I’ve always loved history. I can spend hours walking around an historical site or looking at artefacts in a museum.
There’s a strange kind of connection with the past you feel when you see something several hundred years old. A person who lived all those years ago owned that item, and now I am looking at the very thing they held in their hands. I often wonder what life was like for that person.
Recently, my historical research into the history of the Bible in Māori took me to the Alexander Turnbull Library here in Wellington. I requested a special book, which I wanted to see – the corrected proof copy of the first ever New Testament in Māori. It was William Williams’ copy, who worked with others including his brother Henry on the original translation.