Background
He married to Moe Ma-hea-nu"u-a-Mai (Princess Moe-a-Mai) (elder daughter of Te-He-papai Ma-hea-nu"u-a-Mai, of Faaa, Judge of the High Court, Pastor and Mbr Supreme Council of Churches) and had two sons and four daughters:.
He married to Moe Ma-hea-nu"u-a-Mai (Princess Moe-a-Mai) (elder daughter of Te-He-papai Ma-hea-nu"u-a-Mai, of Faaa, Judge of the High Court, Pastor and Mbr Supreme Council of Churches) and had two sons and four daughters:.
Adopted by Tamatoa IV King of Raiatea and Tah"aa, he succeeded him on 19 August 1857 and crowned at Opoa by The Review Platt, 1 December 1860. Deposed on 8 February 1871.
Married 29 April 1884 (divorced 21 January 1893) to Teri’itonorua Norman Brander.
Princess Ari‘i-‘otare Teri‘i-maevarua III (28 May 1871 – 19 November 1932), last Queen of Bora Bora. Prince Tamatoa-tane (22 September 1872 – 25 August 1873).
Princess Teri’inavahoroa-vahine Tamatoa Pomare Matauira (7 November 1877 – 3 December 1918), married firstly 27 August 1896 to ‘Opuhara Salmon (d 6 August 1908) and secondly 24 December 1910 to Teuraiterai Mote Salmon (d 21 April 1926), her brother-in-law. Princess ‘O ‘Aimata Teri’i-vahine-i-titaua-‘o-ote-ra’i (29 June 1879 – 3 April 1894).
He died at Pape"ete, 30 September 1881.
Friedrich Ratzel in The History of Mankind reported that Tamatoa, the chief of Raiatea, was revered as a deity while he was still alive. When George Herbert, 13th Earl of Pembroke visited the islands with Doctor George Henry Kingsley in 1870, he was stricken by his wife"s charm and beauty and referred to the king and queen as "Beauty and the Beast.".
He was succeeded by Tahitoe I, a member of the cadet branch of the Tamatoa Royal Family.