Events In History
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6 June 1823Wesleyan mission establishedSamuel Leigh and William White established Wesleydale, a Wesleyan (Methodist) mission station at Kaeo. Leigh was friendly with Samuel Marsden of the Church Missionary Society and the two missions worked closely together. Read more...
Township on the Kaeo River, which flows into the Whangaroa Harbour about 4 km to the north-west. Kaeo was the site of Wesley-Dale, New Zealand’s first Wesleyan Mission station, established by Samuel Leigh and William White in 1823. The station was abandoned after a raid by warriors of Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika. Kaeo is now the principal settlement in a farming and fruit-growing district.
Meaning of place name
It is named after the kaeo, a freshwater shellfish found in the river.
