Te Raita Taonui Death, Obituary – Everyone should be aware that Te Raita Taonui died recently. She was an enthusiastic freedom fighter who always gave her best, and her death came as a shock to us. Her funeral will be held at Legacy Funerals in Pye’s Pa. on Wednesday at 2 p.m. On a personal note, the most recent funeral I attended was Christopher Leitch’s, a man I greatly admired. Please do not use this funeral as a political platform, as many did at his.
This is about Te Raita and us banding together for her, not about you, so keep your remarks to a minimum. Te Raita, also known as Eliza Samuelson, is the only child of Te Pukeiti and Paul Samuelson, an English surveyor who returned to his native country without likely realizing he had a daughter. Te Raita was at least 10 years old in April 1864.
Te Raita would have been a young woman of 18 to 19 years old when Te Kooti arrived at Taupiri-o-terangi, a Marae of Ngati Rora of Maniapoto, situated on a flat area close to the Manga o Kiwa stream close to the Te Kuiti Abattoir.
She has two daughters from her first marriage to John Taonui Hetet: Manawarewa Ringiringi and Te Huingariri.This marriage afterwards ended.Te Raita seemed to be a pretty and endearing young woman.
The young men of her time consistently sought her favor, but one of them, tall and attractive, stood out.Te Raita and Robert Ormsby married in 1877 in Robert’s residence in Mangatoatoa, with witnesses Robert Snr. and his wife Bianca (Pianika).Robert and Te Raita raised two sons, Albert and Rangihurihia.
Rev.Rapata Emery wrote about it in his history of Te Pukeiti, Te Raita’s mother.He reported that this was a volatile relationship, and Te Raita eventually became ill and died at the age of about 40 years.Te Raita’s spouse, Robert, never married again.He relocated to Otorohanga following the completion of the major trunk railway line, where he lived with his son Albert, daughter-in-law, and grandkids.
Te Pukeiti spent her final years with her people of Ngati Rora at the end of the gorge, which was then known as Te Kuiti.Then, for some inexplicable reason, she decided to return to Mangapeehi, where she eventually became ill and died.She was returned to Te Kuiti, where Ngati Rora, Maniapoto, and other subtribes paid their respects. Te Pukeiti was laid to rest in a freshly erected Mausoleum.