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William (Bill) Perrett Mead is best known for his role in the development of the Tongariro National Park and Whanganui River recreational areas. He was born at Scarrotts station, near Dargaville, on 7 December 1889. His…

One of the great characters of New Zealand sport, Paul Thomas Silva overcame the loss of an eye in the First World War to compete successfully in national wood-chopping events for over 20 years. He was born at Mungatu,…

Ngāwini and Samuel Yates ran a large farm and general store in the far north of New Zealand during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Samuel Yates was born in London, England, probably in 1829, the son of Saul…

Kathleen Todd believed passionately that the important role of any doctor is ‘sometimes to cure, often to relieve, but always to console’. This dictum came to have a very personal resonance for this gifted, warm and…

Early life On 29 May 1953 New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali Tenzing Norgay, as part of a British team, reached the 8,848-metre summit of Mt Everest, the world’s highest mountain. This was the culmination of 12…

Sir Hugh Kawharu, a Ngāti Whātua rangatira, a distinguished anthropologist, and an eloquent statesman, was held in high regard by Māori and non-Māori alike. He was a prominent leader of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei in central…

Elsie Locke was a writer, environmentalist, historian, peace activist, one-time communist, and a battler for women’s rights. She is best known as a writer for children, though her writing encompassed adult non-fiction,…

Fergus George Frederick Sheppard, known as ‘Ferg’ or ‘Shep’ to friends and colleagues, was the Government Architect who led the Modernist architectural transformation of the government’s building programme in New…

Gilbert Edward Archey was born in Marygate, York, England, on 4 August 1890, the son of Thomas Archey, a schoolmaster, and his wife, Sarah Triffitt. In 1892 the family emigrated to New Zealand, where Thomas held several…

Harry Heaton Barker, one of eight children of John Heaton Barker, an accountant, and his wife, Martha Annie Johns, was born in Nelson on 18 July 1898. The family had moved to Wellington by 1902 and then to Auckland by…

William James Butler was born at Leamington, Warwickshire, England, on 18 March 1858, the son of Jane Matilda Long and her husband, James Butler, a master linen draper. His brother Joseph was born at Leamington on 1…

George Wallington Grabham was born in Rochford, Essex, England, on 1 September 1836, the son of John Grabham, a surgeon, and his wife, Sarah Fry. George and three brothers all studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital,…

Kathleen Anne Baird Hall was born in Napier on 4 October 1896, the fifth child in a family of seven. Her father, Thomas Hall, was the district land registrar in Napier; her mother, Helen Baird Hall (née Macky), was a…

Edna Bertha Pearce was born at Christchurch on 26 March 1906, the daughter of Lucy Elliott Allison and her husband, Ernest Walter Pearce, a farmer. She attended St Albans School until, aged seven, she moved with her…

Henry Matthew Stowell was born at Waimate North, Bay of Islands, according to his own account on 4 February 1859, the son of John Shephard Stowell, a sawyer who had come to New Zealand from the United States, and his…

Hāmiora Wiremu Maioha, of Ngāi Tawake hapū of Ngāpuhi resident in the Bay of Islands, was often known as Hāmi, as Tahi to his intimates, and as Sam Maioha junior to his Pākehā business associates. He was the son of…

Edward Puttick was born in Timaru on 26 June 1890, the son of John Prior Puttick, a London-born railway platelayer, and his wife, Rachel Orpen, who came from County Kerry, Ireland. He was educated at Waitaki Boys’ High…

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 –…

Philippe Viard was born in Lyons, France, on 11 October 1809, the eighth child of Claude Viard, a metal founder, and his wife, Pierrette Charlotte Rolland. He probably took Joseph as a religious name at confirmation. In…

Dorothy Constance Christie was born on 2 November 1893 in Wellington, the daughter of Daniel Laurie Christie, a grocer, and his wife, Eva Evelyn Helen Bell. She attended a private school in Wellington and later the…