Background
He was born in Harataunga, Thames/Coromandel, New Zealand on 9 September 1898.
He was born in Harataunga, Thames/Coromandel, New Zealand on 9 September 1898.
Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngati Maniapoto iwi. Pei had very limited formal education and was largely self-taught. He considered himself senior in his genealogical ties to Te Puea with whom he worked.
In 1940, when Jones was suffering from cancer and expected to die, Kelly took the material to a publisher and had it printed under his own name as "Tainui" but Jones had an operation and lived to an old age.
Pei was a strong National Party advocate. He stood for Parliament several times between 1930 and 1963.
In the 1938 election, when he stood as an Independent in the Western Maori electorate (with National Party support), he came second after Labour"s Toko Ratana. He stood as the National Party candidate for Western Maori in 1943, 1957, 1960 and 1963, although a newspaper report said he was "Unofficial Labour" in 1943.
Pei was one of the Kingitanga actively involved in getting compensation for the confiscation of land in 1863 after the defeat of the Kingite rebellion.
He was involved with the Maori Land Court, and with the consolidation of Māori land, and with the development of Māori land in the King Country. He was awarded an honorary degree by Waikato University in 1968 to recognise his major contribution to Waikato Tainui literature and development.