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Frank Livingstone Combs was born on 19 July 1882 at Napier, the son of Annie Clara Coles and her husband, Willis Edmund Combs, a draper. The family knew hard times during the late 1880s and early 1890s, and Frank’s…

Helen Connon was born in Melbourne, Australia, probably in 1859 or 1860. She was the second child of George Connon, a carpenter from Wales, and his wife, Helen Hart, who came from Scotland. Around 1862 the family moved…

Alfred Bramwell Cook was born at Gisborne on 7 March 1903, the third of four children of Edith Emily Britton and her husband, Henry Charles Cook, a Salvation Army officer. Henry had served in England and Australia and,…

Alexander Wellington Croskery was born in Swansea, Wales, on 19 December 1878, the son of Mary Ann Mortimer Thomson and her Irish-born husband, Alexander Brown Croskery, a provision merchant and later an accountant. He…

Johann Karl Ernst Dieffenbach is said to have been born at Giessen in the Grand Duchy of Hesse on 27 January 1811. The son of a respected Protestant cleric and professor of theology at the university of Giessen, Ernst…

David Archibald Victor Clive Drummond was born at Mārahau, near Motueka, on 4 August 1890. Always known as Clive, he was the son of Sarah Elizabeth Stillwell and her husband, Peter Drummond, a sawmiller. After attending…

John Evelyn Duigan was born at Whanganui on 30 March 1883, the son of Mary Emily Broad and her husband, James Duigan, a miller and later editor of the Wanganui Herald. He attended Wanganui Collegiate School in 1894, but…

Thomas Richard Farrell was born in Wellington on 30 December 1926, the son of Ella McCleary and her husband, Thomas James Farrell, an advertising agent. Richard showed signs of musical prowess at the age of two and made…

Alfred William Gallagher was born at Hamilton on 17 May 1911, the first of six children of Alfred John Gallagher and his wife, Sarah Matilda Clow. Known as Willie, and later Bill, he spent his early years on the family…

Hopeful Gibbons, the founder of one of New Zealand's largest family businesses, was born at Launceston, Tasmania, on 4 October 1856, the sixth of twelve children of Robert George Gibbons, a shipbuilder, and his wife,…

Herbert Ellery Gilbert was born in Whanganui on 20 July 1916. His New Zealand-born father, Ellery George Gilbert, imported musical instruments; his mother, Nellie Gilbert (née Hall), was English-born. After attending…

Joseph Dalton Hooker is said to have been born at Halesworth, Suffolk, England, on 30 June 1817, and was baptised there on 3 July. He was the younger son of Sir William Jackson Hooker and his wife, Maria Sarah Turner.…

Edwin John Howard was born Edwin Harney at Bristol, England, on 18 June 1868, the son of Edwin John Harney, a house painter, and his wife, Sarah Ann Osgood. It is said that his parents later ran a theatrical company.…

Leonard Monk Isitt was born on 27 July 1891 at Christchurch, New Zealand, the elder son of Leonard Monk Isitt and his wife, Agnes Martha Caverhill. His father was a Methodist minister, temperance leader and politician.…

Jimmy James, the man who taught thousands of Wellingtonians the art of ballroom dancing, was born Dimitrios Skafidas in Athens, Greece, on 15 February 1915. He was one of six children of Nickolai Skafidas, a shoemaker,…

Mary Isabella Taylor was born in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland, on 18 June 1871, the first child of Alison (Alice) McDonald and Alexander Taylor, a railway porter. In 1877 she emigrated with her parents from Glasgow…

Samuel Lister was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, probably in 1832 or 1833, the son of Isabella Inglis and her husband, William Lister, a house-factor. Little is known of his years in Edinburgh except that he served an…

William Douglas Lysnar was born at Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand, on 30 April 1867, the fourth of twelve children of William Dean Lysnar, a schoolmaster, and his wife, Frances Sarah Brewer. Douglas (as he was known)…

Jean Michel Camille Malfroy, usually known as Camille, was born at Macornay, Lons-le-Saunier, Jura, France, on 23 March 1839. He was the son of Jean Baptiste Malfroy, a miller, and his wife, Josephine Vuidard. With his…

Lancelot William McCaskill (registered at birth as Lancecot) was born at Winchester, South Canterbury, on 8 May 1900, the son of Janet Bisset and her husband, Daniel McCaskill, a wool scourer. His father died when he…