ID Number104244
NamePORUTU (Ko) RUHIA
Family NamePORUTU
Plot0
CemeteryChurch of England
StatusPlot Unknown
Location on the Modern Grid Map-
Inscription on TombstoneNo tombstone
Description of Grave
Date of Death or Burial*02 Oct, 1872
Public Cemetery Register Number
Type of Record Burial
Age52
SexFemale
BiographyRuhia was Ngati Awa, born in Taranaki about 1840, daughter of Kokiri (Kopiri), and she grew up at Waiwhetu. After her marriage to Ihaia PORUTU, she lived at Pipitea and had become a Christian. She became famous for giving her protection to two teenagers, Thomas McKenzie and his friend, shielding them with her cloak when they had inadvertently broken tapu and enraged Te Riria Porutu. Later Ruhia persuaded both her husband and her father-in-law to become Anglicans, and a whole pew of St Paul's church was filled by various members of the Porutu family. Ruhia's husband Ihaia also took services at Pipitea Pa. Their only child, also called Ruhia or Louise, died aged 7. Ruhia died on 2 Oct 1872. [Source: Wellington City Library history]