Octavius Mathias (27 February 1805 – 18 June 1864) was a pioneering

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest in New Zealand in the mid-nineteenth century. Mathias was born at Mundham in 1805. He was educated at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in 1829. He was

perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly ...

Horsham St Faith Horsham St Faith is a village in the English county of Norfolk, within the civil parish of Horsham St Faith and Newton St Faith. Horsham St Faith is located south of Aylsham and north of Norwich, along the course of the A140 and the Riv ...

then

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

Horsford Horsford is a village and civil parish in the England, English county of Norfolk. Horsford is located south of Aylsham and north-west of Norwich. History Horsford's name is of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old Engl ...

until 1850 when he immigrated to New Zealand. He was rector of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

from 1850 to 1855; and archdeacon of Akaroa from 1855 until his death. He died on 18 June 1864 at

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scot ...

, Christchurch.

References

1805 births 1864 deaths People from South Norfolk (district) Religious leaders from Christchurch Archdeacons of Akaroa People from Horsford {{NewZealand-Christian-clergy-stub