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Vernon Akitt Brown was born in West Derby, Liverpool, England, on 23 March 1905, the son of Thomas Brown, a surveyor in the British civil service, and his wife, Mary Augusta Brown. He attended Highgate School and the…

John Bartholomew Callan was born in Dunedin on 15 August 1882, the son of Ellen Mary Brophy and her husband, John Bartholomew Callan, a solicitor. John senior had left Ireland in 1859 for Melbourne, where several of his…

Violet May Grainger was born in Napier on 17 May 1887. She was the youngest of eight children of Eliza Jane Fleetham and her husband, George William Grainger, a civil engineer who was employed by the Napier Harbour…

Spencer Harry Gilbee Digby was born at Dagenham, Essex, England, on 26 June 1901, the son of master butcher Harry Digby and his wife, Ada Helen Holttum. After leaving school he worked for a time as a clerk with the meat…

Frances May Labes was born in Castle Street, Dunedin, on 24 October 1898. Her mother, Maria (Mary) Louisa Labes, was of Prussian and Scottish descent, and her father was probably Harry Freeman, a carpenter. In 1901 Mary…

Victor Edward Gallway was born in Colchester, Essex, England, on 24 May 1894, the son of Edward Gallway, a bandmaster in the Northamptonshire Regiment, and his wife, Elizabeth Georgina Bilby. Victor was a choirboy in…

Maria Louisa Gardner was born at Hobsonville, near Auckland, on 29 July 1879, one of nine children of Louisa Clark and her husband, John Gardner, a farmer. Later known as Briar, she was educated by a private tutor at…

Zillah Smith Billany was born at Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, on 29 May 1859. Her parents were Charlotte Ann Clevelin and her husband, Neiles Boynton Billany, a shipwright. Nothing is known of Zillah Billany'…

George Patrick Hanna was born at Whitianga on 18 March 1888 to Australian-born Mary Jane Carnie and her Irish-born husband, Patrick Hanna, a hotel keeper. Educated at Wanganui Boys' District High School, Pat…

Emily Knowles was born at Lye, Worcestershire, England, on 5 September 1847, the daughter of Charlotte Round and her husband, John Knowles, a shoemaker. Emily became a pupil-teacher at the Lye national school in 1863…

Richard Tahuora Hīmona was born at Te Ore Ore, near Masterton, on 7 September 1905. He was the son of Arapata Hīmona, a farmer, and his wife, Wirapeti Mīkaera of Hāmua, a hapū originally of Rangitāne descent, but…

Born in Cambridge, New Zealand, on 26 July 1890, Frances Irwin Hunt was the second of four children of a farmer, Nicholas Irwin Hunt, and his wife, Annie Lilian Souter, a former schoolteacher. Around 1901 the family…

Richard Lawson was born in Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia, on 16 June 1875, the fifth child of Thomas Lawson and his wife, Susan Sides. His parents had emigrated from Ireland to Warrnambool, where his father…

Catherine Julia Bilston was born at Merino, in western Victoria, Australia, on 12 November 1864. Later known as Katrine, she was the fifth of the nine children of Ellen Augustine McElligott and her husband, George Yarra…

William Parker Morrell, whose scholarly output of books and learned articles spanned more than half a century, was born at Auckland on 20 November 1899. His father, William John Morrell, from Tiverton, Devon, studied at…

Marcus Frederick Nicholls was born at Greytown on 13 July 1901, the son of Sidney Nicholls, a custodian, and his wife, Margaret Ann Marnell. After the family moved to Petone in 1908 he attended Petone West School and…

Archibald Frank Nicoll was born at Lincoln, Canterbury, on 14 June 1886, the fifth of six children of Alexander Nicoll, a farmer, and his wife, Eliza Pannett. He was educated at Springston School from 1891 to 1899 and…

Lawrence Alfred North was born in Ghum, near Darjeeling, India, on 5 November 1903, the son of Charles North and his wife, Emily Jessie Wiseman, who were Baptist missionaries. He entered a family uniquely active and…

Alfred Philpott (Phillpot) was born on 15 December 1870 in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England, one of ten children of William Philpott (Philpotts), a farm labourer, and his wife, Mary Ann Wilkins. William lost his job…

James McLaren Ritchie had a simple business philosophy: if the principle is right the profit will follow. It did, and he led the National Mortgage and Agency Company of New Zealand (NMA) to top ranking as a stock and…