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Maurice Noel Duggan ranks with Katherine Mansfield and Frank Sargeson as one of New Zealand’s greatest short-story writers and literary stylists. He was born in Auckland on 25 November 1922 and grew up on the North…

Lincoln Arthur Winstone Efford, who played an important role in the organisation and development of the New Zealand peace movement, was born in Christchurch on 4 August 1907, the second of three children of William…

Henry George Ell is primarily remembered in Canterbury as the tireless promoter of the Summit Road along the crest of the Port Hills, but he also championed many other social and environmental causes. He was born…

Alexander Robert Entrican was born at Devonport on 28 January 1898, the son of Robert John Entrican, a merchant, and his wife, Annie Isabella Lamb. Known as Pat, he was educated at Auckland Grammar School and in 1915…

Willi Fels was born on 17 April 1858 at Halle an der Weser, Brunswick, Germany, the eldest of four children of Heinemann Wilhelm Fels, a merchant, and his wife, Kätchen Hallenstein. He attended a Jewish school run by…

Alice Esther Glen was born in Christchurch on 26 December 1881, the third of twelve children of Robert Parker Glen, an accountant, and his wife, Alice Helen White. She grew up in spacious surroundings in Gloucester…

Peter Graham was born at Three Mile Beach, Okarito, south Westland, New Zealand, on 27 April 1878; his brother Alexander (Alec) Carter Graham was born there on 5 September 1881. They were the fifth and sixth children of…

Leslie Issott Grange was born on 4 March 1894 at Castlecliff, Wanganui, the son of Thomas Issott Grange, a blacksmith, and his wife, Mary Eleanor Conelly. His father deserted the family, leaving Mary to raise her four…

Kenneth Macfarlane Gresson, who became the leading member of one of New Zealand’s foremost legal families, was born in Christchurch on 18 July 1891. He was the son of John Beatty Gresson, a lawyer, and his wife, Frances…

Christina Kirk Henderson was born, according to family information, on 15 August 1861 at Emerald Hill, Melbourne, Australia. She was the second of nine children of Alice Connolly and her husband, Daniel Henderson. Her…

Rangimārie Hursthouse was born on 24 May 1892 at Oparure, near Te Kūiti. Her parents were Charles Wilson Hursthouse and Mere Te Rongopāmamao Aubrey. Charles Hursthouse had emigrated with his family from England in 1843…

Tobias McGlinchy Hill was born in Blantyre, near Glasgow, Scotland, on 5 November 1915, the son of Alice Wood, a mill worker, and her husband, Joseph Hill, a coalminer. Toby learnt about hardship and unionism at a young…

John Henry Howell was born in Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire, England, on 31 October 1869, the son of William Mends Howell, a Congregational minister, and his wife, Harriett Brown. He was educated at Caterham…

Annie Isabella James was born on 22 April 1884 at Otepopo, North Otago, New Zealand, and grew up on a farm at nearby Herbert, in a family of six boys and six girls. Her parents were Elizabeth Morrison and her husband,…

George Ranald Macdonald, the son of Gertrude Gould and her husband, Ranald Macintosh Macdonald, was born at St Albans, Christchurch, on 4 October 1891. His maternal grandfather, George Gould, had been a leading merchant…

John MacGregor was born, probably in 1849 or 1850, at Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland, the son of James MacGregor, a stonemason, and his wife, Isabella MacGregor. After receiving his primary education at the Breadalbane…

Patrick Marshall was born on 22 December 1869 in Sapiston, Suffolk, England. He was the son of Emily Louisa Merielina Rogers and her husband, John Hannath Marshall, vicar of Sapiston. In 1876 the family emigrated to New…

Neil McArthur was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 19 March 1898, the son of George McArthur, a blacksmith, and his wife, Margaret McTavish, a dressmaker. He emigrated to New Zealand with his family around 1907 and settled…

Alexander Hare McLintock was born in Gore on 14 April 1903, the son of Robert Alexander Hare McLintock, a Glasgow-born engineer, and his wife, Christina Jane Cameron McDonald. Throughout his life he remained proud of…

Lucy Beatrice Moore was born in Warkworth on 14 July 1906, the fifth of eight children of Janet Morison and her husband, Harry Blomfield Moore. Their farm, Huamara, produced fruit and poultry and Harry was also a…