Birth Name: Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron also Kiri Janette Claire Te Kanawa
Place of Birth: Gisborne, New Zealand
Date of Birth: 6 March, 1944
Ethnicity:
*father – Māori, as well as 1/16th Scottish, 1/16th Colonial American (English)
*mother – English
Kiri Te Kanawa is a New Zealand opera singer and actress. She performed at the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981.
Kiri is the biological daughter of Tieki “Jack” Wawatai, a butcher and Mary Noeleen Rawstron. She was adopted and renamed Kiri Janette Claire Te Kanawa, by Tom Te Kanawa and Nell Leece. Her adoptive father was Māori and of Ngāti Maniapoto, and her adoptive mother was of English and Irish descent. She has two children with her former husband Desmond Park. She is affiliated with the Ngāti Te Kanawa sub-tribe of Ngāti Maniapoto.
Dame Kiri’s paternal grandfather was Te Owai “Joe” Wawatai (the son of Henare Wawatai and Harai Katokato Patuwai, of Ngāti Porou).
Dame Kiri’s paternal grandmother was Mere Tote “Mary Anne” Rogers (the daughter of Te Ngaroata Pokaihau “Jack” Rogers and Te Raiti). Jack’s father, Eruera Pokaihau Rogers, was the son of William Henry Rogers, a shipwright and storekeeper at Maketu, who emigrated to New Zealand from Salem, Massachusetts, U.S., sometime during the 1840s, and of Mereana Rangingangana of Te Arawa. Jack’s mother, Te Owai McDonnell, was the daughter of Thomas McDonnell, from Glasgow, Scotland, and of Pahemata Tauatahi Te Po of Ngā Puhi.
Dame Kiri’s maternal grandfather was Albert James Rawstron (the son of Ernest Rawstron/Raustron and Hannah Maria Mitchell). Albert was from Preston, Lancashire, England. Hannah was the daughter of James Mitchell and Brittannia Wilding. The surname Rawstron/Raustron is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is derived from Rostherne, a town in Cheshire, England.
Dame Kiri’s maternal grandmother was Eliza/Liza Thelma Wittison (the daughter of Samuel Wittison, a mariner, and Gertrude Ellen Johnson). Eliza was from Kingston, Tasmania, Australia. Gertrude was the daughter of George Johnson and Ellen Stuart.
*not to be confused with Albert James Rawstron born 1860 (also in Lancashire). He married Annie Pickup. Annie Pickup died in 1913 while still married to Albert James Rawstron (born 1860). Eliza Thelma Wittison and Albert James Rawstron (born 1881) married in 1909.
Sources: Genealogy of Kiri – https://www.geni.com
Christening of Albert James Rawstron – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage of Albert Rawstron’s parents – https://www.familysearch.org
Albert James Rawstron on the 1881 UK census – https://www.familysearch.org
Hannah M. Mitchell on the 1871 UK census – https://www.familysearch.org
Christening of Britannia Wilding – https://www.familysearch.org
Birth of Eliza (Thelma) Wittison – https://www.familysearch.org
Eliza/Liza Thelma Wittison’s grave – https://cemeterysearch.gdc.govt.nz
Marriage of Samuel Wittison and Gertrude Johnson – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage of Gertrude Johnson’s parents – https://www.familysearch.org
Documentary where Kiri talks about her family – https://www.youtube.com
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