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1871/1872?–1956Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti tohunga, faith healer
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 (Ngāi Te Kuranui), a hapū of Tolaga Bay and environs, part of Te Aitanga a...
Story: Rangi, Tūtekohi
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fl. 1839–1893Ngā Māhanga missionary
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 Taranaki. As a young man, Minarapa was taken captive by Waikato in one of...
Story: Rangihatuake, Minarapa
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1919–1987Tūhoe leader, labourer, Māori welfare officer, university lecturer, adviser on Māori affairs
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 his wife, Waiparani Mateana Rūrehe. He was a descendant of Hinepūkohurangi...
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1896–1964Ngāpuhi leader, medical worker, farmer
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 Niurangi Pūriri and Hōne Ngāpua, a nephew of Hōne Heke Pōkai, the Bay of Islands...
Story: Rankin, Hōne Heke
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1884–1972Farmer, animal breeder, agricultural scientist
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 Zealand in 1900 along with about 200 other people from England. They...
Story: Ranstead, John Morris
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1859–1944Businessman, socialist, emigration organiser, farmer
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 Liverpool Institute and School of Art. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed...
Story: Ranstead, William
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1934–1997Ngāti Kurī, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Whātua; politician, union leader
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 championing Māori rights, and many of his contemporaries regarded him as a...
Story: Rata, Matiu Waitai
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1898/1899?–1966Ngāti Apa and Ngā Rauru; Rātana leader
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, had connections to Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngā Wairiki. Her mother,...
Story: Rātahi, Puhi-o-Aotea
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1894–1944Ngāti Apa; politician, Rātana leader
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 Urumanaao Ngāpaki (also known as Ngāuta Urumanao Baker). His principal descent...
Story: Ratana, Haami Tokouru
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1905–1981Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi; entertainer, farmer, Rātana leader, politician
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, a hapū of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi. He may also have had connections within...
Story: Rātana, Iriaka Matiu
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1873–1939Ngāti Apa and Ngā Rauru; faith healer, religious founder, political leader
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, Tāwhiao Te Wherowhero, Tohu Kākahi, Te Whiti-o-Rongomai, Tītokowaru, Te Kooti...
Story: Rātana, Tahupōtiki Wiremu
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1855–1931Journalist, suffragist, welfare worker
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 New Zealand to settle with her family in Oamaru.
In 1880 Lizzie Fenton...
Story: Rattray, Lizzie Frost
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1836/1837?–1926Ngāti Ranginui leader, assessor, sportsman
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 Tauranga; his mother was Raukawa Mātia of Ngāti Hangarau, a woman of rank. As a...
Story: Raukawa, Te Mete
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1834/1835?–1938Ngāi Tahupō, Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu; Ringatū tohunga
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 mother, Whakatiki Te Momo (Te Moumou), was from Tūhoe and Ngāti Hingana (...
Story: Raukura, Ēria Tūtara-Kauika
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1851?–1927Ngāti Hauā; King movement secretary and administrator
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 Ngāti Hauā. The names of his parents are not known, and his own personal...
Story: Rāwhiti, T. T.
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1889–1977Music teacher, community leader
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. Although not a Catholic, Evelyn was educated at a local convent and at a...
Story: Rawlins, Evelyn Mary
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1918–1995Poet, novelist, short-story writer, editor
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 was only six, she always remembered its exotic sights and fragrances, which...
Story: Rawlinson, Gloria Jasmine
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1910–1994Singer, actor, drama producer, composer, music teacher
Mary Bertha Rawlinson’s rich contralto voice and splendid acting skills made her a familiar name in New Zealand music and theatre for nearly 40 years. She was born in Geraldine, South Canterbury, on 1 June 1910, the daughter of Joseph Albert Rawlinson, a printer, and his wife, Agnes Russell...
Story: Rawlinson, Mary Bertha
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1925–2006Broadcaster, journalist, feminist
Cherry Raymond was a broadcaster, journalist and opinion-leader, and a household name during the 1960s and 1970s when few women achieved such prominence in the media. Although she particularly campaigned on women’s issues, and often on topics which were controversial or taboo, her interests...
Story: Raymond, Cherry
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1814/1815?–1878Mariner, trader, land purchaser
George Edward Read was born in Mendlesham, Suffolk, England, probably in 1814 or 1815. His parents' names are unknown, as are details of his early life before he came to the Pacific in the mid 1830s aboard a whaling ship. Read served on various vessels trading around Australia and New Zealand...
Story: Read, George Edward