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Alexander Hatrick was born at Smythesdale, Victoria, Australia, on 29 August 1857, the second of ten children of Scottish parents Alexander Hatrick, a carpenter, and his wife, Margaret Sinclair. In 1875, at the age of…

Ronald Joseph Smith was born in Wellington on 2 May 1921, the son of carpenter Joseph Copley Smith and his London-born wife, Mabel Ellen Courcha, a former laundry worker. He was educated at Wellington College, leaving…

Ruth Dallas, one of New Zealand’s most distinguished and widely read poets, had a deep connection to the southern South Island. This shaped her reputation as a regional poet, but her work was also strongly influenced by…

Hilda Phillips was one of the best-known and most persistent critics of the Māori land, resource rights and autonomy campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s. She attacked the foundations of Māori grievances against the Crown,…

William Andrew Veitch was born on 25 May 1870 at Port of Monteith, Perthshire, Scotland, the son of Stephen Veitch, a schoolmaster, and his wife, Janet Davidson. After attending his father’s school, he worked for the…

Frederick Revans Chapman was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on 3 February 1849. He was the fifth child of Henry Samuel Chapman, puisne judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and his wife, Catherine Brewer, the…

W.H. (Bill) Oliver was one of New Zealand’s most eminent twentieth-century historians. He gained distinction as a scholar of British and New Zealand history and was part of a tradition of poet-historians, with five…

M. K. Joseph was a novelist, poet, and literary academic of the 1940s–1970s, best known for the powerful short novel, A soldier’s tale. Outwardly conservative, with a professorship, scholarly publications, a stable…

Frank Oswald Victor Acheson was born on 27 June 1887 at Riverton, Southland, the youngest of nine children of Robert Acheson, a merchant, and his wife, Annie Sinclair Allan. He was educated at Riverton school and…

Robert McNab was born at Dunragget farm, near Invercargill, New Zealand, on 1 October 1864. He was the eldest child of Janet McQueen and her husband, Alexander McNab, a runholder who served as a member of the Otago and…

Donald McLean was a Scottish Highlander, born on 25 October 1820, the third son of Margaret McColl and her husband, John McLean, at Kilmaluag on Tiree, one of the Inner Hebrides. John McLean was a tacksman, holding a…

Harry Scott was a psychology educator and researcher whose work on the effects of isolation evolved from his own experiences as an imprisoned conscientious objector during the Second World War. He was a significant…

Hungarian-born George Haydn co-founded the successful Auckland construction company Haydn and Rollett. Outgoing and generous, he was also an important figure in the Auckland arts and literary scene in the second half of…

Te Wharepōuri, known as Te Kakapi-o-te-rangi in his youth, was born probably not long before 1800, and grew up in Taranaki. His mother was Hine-i-te-uru, senior wife of Te Whiti-o-Rongomai II, fourth child of Aniwaniwa…

Michael King was New Zealand’s most popular late twentieth-century historian. His best work combined the research-based scholarship of a historian with the fluent accessible style of a journalist. His output was…

John Alexander McCullough was born at Belfast, Ireland, on 17 January 1860, the eldest of five children. He was the son of Sarah Davison and her husband, William John McCullough, a seaman, staunch unionist and Orangeman…

Bruce Biggs had a distinguished career as a scholar but he was also that rarer thing, an exceptional builder of academic institutions. In academic Māori studies he was the most influential figure of the twentieth…

Youth Sonja Margaret Loveday Vile was born on 11 November 1923 in Wallaceville, Upper Hutt. Her mother, Gwladys Ilma Vile, was a state-registered nurse; her father was Gerald Dempsey, an army major from Cork, Ireland…

Hōniana, as he was known in his youth, belonged to Ngāti Te Whiti and Ngāti Tāwhirikura hapū of Te Āti Awa. His descent was distinguished. His father was Rerewha-i-te-rangi, whose eldest son he was. His father was in…

John Alfred Alexander Lee was the son of Alfred Lee and Mary Isabella Taylor. In 1889 they had filled out a form giving notice of their intention to marry but failed to actually do so. Alfred was a man of many parts –…