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?–1912Ngāi Te Rangi warrior, farmer, orator
Hōri Ngātai was from Ngāti Hē hapū of Ngāi Te Rangi, and was born at Maungatapu, near Tauranga. His ancestry can be traced to both the Mātaatua and Te Arawa canoes. He was the son of Tūtahi, who signed the Treaty of Waitangi in April 1840 at Tauranga.
In the wars of 1863 and 1864 Ngātai...
Story: Ngātai, Hōri
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fl. 1837–1860Ngāti Ruanui missionary, mediator
Wiremu Nēra (William Naylor) Ngātai introduced Christianity to South Taranaki in the late 1830s. Although probably born in Taranaki, his parents are not known. In the 1820s he was taken by Ngāpuhi raiders to Hokianga, where he came under the influence of the Wesleyan Missionary Society...
Story: Ngātai, Wiremu Nēra
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?–1887Te Āti Awa leader, peacemaker, politician
Wiremu Tako Ngātata, usually known as Wī Tako, was born around the beginning of the nineteenth century at Pukeariki pā in Taranaki. His father was Ngātata-i-te-rangi of Te Āti Awa and his mother Whetowheto of Ngāti Ruanui. With his father, and with Te Āti Awa leaders Hōniana Te Puni-kōkopu and...
Story: Ngātata, Wiremu Tako
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?–1854Te Āti Awa leader
Ngātata-i-te-rangi was born in the late eighteenth century in Taranaki; he was the son of Te Rangiwhētiki. Through his mother, Pakanga, he was an influential chief in Ngāti Te Whiti hapū of Te Āti Awa. He was junior to his cousins and contemporaries, Hōniana Te Puni-Kōkopu, Matangi and Te...
Story: Ngātata-i-te-rangi
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?–1890Ngāti Kahungunu leader
Ngātuere was born at Te Pāparu, a Wairarapa pā near Te Ahikōuka, in the vicinity of the Waiōhine River. His father was Tāwhirimātea and his grandfather Te Ātāhuna, both leaders of Ngāti Kahukura-awhitia, one of the most populous hapū of Ngāti Kahungunu in Wairarapa. His mother was Kaurangaihi....
Story: Ngātuere Tāwhirimātea Tāwhao
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1910–1965Ngāti Porou; songwriter, teacher, shearer, cultural adviser
Moetū Haangū Ngāwai was born on 5 May 1910 at Enihau, her family’s home, a mile north of the East Coast township of Tokomaru Bay. Her parents, Te Rā Haangū Ngāwai, a farmer, and his wife, Te Ipo Hārata Te Awhi Kaahi Parata, were both of Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare of Ngāti Porou. They already had...
Story: Ngāwai, Tuini Moetū Haangū
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1872–1964Te Rarawa leader, Anglican clergyman
Ānaru Iehu Ngāwaka, more popularly known as Naru or Andrew Ngāwaka, was born in the Whāngāpē area of north Hokianga, probably in 1872. His father, Iehu Ngāwaka, a farmer, and his mother, Ngāneko Mare (Murray), later known as Mary Ngāhemo Ngāwaka, were both of Te Rarawa. Naru was a descendant of...
Story: Ngāwaka, Ānaru Iehu
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1858–1940Shipbuilder and ship owner
George Turnbull Niccol was born in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand, on 17 August 1858, the son of Sarah McLarty and her husband, the leading Auckland shipbuilder Henry Niccol. Educated in Devonport, George found that his first job, in an office, had little appeal and he soon joined his father...
Story: Niccol, George Turnbull
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1819–1887Shipbuilder
Henry Niccol was born on 22 September 1819 at Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of a Clyde shipbuilder, Thomas Niccol and Isabel McQuistan. He married Sarah McLarty at Greenock on 29 November 1840; they were to have 14 children. Henry and Sarah Niccol were among the settlers who arrived...
Story: Niccol, Henry
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1895–1989Catholic nun, music and singing teacher
Sister Mary Leo was New Zealand’s best-known singing teacher in her time. She was born Kathleen Agnes Niccol at Devonport, Auckland, on 3 April 1895, the eldest child of Henry Malcolm Niccol, a shipping clerk, and his wife, Agnes Theresa Cannell. Her father was from a leading Devonport family...
