Forlong, Gordon

Gordon Forlong was the second son of William Forlong, a merchant, and his wife, Crawford Gordon. He was born on 14 February 1819, according to family sources in Pollok Castle,...

Part of biography: Forlong, Gordon

Downes, Thomas William

Thomas William Downes was born on 18 February 1868 at Wellington, New Zealand. He was the son of Emily Adele Harrington and her husband, Thomas William Downes, a surveyor who had...

Part of biography: Downes, Thomas William

Maketu, Wiremu Kingi

Maketu, also known as Maketu Wharetotara, the son of Nga Puhi chief Ruhe, was born in the hinterland of the Bay of Islands. In 1841, when he was about 16 years of age, he was...

Part of biography: Maketu, Wiremu Kingi

Ranstead, John Morris

John Morris Ranstead was born at East Ham, Essex, England, on 1 July 1884, the first child of William Ranstead, a bookkeeper, and his wife, Margaret Lyon Loch. His father, a...

Part of biography: Ranstead, John Morris

Fletcher, Henry James

Henry James Fletcher was born at Denton, near Rochester, Kent, England, on 28 February 1868, the son of William Fletcher, a journeyman carpenter, and his wife, Jane Sally Fawcett...

Part of biography: Fletcher, Henry James

Wilding, Henry

Henry Wilding, born at Stepney in the East End of London, England, on 20 August 1844, was the son of Maria Gillard (née Loveday) and her second husband, Henry Wilding, a...

Part of biography: Wilding, Henry

Wilson, James Glenny

James Glenny Wilson was born at Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland, probably on 29 November 1849. His father, George Wilson, was a woollen manufacturer, and his mother, Jane Law,...

Part of biography: Wilson, James Glenny

Tricker, Walter Pettit

Walter Pettit Tricker was born in Stowupland, Suffolk, England, and baptised there on 18 August 1823. He was the son of Mary Edward and her husband, Walter Pettit Tricker, a...

Part of biography: Tricker, Walter Pettit

Feist, Alfred

Born on 21 February 1835 in Chiddingly, Sussex, England, Alfred Feist was the second son of William Feist, a butcher, and his wife, Martha Holman. In his youth Alfred went to...

Part of biography: Feist, Alfred

Lawry, Samuel

Samuel Lawry was born at St Mabyn, Cornwall, England, on 22 August 1854, the fifth child of Gertrude Robins and her husband, Walter Lawry, a farmer. The Lawrys emigrated to New...

Part of biography: Lawry, Samuel

Edwards, Edwin

Edwin Edwards was born at Camberwell, Surrey, England, on 5 April 1862, the son of Edwin Edwards, a ship broker's clerk, and his wife, Rachel Tyler. He was educated at Rutland...

Part of biography: Edwards, Edwin

Feaver, Samuel Russell

Samuel Russell Feaver was born on 5 February 1878 at St Leonards, Sussex, England, one of seven children of John Feaver, a chemist, and his wife, Kate Toomer Russell. Sam was...

Part of biography: Feaver, Samuel Russell

Sturm, Friedrich Wilhelm Christian

Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Sturm was born in Germany or Austria, probably in 1810 or 1811, the son of an army officer. His mother's name was Eliza Kuhne. According to family...

Part of biography: Sturm, Friedrich Wilhelm Christian

Armstrong, Hubert Thomas

Hubert Thomas Armstrong (known as Tim) was born in Bulls, New Zealand, on 28 September 1875, the sixth of nine children. His parents, Mary Newcombe and her husband, Martin...

Part of biography: Armstrong, Hubert Thomas

Cole Catley, Christine McKelvie

The distinguished writer and journalist Christine Cole Catley was one of New Zealand’s leading independent publishers of the late twentieth century. She was co-founder of...

Part of biography: Cole Catley, Christine McKelvie

Burton, William John

Recognised in the 1950s as the world’s greatest short-range archer, William John Burton (known as Jim) was born at Hoylake, Cheshire, England on 8 March 1908. The second in a...

Part of biography: Burton, William John

Cowie, John

John Cowie was born in Mount Roskill, Auckland, on 30 March 1912, the son of Scottish parents Elizabeth Cromb Reoch and her husband, Andrew Cowie, a grocer. At Devonport School he...

Part of biography: Cowie, John

Jolly, Francis Bertrand

Francis (Frank) Bertrand Jolly was born on 26 January 1865 at London, Ontario, Canada, the eldest child of English parents Thomas Jolly, a farmer, and his wife, Mary Ridout Kelly...

Part of biography: Jolly, Francis Bertrand

Newman, Edward

Edward Newman was born in Partick, Glasgow, Scotland, on 4 July 1858, the son of a Royal Navy surgeon of the same name and his wife, Annabella Smith. According to his own account...

Part of biography: Newman, Edward

Andrews, Isabella Smith

Isabella Smith Young, known as Isobel, was born at Glasgow, Scotland, on 2 November 1905, the daughter of Jeanie Scott and her husband, James Young, a mercantile clerk. The...

Part of biography: Andrews, Isabella Smith