Daniel Ellison or Raniera Erihana was the third child of Thomas Ellison, an English Whaler and Ikairaua, the daughter of a Te Atiawa Chief named Whati. As the only male to have children, Daniel is responsible for the large branch of the ELLISON family in New Zealand , having 12 children to his wife Hannah Nani Weller.
Raniera was born on 15 November 1839 in Korohiwa, near Titahi Bay , Wellington . His name and date of birth are recorded in a family bible signed by Reverend Williams. His parents had been living in Queen Charlotte Sounds , in the Marlborough Sounds but had to flee a Ngai Tahu raid from Chief Tuhawaiki, so they crossed the Cook Strait and set up a whaling station in Korokiwa. Raniera was only 9 months old when his father Thomas Ellison was drowned trying to land his whaling boat through heavy surf near Titahi Bay. Following this tragedy, it appears that the family stayed in Korohiwa or Titahi Bay area for at least a few years. Raniera's older brother Thomas, was also drowned in Titahi Bay as a child. Despite two drownings in his family,or perhaps because of it, Raniera became a strong swimmer, a strength that was to serve him well in the future. He was raised amongst his mother's tribe , Te Atiawa and the predominant tribe of Porirua, the Ngati Toa . He would have had the influence of the English whalers that were part of his father's crew. Later on in the 1850's , when Raniera was in his late teens, he also became involved in whaling, and apparently met with some success.
In 1861, when Raniera was 21 years old, he decided to venture down to Otago where gold had been discovered. Initially he worked as a crew member on the pilot boats that were bringing the numerous Scottish ships into Dunedin . He received acclaim and was acknowledged as a hero, on several occasions , when he risked his own life to rescue several passengers from the harbour, after their boats capsized. While he was working on the pilot boats, he spent some time at Otakou,a Maori settlement at the entrance to the Otago Harbour. While he was visiting here, he met Nani Weller, a beautiful half caste woman who was the grand daughter of Chief Taiaroa. They fell in love but marriage was forbidden by Taiaroa because Raniera belonged to Te Rauparaha's allies and was thus the enemy to Ngai Tahu. Nani had been raised by Taiaroa, but he was now old and becoming frail.
In 1859, Gold had been discovered by Gabriel Reid, an Australian prospector. This opened up the Otago Goldrush , with thousands of men flocking to Otago to try their luck. Towards the end of 1861, Raniera and two friends , set old for the Goldfields by foot. They spent some time prospecting in Tuapeka, and Ben Nevis but had only meagre returns. In June 1862, gold was discovered on the Shotover river, at Arthur's point, so Raniera and his friends set out for the Shotover river travelling by foot to what is now known as Skipper's canyon . They arrived there in November 1862 and found that there were already numerous prospectors who had staked their claims and were working with limited success. Being hungry, they looked for weka to eat, but none were to be found on their side of the river,so Raniera decided to swim across the river to where the weka were plentiful. Many of the prospectors thought he wouldn't survive the swift current, but Raniera was a powerful swimmer and crossed safely. He panned 1 ounce of gold in his first pan and eyed a spot down river which looked promising. He returned with the weka which was gratefully received by his hungry friends.
p.t.o.