William Garden Cowie was born on 8 January 1831 at St John's Wood, London, England. Selected by G. A. Selwyn, formerly bishop of New Zealand, to become the first bishop of Auckland, he was consecrated at Westminster Abbey on 29 June 1869. On 20 July he married Eliza Jane Webber at Spring Grove, Middlesex. They arrived at Auckland in February 1870. Their six children were born within the decade. Elected as Anglican primate of New Zealand in 1895, Cowie announced his intention to resign as bishop shortly before his death at Parnell, Auckland, on 26 June 1902. Our last year in New Zealand was written in anticipation of a visit to England in 1888, to provide information 'concerning the Church and the State of New Zealand'. It gives a significant personal insight into the work of a colonial bishop.