"... Ironside left England for New Zealand on the James on 20 September 1838, arriving at Hokianga on 19 March 1839. His first appointment was at Mangungu, on Hokianga Harbour. In five months he became reasonably fluent in Maori. He witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi at Waitangi and defended its integrity all his life. In 1840 he travelled overland from Kawhia to Wanganui to select sites for new mission stations. He then moved to Port Underwood in the Marlborough Sounds in December 1840. There he established a flourishing mission from which he buried the victims of the Wairau affray in 1843 and laid the foundation of the Wesleyan church in Nelson and Marlborough. He was a trusted mediator between Maori and settlers during his ministry at Wellington from 1843 to 1849. From 1849 to 1855 he was stationed at Nelson, and from 1855 to 1858 at New Plymouth, where he supported the mediating work of fellow missionaries Henry Turton and John Whiteley. Ironside's importance for New Zealand stems from the success of his mission station in Port Underwood. The friendship he had established with Rawiri Kingi Puaha, nephew of Te Rauparaha, and with other Maori leaders, placed him in a unique position to mediate between Maori people and the Port Nicholson settlers. He publicly defended Puaha's character against attacks from settlers and in 1845 promoted, against settler opposition, a gathering at Porirua as a means of sustaining Christian sympathies among the Maori people of the former Port Underwood mission station. His presence, together with that of the Reverend Octavius Hadfield, was crucial for the defence of the area ..." -- Te Ara.