Hannah Barton

Biography

Hannah Barton was the wife of Richard Barton, the first European to settle in Upper Hutt. She was also the daughter of the Reverend John Gare Butler, one of the earliest missionaries to serve in New Zealand.

Hannah first came to New Zealand with her parents as a two year old in August 1819, when her father took up residence at the Bay of Islands Mission.

After a falling out between the Reverend Butler and Samuel Marsden, the family returned to England in 1823. In 1839 Hannah and her parents again made the voyage to New Zealand.

They settled in Petone, where her father served as a clergyman and Māori welfare agent before his death in June 1841.

In 1844 Hannah married Richard Barton, who had also come out as part of the original fleet for the New Zealand Company's Port Nicholson settlement. She settled with her husband in Trentham in 1846, where they eventually built a large mansion.

Described as "a no-nonsense woman, even at 23" (Kelleher, p218), Hannah founded a school for educating local women and later became patroness of St John's Church.