Profile Text
Birth Name: Kerry Ann Ruhi Hulme
Date of Birth: 9 March, 1947
Place of Birth: Otautahi, Christchurch, New Zealand
Date of Death: 27 December, 2021
Place of Death: Waimate, New Zealand
Ethnicity: * father – English * mother – one quarter Scottish, one quarter Orcadian-Scots [Orkney Islander], 3/16th Māori [Ngāi Tahu/Kāti Māmoe] and some English
Keri Hulme was a New Zealand writer and poet. She was known for her novel The Bone People (1984).
Keri was the daughter of John William Hulme, a carpenter, and Mary Ann Lillian (Mere) Miller, a credit manager. She was affiliated with Ngāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe (aka Ngāti Mamoe). She told Contemporary Women Poets, “Our family comes from diverse people: Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe (South Island Māori iwi); Orkney islanders; Lancashire folk; Faroese and/or Norwegian migrants.”
Keri’s paternal grandfather was named William Hulme. William was from Lancashire, England.
Keri’s paternal grandmother was named Emma Risley. Emma was from Lancashire.
Keri’s maternal grandfather was Thomas Tame Richard Rangakino Gilbert Miller (the son John Tiaki Mira Miller and Emma Lillian Stevens). Thomas was born in Pūrākanui, Otago, New Zealand. John was born in Waikouaiti, Otago, the son of Thomas White, a whaler; and of Piraurau/Sarah, who herself was the daughter of Puaka and Pioio of Ngāi Tahu/Kāi Tahu. Keri’s great-grandmother Emma was born in Pūrākaunui, Dunedin, the daughter of William Stevens, from Gloucestershire, England; and of Maria Catherine Driver, whose own father was from Bath, Somerset, England, and whose own mother was of Kāti Māmoe/Ngāti Mamoe.
Keri’s maternal grandmother was Mary Ann Yorston Matches (the daughter of William Yorston Matches and Ann Ingles Dinnington). William was from Orkney, Scotland. Ann was the daughter of Thomas Dinnington and Mary Brown Whyte, who were from Stirlingshire, Scotland, with roots in Kilsyth.
Sources: Genealogy of Keri’s mother (through her own brother) – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Keri’s mother – https://tributes.co.nz
Biography of Keri’s maternal grandfather, Thomas Tame Richard Rangakino Gilbert Miller – http://www.heraumahara.nz
Genealogy of Keri’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Maria Catherine Driver – https://www.geni.com