Search

Murupaenga, leader of Ngāti Rongo, a hapū of Ngāti Whātua, was born, according to one calculation, about 1770. His parents were Ahiwera and Tūaea. In the period of his most important activity his home was near Makarau,…

Stephenson Percy Smith was born at Beccles, Suffolk, England, on 11 June 1840, the eldest son of Hannah Hursthouse and her husband, John Stephenson Smith, a timber and corn merchant and later a civil servant. When Percy…

Mete Kīngi Te Rangi Paetahi was of Ngā Poutama and Ngāti Tūmango of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi. He also had ties with Ngāti Apa. He was the son of Paetahi, a Wanganui leader, who fought against Ngāti Toa at the battle of…

Frank Oswald Victor Acheson was born on 27 June 1887 at Riverton, Southland, the youngest of nine children of Robert Acheson, a merchant, and his wife, Annie Sinclair Allan. He was educated at Riverton school and…

Elsdon Best was born at Tawa Flat, New Zealand, on 30 June 1856, the sixth child of William Best, a farmer, and his wife, Hannah Haynes Nibbs. For the first nine years of his life he lived on the family farm, Grassleas…

James and Denis Joseph Cummings, together with their sister Catherine and brother Timothy, were members of the New Zealand Police Force during the first half of the twentieth century. They were four of the twelve…

Josiah Firth, later known as Josiah Clifton Firth, is said to have been born at Clifton, near Bradford, Yorkshire, England, on 27 October 1826. He was the son of Mary Bateman and her husband, the Reverend Benjamin Firth…

John Barr Clark Hoyte was born in England, probably in London, on 22 December 1835, the son of Samuel Hoyte, a landowner. His mother's name is not known, nor are any details of his childhood. From 1856 to 1859 he was…

Bishop Wiremu Nētana Pānapa, known affectionately as Barney, was the second bishop of Aotearoa. He was born in Ahikiwi, north of Dargaville, on 7 June 1898. Pānapa’s grandfather, Pānapa Hōhāpata, of Ngāti Ruanui, was…

Haimona (Simon) Pātete (also known as Haimona Turi) was born on Rangitoto (D'Urville Island), in the Marlborough Sounds, probably in 1863 or 1864. Te Putu, his grandfather, and Turi Te Pātete, his father, were among the…

Mihi Kōtukutuku was born, according to family information, on 30 October 1870 at Pōhaturoa, a point near Raukōkore in the Bay of Plenty. She was the third daughter of Maaka Te Ehutū of Te Whanau-a-Maruhaeremuri, a hapū…

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.…

Āpihai Te Kawau was born towards the end of the eighteenth century. His father was Tarahawaiki and his mother was Mokorua, who was descended from the Waiōhua people. Te Kawau's grandfather was Tuperiri, principal leader…

Paraire Hēnare Tomoana, known familiarly as Friday, was born probably in 1874 or 1875 at either Pākōwhai or Waipatu in Hawke's Bay. He was the eldest of the surviving children – 13 in all – of Hēnare Tomoana and his…

Rua Kēnana, sometimes known as Ruatapunui, has usually been considered to be the posthumous son of Kēnana Tūmoana of Ngāti Kahungunu, who was killed fighting for Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki at Mākāretu sometime…

Hāmiora Mangakāhia, also called Tana and later Piripi, is said to have been born in 1838 at Waikaurau, which was probably at Whangapoua Harbour on the eastern Coromandel Peninsula. His mother was Rīria Pōau (Pōnau) of…

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.…

Eve Rimmer was one of New Zealand’s greatest paraplegic athletes, winning 32 medals – including 22 gold medals – for athletics and swimming at international sporting events. A household name during the late 1960s and…

George Warren Russell was born in Haggerston, London, England, on 24 February 1854, the son of Miriam Warren and her husband, Gregory Ruffell Russell, a bricklayer and builder. The family emigrated to Tasmania, where…

Te Whatanui, sometimes known as Te Whata, Toheāpare, or Toheata, was the son of Tihao of Ngāti Huia and Ngāti Parewahawaha, two hapū of Ngāti Raukawa. His mother was Pareraukawa, elder sister of Hape or Hape-ki-tūārangi…