He married Dorothy Nielsen, whom he had met at a Christian conference in Christchurch, and had five sons and one daughter with her.

He was made emeritus professor on leaving Massey in 1983 to become general editor of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB).

In the 1990 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to historical research,[6] and also in 1990 he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal, and an honorary DLitt from Victoria University of Wellington in recognition of his services to history.

[7] In 2008, he was honoured in the Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement in the non-fiction genre.

[5] His wife had died of pancreatic cancer during the time that he worked on the DNZB.