Advanced Biographies Search
Filter biographies using dates, occupations and places related to people's lives.
-
1823?–1895Homemaker, letter-writer
Sarah Maria Style was baptised on 10 August 1823 at Wraysbury, near Windsor, England. She was the daughter of Robert Style, a farmer, and his second wife, Elizabeth Haines. Sarah Style married Charles Decimus Barraud, pharmacist and artist, on 17 March 1849 at St Lawrence's Church, Southampton...
Story: Barraud, Sarah Maria
-
1879–1965Teacher, community leader
Nina Agatha Rosamond Greensill was born in Picton on 9 August 1879, the youngest of seven surviving children of Selina Rebecca Downes and her husband, John Abraham Roberts Greensill. Her mother died in 1883 and Nina was brought up by her father, assisted by a housekeeper and a maid. His second...
Story: Barrer, Nina Agatha Rosamond
-
1878–1968Seaman, swagger
Barrett Crumen (or Krumen) was perhaps the last of New Zealand's old-time swaggers. He was reportedly born in Latvia on 26 March 1878, and was a member of the Lutheran church. Nothing is known of his family and it appears that he neither married nor had any children. Even his real name is...
Story: Barrett Crumen
-
1873/1874?–1952Ngāti Maniapoto leader
Huiatahi Barrett was born at Waiharakeke, Kāwhia, probably in 1873 or 1874. His grandfather was an Englishman, Nathaniel Barrett, who arrived in New Zealand in the 1840s. He worked as a teacher in the Kāwhia district, later supplementing his income with small-scale farming. In 1849 he married...
Story: Barrett, Huiatahi
-
?–1847Trader, whaler, interpreter, hotel owner
Richard (Dicky) Barrett's date and place of birth, and his parents' names, are unknown. It is possible that he was born in Durham or London, in England. His colourful, readable journal and his connection in Durham with the family of William Fox, later premier of New Zealand, throw doubt on the...
Story: Barrett, Richard
-
1878–1953Ngāi Tahu leader, land court agent, trust board secretary
William Daniel Barrett was born on 27 October 1878 at Riverton, Southland, the fourth of eleven children of Louisa Hunter and her husband, Henry Barrett, a labourer. His paternal grandparents were Richard Barrett, a renowned whaler and owner of Barrett’s Hotel in Wellington, and Kararaina...
Story: Barrett, William Daniel
-
1831/1832?–1893Gold prospector, explorer
Alpheus John Barrington was born probably in 1831 or 1832 in Newfoundland, although he sometimes claimed to have been born in Ireland. His parents' names are unknown. He was also known as Albert, and while he was in New Zealand as Alphonse. He gave different variations of his name, age and...
Story: Barrington, Alphonse John
-
1906–1986Clerk, secretary, pacifist
Archibald Charles Barrington was born in Wellington on 8 May 1906 to Christina Jane Blackwell and her English-born husband, John Benjamin Barrington. He grew up in Marton, Rangitikei, where his father worked as a stoker at the municipal gas works. John Barrington was also a cabinet-maker and a...
-
1829–1898Businesswoman, hotel proprietor
Hannah Dorney was born in Cork, Ireland, probably on 14 July 1829, the third child and eldest daughter of Elizabeth Lynch and her husband, Thomas Dorney, a shopkeeper. Although christened Joanna, she preferred to use the less exotic 'Hannah'. She received a basic education, learning to read,...
Story: Barron, Hannah Ward
-
1894–1972Military leader, lawyer, chief justice
Harold Eric Barrowclough was born in Masterton on 23 June 1894, the son of Hannah Sibthorpe Gault and her husband, Alfred Ernest Barrowclough, a civil engineer who later worked as a schoolteacher. Between 1907 and 1912 Harold attended Palmerston North Boys’ High School, where he was a...
Story: Barrowclough, Harold Eric
-
1819–1907Adventurer, writer
William Jackson Barry was born in 1819 in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, England. His parents' names are unknown. He arrived in Sydney, Australia, in 1828, possibly as a juvenile convict, and embarked on a lifetime of adventuring and speculation. Turning with enthusiasm to any likely enterprise, he...
Story: Barry, William Jackson
-
1825/1826?–1884Missionary, priest, writer
Ottavio Barsanti was born in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, Italy, probably in 1825 or 1826, the son of Lorenzo Barsanti, a farmer, and his wife, Maria Silionni. His gravestone in Sydney records him as J. O. Barsanti but his baptismal name is not known. He may have received the name Ottavio (Octavius)...
Story: Barsanti, Ottavio
-
1877–1966Piano teacher
Beatrice Mary Barth was born in London, England, on 11 May 1877, the first of seven children of Ellen Thompson and her husband, Arthur James Barth, a professor of music. The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1881. Arthur Barth had been organist at St Mary Abbots, London, and in Dunedin was...
Story: Barth, Beatrice Mary
-
1928–2000Social morality campaigner
Patricia Bartlett became a household name in 1970s New Zealand. Hers was a celebrity of an unusual kind: she stood against the tide of social change which promoted more relaxed attitudes to sexuality. A petite, neatly dressed and coiffed campaigner for decency and family values, Patricia...
Story: Bartlett, Patricia Maureen
-
1852–1935Farmer, businessman, mayor, town clerk
Charles John Wright Barton was born, according to family information, on 6 February 1852 at Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, and was baptised there on 2 March. He was the son of Charlotte Kinder and her husband, Charles John Wood Barton. Charles junior never knew his father, who was Church...
Story: Barton, Charles John Wright
-
1875–1961Accountant, writer, lawyer, magistrate, public administrator
John Saxon Barton was born on 13 April 1875 in Richmond, Victoria, Australia, the son of John Barton, a minister of the United Methodist Free Churches who had emigrated from Lancashire in 1866, and his second wife, Ann Eliza Duncan. He started work as a bank clerk, studied accountancy, and in...
Story: Barton, John Saxon
-
1885–1949Geologist, university professor
John Arthur Bartrum was born at Creek station, Geraldine, Canterbury, on 24 May 1885, the second of nine children of Benjamin Packer Bartrum, a wool scourer, and his wife, Charlotte Amy Hayden. Educated initially by his mother, Bartrum attended Pleasant Point School, Timaru and Christchurch...
Story: Bartrum, John Arthur
-
1879–1963Singer, radio broadcaster and personality, writer
Maud Ruby Taylor was born in London, England, on 30 August 1879. Known as Daisy from soon after her christening, she was the daughter of Eliza Taylor and her husband, Robert Taylor, a carpenter, who died when she was about three. Daisy was educated at an academy for young ladies in London....
Story: Basham, Maud Ruby
-
1892–1983Banker, soldier
Cyril Royston Guyton Bassett was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 3 January 1892, the son of Frederick Charles Bassett, a printer, and his wife, Harriet Adelle Powley. Cyril attended Grafton School, Auckland Grammar School and the Auckland Technical College. In 1908 he was employed as a clerk...
-
1876–1955Businesswoman, local politician
Alice Henrietta Gertrude Basten was born in Auckland on 24 January 1876, one of five children of Rachel Lang and her husband, George John Basten, a coachbuilder. Her father died in 1893 and her mother supported the family with a boarding house in Vincent Street. She was the strongest influence...