When Mereana Te Ao Harris was born about 1890, in Otaua, Waikato, New Zealand, her father, Hone Tamati Harris, was 29 and her mother, Ngarui Te Kiriahi Whitinga, was 32. She married Waru Nene Puru in 1916, in Hokianga, New Zealand. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 7 daughters. She died on 13 October 1970, in Northland, New Zealand, at the age of 81.
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Otaua developed into a European farming settlement in the 1890s, with a school opening in 1895.[5] The 360m² Otaua community hall was built in 1898. It has since been extensively renovated with modern fittings, and now features an outdoor deck area and tennis courts.[6]
New Zealand becomes world's first country to give women the vote.
Outbreak of World War I. New Zealand commits thousands of troops to the British war effort. They suffer heavy casualties in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in 1915.
English (southern England and south Wales): from the personal name Harry + genitival -s. This surname is also established in Ireland, taken there principally during the Plantation of Ulster. However, in some cases, particularly in families coming from County Mayo, Harris can be an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hEarchadha. This surname is also very common among African Americans.
American shortened and altered form of Greek surnames begining with Cha(r)-, such as Chasandrinos (variant of Kassandrinos, a habitational name from the Kassandra peninsula of Chalkidiki), and various patronymics from the personal name Charalampos (see Charos ). In North America, the surname Harris may possibly also originate from a transferred use of the Greek personal (given) name Charis or Harris (shortened forms of Charalampos) as a surname (i.e. as a replacement of the original surname).
Americanized form of various like-sounding Jewish surnames.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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