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1877–1946Artist
Annie Elizabeth Abbott was born at Knightstown, Christchurch, New Zealand, on 12 April 1877, the eldest of four children of Maud Laura Mason and her husband, Thomas George Abbott, a nurseryman. She was educated locally and, in 1891, while still at St Albans Main School, began attending Saturday...
Story: Kelly, Annie Elizabeth
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1877–1939Catholic priest, editor
James Joseph Kelly regarded himself as first an Irishman, then a Catholic, then a Christian. He divided his life equally between Ireland and New Zealand, but was at heart always an exile. He was born on 11 November 1877 in New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland. His parents were Mary Gannon and her...
Story: Kelly, James Joseph
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1906–1959Ngāti Mahuta; journalist, engine-driver, historian
Leslie George Kelly was born in Auckland on 10 May 1906, the elder of two sons of Sidney Mellish Kelly, a french polisher, and his wife, Ethel May Fell. On his father’s side Kelly was descended from Edward Meurant, a trader and interpreter at Kāwhia in the 1830s, and his wife, Kenehuru, the...
Story: Kelly, Leslie George
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1856–1948Kindergarten founder, teacher
Lavinia Jane Kelsey was born in South Hackney, London, England, on 23 February 1856, one of three children of Lavinia Owen and her husband, Thomas Kelsey, a braid manufacturer. Her mother died when she was three and her father married again, having a large second family. Lavinia attended a...
Story: Kelsey, Lavinia Jane
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1889–1967Journalist, editor, community leader
Elizabeth Cumming was born on 28 May 1889 in Fort William, Argyll, Scotland, the daughter of Ewen Cumming, a master slater, and Elizabeth Munro. She was educated in Fort William and Glasgow and then went on to study languages at the University of St Andrews, specialising in French and German....
Story: Kelso, Elizabeth
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1790–1860Missionary
Charlotte and James Kemp were, with other missionaries, the co-founders at Kerikeri of the second Church Missionary Society station in New Zealand. According to family information Charlotte Butcher was born on 27 July 1790 at Carlton Forehoe, Norfolk, England. James Kemp, the son of Richard and...
Story: Kemp, Charlotte
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1872–1933Baptist minister, fundamentalist and revivalist leader
Joseph William Kemp was born in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, on 16 December 1872, the son of Joseph Kemp, a police constable, and his wife, Mary Hopkin. Orphaned at nine and then separated from his five siblings, the young Joseph had only 18 months' schooling. At 15 he became a...
Story: Kemp, Joseph William
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1834?–1915Manufacturing chemist, businessman
Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne was born in Cornwall, England, the son of John Kempthorne, a builder, and his wife, Anne Whitelock. He was baptised in the parish of Mawnan, near Falmouth, on 3 February 1834. In 1854 he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia. He worked briefly as a labourer digging up...
Story: Kempthorne, Thomas Whitelock
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1778?–1832Missionary, orthographer, linguist
Thomas Kendall was baptised on 13 December 1778 at North Thoresby, Lincolnshire, England. He was probably the fifth child (of seven) of Susanna Surflit and her husband, Edward Kendall, a small copyhold farmer. He retained a Lincolnshire accent all his life. In his upbringing he was influenced...
Story: Kendall, Thomas
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1864–1936Catholic priest, astronomer, teacher
David Kennedy was born at Lyttelton, New Zealand, on 27 April 1864, the son of Duncan Kennedy, a labourer, and his wife, Mary McCarthy (known as Bridget). His parents, she a Catholic from Ireland and he a Presbyterian from Scotland, came to New Zealand from Melbourne in 1863. Duncan Kennedy...
Story: Kennedy, David
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1839/1840?–1916Merchant, mine owner, businessman, Catholic layman
Martin Kennedy exemplifies those Irish Catholics who arrived in New Zealand with little capital, limited vocational skills and few social advantages, yet were able to prosper and to achieve a substantial measure of public eminence. Kennedy was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, probably in...
Story: Kennedy, Martin
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1909–1989Artist, art critic, pacifist, drama tutor
Rodney Eric Kennedy was a friend of artists and a passionate advocate of what has become the modern canon of New Zealand art. He was also a leader in experimental theatre, a witty, acerbic host, and an accomplished cook and gardener, who liked white flowers.
Born on 20 August 1909 in...
Story: Kennedy, Rodney Eric
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1875–1960Poet, short-story writer, novelist
Alice Annie Kenny, one of New Zealand's most assiduous but least-remembered writers, was born on 31 August 1875 at Newcastle (Ngāruawāhia), the third of eight children of Annie Edgecumbe and her husband, Thomas Nepean Edward Kenny, a sub-inspector in the Armed Constabulary, formerly an officer...
Story: Kenny, Alice Annie
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?–1837Naval officer, trader
John Rodolphus Kent, known to his Maori friends as Amukete, is of obscure origin, neither his parents' names nor his date and place of birth being known. An officer in the Royal Navy, serving the government of New South Wales, he first entered New Zealand history as captain of the schooner...
Story: Kent, John Rodolphus
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1899–1946Photographer
Thelma Rene Kent was born in Christchurch on 21 October 1899, the younger of two children of Catherine Maude Hales and her husband, John Robert Kent, a bootmaker. She was educated at Addington School and the Christchurch Technical College. In 1914 Thelma was given a box camera by her uncle and...
Story: Kent, Thelma Rene
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1893–1981Community leader, broadcaster
Agnes Gilmour Brown was born at Killearn, Stirlingshire, Scotland, on 27 September 1893, the daughter of Elizabeth Gilmour and her husband, Walter Brown, a ploughman. Agnes was one of a large family and had only a primary school education. She helped on the farm, did some nurse-aiding, and...
Story: Kent-Johnston, Agnes Gilmour
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1901–1979Businessman, cinema proprietor, film distributor, tourism promoter, entrepreneur
Robert James Kerridge was born in Christchurch on 30 October 1901, the son of Frederick Thomas Kerridge, a tram driver, and his wife, Ellen Maude Bell. At the age of five his parents gave him a magic lantern, with which he staged a show for local children, charging a penny each. He left...
Story: Kerridge, Robert James
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1821–1862Surveyor, public servant, farmer
Charles Henry Kettle was born in Kent, England, probably on 6 April 1821; his father was Matthew Kettle. Much of his early life remains obscure. Reputedly from a respectable, if impecunious, background, and of good education, he was employed as a teaching assistant at Faversham Grammar School,...
Story: Kettle, Charles Henry
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1923–1996Master mariner
Andrew Stanley Keyworth was the younger of twin sons born at Auckland to Herbert Reginald Keyworth, a merchant, and his wife, Olive Rhoda Hathaway, on 2 December 1923. His three brothers were to become seafarers, but only Andy, as he was known, would remain at sea for the whole of his working...
Story: Keyworth, Andrew Stanley
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1877–1945Horticulturist, community leader
James Hutton Kidd was born on 12 September 1877 in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the son of Harriet Alice Lee and her husband, James Hutton Kidd, a tailor. The family emigrated to New Zealand when he was a child, initially settling in Christchurch. Hutton, as he was known, trained for...
Story: Kidd, James Hutton