Story: Niccol, Mary Leo
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1851–1856?–1937Prospector, goldmine developer
Billie Nicholl believed he was 10 when he arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1862. This would put the date of his birth at 1851 or 1852, but it may have been as late as 1856. He was born William Sharman Crawford Nicholl, at Garvagh, County Londonderry, Ireland. He emigrated with his parents...
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1901–1972Rugby player, clerk, hotel manager
Marcus Frederick Nicholls was born at Greytown on 13 July 1901, the son of Sidney Nicholls, a custodian, and his wife, Margaret Ann Marnell. After the family moved to Petone in 1908 he attended Petone West School and Petone District High School. He completed his education at Wellington College...
Story: Nicholls, Marcus Frederick
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1890–1930Drama producer and teacher, debater, poet
Marjory Lydia Nicholls was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on 29 July 1890, the daughter of Susan Sampson and her husband, Harry Edgar Nicholls, accountant and cashier to the Wellington Harbour Board. Harry Nicholls was widely read and a talented amateur actor, and Marjory grew up in a world...
Story: Nicholls, Marjory Lydia
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1877–1957Clerk, local politician, builder, journalist, editor
William Brinsley Nicholson was born at Opotiki, New Zealand, on 26 August 1877, the son of Molyneux Augustus Nicholson, a schoolmaster, and his wife, Mary Anne Welsh McGowan. Bill Nicholson was six when his father died in 1884. After attending school in Opotiki he went farming. In 1893 he...
Story: Nicholson, William Brinsley
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1854–1932Suffragist, temperance campaigner
Helen Lyster Nicol was born on 29 May 1854 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the sixth of 10 surviving children of Margaret Cairns Smith and her husband, David Nicol, head gardener at the Orphan Hospital in Edinburgh. When Helen was two years old, the Nicol family left Scotland on the Strathmore and...
Story: Nicol, Helen Lyster
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1886–1953Artist, art teacher
Archibald Frank Nicoll was born at Lincoln, Canterbury, on 14 June 1886, the fifth of six children of Alexander Nicoll, a farmer, and his wife, Eliza Pannett. He was educated at Springston School from 1891 to 1899 and Christchurch Boys' High School from 1900 to 1902. In 1903 he joined the...
Story: Nicoll, Archibald Frank
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1890–1973Farmer, community leader
Edith Louisa Monteath was born at Edendale, Southland, on 12 January 1890, the second of seven children of Catherine Kavanagh and her husband, Thomas Monteath, a schoolteacher. Although registered as Alice, she was known as Edith throughout her life. She attended Edendale School and on 8 June...
Story: Niederer, Edith Louisa
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1850–1914Ngāti Porou leader, soldier, storekeeper, assessor
Matutaera Nihoniho, in his narrative of the fighting on the East Coast, states that he was born on 30 October 1850 at Whareponga, near Waipiro Bay. He belonged to Te Aowera and Te Aitanga-a-Mate of Ngāti Porou. His father was Hēnare Nihoniho, a major chief who died fighting against the Hauhau...
Story: Nihoniho, Matutaera
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1854–1929Ngāti Kahungunu woman of mana, editor
Niniwa-i-te-rangi, often known as Niniwa Heremaia, was born at Ōroi, on the east coast of Wairarapa; the date of her birth is said to have been 6 April 1854. She was the eldest surviving daughter of Heremaia Tamaihotua, also known as Ngāpūruki, the leading chief of Ngāti Hikawera of Ngāti...
Story: Niniwa-i-te-rangi
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1835–1837?–1911Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu leader
Nireaha Tāmaki was born at Te Pākawau on the Manawatū River probably between 1835 and 1837. His father was Matiu Tāmaki, a descendant of high rank of Rangitāne and Hāmua; Nireaha was sometimes known as Nireaha Matiu. His mother, Maraea Te Hungatai, also known as Reikura, was a woman of rank...
Story: Nireaha Tāmaki