List of people from Gisborne, New Zealand

The following is a list of famous people born in Gisborne, New Zealand, and people who spent significant periods of their lives living in the Gisborne/East Coast area (from Wairoa to Te Kaha to Opotiki).

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Media

• Murray Ball (1939- ), cartoonist, creator of Footrot Flats
• Rangi Coleman, former Bureau Chief of Maori Television, political journalist
• Witi Ihimaera (1944- ), author
• Bailey Mackey, former head of sport for Maori Television; executive producer of The GC; husband of former Shortland Street actress Emmeline Hawthorne)
• Neil Waka, former TVNZ journalist
• Tina Wickliffe, former Maori Television TVNZ political journalist

Political

• Aaryn Barlow, politician
• Sir James Carroll, acting Prime Minister
• Charles Chauvel, politician
• Albert Davy, politician
• Catherine Delahunty, politician
• Meng Foon, current Mayor of Gisborne
• David Garrett, politician
• Parekura Horomia, politician
• Gareth Hughes, politician
• Wayne Kimber, politician
• Mokena Kohere, pioneer
• Te Kooti, activist
• Janet Mackey, politician, mother of Moana Mackey
• Moana Mackey, politician, scientist, daughter of Janet Mackey
• Apirana Ngata, politician, honoured by being on the NZ$50 note
• Wi Pere, politician
• Margaret Sievwright, women's rights activist
• Esme Tombleson, pioneer female politician
• Rana Waitai, politician
• Allan Wallbank, politician
• Margaret Wilson, politician, speaker of the house

Art

• Peter Brown
• Jolene Douglas

Entertainment

• Rongo Brightwell, New Zealand Idol Top 5 2005
• Rowan Carlyle, musician, soil tester, all round good guy
• Jackie Clarke, actress, former New Zealand Idol judge
• Jackson Clarke, amazing musician and mountain biker
• Clark Gayford, television presenter
• Marie Te Hapuku, soprano
• Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, opera diva
• Darren Katene, 1814 member
• Ngoi Pēwhairangi, composer
• Cole Smith, The GC; cousin of Matai Smith
• Matai Smith, Pukana presenter
• Bronwyn Turei, actress
• Chanel Whalley, Australian Idol Top 10 2004

Celebrities

• Joy Watson, award-winning author

Military

• Te Moananui-a-Kiwa Ngarimu, Victoria Cross recipient

Sports

• Aron Baynes, basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA and the Australia men's national basketball team
• Grant Bramwell, Olympic gold medalist - kayak
• Shane Cameron, boxer
• Mark Carrington, cricketer
• Craig Clarke, rugby player
• Matt Cooper, All Black rugby union player

George Nepia All Black

• Sandra Edge, netball player
• Rory Fallon, football player
• Hosea Gear, rugby player
• Rico Gear, All Black rugby player
• Tom Heeney, boxer
• Peta Hiku, Manly Sea Eagles and New Zealand Kiwis Test Rugby League player)
• Joe Hogan, croquet player
• Cory Hutchings, iron man
• Ian Kirkpatrick, All Black rugby player
• George Nepia, All Black rugby player
• Maz Quinn, surfer
• Wai Taumaunu, Silver Fern netball player
• Alan Thompson, Olympic gold medalist - kayaking
• Chris White, Olympic bronze medalist - rowing
• David White, cricketer

Business

• Bob Berry, dendrologist
• William Douglas Cook, horticulturist
• Peter Egan, meat industry
• Dame Bronwen Holdsworth (born 1943), businesswoman and arts sponsor^[1]
• Vaughan Jones, mathematician
• Robert Kerridge, tourism industrialist
• Stephen Parke, theoretical physicist
• Eric Partridge, lexicographer
• Professor Jack Richards, English and art scholar
• Dame Anne Salmond
• Bishop Leonard Williams

Academics

• Vaughan Jones
• Paul McHugh
• Don Merton
• Anne Salmond (née Thorpe)

Others

• Witi Ihimaera's nephew, Gary Lewis, who is married to Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, Lady Davina Windsor; born in Gisborne
• Lyn Provost, Controller and Auditor-General
• Terrance John Clark (Mr. Asia), international criminal and head of a crime syndicate which distributed heroin into New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s
• Andrew Witters, co-founder of the musical festival Rhythm & Vines; his family own the vineyard where the festival is hosted
• One or both parents of all three 2013 X-Factor NZ finalists, Whenua Patuwai, Jackie Thomas and Benny Tipene, come from Gisborne.
• 3 News anchorman, Mike McRoberts's father comes from Wairoa.
• Director Lee Tamahori's father comes from Gisborne. Tamahori sent his children to high school in Gisborne.
• John Tamihere's wife, Awerangi Tamihere (daughter of Professor Mason Durie), comes from the Gisborne area.
• Silver Fern netball captain, Casey Kopua's husband Terry, was born and raised in Gisborne.
• Russell Crowe's mother's family comes from Reporua and later moved to Manutuke through his Wemyss/Hayes line.

References

1. "Queen's Birthday Honours: Flying the flag for Gisborne". The New Zealand Herald. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.