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1877–1934Geologist, writer, company director
James Abbott Mackintosh Bell was born at St Andrews, Quebec, Canada, on 23 September 1877, the son of Andrew Bell, a civil engineer and architect, and his wife, Marianne Rosamond. The family moved to Almonte, Ontario, when James was a child, and he received his early education there. He studied...
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1895–1970Teacher, farmer, political organiser, educationalist
Kathrine McAllister Stewart was born at Manchester, England, on 13 May 1895, the eldest of three children of Andrew Stewart, a commercial traveller, and his wife, Jane Vallance Davidson. When Rena, as she was known, was five years old, the family moved to Birmingham, where she attended the King...
Story: Bell, Kathrine McAllister
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1922–2012Teacher, lecturer, educationalist
Marie Bell was an educator and tireless campaigner for the rights of both children and parents, challenging educational orthodoxies to ensure more child-centred practices and an environment more supportive of parents. Through her work with a network of like-minded organisations, her advocacy...
Story: Bell, Marie
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1898–1974Nutritionist, medical researcher
Muriel Emma Bell was born on 4 January 1898 at Murchison, the daughter of Thomas Bell, a farmer, and his wife, Eliza Sheat. She began her education at Murchison School, where she was a reluctant pupil. Her childhood was shaped by family tragedy. During 1905–6 she lost two siblings and in 1907...
Story: Bell, Muriel Emma
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1845–1940Anglican missionary, teacher
Elizabeth Bellamy was born in Lady Wood, Birmingham, England, on 19 March 1845, the daughter of Robert Bellamy, a cordwainer, and his wife, Ann White. She became a teacher, but after hearing about a massacre of Maronite Christian men and boys near Mt Lebanon (then in the Syrian region of the...
Story: Bellamy, Elizabeth
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1778–1852Naval officer, explorer
Fabian Gottlieb Benjamin von Bellingshausen is said to have been born on 20 September 1778 (9 September, Old Style) at Hoheneichen, on the island of Ösel (Saaremaa), in Estonia, the son of Fabian Ernst von Bellingshausen and his wife, Anna Katharina von Folckern (or Fölckeren). The Russian...
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1912–1994Labourer, physical education instructor, sports coach
James Charles Robertson was born on 10 July 1912 in Hastings to Dorcas Mary Skerrett, of Ngāi Tahu ancestry, and James Robertson, a salesman. He was fostered by Arthur and Ada Bellwood and grew up in Christchurch. He attended Beckenham and Waltham primary schools and Christchurch Technical...
Story: Bellwood, James Charles
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1898–1962Teacher, economist, university professor
Horace Belshaw was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England, on 9 February 1898, the son of James Belshaw, a master greengrocer, and his wife, Mary Pilkington. His father was one of the first Labour councillors in Britain and the family was active in the Primitive Methodist church. Emigrating to New...
Story: Belshaw, Horace
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1860–1950Zoologist
William Blaxland Benham was born in Isleworth, Middlesex, England, on 29 March 1860, the sixth of seven children of Ebenezer (Edward) Benham and his wife, Mary Ann Shoppee. Ebenezer was a prosperous solicitor and the family home had three acres of grounds. William had a secure childhood, going...
Story: Benham, William Blaxland
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1875–1943Lawyer, businesswoman
Ethel Rebecca Benjamin was New Zealand's first woman lawyer. She was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 19 January 1875 to Lizzie Mark and her husband, Henry Benjamin, a prominent Dunedin money-broker. The Benjamins had at least seven children, of whom it is believed Ethel was the eldest. The...
Story: Benjamin, Ethel Rebecca
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1872–1960Doctor
Agnes Elizabeth Lloyd Bennett was born on 24 June 1872 at Neutral Bay, Sydney, Australia, the sixth of seven children of William Christopher Bennett, an exceptionally able engineer and commissioner of roads and bridges for New South Wales, and his wife, Agnes Amelia Hays, an intelligent woman...
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1913–1998Ngāti Whakaue and Ngāti Pikiao; broadcaster, military leader, public servant, high commissioner
Charles Moihi Te Arawaka Bennett was born at Rotorua on 27 July 1913, one of 19 children of Frederick Augustus Bennett of Ngāti Whakaue of Te Arawa, and his second wife, Arihia Ngārangioue (Rangioue) Hēmana (or Pōkiha). Frederick Bennett, an Anglican minister, then superintendent of the Māori...
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1898–1976Doctor, military medical administrator, writer
Francis Oswald Bennett (always known as ‘Os’) was born on 19 February 1898 in Christchurch, the son of William Francis Bennett and his wife, Rose Maria Harrow. His childhood was spent on his parents’ small farm at Woodbury, South Canterbury. When he was young his mother became crippled by...
Story: Bennett, Francis Oswald
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1871–1950Ngāti Whakaue; Anglican clergyman and bishop
Frederick Augustus Bennett was born on 15 November 1871 at Ōhinemutu, Lake Rotorua. His mother, Raiha Ratete (Eliza Rogers), a high-born woman of Ngāti Whakaue section of Te Arawa, gave to her son the culture and whakapapa of her race. His father was Thomas Jackson Bennett, a storekeeper, who...
Story: Bennett, Frederick Augustus
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1877–1959Socialist, lecturer
Henry Gilbert Bennett (better known as Harry Scott Bennett) was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, on 1 June 1877, the son of a radical carpenter, James William Bennett, and his equally radical wife, Charlotte Mary Phipps, a schoolteacher. Harry Scott Bennett served his apprenticeship as a...
Story: Bennett, Henry Gilbert Scott
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1816?–1885Lighthouse keeper
Mary Jane Hebden was baptised on 11 December 1816, at Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, England, the eldest child of Mary and William Hebden. Her father was, by family tradition, the squire of the village of Dacre Banks, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In September 1839, describing herself as a...
Story: Bennett, Mary Jane
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1912–1986Artist, printer, typographer, publisher, editor
Leo Vernon Bensemann was born in Tākaka, Golden Bay, on 1 May 1912, the son of Vernon Victor Bensemann, a blacksmith, and his wife, Ruby Arnold. He was the great-grandchild of German immigrants who had settled in the Moutere hills near Nelson in the 1840s. By 1922 his family had moved to Nelson...
Story: Bensemann, Leo Vernon
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1886–1964Professor of home science
William Noel Benson was born at Penge, Surrey, England, on 26 December 1885, the son of William Benson, of independent means, and his wife, Emma Elizabeth Mather. Shortly after their son's birth the couple moved to Australia: to Melbourne, then Hobart. William and his two younger sisters...
Story: Benson, Gertrude Helen
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1837–1916Soldier, deserter, Pākehā-Māori, character
Kimble Bent, also known as Kimball Bent, was born in Eastport, Maine, USA, on 24 August 1837, the fourth of the seven children of John (or Waterman) Bent, a shipbuilder and carpenter, of Nova Scotian origin, and his wife, Eliza Bagley (or Reynolds). Kimble Bent once claimed that his mother was...
Story: Bent, Kimble
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1901–1978Magician, juggler, entertainer
Edgar Wilson Beynon – known professionally as Edgar Benyon – was born on 29 March 1901 in Auckland, the son of William Melville Beynon, a printer, and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Wilson, a dressmaker. By 1903 the family had moved to Christchurch, where William carried on his trade with Weeks...
Story: Benyon, Edgar Wilson