Jean Baptiste François Pompallier was born in Lyons, France, on 11 December 1802.  He was the 3rd son of Françoise Pompallier and her husband Pierre, who died 8 1/2 months after Jean's birth.

Pompallier received the education of a gentlemen and for a time served as an officer in the dragoons and is said to have worked in the silk trade with his stepfather, Jean Marie Solichon. In 1823 he entered the seminary of St Irenaeus in Lyons aged 22 years.  On 13 June 1829 he was ordained priest by Archbishop de Pins and worked for 7 years in the archdiocese of Lyons. He had a close association with Fr Jean-Claude Colin, founder of the Society of Mary [Marists] and assisted Marcellin Champagnat to form the Marist Brothers.

On Trinity Sunday 1835, Pope Gregory XVI created the Vicariates of Eastern and Western Oceania.  On 13 May 1836 Pompallier was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Western Oceania and Bishop of Maronea.  On 24 December 1836, with 4 priests and 3 brothers of the Society of Mary, he sailed from Le Havre [France] for Western Oceania and Aotearoa New Zealand on  the Delphine.

The Delphine sailed around Cape Horn to Valparaiso [Chile]. Fr Claude Bret died on this leg of the journey.  On 10 August 1837 he and the remaining priests and brothers embarked on the Europa bound for Tahiti.  Before arriving at Tahiti Europa stopped at Gambier Island and Pompallier took the opportunity to meet  Bishop Rouchouze, Vicar Apostolic for Eastern Oceania.  In Tahiti Pompallier met his first Maori, son of a ship's officer and a Maori woman, whom he baptised and confirmed.

On 5 October 1837 he sailed for Tonga on the 60 ton schooner Raiatea. Although they were refused landing then, in 1842 Tonga would be Pompallier's third mission area after Wallis/Futuna and Aotearoa New Zealand.  Fr Bataillon and Br Joseph were to start the mission at Uea Wallis Island on 1 November 1837  Fr Chanel and Br Marie Nizier started the mission at Futuna.  Fr Pierre Chanel would be martyred for the faith on 28 April 1841 and became the first saint for Oceania.  Pompallier travelled to Rotoma but was unable to leave anyone there.  On arrival in Sydney he was able to learn much of the Aotearoa New Zealand mission from Bishop Polding.

On 30 December 1837 he sailed for the Hokianga and arrived at the home of Thomas and Mary Poynton on 10 January 1838, celebrating his first Mass at Totara Point on 13 January 1838.

His work in Aotearoa New Zealand falls into 3 well-defined periods, each ending with a trip to Europe:

[1] The Marist Period from 1838 - 1850
[2] Based in Auckland in the 1850's
[3] New Zealand Wars Period 1860 - 1869.

With the personnel sent by Fr Jean-Claude Colin [Marists] and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, [started in France by Marie-Pauline Jaricot 1799 - 1862], he was able to establish the following mission stations - Hokianga 1838; Kororareka [Russell] 1839; Mangakahia, Kaipara, Tauranga, Akaroa 1840; Matamata, Opotiki, Maketu 1841; Auckland and Otago 1842; Wellington 1843; Otaki, Rotorua, Rangiaowhia and Whakatane 1844. In the course of setting up these missions Pompallier made 4 voyages down the East coasts of the North and South Islands.

On 8 April 1850 he returned from Europe with 2 priests, 10 seminarians and 8 Irish Sisters of Mercy.

Bishop Pompallier became a naturalised British subject on 17 July 1851 recorded for all time in the statue books of the land of his adoption.

On 30 December 1860 he returned from Europe with 8 Franciscans, 8 seminarians, and 4 French women who were intended to start a new order, the Sisters of the Holy Family. The party included his nephew Antoine, his niece Lucie and Suzanne Aubert.

In 1868, old, sick and tired he returned to France. Bishop Pompallier died at Puteaux, near Paris, on 21 December 1871. He was a devout man of very considerable talent and vision, an idealist willing to spend his life in the service of others.

As founder of the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand Bishop Pompallier lived and worked in this country for over 30 of the most eventful and stirring years of our history. He was Aotearoa New Zealand's first Catholic bishop.