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William White was born on 11 February 1794, at Ingleton, County Durham, England, the elder son of Francis White and his wife, Hannah Walker. He became a carpenter by trade and a Wesleyan lay preacher. In 1822 he was…

Te Tirarau Kūkupa, the son of Kūkupa and his first wife, Whitiao, was born probably in the late 1790s. He was descended from Rāhiri, an ancestor of Ngāpuhi; his grandmother was Te Toka-i-Tawhio, leader of Ngāti Ruangaio…

Mary Maddox was born in England on 14 May 1827, at Much Marcle, near Ledbury, Herefordshire. She was the daughter of Richard Maddox, a shoemaker who later became an accountant or canal company clerk, and his wife,…

Alfred Buckland was born at Newton Abbot, Devon, England, probably on 17 December 1825, and was baptised on 12 January 1826. He was the fifth son of John Buckland, a broker, and his wife, Elizabeth Mortimore. Alfred…

Āpihai Te Kawau was born towards the end of the eighteenth century. His father was Tarahawaiki and his mother was Mokorua, who was descended from the Waiōhua people. Te Kawau's grandfather was Tuperiri, principal leader…

Murupaenga, leader of Ngāti Rongo, a hapū of Ngāti Whātua, was born, according to one calculation, about 1770. His parents were Ahiwera and Tūaea. In the period of his most important activity his home was near Makarau,…

Ellen Wright Blackwell was born at Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, on 7 October 1864, the daughter of Annie Maria Bumpus and her husband, John Blackwell, a master hosier. Ellen was one of a large family and was…

Frank Crossley Mappin was born on 15 August 1884 at Scampton, Lincolnshire, England, the son of Laura Morton and her husband, Samuel Wilson Mappin, a farmer, who many years later inherited the family baronetcy. Mappin…

Christopher Vincent Cosmo Stanich Homer was born in Sydney, Australia, on 9 March 1902, the son of Ernest Matthew Homer, a grocer’s assistant, and his wife, Florence May Lillian Pritchard. After education at the North…

Thomas Wing was born on 19 June 1810 at Bradfield, Essex, England. He was the son of Matthew Wing, a mariner, and his wife, Elizabeth Cousins. Wing acquired his nautical knowledge during his youth when he lived at the…

William Edward Barnard was born in Carterton, Wairarapa, on 29 January 1886, the son of Ellen Banks and her husband, Charles Leonard Barnard, a watchmaker. He attended Levin School and at 13 began work as an office boy…

Ivan Marko Totić (known in New Zealand as John Mark Totich) was born to Marko Totić, a farmer, and his wife, Marija Violić, in the village of Kuna, Pelješac peninsula, Dalmatia, a province of Austria, on 18 May 1882. He…

Edwin Mitchelson was the son of Alexander Mitchelson and his wife, Johanna Fitzpatrick, who arrived at Kaipara Harbour, New Zealand, from Sydney, Australia, on the Hannah Watson in April 1840. They settled at…

Tāpihana (Dobson) Paraire Paikea, known as Dobbie, but registered at birth as Poata Paikea, was a great-great-grandson of the paramount Te Uri-o-Hau chief Paikea Te Hekeua. As such, he had his roots deep in Tai Tokerau…

Samuel Johnson was born at Manchester, Lancashire, England, on 16 March 1827, the son of Thomas Johnson, a saddler, and his wife, Hannah Cope. On 5 June 1848 he married Thereza (Thirza) Mellor at Glossop, Derbyshire.…

James Wright was born at Fenton, Staffordshire, England, on 11 April 1819, the son of Eleanor Bennet and her husband, William Wright, an engraver. On 9 March 1841, at Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, he married Mary Ann Tams.…

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…

Marianne Hobbs was born on 31 July 1830 at the Wesleyan mission station, Mangungu, Hokianga, New Zealand, the second daughter of John Hobbs, a missionary, and his wife, Jane Brogreff, a lay missionary. In 1833 the…

Noda Asajiro is said to have been born on 17 January 1868 at Tomioka, a small fishing village on the island of Amakusa-Shimo-shima, near Nagasaki, Japan. His father was Noda Kakashi, a carpenter and shipbuilder. His…

George Turnbull Niccol was born in Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand, on 17 August 1858, the son of Sarah McLarty and her husband, the leading Auckland shipbuilder Henry Niccol. Educated in Devonport, George found that his…