He and his wife Ellen Stanley Spencer followed an ambition to carry out the role of missionary work in New Zealand.
[2] Due to scandal over Spencer's purported advances toward a Māori girl, the couple moved from Taupō to Rotorua.
[4] In 1844 the couple established the first missionary post at Lake Tarawera; working with the local Māori, in 1848 they built a European-styled community called Te Wairoa.
His work with the local Māori helped develop the area, and he was also instrumental in assisting explorers and traders in the vicinity of Rotorua and Lake Tarawera.
[8] Ellen Stanley Spencer died at Maketu in 1882 at the age of 65; her body was taken for burial at Kariri on the shore of Lake Tarawera.