Potatau Te Wherowhero was born in Waikato towards the end of the eighteenth century. He was the eldest son of a Waikato warrior chief, Te Rau-anga-anga, and Parengaope of Ngati Koura. He belonged to the senior chiefly line of Ngati Mahuta, and was descended from the captains of the Tainui and Te Arawa canoes. Te Wherowhero had four wives, Whakaawi, Raharaha, Waiata and Ngawaero. His children were Matutaera (later known as Tawhiao), Makareta Te Otaota and Tiria.

He tama a Tāwhiao nā Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, he kaihautū nō Waikato, rāua ko Whakaawi, tana wahine matua. Nō Ngāti Mahuta ia o roto i te kotahitanga o ngā iwi o Tainui. I whānau ia ki Ōrongokoekoeā, kei te tai whakaroto o te awa o Mōkau, i te wā e whakamutu haere ana ngā pakanga mau pū i waenganui i a Ngā Puhi rāua ko Waikato. E ai ki ngā kōrero, i huaina ia ko Tūkāroto hei whakamaharatanga ki te tū a Te Wherowhero i te whakapaetanga i te pā o Mātakitaki i te tau 1822. Nō muri mai, ka iriiria ia e te mihingare, e Robert Burrows ki te īngoa o Matutaera. Nō te tau 1864, ka ūwhia te īngoa o Tāwhiao ki runga ki a ia e Te Ua Haumēne, te poropiti o Pai Mārire.

It is thought that from 1854 or 1855, Mahuta Tāwhiao was born at Whatiwhatihoe, in the Waikato district. Following the death of his brother Tū Tāwhiao, Mahuta was the son of Tāwhiao, the second Maori King, and his wife, Sarah. Sarah was a daughter of Tamati Ngapora (Manuhiri) of Ngati Mahuta, and his wife, Sarah, was also named. Tāwati Ngāpora is Tāwhiao's advisor. Mahuta's father was Tiahuia, the mother of Te Puea Hērangi. Many of Mahuta's younger brothers and sisters have longed for some of her dad's marriages, as well as those of the nobleman