work, being drawn to the 'Maoris through his contact with them in the Waikato. After a period -of service in Maungapohatu and Taupo, he was selected by the Church to act as Superintendent, which office he has occupied with great success for a number of years; undeed, so impressed and gratified was the whole Church with Mr ' Laughton’s work, that he was unanimously elected to the Moderator’s •chair. He is acknowledged by all scholars to be one—if not the foremost—Maori linguist in New . Zealand.

For the past 18 months Mr Laughton, chairman, and several other interested scholars, including Sir Apirana Ngata and Bishop . Bennett, have been engaged on a revision of the Maori Bible, and when this revised edition goes to London for printing Mr Laughton is to go with it and see it through the press.