In 1854, he was made a deacon by John Colenso, bishop of Natal having become a member of the Church of England two years earlier.

[2] In 1858, he was granted land near the Umkomazi River and settled on the banks of the Nsunguze River,30°05′53″S 30°17′42″E / 30.097929°S 30.295043°E / -30.097929; 30.295043 he named his settlement Springvale.

[3] It was here that he began his study of the Zulu people, their religious beliefs and other customs and obtained the information which enabled him to write his books Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus (published in 1868) and The Religious System of the Amazulu (published in 1870).

In 1876, he moved the seat of his diocese to Umtata, where he founded St John's Theological College.

The next year he returned to England, making his home at Ottery Saint Mary, where he lived until his death in 1890.