Background
He was born in Rotorua on 10 February 1916 into an ecclesiastical family: his father Frederick Augustus Bennett was the inaugural Bishop of Aotearoa.
He was born in Rotorua on 10 February 1916 into an ecclesiastical family: his father Frederick Augustus Bennett was the inaugural Bishop of Aotearoa.
He identified with the Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Rangitihi iwi. Educated at the University of Hawaii and ordained in 1940, he was a Curate in the Diocese of Waiapu before becoming a Chaplain to the New Zealand Forces. When peace returned he was a Māori Missionary at Rangitīkei.
Later he was Vicar of Street Faith’s Rotorua before being appointed Suffragan Bishop of Aotearoa in 1951.
He died on 20 December 2001.
He was Bishop of Aotearoa from 1968 to 1981 and a member of the Waitangi Tribunal from 1986 to 1997.
