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Welcome! This website was created on 21 May 2019 and last updated on 13 Mar 2024. The family trees on this site contain 7712 relatives and 557 photos. If you have any questions or comments you may send a message to the Administrator of this site.
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About Our New Zealand Heritage
Ka tangi te titi
Ka tangi te kaka
Ka tangi hoki ahau
Ti hei wa mauri ora!!!

Ko Whakarara te Maunga
Ko Matauri te Moana
Ko Kopuakauae te Awa
Ko Tapui te Marae
Ko Ngati Kura te Hapu
Ko Ngapuhi te wharenui me nga iwi.
Ko Mataatua te waka
Ko Rihia Kawhe te Tangata

This family tree is the descendants of Riria Kawhe also known as Lydia Riria Coffee or Lydia  Riria Kawhe or Rihia (as you'll see through those that were named after her).  Riria was born in  Karangaroa in the Chatham Islands to James Jack Coffee an Irish  immigrant who was sent to the colonies for 'bleeding a cow'. He was sentenced to 7 years in the  then new penal colony in Sydney Australia. In those days the act of bleeding a cow was to mix it  with oatmeal to feed the family.  James was only 22 years old.  One can only imagine leaving your  whole world behind knowing that you'll never see your loved ones back home.  James had various  relationships with his first to a Moori Ori woman. He had no issue to her as she died a few months  after they wed.  It is said that James buried his first wife in the sand dunes of Kaingaroa in the  Chatham Islands.  His next marriage was to Rutera, a Maori woman from Taranaki who he had a son to.  His name was Epiha Coffee/Kawhe.  This marriage was not to last as he married his 3rd and last  wife, a Ngati Mutunga Maori woman by the name of Wikitoria Patea.  They were married after all 6 of  their children were born as it is recorded in the church archives on the Chatham Islands that the  children were baptised into the Church of England faith at the same time.

For those of you family members that I have given access too, you are able to amend/change or add  family to your own direct lines or immediate family. Please put in birth dates, death dates,  marriage or divorce dates as well. I apologise in advance if there are mistakes made - I am only  human please amend the mistake if you can, if your not able to please send me a message with the  correct information and I will change it for you.  If your able to please upload photographs of  yourselves, spouses and children and mokopuna as well so we can all see what our relatives look  like.

Nga Mihi

Kani

Wikitoria had two daughters to a previous marriage when she wed her cousin. Katareina being the  first, followed by Mereana. Their fathers name is Te Haurangi.  Katareina married Pamariki Raumoa  and Mereana married a Shepherd.

With the marriage of Wikitoria and James Coffee there were 6 children 4 girls - Riria, Parekaiuru,  Hariata and Apia and twin sons Tahana and Arapeta.  I will endeavour to add our distant relatives  onto this site at a later date so that we all can see the various lines we connect to from Taranaki  to Wharekauri.

After the 1860s James Coffee changed his name to Kawhe so in some papers he is referred to as Haki  Kawhe or Hemi Kawhe.  I hope you enjoy scrolling around and seeing the names of our vast family.   Riria was truly blessed to have had one son who was the founder of all of us.

Nga mihi nui kia koutou katoa.

Naku noa

Kani Epiha (6th generation descendant of Riria Kawhe)
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