This oil painting of Thomas Kendall (right) with the Ngāpuhi chiefs Waikato (left) and Hongi Hika was painted when the three visited Britain in 1820. Kendall, who had arrived at the Bay of Islands with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) mission in 1814 and started a school in 1816, was visiting England to help compile a Māori grammar. Kendall became fascinated by the Māori world view, and on the basis of their ideas became convinced that they were descended from the Egyptians. Although Kendall's ideas were misguided and his relations with other missionaries deteriorated, he was the first European resident to attempt a serious study of the language and ideas of Māori.