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Sidney Wilfred Scott was born in Ifield, Sussex, England, on 20 July 1900, the son of Walter Joseph Scott, a grocery manager, and his wife, Minnie Florence Church. In 1910 the family emigrated to New Zealand, settling…

During the 1920s the citizens of Auckland benefited from a number of munificent bequests given by Marianne Smith. An enigmatic and very private person, she was unusual in that unlike most wealthy women of the time she…

Arthur Rex Dugard Fairburn was born at his parents' house beside the Auckland Domain on 2 February 1904. His mother, Teresa Harland, was a gifted musician; his father, Arthur Fairburn, became a music critic, but…

Francis Dart Fenton was born at Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, probably some time between 1820 and 1825, the son of Francis Tarrant Fenton and his wife, Frances Ashby. The Fentons were an old Yorkshire legal family:…

Charles Alexander Fleming was born in Auckland on 9 September 1916. He was the eldest of three children of Winifred Hardy and her husband, George Herbert Fleming. George had inherited a substantial private income from a…

Kīngi Matutaera Īhaka was born at Te Kao, Northland, on 18 October 1921. His great-grandfather, Parāone Ngāruhe, signed the Treaty of Waitangi on behalf of Te Aupōuri. Kīngi was the 13th of 14 children of Eru Tīmoko…

Frederick Whitaker was born at Manor House, Bampton, Oxfordshire, England, on 23 April 1812, the son of a magistrate, Frederick Whitaker, and his wife, Susanna Humfrey. He married Jane Augusta Griffith, stepdaughter of…

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…

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…

William Pierpont Black's career illustrates some of the more unusual aspects of the New Zealand labour movement in the early twentieth century. William Peter Negrescu was born in Bucharest, Romania, probably in 1876 or…

Flora MacKenzie (or McKenzie) was born in Māngere, Auckland, on 15 August 1902, the daughter of Hugh Ross MacKenzie, a farmer, and his wife, Lillie Theresa Ellett. Flora, her brother and sister were brought up on the…

Chan Hock Joe was born, according to family information, in 1882, at Ha Kei, Tsengshing (Zengcheng) county, in China's Guangdong province. He was the son of Chan Yook Ngan, the principal of the local school, and his…

Although Maggie Briggs's deeds as a show-jumper have been exaggerated and romanticised by her biographers, she was undoubtedly an outstanding horsewoman. Born Margaret Jane Briggs on 17 April 1892 at Ōtākeho, near…

Lorelle Henderson Corbin was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 3 June 1916, the daughter of Horace Hugh Corbin, a lecturer in forestry at the University of Adelaide, and his wife, Kathleen Mary Henderson. The family…

Jessie Isabel Hetherington, the first woman to be an inspector of secondary schools in New Zealand, was born at Thames on 2 January 1882 to Rebecca Brown and her husband, Samuel Hetherington, both of whom had been born…

Catherine Julia Bilston was born at Merino, in western Victoria, Australia, on 12 November 1864. Later known as Katrine, she was the fifth of the nine children of Ellen Augustine McElligott and her husband, George Yarra…

Thomas William Murphy, generally known as 'Torpedo Billy', was born at James Street, Arch Hill, Auckland, New Zealand, on 26 March 1862. He was the son of James Murphy, a gardener, and his wife, Johanna Cronin, who were…

Jelal Kalyanji was born on 17 August 1899 at Surat, Gujarat, India, to Jagdamba Hansu Chauhan and her husband, Kalyanji Vanamali. Like many Hindus, he was married as a child but his wife died in 1910. Jelal’s father, a…

Charles Frederick Newham was born at Christchurch, New Zealand, on 21 June 1880, the son of Ann Martin and her husband, Enoch Newham, a mechanic. Nothing is known of his early life or education, but by 1900 he was…