Advanced Biographies Search
Filter biographies using dates, occupations and places related to people's lives.
-
1887–1976Labourer, tram conductor, trade unionist, grocer, adult educationalist, local politician
George Manning was born at Gowerton, Glamorganshire, Wales, on 11 February 1887, the son of steelworker Richard Manning and his wife, Sarah Davies. At the age of 12 he won a scholarship to attend Gowerton School, but he left after 15 months to work at the local tinworks; two years later he...
Story: Manning, George
-
fl. 1854–1868Journalist, Irish nationalist, newspaper proprietor, newspaper editor
Little is known of the early life of John Manning. He was educated in New York; his family had probably migrated to the United States from Ireland when he was a child. As a young man, he went to the Victorian goldfields. He was a journalist for the Ballarat Times during the Eureka Stockade...
Story: Manning, John
-
1879–1954Storekeeper, merchant
Henry (known as Harry) and Lionel Manoy were born in Napier on 24 November 1879 and 19 December 1881 respectively. They were the sons of Maria Moss and her husband, Abraham Manoy, a storekeeper and wine and spirit merchant. Maria was born in Sydney and Abraham in Russia. In 1882 the family...
Story: Manoy, Henry
-
1830/1831?–1916Homemaker, community worker
Lucy Mansel was born in County Clare, Ireland, probably in 1830 or 1831, the elder daughter of Maria Armstrong and her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Mansel of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. She was brought up in Hampshire, England, and later lived on the Isle of Wight.
When her...
Story: Mansel, Lucy
-
1888–1923Short-story writer, poet, critic, diarist, letter writer
In spite of her own conviction that 'I shall not be "fashionable" long', Katherine Mansfield has acquired an international reputation as a writer of short stories, poetry, letters, journals and reviews. Her work has been translated into more than 25 languages.
She was born Kathleen...
Story: Mansfield, Katherine
-
1820–1895Public servant, politician, naturalist
Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell was born at Lewes in Sussex, England, on 11 March 1820, the second child of Mary Ann Woodhouse and her husband, Gideon Algernon Mantell. Gideon Mantell, a medical practitioner, was also a prominent palaeontologist and geologist, who was in touch with the leading...
-
fl. 1840–1873Trader, founding father
The origins of Manuel José are clouded in mystery. It is not known for certain where he came from, nor when he arrived in New Zealand. He arrived in the Waiapu area on the East Coast, probably in the late 1830s, and became known to Māori as Manuera, and to Europeans as Manuel José (or Josef),...
Story: Manuel José
-
1915–1996Ngāti Kahungunu; typist, teacher, Māori welfare officer, community leader
Emarina Rōpata, usually known as Lena, was born at Te Poho-o-Tiakiwai marae, in Wairoa, northern Hawke’s Bay, on 21 August 1915. Her parents, Wheti Rōpata, a dairy and sheep farmer, and his wife, Waimātai Pāora, were both of Ngāti Kahungunu; their main hapū were Ngāti Kurupakiaka and Ngāti...
Story: Manuel, Emarina
-
1895–1990Ngāti Awa leader, labourer, farmer
Eruera Riini Mānuera was a far-sighted leader who for nearly 60 years was the main spokesman for Ngāti Awa in land dealings, court sessions, and social and sporting activities. This work, and the strong links he established with Pākehā, were his major achievements.
He was born on 6...
Story: Mānuera, Eruera Riini
-
1884–1975Orchardist, horticulturist, philanthropist
Frank Crossley Mappin was born on 15 August 1884 at Scampton, Lincolnshire, England, the son of Laura Morton and her husband, Samuel Wilson Mappin, a farmer, who many years later inherited the family baronetcy. Mappin was educated at Felsted School, Essex, and at Gonville and Caius College,...
Story: Mappin, Frank Crossley
-
1894–1985Ngāti Kahungunu; interpreter, sportsman, farmer, community leader
James (Jimmy, or Hēmi) Waitaringa Mapu was born at Mōteo, Hawke's Bay, on 4 March 1894. His father was Porokoru Mapu, a younger brother of Pāora Kurupō, principal chief of Ngāti Hinepare of Ngāti Kahungunu. Porokoru was politically active in events affecting Hawke's Bay Māori, including the...
Story: Mapu, James Waitaringa
-
1869–1919School principal
Maria Elise Marchant was born on 28 October 1869 at Wellington, New Zealand, the daughter of Maria Elise Wright and her husband, John William Allman Marchant, a surveyor who later became surveyor general and secretary for Crown lands. John Marchant's original surname was Allman: his mother had...
Story: Marchant, Maria Elise Allman
-
1724?–1772Explorer
Marc Joseph Marion du Fresne was baptised on 22 May 1724 at St Malo, Brittany, France. His exact date of birth is unknown. He was the son of Marie Séraphique Le Fer and her husband, Julien Marion du Fresne, a merchant. In 1735, while still very young, Marion du Fresne joined the French India...
-
1893–1977Teacher, political activist
Rowland Oswald Colin Marks was born in Newton, Auckland, on 4 February 1893, the son of John Marks, a marine engineer, and his wife, Letitia Cleary, a teacher. Usually known as Roly, he attended Auckland Grammar School from 1906 to 1911. Studies at Auckland University College were interrupted...
Story: Marks, Rowland Oswald Colin
-
1798–1800?–1880Sailor, convict, Pakeha-Maori, interpreter, shopkeeper, sawyer, carpenter, soldier
John, commonly known as Jacky, Marmon was born in Sydney, New South Wales, probably on 5 June 1800, although some sources give the year of his birth as 1798 or 1799. He was the son of convict parents: Patrick Marmon, an Irishman, and his wife, Catherine Evans. Between the ages of 11 and 23...
Story: Marmon, John
-
1799/1800?–1886Theatre manager, actor, entertainer, dramatist, songwriter, engraver, optician, bookseller
James Henry Marriott was born in London, England, probably in 1799 or 1800, the son of William Marriott, an optician, and his wife, Alice McGuinness. He married Sarah Bateman in London probably in 1823 or 1824; they had three daughters and two sons. Marriott spent a period with the The Times...
Story: Marriott, James Henry
-
1876–1947Journalist, editor
Charles Allan Marris was born on 11 September 1876 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. His father, Charles Augustus Marris, was a law clerk, later a teacher, from Lincolnshire, England; his mother, Agnes Reid Allan, was from Glasgow, Scotland. Little is known of Marris’s early life in Australia...
Story: Marris, Charles Allan
-
1889–1970Physicist, university professor, educational and scientific administrator
Ernest Marsden was born in Rishton, Lancashire, England, on 19 February 1889, the son of Phoebe Holden and her husband, Thomas Marsden, a cotton weaver. From his earliest schooldays Ernest showed unusual ability and won scholarships to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Blackburn, and then to...
Story: Marsden, Ernest
-
1765–1838Chaplain, magistrate, agriculturalist, missionary
According to reliable sources Samuel Marsden was born on 25 June 1765, at Farsley, Yorkshire, England, the eldest of the seven children of Bathsheba Brown and her husband, Thomas Marsden. He was baptised at Calverley, near Leeds, on 21 July 1765. At the age of 14 or 15 he went to work in his...
Story: Marsden, Samuel
-
1895–1982Artist, playwright, actor, novelist, director
Edith Ngaio Marsh was born on 23 April 1895 in Merivale, Christchurch, to Rose Elizabeth Seager and her husband, Henry Edmund Marsh, a clerk in the Bank of New Zealand in Christchurch. His daughter said of him, 'I can imagine nobody less naturally suited to his employment.'
When Ngaio...
Story: Marsh, Edith Ngaio