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1822–1908Lawyer, politician, judge
Edward Tennyson Conolly was born at Chichester, Sussex, England, probably on 31 August 1822, into a family of Irish origin. He was the only son of Elizabeth Collins and her husband, John Conolly, a professor of medicine and later director of Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell, who...
Story: Conolly, Edward Tennyson
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1903–1994Salvation Army leader, doctor
Alfred Bramwell Cook was born at Gisborne on 7 March 1903, the third of four children of Edith Emily Britton and her husband, Henry Charles Cook, a Salvation Army officer. Henry had served in England and Australia and, after marrying Edith, a comrade officer, had been transferred to New Zealand...
Story: Cook, Alfred Bramwell
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1885–1943Labourer, trade unionist
Arthur Cook was born at Campbelltown, Tasmania, on 30 November 1885, the son of Martha (Mary) Eberhardt and her husband, Alfred Cook, a labourer and later a station manager. He spent his early years in Australia working on farms, shearing sheep and mining, before emigrating to New Zealand...
Story: Cook, Arthur
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1843–1910University professor
Charles Henry Herbert Cook was born in Kentish Town, Middlesex, England, on 30 September 1843, the son of Mary Roots and her husband, Charles Cook, a tailor. His parents emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where Cook received his schooling. He entered the University of Melbourne in 1863,...
Story: Cook, Charles Henry Herbert
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1896–1990Community worker, socialist, feminist, peace activist, social reformer, teacher
Freda Mary Pym was born on 9 November 1896 at Alvescott, Oxfordshire, England, one of four children of Emma Bertha Harrison and her husband, Samuel Arnott Pym, a solicitor. Freda attended Cheltenham Ladies' College from 1905 until 1916 and won a scholarship to Oxford University. She studied at...
Story: Cook, Freda Mary
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1855–1941Ngāpuhi; whaler
George and Herbert Cook came from a seafaring family. Their grandfather, William Cook, came to New Zealand as third mate on an English whaler. He took as his wife Tīraha, who was of Ngāpuhi and Kapotai and kin to several important Hokianga chiefs including Tāmati Wāka Nene. William and Tīraha...
Story: Cook, George Howe
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1728–1779Naval officer, cartographer, navigator, explorer
According to reliable sources James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 at Marton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England; he was baptised on 3 November that year. He was the second child of James Cook, a Scottish day labourer, and his wife, Grace Pace. He attended the Postgate School at Great Ayton in...
Story: Cook, James
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1884–1967Farmer, arboriculturist
William Douglas Cook was born in New Plymouth on 28 October 1884, the second child of William Cook, a bank officer, and his wife, Jessie Turnbull Miller. Both parents were from affluent, well-connected Scottish families. His paternal grandfather, John Cook, was a shipowner in Aberdeen; his...
Story: Cook, William Douglas
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1901–1977Rugby union and league player, shop assistant, mercer, motel manager
Albert Edward Cooke was born in Auckland on 5 October 1901, one of four sons and three daughters of Sarah Jane Peterson and her husband, Albert Edward Cooke, a hairdresser. The family moved to Hamilton about 1909, and after schooling at Hamilton East School and Hamilton High School, Bert became...
Story: Cooke, Albert Edward
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1867–1930Tailor, socialist, trade unionist
Frederick Riley Cooke (registered as Cook) was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, on 28 April 1867, the son of Samuel Riley Cook, a tailor, and his wife, Mary Schorah. He started work at the age of seven and was almost entirely self-educated. By the late 1880s he had taken up his father's trade...
Story: Cooke, Frederick Riley
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1881–1923Builder, book agent, health specialist, abortionist, convicted murderer
More than a quarter of a century after the hanging of Minnie Dean, the murder trial of Daniel and Martha Cooper in 1923 revealed that ‘baby farming’ and illegal abortion were still regarded as solutions to the problem of unwanted children. Daniel Richard Cooper was born at Otepopo (Herbert),...
Story: Cooper, Daniel Richard
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1850–1925Compositor, lawyer, judge
Theophilus Cooper was born on 15 November 1850 at Newington, Surrey, England, the son of Susannah Bugby and her husband, Theophilus Cooper, a mercantile clerk. In 1862 the Cooper family travelled to New Zealand on the Gertrude under the Albertland settlement scheme. Along with the other...
Story: Cooper, Theophilus
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1895–1994Te Rarawa woman of mana, teacher, storekeeper, community leader
Whina Cooper was born Hōhepine (Josephine) Te Wake at Te Karaka in northern Hokianga on 9 December 1895. Her father was Heremia Te Wake, a leader of Ngāti Manawa and Te Kaitutae hapu of Te Rarawa and the son of an American whaler. Her mother, Kare Pauro Kawatihi, was of Te Rarawa and Taranaki ...
Story: Cooper, Whina
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1885/1886?–1949Ngāti Kahungunu; interpreter, land officer
William Turakiuta Cooper (sometimes known as Wiremu Te Apatū Cooper) was born at Muriwai, Poverty Bay, probably in 1885 or 1886, one of twin sons of Robert Cooper and Mere Morera (or Christie). Both parents were of Ngāti Kahungunu and European descent. His mother was the daughter of Rawinia Te...
Story: Cooper, William Turakiuta
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1864/1865?–1950Businesswoman, matriarch
Shirefie Lettoof was born in the village of Bsharri, on the western flank of the Lebanon Mountains, probably in 1864 or 1865. She was a member of the Fakhry tribe whose roots are thought to lie in fourteenth century Iraq. Her parents, Peter Lettoof and his wife, Mary Lahood, were peasant...
Story: Coory, Shirefie
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1888–1961Artist and art teacher
Ivy Margaret Copeland was born in Auckland on 15 June 1888, one of five children of English-born parents John Copeland, a mechanic, and his wife, Eliza Ann Barlow. At the age of 10 she took lessons from C. F. Goldie at the Ladies’ College, Remuera, and she later studied with the English artist...
Story: Copeland, Ivy Margaret
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1834–1902Presbyterian minister, doctor, writer
James Copland was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 3 February 1834, the son of George Copland, a clothier, and his wife, Catharine Pearson. He studied arts and theology in Edinburgh and Berlin, obtained a PhD from Heidelberg university in 1858, and took the degree of MD at the University of...
Story: Copland, James
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1864–1941Pedlar, importer, viticulturist, wine-maker
The sturdy figure of Assid Abraham Corban, with his magnificent walrus moustache and trademark waistcoat and chains, gazes sternly down from a wall in the entrance to the head office of Corbans Wines Limited. For much of the first half of the twentieth century the winery Corban founded...
Story: Corban, Assid Abraham
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1898–1968Farmer, dairy industry leader, politician, conservationist
Ernest Bowyer Corbett was born on 7 May 1898 to William Corbett, a labourer, and his wife, Annie Bowyer, at Ōkato, Taranaki, where his parents later farmed. He attended Puniho Native School for four years and later Ōkato School. He joined the Post and Telegraph Department in 1911 but left in...
Story: Corbett, Ernest Bowyer
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1916–1995Clerk, naval officer
Lorelle Henderson Corbin was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 3 June 1916, the daughter of Horace Hugh Corbin, a lecturer in forestry at the University of Adelaide, and his wife, Kathleen Mary Henderson. The family came to New Zealand in 1925 when her father was appointed professor of...
Story: Corbin, Lorelle Henderson