The Very Rev. J. G. Laughton

Te Ao Hou, September 1965, Page 63

The Very Rev. J. G. Laughton The Very Rev. John George Laughton, C.M.G., the pioneer Presbyterian missionary who spent most of his life among the Tuhoe people of the Ureweras, died at Rotorua on 3 July after a short illness. He was aged 74. Mr Laughton was a former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, and was for many years moderator of the Presbyterian Maori Synod. A distinguished Maori scholar and an authority on Urewera history, he played a major part in the tremendous task of revising the Maori translation of the Bible. Among the Tuhoe, Hoani Rotene (to give Mr Laughton his Maori name) was revered as one of the most honoured of elders. Born in the Orkney Islands in 1891, he came to New Zealand in 1903, and was educated at Otago University. After five years spent as a Presbyterian Missionary in Piopio, Mr Laughton in 1918 was appointed to Maungapohatu, Rua's stronghold in the heart of the Ureweras. There he built and established the first church and school, and quickly won the friendship and respect of Rua and his followers. In 1926 he and his wife, the former Miss Horiana Te Kauru, moved from Maungapohatu to Taupo. He was appointed Assistant Superintendendent of Maori Missions in 1933, and became Superintendent in 1936. In 1958 he moved to Whakatane when the Mission's headquarters was established there. In 1946 Mr Laughton was appointed Chairman of the Maori Bible Revision Committee, and four years later he went to England, together with his wife, to see the revised Bible through the Press. In 1948 King George VI conferred upon him the honour of Companion of Michael and St George. In 1956, on the constitution of the Presbyterian Maori Synod, Mr Laughton became its first Moderator, a position he occupied until his retirement six years later. Two thousand people attended the tangihanga at Te Maungarongo marae, Ohope. In a tribute to Mr Laughton, the Moderator of the Presbyterian General Asembly, Mr D. N. Perry, said ‘No words of mine can convey the sense of loss our Church will feel on the passing of this great and humble man … I believe history will speak with deep gratitude of his leadership and the solid foundation he has laid for a true and practical expression of Christian faith and deep harmony in race relations in New Zealand.’ Mr Laughton is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.