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Enga Margaret Washbourn was born in Collingwood, Golden Bay, on 1 March 1908, the eldest child of Sydney Laing Sinclair and her husband, Henry Everly Arthur Washbourn, a medical practitioner in Nelson and later…

Thomas Samuel Grace was born to John Grace and his wife, Sarah Lawrence Cox, on 16 February 1815 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He married Agnes Fearon on 23 July 1845 at Whitehaven, Cumberland, and they had 12…

Born at Cramond, near Edinburgh, Scotland, on 20 June 1824, David Bruce was the son of a carpenter, also named David Bruce, and his wife, Margaret Robertson. The family moved to Perthshire, where David attended parish…

Charles McQueen was born on 17 April 1836, in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of Peter McQueen, a fender-maker, and his wife, Elizabeth Scott. Little is known of McQueen's early life, other than that he served…

William Gisborne was born probably on 13 August 1825, the third son of Thomas John Gisborne of Holme Hall, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, and his wife, Sarah Krehmer. The Gisbornes were among Derbyshire's pre-eminent…

Born in the Ngāti Tama stronghold of Poutama, North Taranaki, early in the nineteenth century, Paremata was the eldest son of Ngāti Tama fighting chief Te Taku, and Kauhoe of Ngāti Hinetuhi, a hapū of Ngāti Mutunga. His…

Willis Thomas Goodwin (Bill) Airey was born in Auckland on 7 January 1897. His father, Walter Henry Airey, an inspector of schools, had died three months earlier, leaving a widow, Margaret Avon McDonald, and seven…

According to family information, Robert Henry Wynyard was born on 24 December 1802, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England; he was baptised in London on 13 February 1803. He was the younger son of Jane Gladwin, lady-in-…

Betsy Robertson Walter was born in Nelson on 28 November 1911, the eldest child of Mary Jane Mitchell and her husband, John (Jock) Sinclair Walter. Her father, from Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, had been a silk…

Murray Beresford Roberts was born at Wellington on 10 August 1919, the only child of Andrew Murray Roberts, a surveyor, and his wife, Annie Isabelle Huckstep. He was brought up in a well-to-do Auckland home. His father…

Isabel Annie Michaelsen was born on 18 March 1887 in Waipawa, Hawke's Bay. Her early family life was marred by tragedy. Her father, Harald Michaelsen, a Danish clerk, committed suicide by poisoning himself three months…

William Robinson was born near Warrington, Lancashire, England, on 4 May 1814 according to family information. He was the eldest son of Thomas Robinson, a tenant farmer, and his wife, Elizabeth Lyons. Robinson emigrated…

Thomas Kendall was baptised on 13 December 1778 at North Thoresby, Lincolnshire, England. He was probably the fifth child (of seven) of Susanna Surflit and her husband, Edward Kendall, a small copyhold farmer. He…

Arthur Saunders Thomson is said to have been born on 29 December 1816, and was baptised on 2 January 1817 at Arbroath, Angus, Scotland. He was the son of Margaret Saunders and her husband, James Thomson. Arthur Thomson…

John Beck was born on 22 January 1883 at Kirkcudbright, Scotland, the son of Thomas Fazakerly Beck, a railway guard, and his wife, Margaret Darsie Smith. The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1886 and settled in Otago…

Tāmairangi was a high-ranking woman of strong character and great beauty, who lived in the area around Cook Strait in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her parents were Te Rōnaki and Kahukura-ā-Tāne.…

Robert Arthur Lawson (baptised Robert) was born on 1 January 1833 at Grange, in the parish of Abdie, Fife, Scotland. He was the fourth child of James Lawson, a carpenter, and his wife, Margaret Arthur. Educated at the…

Nathanael Chalmers was born at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, on 22 August 1830. He was the youngest of 12 children and the seventh son of Elizabeth Margaret Pungel, daughter of the Dutch governor of Malacca,…

Margaret Louisa Kendall was born on 19 June 1895 in Headingley, Leeds, England, to Alfred Sunderland Kendall, a linen draper, and his wife, Fannie Gibson. She was educated at a Quaker school and the University of St…

William and John Deans, first and third of four sons of John Deans, a notary, and his wife, Catherine Young, were born in the parish of Kirkstyle, Riccarton, Scotland. William was baptised on 31 January 1817; John was…