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Richard Hutton Davies was born to the journalist Theophilus Davies and his wife, Mary Curtis Acton, in London, England, on 14 August 1861. He received his early education at St John's College, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex,…

William Ferguson was born in Clerkenwell, London, England, on 15 June 1852, the son of William Ferguson, a chemist and later a brewer, and his wife, Louisa Ann Du Bois. William was educated at King Edward VI Grammar…

Poul Rudolph Gnatt, who was to establish ballet as a theatre art in New Zealand, was born at Baden, near Vienna, Austria, on 24 March 1923, the son of Kaja Olsen and her husband, Kai Gnatt, a floral merchant. The family…

Edith Howitt Searle was born on 8 September 1863 at Beechworth, Victoria, Australia, the fourth child and third daughter of Mary Ann Beeby and her husband, George Smales Searle, a newspaper editor. The family came to…

Hubert Reginald Holdaway was born at Lower Moutere, near Motueka, on 18 January 1896, the 10th of 12 children of Henry Oscar Holdaway and his wife, Jane Edwards. His parents were farmers and orchardists, and the family…

Johann Gerhard Husheer (known as Gerhard) was born in Bremen, Germany, on 26 July 1864, the third of six children of Johann Gerhard Husheer and his wife, Adele Neunreuther. At the age of 16 he was articled to the…

Mutu Paratene Kapa was an elder, Māori scholar, sportsman, priest and noted orator. He was born probably in 1870 at Ōhinepū, Te Kōpua, near the sacred mountains Pirongia and Kakepuku. Kapa’s mother was Waimārama Pene…

Henry Joseph Keliher was born on 2 March 1896 in Waikerikeri valley, Central Otago, the son of Mary Carter and her husband, Michael Joseph Keliher, a goldminer and later a farmer. Henry was educated at the public school…

Leslie George Kelly was born in Auckland on 10 May 1906, the elder of two sons of Sidney Mellish Kelly, a french polisher, and his wife, Ethel May Fell. On his father’s side Kelly was descended from Edward Meurant, a…

Andrew Stanley Keyworth was the younger of twin sons born at Auckland to Herbert Reginald Keyworth, a merchant, and his wife, Olive Rhoda Hathaway, on 2 December 1923. His three brothers were to become seafarers, but…

Thomas Coleman Lowry was born at Okawa, near Fernhill, Hawke's Bay, on 17 February 1898, the eldest child of Helen Caroline Watt and her husband, Thomas Henry Lowry, a sheepfarmer. He belonged to a wealthy and prominent…

Matthew Joseph Mack was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on 3 March 1867, the son of Barbara Wilkinson and her husband, Thomas Mack, who farmed in the Ohariu Valley. About two years later the family moved to Auckland,…

William Meldrum was born into a comfortably off farming family at Whangarei, New Zealand, on 28 July 1865, the son of Margaret Barr and her husband, Alexander Lewis Meldrum. William was educated at Kamo School, in…

Jacob (Jack) Meltzer was born at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on 21 October 1898, to Jewish parents Naphtali Meltzer, a travelling draper, and his wife, Deborah Peisachson. He was one of seven boys and two girls, and…

Frederick Joseph Moss was born at Longwood, St Helena, probably in 1827 or 1828. He was the son of Sarah Britton and her husband, a farmer whose first name is unknown. Frederick was educated at the head school of the…

Billie Nicholl believed he was 10 when he arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1862. This would put the date of his birth at 1851 or 1852, but it may have been as late as 1856. He was born William Sharman Crawford…

William Livingstone Hatchwell Sinclair was born at Kirkmanshulme near Manchester, Lancashire, England, on 18 February 1880, the son of Eliza Maria Sandford and her husband, Archibald Sinclair, a shipping merchant. His…

Ernest Mervyn Taylor was born on 4 August 1906 in Auckland, the son of Emily Webber and her husband, Ernest Herbert Taylor, a postman. Known as Mervyn, he attended Grafton School from 1912 to 1920, passing his…

Hira Te Popo was the only son of Tāne Whirinaki. No record of his mother's name has been found. He was born into Te Whakatōhea of Ōpōtiki, a tribe which was trying to recover from the devastating raids of Ngāpuhi and…

Puti Tīpene Wātene, popularly known as Steve, was born in Kirikiri, Thames, on 18 August 1910, the only child of Rose Maria Savage (Hāwete) of Te Arawa and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, and her second husband, Toke Wātene, a…