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Filter biographies using dates, occupations and places related to people's lives.
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1867–1908Art teacher, artist, craftsman, sculptor
Charles Kidson was born in Bilston, near Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, on 7 November 1867, the son of Charles Kidson, a blacksmith, and his wife, Christina (Christiana) Dore (née Oxley). The family emigrated to Nelson, New Zealand, in 1885, but at first Charles stayed on in England...
Story: Kidson, Charles
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1882–1939Meteorologist, scientific administrator
Edward Kidson was born in Bilston, Staffordshire, England, on 12 March 1882, the son of Charles Kidson, a blacksmith, and his wife, Christiana Dore or Oxley. When he was three his family emigrated to New Zealand, settling in Nelson. Edward was educated at Nelson College between 1896 and 1900...
Story: Kidson, Edward
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1905–1979Soil scientist, sculptor
Elsa Beatrice Kidson was born on 18 March 1905 in Christchurch. Her mother, Kitty Esther Hounsell, had some training as a teacher; her father, Charles Kidson, was an accomplished artist and sculptor who taught at the Canterbury College School of Art. Both parents came from hard-working and...
Story: Kidson, Elsa Beatrice
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1819–1903Anglican clergyman, teacher, artist, photographer
John Kinder was born on 17 September 1819 at London, England, the oldest surviving child of Thomas Kinder, a wealthy merchant, and his second wife, Fanny Pickworth. John's interest in art began early when he took walks near Southampton in the mid 1830s to look at Gothic architecture. At...
Story: Kinder, John
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1858–1938Bank clerk, asylum superintendent, child health reformer
Frederic Truby King, the fifth of seven children, was born in New Zealand on 1 April 1858 on the Mangorei farmstead, just outside New Plymouth. Both his mother, Mary Chilman, and his father, Thomas King, were among the original New Plymouth settlers. The family had a sizeable farm holding as...
Story: King, Frederic Truby
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1885–1917Sheepfarmer, military leader
George Augustus King was born at Christchurch, New Zealand, on 3 March 1885, the son of George King, a merchant, and his wife, Elizabeth Clifton Wilson. Gus King was educated at Warwick House School and Christ's College, where he played in the First XV. Shepherding at Waitohi Peaks, North...
Story: King, George Augustus
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1802/1803?–1897Teacher, artist, gardener
Martha King was New Zealand's first resident botanical artist. However, painting and drawing were subsidiary to her principal occupation as a schoolteacher. She was born in Ireland probably in 1802 or 1803, the daughter of a Protestant clergyman. Her mother's birth name was Popham, a name...
Story: King, Martha
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1884–1967Teacher, principal, businesswoman, political activist
Mary Harriet McGowan King was born at Oamaru, North Otago, on 11 February 1884, the daughter of Mary McGowan and her husband, Thomas King, a storeman. She was outstanding at school. In 1896 she was dux of Oamaru North School and only two years later, senior dux at Waitaki Girls' High School....
Story: King, Mary Harriet McGowan
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1945–2004Historian, biographer, journalist, writer
Michael King was New Zealand’s most popular late twentieth-century historian. His best work combined the research-based scholarship of a historian with the fluent accessible style of a journalist. His output was prolific: at his death 37 volumes carried his name, including a dozen substantial...
Story: King, Michael
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1855–1927Auctioneer, merchant, businessman
Newton King was born at New Plymouth, New Zealand, on 21 July 1855, the son of Mary Chilman and her husband, Thomas King. Newton's parents belonged to the settlement's political and commercial élite. Mary was the sister of the local secretary of the Plymouth Company and had been a governess in...
Story: King, Newton
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1916–1962Soldier, guide, wildlife ranger
Born at Caxton, Cambridge, England, on 30 October 1916, Peter Frank King was the son of master builder William Edgar King and his wife, Hilda May Pleasants. He was educated at Truro School. In March 1939 he enlisted in the British Army Dental Corps, and within a year had achieved the rank of...
Story: King, Peter Frank
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1897–1957Lawyer, military leader, historian
Howard Karl Kippenberger was born at Ladbrooks, south of Christchurch, on 28 January 1897. He was the eldest child of Karl Kippenberger, a head teacher and Methodist local preacher, and his wife, Annie Elizabeth Howard. His great-grandparents had emigrated from Germany in 1862.
Howard...
Story: Kippenberger, Howard Karl
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1863–1952Catholic nun
Kate Kirby was born in Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland, on 9 July 1863, the daughter of John Kirby, a clerk, and his wife, Kate Synan. Kate Kirby grew up in a close-knit Catholic family and was educated primarily by the Sisters of the Faithful Companions of Jesus. On 24 September 1881 she...
Story: Kirby, Mary Kostka
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1870–1957Temperance and welfare worker, teacher
Cybele Ethel Kirk was born at Auckland on 1 October 1870, the youngest of nine children of Sarah Jane Mattocks and her husband, Thomas Kirk, a secretary. The family pronounced her name 'Sibillee', but in later years she was also known as Ethel. When she was three the family moved to Wellington...
Story: Kirk, Cybele Ethel
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1859–1948School inspector, biologist, university professor
Harry Borrer Kirk was born at Coventry, Warwickshire, England, on 9 March 1859, one of nine children of Sarah Jane Mattocks and her husband, Thomas Kirk, a timber merchant's clerk who was to become well known in New Zealand as a botanist. With his parents and three siblings Harry came to New...
Story: Kirk, Harry Borrer
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1923–1974Stationary-engine driver, politician, prime minister
New Zealand’s fourth Labour prime minister, Norman Eric Kirk, was the first to be born and grow to maturity in New Zealand. He was born at Waimate in South Canterbury on 6 January 1923, the eldest of three children of devout Salvation Army parents Norman Kirk, a cabinet-maker, and his wife,...
Story: Kirk, Norman Eric
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1828–1898Botanist, teacher, public servant, writer, churchman
Thomas Kirk was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, on 18 January 1828, the son of George Kirk, a nurseryman, and his wife, Sarah West, a nurserywoman and florist. He showed a keen interest in botany from an early age and worked for a time as a nurseryman. Later, he worked at Newarks'...
Story: Kirk, Thomas
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1856–1936Biologist, scientific administrator
Thomas William Kirk was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, on 30 June 1856, one of nine children of Sarah Jane Mattocks and her husband, Thomas Kirk, a timber merchant's clerk. His family emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand, on the Gertrude in 1863. Kirk attended St James' School, then...
Story: Kirk, Thomas William
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1853/1854?–1925Businessman
Samuel Kirkpatrick was born at Newry, County Down, Ireland, probably in 1853 or 1854, the son of Rebecca Montgomery Marshall and her husband, William Kirkpatrick, a draper. He went to school in Newry and then studied at Walton College, Liverpool. After five years with a wholesale food merchant...
Story: Kirkpatrick, Samuel
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1881–1962Engineer, engineering administrator
Frederick Templeton Manheim Kissel was born at Templeton, Canterbury, on 27 March 1881, the son of Catherine Sutherland, a Scotswoman, and her husband, George Phillip Kissel, a German storekeeper. Frederick's stamina and ability became evident at an early age. He was an enthusiastic rugby and...