To all to whom these Presents shall come.

We, GEORGE AUGUSTUS, by Divine Permission, Bishop and Metropolitan of New Zealand, send greeting.

WHEREAS in a Valedictory Letter written by the late William, by Divine Providence, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, on the Part of the Committee of Bishops appointed to manage the Funds for the Endowment of Bishoprics in the Colonies, and bearing date on the thirtieth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, We were directed not to confine our views within the limits of the New Zealand Islands, but to regard the See of New Zealand as the central point of a system extending its influence in all directions over the Islands and Coasts of the Pacific:

And Whereas Divers of the Western Islands of the South Pacific Ocean have been visited by us, and for some years past certain young people of the Aboriginal Inhabitants have been brought away to the Islands of New Zealand for Education, whereby the Christian Faith is beginning to be known and received among them:

And Whereas Lands have been bought in these Islands, by means of Funds contributed in England, for the Endowment of the MELANESIAN MISSION, and a School-house and other requisite Buildings have been erected in the Neighbourhood of Auckland:

Know all men by these Presents that WE the said GEORGE AUGUSTUS, Bishop and Metropolitan, by and with the Advice of our Suffragans, judging it expedient for the more effectual prosecution of the aforesaid Mission, that it should be placed under the charge of a BISHOP specially appointed to this work; and having ascertained, that no License or Mandate of our Gracious Sovereign would be needed for the Consecration of a Bishop for the spiritual oversight of Countries out of Her Majesty's dominions, did admit on Sunday, February 24th, 1861, our beloved in Christ JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON, Clerk, Master of Arts, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and heretofore our Missionary Chaplain, of whose Sufficiency in Learning, Soundness in the Faith, and Purity of Manners, we were well assured, to the Office of BISHOP, and did Canonically Consecrate him publicly in the Church of St. Paul, Auckland, according to the Manner prescribed the Church of England, the Royal Mandate only being excepted.

In Testimony Whereof we have caused our Episcopal Seal to be affixed to these Presents.

Given at Auckland, New Zealand, on the second day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and the twentieth year of our Consecration.

[signed] G. A . NZealand
Bishop of New Zealand and Metropolitan

We, CHARLES JOHN, Bishop of Wellington, and EDMUND, Bishop of Nelson were present and assisting at the Consecration above mentioned

Which I attest, having been present [signed] William Bracey Notary Public

[signed] C. J. Wellington Edmund Nelson

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