This chest belonged to Reverend J. Whiteley and was inscribed when he was based at Kawhia. He later moved to Taranaki in 1856 before his death at Pukearuhe in 1869. Te Ara Encyclopedia describes Whitely as having "made an important contribution to the work of the Wesleyan Missionary Society. He had a genuine concern for the Maori people, and a sense of the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi. However his advocacy of the settler position in Taranaki was ill judged, and hampered his missionary efforts among the Maori people. Whiteley was thrust into the midst of a conflict he could not understand or resolve. In the end he was a victim of that conflict."