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William Colenso (7 November 1811 – 1899) was born in Penzance, Cornwall. He was the cousin of John William Colenso and trained as a printer's apprentice. He travelled to New Zealand in 1834 to work for the Church Missionary Society as a printer/missionary. He was responsible for the first printing of the Treaty of Waitangi and a Māori language translation of the New Testament. He was an avid botanist; detailing and transmitting to Kew Gardens in England previously unrecorded New Zealand flora. His standing in New Zealand colonial society and the Church Missionary Society, along with his fervent hope of ordination, was lost when it was discovered that he had sired a son (Wiremu) by the Maori maid (Ripeka) of his wife (Elizabeth Fairburn). Following a long wilderness period (during which he continued his botany work) he took an active role as a local politician in Napier, New Zealand. His son, Wiremu/William, left New Zealand for Cornwall and lived in Penzance until his death.
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