Skip to main content

Search

Maata Horomona was New Zealand’s first movie star, as the leading lady in films by French filmmaker Gaston Méliès. Méliès claimed to have discovered her, but by 1912, when she appeared in three of his films, Maata was…

Part of: Horomona, Maataauthored byBasil Keane, Minette Hillyer

Rangitīaria Dennan, better known as Guide Rangi, achieved wide recognition as a cultural ambassador. With charm, insight and wit she imparted the essentials of Māori tradition to the tourists she guided around the…

Part of: Dennan, Rangitīariaauthored byCushla Parekowhai, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Edward James Te Āika Tregerthen, later known as Eruera Tīhema Tirikātene, was born on 5 January 1895 at Te Rakiwhakaputa pā near Kaiapoi. His father, a carpenter, later a skipper of boats, wheat farmer and minister of…

Part of: Tirikātene, Eruera Tīhema Te Āikaauthored byAngela Ballara, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team
Images and media for 'Māori Battalion' in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB)
See 66 results in Te Ara Images & Media
Audio: Hargest discusses the Maori Battalion
Audio: Charles Bennett addressing a reunion of the Māori Battalion
The Māori (Pioneer) Battalion performs a haka, France, 1918
The Pioneer (Māori) Battalion performs a haka, France, 1918

Frank David Winter (registered as Francis David Charles) was born at Waipukurau on 5 January 1906, the first child of Caroline Blanche Thomas and her husband, David Horatio Winter, a telegraph linesman. His grandmother…

Part of: Winter, Frank Davidauthored byJanet Winter, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Rāniera Ellison was born on 13 February 1915 at Ōtākou on the Otago Peninsula, one of nine children of Te Iwi (David) Herehere Merekihereka Hape Ellison, a farmer, and his wife, Horīwia (Olivia) Karetai. Of Ngāi Tahu…

Part of: Ellison, Rānieraauthored byCraig Ellison, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

James Ingram McDonald was born on 11 June 1865 at Tokomairiro, Otago, New Zealand, the son of Donald McDonald, a ploughman, and his wife, Margaret Ingram. After primary school James attended Otago Boys' High School…

Part of: McDonald, James Ingramauthored byJonathan Dennis

John Te Herekiekie Grace was typical of a group of Māori leaders that emerged in the 1950s. They represented a second generation of well-connected men who prided themselves on their loyalty to the Crown and their…

Part of: Grace, John Te Herekiekieauthored byGraham Butterworth, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Hānara Tangiāwhā Te Ōhakī Reedy (commonly known as Arnold Reedy) was born on 16 August 1903 at Whareponga, a somnolent seaside village on the East Coast of the North Island. He was the eldest of 10 children of Materoa…

Part of: Reedy, Hānara Tangiāwhā Te Ōhakīauthored byMaraki Tautuhi Orongo Reedy, Miria Hine Tapu Te Ariki Walker, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Haami Tokouru Rātana, usually known as Toko, was born at Parewanui, on the west bank of the Rangitīkei River, on 21 July 1894. He was the eldest of seven children of Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana and his first wife, Te…

Part of: Ratana, Haami Tokouruauthored byAngela Ballara, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Josiah Ralph Hanan was born in Invercargill on 13 June 1909, the youngest of five sons of draper James Albert Hanan and his wife, Johanna Mary McGill. His uncle, Josiah Alfred Hanan, was a Liberal MP from 1899 to 1925,…

Part of: Hanan, Josiah Ralphauthored byG. P. Barton

Matiu (Matt) Te Hau was born at Ōmarumutu, near Ōpōtiki, on 11 July 1912, the son of William Turakiuta Cooper of Ngāti Kahungunu, a licensed interpreter, and Kōparepare Matiu, of Ngāti Ruatakenga hapū of Te Whakatōhea.…

Part of: Te Hau, Matiu Te Auripoauthored byRanginui J. Walker, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Taurekareka (Tau) Hēnare was a Ngāpuhi leader noted for his commitment to the welfare, land rights, culture and education of his people. His first name was that of a Ngāti Whātua and Ngāpuhi ancestor, and he was closely…

Part of: Hēnare, Taurekarekaauthored byRobin C. McConnell, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

John Colin Scott was born on 9 June 1924 at Haumoana, Hawke’s Bay, the third of seven children of Kathleen Hiraani Blake and her husband, Charles Hudson Scott, a farmer. His mother (the dominant force in the family) had…

Part of: Scott, John Colinauthored byRussell Walden, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Douglas George Ball was born in Wanganui on 19 October 1895, the son of John Ball, a journalist, and his wife, Emma Agnes Shaw. He was educated at the Victoria Avenue primary school and Wanganui Technical School. He…

Part of: Ball, Douglas Georgeauthored byJohn Barrington

Materoa Ngārimu was born at Maraeke, Whareponga, on the East Coast, according to family information on 8 August 1881, the first of two children of Tuta Ngārimu, a sheepfarmer, and Mākere Rāiri. She came from the senior…

Part of: Reedy, Materoaauthored byPakariki Harrison, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Iriaka Te Rio was born on 25 February 1905 at Hiruhārama (Jerusalem), on the upper Whanganui River. Her father was Te Rio Te Hihiri of Ngāti Hāua (Ngāti Hāuaroa), a people based mainly at Taumarunui, and of Ngāti Ruru,…

Part of: Rātana, Iriaka Matiuauthored byAngela Ballara, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

George Nēpia was born at Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, of Ngāti Rākaipaaka of Nūhaka and Māhia. His birth date was registered as 25 April 1905, but he later claimed he was born in 1908. His father, Peta Piripoi Nēpia, and mother…

Part of: Nēpia, Georgeauthored byRobin C. McConnell, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Harry Delamere Dansey and Roger Ingram Dansey were sons of Englishman Roger Delamere Dansey, a postmaster, and his wife, Wikitōria Ngāmihi Kahuao. Harry was born at Tapuae-haruru (Taupō) on 7 November 1874 and Roger at…

Part of: Dansey, Harry Delamereauthored byJane Baxter, Juliet Robinson, Kath Boswell, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Rīpeka Wharawhara Love was through descent and marriage kin to Te Āti Awa chiefs whose mana continued to extend over the Wellington region after the arrival of Pākehā settlers in 1840. As an heir to that mana, she was…

Part of: Love, Rīpeka Wharawharaauthored byAngela Ballara, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team

Frederick Augustus Bennett was born on 15 November 1871 at Ōhinemutu, Lake Rotorua. His mother, Raiha Ratete (Eliza Rogers), a high-born woman of Ngāti Whakaue section of Te Arawa, gave to her son the culture and…

Part of: Bennett, Frederick Augustusauthored byManu A. Bennett, the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography team