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1913–1990Botanist
Ruth Mason was born in Auckland on 7 November 1913, the eldest of four children of Dulcia Martina Rockell and her husband, Henry Greathead Rex Mason, a solicitor. Rex was active in the early days of the New Zealand Labour Party and later became a Labour cabinet minister. Ruth lived in Pukekohe...
Story: Mason, Ruth
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1818–1903Quaker, runholder, horticulturalist, politician
Thomas Mason was born in York, Yorkshire, England, on 28 July 1818, the first of three children of John Mason, a tea dealer, and his wife, Catharine Smart of Warwick. Both parents and their families were members of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Thomas's father died in 1822 at the age of 33...
Story: Mason, Thomas
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1810–1897Architect, politician, local politician
William Mason was born at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, on 24 February 1810, the son of George Mason and his wife, Elizabeth Forty. On 1 June 1831 he married Sarah Nichols or Nickless, a Berkshire woman 15 years older than he, at St Pancras Old Church, London; they had one son, William. Sarah...
Story: Mason, William
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1919–1994Artist, interior designer, wallpaper designer
William Mason was a prominent mid-twentieth-century New Zealand artist and designer best known for his riotous, high-style handprinted interior textiles, and for wallpapers that helped radically reform the way New Zealanders approached interior schemes.
Early lifeWilliam James (Bill...
Story: Mason, William James
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1863–1932Homemaker, political hostess, community leader
Christina Allan Paul was born in Forbes, New South Wales, Australia, on 11 January 1863, the eldest of four children of Scottish immigrants Christina Allan and her husband, Walter Paul, a miner. The family settled in Auckland, New Zealand, soon afterwards, purchasing farmland at Mangere. When...
Story: Massey, Christina Allan
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1856–1925Farmer, politician, prime minister
William Ferguson Massey was born at Limavady, near Londonderry in Northern Ireland, on 26 March 1856. Bill Massey, as he was generally known, was the eldest child of John Massey and his wife, Mary Anne Ferguson. Bill's father came from a long-established Ulster family but both his mother and...
Story: Massey, William Ferguson
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1802–1873Cooper, community leader, farmer, politician, writer
Joseph Masters was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, in 1802. His father, a leather breeches manufacturer, died when Joseph was a child, and his mother was forced to take up employment as a nurse. From an early age Joseph worked in a silk mill, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. He frequently...
Story: Masters, Joseph
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1840–1842?–1909Ngāti Tama, Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Toa woman of mana, landowner
Hūria Mātenga was born at Whakapuaka (near Nelson) probably some time between 1840 and 1842. She was named Ngārongoā Kātene at birth, but was also known as Ngā Hota and, in later life, as Hūria Mātenga. Of Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Tama and Ngāti Toa descent, she was able to trace her genealogy back to...
Story: Mātenga, Hūria
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?–1890Rongowhakaata leader, farmer
Anaru Matete was born in the Poverty Bay area; the date of his birth is not known. His mother was Hinetautope, of Rongowhakaata and of Te Whānau-a-Kai and Te Whānau-a-Taupara hapū of Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki; his father was Te Harawira Tekoteko of Ngā Ariki and Ngāti Wahia hapū of Te Aitanga-a-...
Story: Matete, Anaru
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1805?–1890Diarist
Sarah Louise Mathew was baptised on 19 November 1805, at London, England. She was the daughter of Ann Constant Strange and her husband, Richard Mathew. She had two sisters and two brothers, one of whom, George Felton Mathew, was a friend of the poet John Keats. Well educated, intelligent and...
Story: Mathew, Sarah Louise
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1818–1883Cheese and butter maker, community leader
According to family information Catherine Johnstone was born at Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, on 11 December 1818, the eldest of six children born to Thomas Johnstone and his wife, Jean Bryden. She married John Mathieson of Mid Calder, West Lothian, on 3 June 1851 at Lochmaben; their...
Story: Mathieson, Catherine
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1917–1997Journalist, writer, horticulturist
James William Matthews was born at Ahaura on the West Coast on 26 September 1895, the son of James Lindsay Matthews, a butcher, and his wife, Elizabeth Agatha Pothan. He was educated at Wairoa School, Hawke’s Bay. As a youth two of his main interests were gardening and reading and his ambition...
Story: Matthews, Barbara Winifred
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1859–1909Nurseryman, forester
Henry John Matthews was born on 19 September 1859 at Dunedin, New Zealand, the fourth surviving son and youngest child of George Matthews, a nurseryman, and his wife, Elizabeth Pressly. His parents emigrated from Scotland to Ireland and thence to New Zealand. Henry spent his earliest years in...
Story: Matthews, Henry John
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1896–1987Civil engineer, roading contractor, businessman, horticulturist, philanthropist
Born in New Plymouth on 19 July 1896, Russell Matthews was the 10th and youngest child of Grace Marshall and her husband, Robert James Matthews, a banker. He was raised in an environment in which business and entrepreneurial skills were admired and encouraged. Educated at New Plymouth Boys'...
Story: Matthews, Russell
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?–1894Ngāti Kahungunu leader, reformer, politician
The time and place of Hēnare Matua's birth are uncertain. It may have been at Nukutaurua, on the Māhia peninsula, in the 1830s. Airini Donnelly, his stepdaughter, said that he returned from Nukutaurua to Hawke's Bay 'when he was old enough to wash without his mother's help'. The return to the...
Story: Matua, Hēnare
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1862–1935Hospital matron, district nurse, social worker
Sibylla Emily Maude, known throughout New Zealand as Nurse Maude, was born at Hagley Lodge, Christchurch, New Zealand, on 11 August 1862. Her parents, Thomas William Maude and his wife, Emily Catherine Brown, were of English origin.
The eldest of eight children, Sibylla grew up in a...
Story: Maude, Sibylla Emily
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1845–1895Doctor
Henry Widenham Maunsell was born on 22 February 1845 in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Charles Maunsell, a solicitor, and his wife, Maria. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he gained a silver medal for experimental and natural science, and graduated AB and MB in 1867. The same...
Story: Maunsell, Henry Widenham
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1810–1894Missionary, linguist, translator
According to family information Robert Maunsell was born at Milford, near Limerick, Ireland, on 24 October 1810. He was the seventh child of George Maunsell, a collector of customs and later a banker, and his second wife, Frances Magrath Fitzgerald. Robert Maunsell received his early education...
Story: Maunsell, Robert
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1880–1961Rangitāne; land agent, interpreter, politician
William Arthur Moffatt (Māwhete) was born at Tiakitahuna (Jackeytown), south of Palmerston North, on 4 March 1880, the son of Emiri Mōkena (Emily Morgan) and her husband, William Moffatt. His mother, also known as Ārani or Ārini, was the grand-daughter of Wiremu Kīngi Te Aweawe. His main tribal...
Story: Māwhete, Rangiputangatahi
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1860–1949Custodian
Alice Heron Maxwell's dedication to the preservation of the historic Te Papa mission station, at a time when few Pakeha New Zealanders realised the value of such sites, was both far-sighted and courageous. She was born on 9 October 1860 in Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, the daughter of the...
Story: Maxwell, Alice Heron