Thomas Samuel Grace (16 February 1815 – 30 April 1879) was an English Anglican missionary in New Zealand. He was a member of the
Church Missionary Society. He was born in
Liverpool, Lancashire, England on 16 February 1815.[1][2]
Grace replaced
William Williams at Tūranga in
Poverty Bay from 1850 until 1853, during the latter's trip to Britain.[3]Te Kooti attended the boarding school at Tūranga during the time Grace was in charge of the mission.
He was appointed to
Taupō.[4][5] In 1865 the
Pai Mārire ransacked his house.[6] Grace fled from
Taupō to
Ōpōtiki and was caught up in the
Völkner Incident. He was arrested and put on trial by the Pai Mārire party. He was rescued from captivity two weeks later by a British
man-of-war,
HMS Eclipse, after an attempt by the Pai Mārire to exchange him for Tauranga chief
Hori Tupaea, who was in prison.[6][7] In the 1870s he rebuilt the mission station at Taupō.[8]