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James Henry Edwards was born at Islington, London, England, on 19 February 1892, the son of Ellen Sellman and her husband, James John Edwards, a printer. He began work as a telegraph boy at 13, then served as a steward…

Charles Southwell was born in London, England, in 1814, the only child of Fanny Southwell and her husband, a workman at Broadwood's pianoforte factory, whose name is unknown. Charles had 32 siblings, children of his…

Georgina Burne McKellar was born at Battersea, London, England, on 27 May 1832, the second daughter of Annette Clarke and her husband, Dugald McKellar, a doctor. When Georgina was about 10 years old the family moved to…

The company formed and managed by John Seabrook helped shape the motor car market in the Auckland province during the years when the automobile irrevocably changed the social landscape. He was born on 6 January 1896 at…

William Hobson was born in Waterford, Ireland, on 26 September 1792, the third of five sons of Samuel Hobson, a barrister, and his wife, Martha Jones. William joined the Royal Navy before his 11th birthday, signing on…

John Alan Edward Mulgan was born in Christchurch on 31 December 1911, the elder son and second of three children born to Marguerita Blomfield Pickmere and her husband, Alan Edward Mulgan. His father was a journalist on…

Charles Wallace Boswell, who was to become New Zealand’s first diplomat in the Soviet Union, was born at Coromandel on 5 August 1886, the son of Laura Jane Avery and her husband, James Boswell, a goldminer. He was…

William Goodfellow’s acumen, vision and energy contributed significantly to the shape and direction of the New Zealand dairy industry in the twentieth century. One of six children of Thomas Goodfellow, a farmer, and his…

Ruth Miriam Guscott was born in Whanganui on 1 January 1920, the second child of Aida Doris Mildred Clayton and her husband, Alfred James Guscott, a stock buyer. Although they lived in town, Ruth and her elder brother…

Abraham Walley (Wali) Mahomed Salaman was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India, probably in 1885 or 1886, the son of Muslim parents, whose names he recorded in New Zealand as Asher Karrambox and her husband, Futha-Din, a…

William Raymond Fell was born on 26 October 1904 at Melksham, Wiltshire, England, the son of Edward Thomas Abraham Richards Fell, a farmer, and his wife, Mary Blanche Collett. The family came to New Zealand in 1912 and…

Martin Krippner was born probably on 23 September 1817 at Mantau, Bohemia (Czechoslovakia), in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the eldest son of Johannes Krippner, a blacksmith, and his wife, Anna Pallier. Martin received…

David Luckie (Mitchell was added later) was born in Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland, on 5 October 1827, the son of Thomas Luckie, a merchant, and his wife, Mary Mitchell. He was educated there and worked in a mercantile…

Herbert Otto Roth was born in Vienna, Austria, on 7 December 1917, the son of Therese Pepi Heilpern and her husband, Emil Roth, a railway engineer. He was called Otti during his years in Austria, but was later known as…

Tom Ah Chee was the driving force behind the Foodtown supermarket empire, which accelerated the societal shift from the era of local grocery stores to one of large-scale supermarket chains. The son of a successful…

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…

Thomas Russell was arguably the outstanding commercial figure in nineteenth century New Zealand. He is said to have been born in Cork, Ireland, in 1830, the son of Thomas Russell and his wife, Mary Roberts. In 1833…

Walter Thomas Mills was born in Duane, New York, USA, on 11 May 1856, the son of Charles Mills, a farmer, and his wife, Mahetabel Ladd, both Quakers. Nothing is known of Mills's early life. In 1868 he moved with his…

Hōne Tana Pāpāhia was born probably sometime between 1856 and 1859 at Ōrongotea, on the north-west shoreline of the Hokianga Harbour. His father was Wiremu Tana Pāpāhia; his mother's name is not known. Pāpāhia was…

Robert Alexander Falla was born in Palmerston North on 21 July 1901, the son of George Falla, a railway clerk, and his wife, Elizabeth Kirk. The family shifted frequently, Falla's younger years being spent in Hāwera,…