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George Eric Oakes Ramsden was born in Martinborough, Wairarapa, on 1 August 1898, the eldest of three children of Henry Oakes Ramsden, an Englishman, and his New Zealand-born wife, Sophia Jane Harris. Henry Ramsden was…

Amelia Mary Randall, although quiet and unassuming, was during the early twentieth century one of the wealthiest women in Hawke's Bay, and an important public benefactor. Born Amelia Mary Davenport at Boulogne-sur-Mer,…

Ilse Amalie Mathilde Henneberg was born in Giessen, Germany, on 12 June 1901, the second of three daughters born to Bruno Paul Eduard Henneberg, a university professor, and his wife, Helene Mathilde Fritze. Her parents…

Tūtekohi Rangi, also known as Wiremu Retimana Rangi or Richmond Rangi, was born, probably in 1871 or 1872, possibly at Mangatuna (north of Tolaga Bay), on the East Coast. His father was Ratawari Rangi of Ngāti Kuranui (…

Minarapa Rangihatuake (also known as Minarapa Te Atua-kē) was the Wesleyan lay preacher responsible for the first church in Wellington. He was of Ngā Māhanga and was born, probably early in the nineteenth century, in…

John (Hoani) Te Rangiāniwaniwa Rangihau, known to his hapū and iwi as Te Nika and in the wider Māori world as Te Rangihau, was born at Kūhā, south of Waikaremoana, on 5 September 1919, to Karu Rangihau, a labourer, and…

Hōne Heke Rankin, also known as John Rankin, was born at Gisborne on 13 January 1896 to Matire Ngāpua of Ngāpuhi, and her husband, John Claudian (Claudius) Rankin, a Kaikohe storekeeper. Matire was the daughter of…

John Morris Ranstead was born at East Ham, Essex, England, on 1 July 1884, the first child of William Ranstead, a bookkeeper, and his wife, Margaret Lyon Loch. His father, a Fabian socialist, brought his family to New…

William Ranstead was born on 8 December 1859 at Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, the son of John Ranstead, an engine fitter, and his wife, Margaret Morris. The Ransteads moved to Liverpool and William was educated at the…

Matiu Rata was a greatly respected and influential Minister of Māori Affairs and of Lands in the third Labour government, and progenitor of the Waitangi Tribunal and the Mana Motuhake movement. He spent much of his life…

Puhi-o-Aotea Rātahi was the third president of the Rātana church. She was born Ērina Wiremu Rātana, probably in 1898 or 1899, at Ōrākeinui, which in later years became the Rātana pā settlement. Her father, Wiremu Rātana…

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…

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,…

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,…

Lizzie Frost Fenton was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 22 March 1855, the daughter of Mary Lister and her husband, John Albert Fenton, an Anglican clergyman. She was educated in England and France, then returned to…

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…

Ēria Tūtara-Kauika Raukura was the leading tohunga of the Ringatū church, founded by Te Kooti Arikirangi. His father, Raukura, from Ngāi Tahupō of Māhia Peninsula, was taken prisoner by Tūhoe after tribal fighting. His…

T. T. Rāwhiti was closely associated, for some 30 years, with demands for Māori autonomy and self-sufficiency. He was born in Kāwhia in about 1851, and later lived at Tauwhare, near Cambridge. He had affiliations with…

Evelyn Mary Rawlins was born in Palmerston North on 8 October 1889, the daughter of Jennie Ann Patterson and her husband, William Rawlins, a tinsmith and plumber. Her mother later became a pastry-cook and caterer.…

Gloria Jasmine Rawlinson was born in Ha'apai, Tonga, on 1 October 1918, the daughter of Ethel Rose (Rosalie) Jennings and her husband, Alexander John Rawlinson, a photographic artist. Although Gloria left Tonga when she…