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Īhaka Whaanga, born perhaps late in the eighteenth century, was the son of Te Rātāu of Ngāti Rākaipaaka and Ngāti Kahungunu. Te Rātāu was killed and eaten in a conflict with Whakatōhea at Ōhiwa and his own relative…

John Thornton was born at Kentish Town, London, England, on 19 March 1844, the son of John Thornton, a coachman, and his wife, Mary Ann Bott. John was educated privately and at Highbury College, London, where he gained…

Turikatuku was the daughter of Mutunga II, and belonged to Te Hikutū and Ngāti Rēhia, who were related to Ngāpuhi; their territories stretched north from Te Puna and Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands towards Whangaroa.…

Takaanui Tarakawa was born, according to his own account, in 1852. His mother, Te Whakaumata, also known as Patumoana, of Ngāi Te Rangi, was one of three or four wives of Te Ipututu Tarakawa, Takaanui's father. Takaanui…

Pineāmine Taiapa was born at Tikitiki on the East Coast on 6 June 1901. His mother, Maraea Te Iritawa, and his father, Tāmati Taiapa, were of Te Whānau-a-Hinerupe, a hapū of Ngāti Porou. His mother was also connected to…

Waitoa is said to have been of Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Maru and Te Arawa descent. The names of his parents are not known. He is thought to have been born at Waitoa, near present day Morrinsville, and to have gone south to…

Margaret Orbell was one of New Zealand’s leading authorities on traditional Māori literature. She published prolifically, for both academic and general audiences, and her books achieved critical and popular success.…

Tomoana was born in the 1820s or early 1830s, probably in Heretaunga, Hawke's Bay. He was the third son of Te Rotohenga, also called Winipere, from whom he derived his high rank. Her father was Hāwea of Ngāti Te Whatu-i…

Moetara was a leader of Ngāti Korokoro at Hokianga during the period of European contact in the 1820s and 1830s. He also had connections with Te Rarawa, Te Roroa and Ngāti Whātua. He is thought to have been born in the…

David MacNish, whose surname was sometimes spelled McNish, was born probably in 1812 or 1813 in the parish of Trelawny, Cornwall, Jamaica. He was the son of David McNish, an estate overseer from Kirkcudbrightshire,…

Kūkūtai's father, also named Kūkūtai, was a warrior of very high standing, and a leader of Ngāti Tīpā of Waikato, who were settled along the coast from Kāwhia Harbour to Waikato Heads, and along both banks of the…

Paratene Ngata was born at Ahikouka, near Waiomatatini, on the East Coast, possibly in September 1849. His father was Wiremu Karaka Te Ito, of Reporua, and his mother was Hera Te Ihi, known also as Ruataupare. He was…

Kimble Bent, also known as Kimball Bent, was born in Eastport, Maine, USA, on 24 August 1837, the fourth of the seven children of John (or Waterman) Bent, a shipbuilder and carpenter, of Nova Scotian origin, and his…

Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana was the founder of a Māori religious movement which, in the late 1920s, also became a major political movement. He was the latest in a line of prophetic descent which included Te Ua Haumēne,…

Enid Marguerite Hamilton Kelly was born in Hamilton on 12 September 1903. Her father, Arnold Joseph Kelly, was a plasterer born to Irish Catholic immigrants. Enid's mother, Annie Maria Elliott, was of Northern Irish…

Tene Waitere belonged to Ngāti Tarāwhai, who were kin to Ngāti Pikiao and Tūhourangi of Te Arawa of Rotorua. His mother was Ani Pape, the daughter of Te Rāhui, a prominent Ngāti Tarāwhai leader. As a young girl, she was…

Reginald Newton Biggs was born in England on 16 June 1831, the son of Mary Margaret Bree and her husband, Reverend George Biggs. He is first recorded in New Zealand as a freehold settler in the Wanganui area in 1855. By…

Richard Tahuora Hīmona was born at Te Ore Ore, near Masterton, on 7 September 1905. He was the son of Arapata Hīmona, a farmer, and his wife, Wirapeti Mīkaera of Hāmua, a hapū originally of Rangitāne descent, but…

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…

Hōne Heke Ngāpua was born at Kaikohe, according to family information on 6 June 1869, the first of 12 children of Niurangi Pūriri and Hōne Ngāpua. A direct descendant of Rāhiri, he was connected to the major tribes of…