10 Facts About Henare Uru

Henare Whakatau Uru was a New Zealand politician.

Henare Uru was the Reform Party Member of Parliament for Southern Maori from 1922 to 1928.

Henare Uru's father was Hoani Uru, a farmer, and his mother was Kataraina Kaiparoa.

Henare Uru married Ruita Te Aika in 1891, but the couple divorced in 1896.

Henare Uru was known as a sportsman in his teens and 20s, playing rugby union for the Kaiapoi Football Club, and being involved in athletics, wrestling and tennis.

Henare Uru managed the Rapaki Music Company and has been credited with introducing the tune Now is the Hour to New Zealand.

Henare Uru won the Southern Maori electorate in the 1922 Southern Maori by-election following the death of his brother Hopere Henare Uru in November 1921.

Henare Uru retained his seat at the 1922 and 1925 general elections, but was defeated in 1928 when he finished third behind Tuiti Makitanara and Eruera Tirikatene.

Henare Uru was a member of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research.

Henare Uru died in Wellington in 1929 and was buried at Tuahiwi, near Kaiapoi.