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1831–1912Farmer, explorer, public servant, administrator, politician
James Mackay, who was of Scots descent, was born in London, England, on 16 November 1831 to James Mackay and his wife, Ann. He arrived at Nelson, New Zealand, on 26 January 1845 on the Slains Castle in the company of his father, a well-to-do farmer, and his cousin Alexander Mackay. On 10 June...
Story: Mackay, James
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1864–1938Teacher, journalist, poet, social activist
Jessie Mackay was born on 15 December 1864 at Double Hill station, above the Rakaia Gorge in Canterbury, New Zealand. She was the eldest child of Elizabeth Ormiston and her husband, Robert Mackay, a shepherd who managed successively the Double Hill, Raincliff and Opuha Gorge stations in...
Story: Mackay, Jessie
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1882–1952Journalist, newspaper editor, historian
Joseph Angus Mackay was born on 9 September 1882 in Invercargill to Emma Elizabeth Wood and her husband, William Gair Mackay, a grocer. One of twelve children, he left school young, attended night school, and while labouring taught himself shorthand.
Mackay joined the staff of the...
Story: Mackay, Joseph Angus
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1844–1933Founding mother, midwife, nurse
Maria Jane Taylor was born on Norfolk Island on 21 July 1844, the daughter of Thomas Taylor, a convict guard, and his wife, Margaret O'Sullivan. Soon after her birth the family returned to Parramatta, New South Wales, where Thomas Taylor's 99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot was stationed....
Story: Mackay, Maria Jane
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1895–1966Farm worker, soldier, editor, worker for the blind
Clutha Nantes Mackenzie was born on 11 February 1895 at Balclutha, the seventh and youngest child of Thomas Noble Mackenzie, an MP and businessman, and his wife, Ida Henrietta Nantes. For a few months in 1912 Thomas was prime minister of New Zealand, and from 1912 to 1920 he was the country's...
Story: Mackenzie, Clutha Nantes
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1902–1982Dressmaker, brothel keeper
Flora MacKenzie (or McKenzie) was born in Māngere, Auckland, on 15 August 1902, the daughter of Hugh Ross MacKenzie, a farmer, and his wife, Lillie Theresa Ellett. Flora, her brother and sister were brought up on the horse farm their parents owned, which became well-known as the Ascot stud....
Story: MacKenzie, Flora
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1820?–?Shepherd, drover, sheepstealer
James Mackenzie has become one of New Zealand's most enduring folk heroes. Few facts are known about his life or his brief public appearances, and doubt surrounds even his name: the correct spelling of Mackenzie is unclear and he is variously referred to as James, John or Jock. He may also have...
Story: Mackenzie, James
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1849–1949Presbyterian minister
James Hutton Mackenzie was born, probably on 27 September 1849, in Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He was the son of James McKenzie and his wife, Margaret Hutton, members of the Free Church of Scotland. Mackenzie worked for his father, a postmaster, stationer and bookseller, until he began...
Story: Mackenzie, James Hutton
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1878–1962Teacher, correspondence teacher
Janet Craig McKutcheon Mackenzie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 3 July 1878 to James Hutton Mackenzie, a divinity student, and his wife, Janet Craig McKutcheon, who died of puerperal fever 11 days later. After the death of his wife, James Mackenzie abandoned his plan of working as a...
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1845–1901Writer, runholder, politician
Mackay John Scobie Mackenzie – commonly known as Scobie – was born on 23 January 1845 at Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland, the third son and fourth surviving child of Roderick Mackenzie and his wife, Mary Anne Scobie. Roderick Mackenzie migrated to British Guiana (Guyana) as a young man and later...
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1853–1930Storekeeper, explorer, conservationist, politician, marketing agent, prime minister, diplomat
Thomas Mackenzie was baptised on 10 March 1853 in Edinburgh, Scotland, one of five children of David Stewart Mackenzie, a gardener, and his wife, Rebecca Noble. His name was recorded at birth as Thomas Noble Mackenzie, though he never used the middle name during his adult life. In 1858 the...
Story: Mackenzie, Thomas
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1861–1925Farmer, military leader, real estate agent
Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 9 January 1861, the son of Captain Ernest Randolph Mackesy, formerly of the 97th Regiment of Foot, and his wife, Fanny Johnston Bell. His father had come to New Zealand after leaving his regiment, and had died at Auckland in...
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1869–1943Pacifist, social reformer
Charles Robert Norris Mackie was born at Avonside, Christchurch, New Zealand, on 30 April 1869, the son of Rebekah Malyon and her husband, Charles Norris Mackie, a sheepfarmer, who belonged to one of the original runholding families in Canterbury. Charles senior sold his share in the family run...
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1878–1966Plunket nurse
New Zealand's first Plunket nurse, Joanna MacKinnon was born in Balmeanach, on the island of Skye, Scotland, on 12 November 1878. She was the daughter of Jane Finlayson and her husband, John MacKinnon, a fisherman. It is not known when or why Joanna MacKinnon came to New Zealand but from 1902...
Story: MacKinnon, Joanna
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1883–1986Stationmaster, railway manager, businessman, politician
Garnet Hercules Mackley, who was to become an outstanding general manager of the New Zealand Railways, and later achieved prominence in private business and politics, was born in Port Chalmers on 9 December 1883 to English-born parents Esther Styles and her husband, John Charles Mackley. The...
Story: Mackley, Garnet Hercules
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1891–1981Lawyer, military leader
Neil Lloyd Macky was born in Auckland on 20 February 1891, the son of Thomas Lindsay Macky, a clerk, and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart Lloyd. Polly Macky (as he was called from boyhood) was educated at Prince Albert College and Auckland University College and was articled to J. A. Tole, the...
Story: Macky, Neil Lloyd
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1864–1939Analytical chemist
James Scott Maclaurin was born on 8 November 1864 at Unst, the northernmost of the Shetland islands, Scotland. He was one of eleven children of Robert Campbell Maclaurin, a minister of the Church of Scotland, and his wife, Martha Joan Spence. The Maclaurin family emigrated to New Zealand in...
Story: Maclaurin, James Scott
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1870–1920University professor of mathematics and law, educational administrator
Richard Cockburn Maclaurin was born at Lindean railway station, Galashiels, Selkirkshire, Scotland, on 5 June 1870, the son of Robert Campbell Maclaurin, the resident stationmaster, previously a clergyman, and his wife, Martha Joan Spence. In 1875 he travelled to New Zealand with his mother to...
Story: Maclaurin, Richard Cockburn
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1859–1932Nurse, hospital matron, nursing administrator, editor, writer
Hester Maclean was born on 25 February 1859 in Sofala, New South Wales, Australia, the daughter of Emily Strong and her husband, Harold Maclean, a goldfields commissioner who was later sheriff and comptroller of prisons for New South Wales. Her mother died in 1860, so Hester was brought up by...
Story: Maclean, Hester
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1881–1970Civilian and military nurse, hospital matron
Vida Mary Katie MacLean was born at Whangaehu, near Whanganui, New Zealand, on 4 November 1881. Registered at birth as Katie Mary Vida McLean, she was the daughter of Julia Williamson and her husband, Finlay McLean, a farmer. Vida grew up in the Whanganui district and was educated mostly in...
Story: MacLean, Vida Mary Katie