Mother Suzanne Aubert 1871 - 1883

The discovery of gold in New Zealand and the end of major conflict, brought a return of optimism to the economy, and the new Premier, Julius Vogel, raised huge loans internationally to be able to build a transport infrastructure and establish new settlements. This immigration scheme of course had the effect of further consolidating the government’s gains in the war, and tipping the demographic scales against the Maori population. European migrants flooded in, mostly from the British Isles but also from Scandinavia. 1874 has been the year of highest immigration so far in New Zealand history; Hawke’s Bay, where Suzanne lived through the 1870s, was one of the major destinations for these families, who came with their various adherences to different Christian denominations.

Suzanne was dedicated to the welfare of Maori, and by now highly proficient in their language and knowledgeable about their customs and values. She was very concerned for the decline in their wellbeing at this time, and worried over the missioners’ inevitably increasing preoccupation with the needs of the new immigrants. The Marist missioners who had come in the 1840s were now ageing fast; events in France and other parts of the Marist world mission were preventing new priests from joining them. For the latter part of the 1870s Meri (her name in Maori) would effectively be the only missioner concentrating on Maori.

She worked intensively to prepare for new Marist missionaries she hoped would be coming by revising and enlarging the 1847 Maori prayer book, compiling also an English-Maori dictionary and producing a French-Maori phrase book (to be followed later by a groundbreaking Maori-English phrase book published in 1885 and reprinted repeatedly ever since). Her contributions to Maori language scholarship have been acknowledged as significant.

Through the 1870s Suzanne was a laywoman once more as the tiny Auckland congregation had virtually disintegrated when Pompallier departed with his niece who had been the Superior. The new bishop had had no interest in reviving it. In Hawke’s Bay Suzanne’s lay status gave her much freedom of movement, and her constant activity and travel as missioner and doctor-nurse meant that she came to know many families among the settlers as well. Regardless of their various backgrounds and faith traditions, they were largely seeking to cooperate harmoniously and build a better society than the one they had left behind. These goals were idealistic and practical at the same time. Suzanne’s inclusiveness and broad perspective on life were further nurtured by the friendships she formed during these years with people across a wide spectrum of society and from many different walks of life.

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