Rankin Hone Heke 1896 1929

edmondsallan - Hello -Another generally unknown family member . He is deep in our Family Ancestory . I have got an ancestral flow chart some where, which I seem to have mis-laid . Hone Heke Rankin, also known as John Rankin, was born at Gisborne on 13 January 1896 to Matire Ngapua of Nga Puhi, and her husband, John Claudian (Claudius) Rankin, a Kaikohe storekeeper. Matire was the daughter of Niurangi Puriri and Hone Ngapua, a nephew of Hone Heke Pokai, the Bay of Islands leader who signed the Treaty of Waitangi but later cut down the Kororareka flagstaff. Her brother, Hone Heke Ngapua, was MHR for Northern Maori from 1893 to 1911. Matire was working for a legal firm, Parr and Blomfield, in Auckland when she met John Rankin, an immigrant from Glasgow, Scotland, who was regarded as Kaikohe's legal expert. Hone Heke had an elder brother, Hepi. Their father seems to have played little part in their life, although the boys had the advantage of speaking English and Maori. Hone Heke’s main hapu was Te Matarahurahu, but he was also connected through senior lineage to Ngati Rahiri, Ngai Tawake, Ngati Tautahi, Te Uri-o-Hua, and to most of the northern tribes.
Hone Heke Rankin's skills as an orator on the marae and the position he eventually inherited suggest that he received a traditional Maori education. Later in life he called attention to his East Coast connections: he was kin through one line of descent to Ngati Kahungunu and Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and was related to Wi Pere, and said that he had stayed for years in the household of Apirana Ngata and had been educated at Waiomatatini. He had an enquiring mind and made the most of limited opportunities for self-improvement; in the 1930s he was to read the Bible - the only literature available to him - right through in Maori and English many times. Later in life he read voraciously, becoming something of a self-educated polymath.
On 13 December 1915 he enlisted in the army as a private; his occupation was listed as chauffeur. He embarked with the 11th Reinforcements and was posted to active service with the 2nd Battalion of the Auckland Infantry Regiment in August 1916. He was wounded at the Somme the following month and evacuated to England. In February 1918 he joined the New Zealand Medical Corps. He was discharged in 1919. After the war he continued in medical work for nearly 10 years, working in the department of radiography of Auckland Hospital for a period, then moving to Rotorua. Don't go away yet. You want a cuppa . . Ok - you need a break - So do I .
" I'll be Back " Till we meet again -Regards -edmondsallan