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Arthur Edward McDonogh (or MacDonogh) was born probably in 1809 or 1810 in Ireland; his parents' names are unknown. As a young man McDonogh served as an officer in the 5th Fusiliers. By the middle of 1840 he had…

Thomson Wilson Leys was born at Snenton (Sneinton), near Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England, on 23 April 1850, the son of Hannah Hartley Wilson and her husband, William Leys, a supervisor of inland revenue. Thomson…

According to family sources John Martin was born on 11 November 1822 at Moneymore, County Londonderry, Ireland. He was the son of John Martin, a clergyman who was later a farmer, and his second wife, Sarah Espie. There…

Matthew Henry Oram was born in Christchurch on 2 June 1885, the son of May Eltham and her late husband, Matthew Henry Oram: his English-born father, one of five brothers who owned and managed several hotels in the city…

Kazimierz Antoni z Granowa Wodzicki, born on 4 February 1900 at Olejów, eastern Poland, was the son of Maria Dzieduszycka and her husband, Count Alexander Louis Wodzicki. Kazimierz’s father spent his life managing the…

Edward Gibbon Wakefield was born probably in London, England, on 20 March 1796. His father, Edward Wakefield, was a farmer and land agent, who had married Susanna Crash in London in 1791. Edward Gibbon was the oldest…

Te Hāpuku, sometimes called Te Ika-nui-o-te-moana, was born in the late eighteenth century. He was a leader of Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti. Kinship links within Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne, Ngāti Ira and other major tribal…

William Henry Gummer, the sixth child in a family of eight, was born in Auckland on 7 December 1884, the son of Thomas George Gummer, an accountant, and his wife, Jane Taylor Moginie. After attending Mount Eden School,…

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…

William Thomas Trethewey was born in Christchurch on 8 September 1892, the son of Cornish parents Mary Wallace and her husband, Jabez Trethewey, a carpenter. He left East Christchurch School at the age of 13 and began…

Sybil Audrey Marie Colley (or Wellesley-Colley) was born at Greenfields, her parents’ sheep farm near Clive in Hawke’s Bay, on 1 August 1916, the daughter of Ethel Violet Mary Goulter and her husband, Joseph Wellesley…

The beginning of the extensive business interests of the Myers family today go back to the late 1850s when two German Jewish brothers, Louis and Bernard Ehrenfried, left their farm near Hamburg for the Victorian…

Walter Pettit Tricker was born in Stowupland, Suffolk, England, and baptised there on 18 August 1823. He was the son of Mary Edward and her husband, Walter Pettit Tricker, a husbandman. Nothing is known of his early…

Margaret Orbell was one of New Zealand’s leading authorities on traditional Māori literature. She published prolifically, for both academic and general audiences, and her books achieved critical and popular success.…

Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand Hochstetter is said to have been born on 30 April 1829 in Esslingen, kingdom of Württemberg, the son of Christian Ferdinand Hochstetter, a professor and parson, who had published works on…

Te Rauparaha was the son of Werawera, of Ngāti Toa, and his second wife, Parekōwhatu (Parekōhatu), of Ngāti Raukawa. He is said to have been a boy when James Cook was in New Zealand. If so, it is likely that he was…

James Macandrew, the son of a merchant, Colin Macandrew, and his wife, Barbara Johnston, was baptised in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 18 May 1819. Little is known of his early life; he is said to have attended Ayr Academy and…

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…

Henry Gilbert Bennett (better known as Harry Scott Bennett) was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, on 1 June 1877, the son of a radical carpenter, James William Bennett, and his equally radical wife, Charlotte Mary…

Charles Andrew Cotton, born in Dunedin on 24 February 1885, was the only son of Scottish-born Margaret Thomson McCallum and her husband, Charles Henry Cotton, a Cornish mariner. His parents had met while sailing to New…