Paraone, Mere Kingi, 1835?-1942

Her mother was Hine Whati-o-Rangi of Ngaitiawhiri and her father William Brown, a pakeha. Mere Kingi had three husbands and six children. Her first husband was Komene, an elder brother of Te Kooti. Mere Kingi lived all her life in the Poverty Bay area. She is remembered as being a kuia whose everyday beliefs about the world gave deep expression of Maori experience and thought. Died in 1942 aged 107 years (Source; The Book of New Zealand women; Ko kui ma te kaupapa / edited by Charlotte Macdonald et al and Historical bdm online)