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Katarina Kuini Wharerauaruhe Ellison (Erihana) was born on 29 December 1899 at Puketeraki, north of Dunedin. Both her parents, John Matapura Ellison and his wife, Hera Parata, were of Ngāi Tahu; their main hapū were…

Rona Bailey was one of the most important figures on the radical left in twentieth-century New Zealand. She was a communist and an organiser of protest movements, particularly against the Vietnam War, apartheid and…

Matekoraha Te Peehi Rangihika, commonly known as Bessie, was born on 27 February 1902 at Whiritoa, a small Ringatū settlement between Waihī and Whangamatā. Her father was Rangihika Kereopa of Ngāti Maru, whose parents…

Maketū, also known as Maketū Wharetōtara, the son of Ngāpuhi chief Ruhe, was born in the hinterland of the Bay of Islands. In 1841, when he was about 16 years of age, he was employed to do farm work on Motuarohia, in…

Te Mete Raukawa of Ngāti Hangarau, a section of Ngāti Ranginui, was born at Bethlehem, Tauranga, probably in 1836 or 1837. He was the elder son of Simpson (Simson) Smith, a Scotsman who traded between Auckland and…

Charles Philippe Hippolyte de Thierry claimed that he was born in April 1793. He was the eldest son of Charles Antoine de Thierry, or Thierry, a French merchant mariner, who had settled at Versailles as an equerry at…

According to family information Robert Maunsell was born at Milford, near Limerick, Ireland, on 24 October 1810. He was the seventh child of George Maunsell, a collector of customs and later a banker, and his second…

Pana-kareao was an influential leader of Te Pātū hapū of Te Rarawa. At the time of his birth his father, Te Kaka, was involved in intertribal wars. Driven from Ōruru, near Mangonui, Te Kaka fled towards North Cape.…

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…

Thomas Buddle was born at Durham, England, probably on 24 December 1812, the son of Matthew Buddle, a cordwainer, from a prominent Anglican family, and his wife, Mary Anderson. At the age of 17 Thomas joined the…

Hēnare Pōtae was possibly born in the late 1820s. He belonged to Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare hapū of Ngāti Porou. His father was Te Pōtaeaute, also known as Ēnoka Pōtae, who signed a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi on 9 June…

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…

In 1902 Wiremu Hoani Taua (also known as William Johnson or Johnston) was appointed the first Māori head teacher of a native school and, almost certainly, of any Department of Education primary school. He was to lead…

Te Ānaua, of Pūtiki Wharanui pā, near the mouth of the Wanganui River, was the leader of Ngāti Ruaka of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi in the early and mid nineteenth century. Descended from Hinengākau, his father was Te…

Te Arikinui, Dame Te Atairangikaahu was the first woman chosen to lead the Kīngitanga (the Māori king movement). She served as Māori queen for over 40 years, the longest reign of any Māori monarch. Te Atairangikaahu…

Eramiha Neke Kapua was one of the most eminent Māori carvers of the twentieth century. His father was the well-known Ngāti Tarāwhai carver Neke Kapua, and his mother was Mereana Waitere, the elder sister of Tene Waitere…

Richard Taylor was born at Letwell, Yorkshire, England, on 21 March 1805, one of four children of Richard Taylor and his wife, Catherine Spencer. He was baptised two days later, in the neighbouring parish of Throapham.…

Samuel McDonald Martin was born probably in Kilmuir, Trotternish, Isle of Skye, Scotland, some time between 1805 and 1810. He was the son of Mary Nicholson and her husband, John Martin, a doctor. Samuel Martin graduated…

Nuka Taipari belonged to Ngāti Hē, a hapū of Ngāi Te Rangi of Tauranga. He was the principal chief of Maungatapu pā in the 1830s and 1840s. He is known mostly from references in missionary journals and in The journal of…

Te Rangitopeora, also known as Rangi Topeora, was born at Kāwhia probably early in the nineteenth century. Her mother was Waitohi, of Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Raukawa, and her father Te Rākaherea. Her hapū were Ngāti Kimihia…