John Rutherfurd Blair (baptised John) was born on 8 February 1843 at Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of Jane Rankin and her husband, Robert Blair, a miner. John entered the office of a large Glasgow paper…
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Elizabeth Parker, or Betty (as she was usually known), was born on 3 December 1814 and baptised at Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents were Harriott and Stephen Parker. In about 1819 Harriott Parker went…
Born on 26 September 1906 in Waimate, South Canterbury, Ngata Prosser Pitcaithly was the son of Edith Mabel Hildyard and her husband, George Pitcaithly, rector of Waimate District High School and later a senior…
William Hobson was born in Waterford, Ireland, on 26 September 1792, the third of five sons of Samuel Hobson, a barrister, and his wife, Martha Jones. William joined the Royal Navy before his 11th birthday, signing on…
George Warren Russell was born in Haggerston, London, England, on 24 February 1854, the son of Miriam Warren and her husband, Gregory Ruffell Russell, a bricklayer and builder. The family emigrated to Tasmania, where…
John Lundon was a not atypical 'public man' in mid nineteenth century New Zealand, a society where political forms and commercial relationships could be worked to personal advantage by those with a sharp eye for the…
Nina Catherine Howard was born in Dunedin on 20 October 1900, the eldest of six daughters of English emigrant Ernest Henry Howard, a Baptist minister, and his New Zealand-born wife, Georgina Matheson Lindsay. By the…
Arthur Samuel Atkinson was born at Hurworth, Durham, England, on 20 October 1833, the eighth of 13 children of Elizabeth Smith and her husband, John Atkinson, architect and stonemason. The family settled at Frindsbury,…
Chew Chong (Chau Tseung) was born in Canton (Guangzhou), China. Nothing is known of his parents except that they originated from Kaiping county, Guangdong province. His date of birth is unclear: Chong himself put it at…
Alfred Sharpe was baptised on 30 September 1836 at Tranmere, near Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. He was the second child of Liverpool merchant William Sharp and his wife, Mary Edwards. His father was a collector of…
George Douglas Robb was born in Auckland on 29 April 1899, the son of Scottish immigrants Agnes Rough, a former schoolteacher, and her husband, John Robb, a timber inspector, who was later general manager of the Kauri…
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…
Kenneth Stuart Williams was the youngest of a remarkable quartet of second-generation descendants of the missionary brothers Henry and William Williams. Kenneth, his first cousin Thomas Sydney Williams, and his second…
Guy Hardy Scholefield was born at Dunedin on 17 June 1877, the third child of John Hoick Scholefield, an accountant, and his wife, Marion Hardy. His father died in 1885, and the family moved to Milton, South Otago. Guy'…
John Rigg was born at St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, on 1 November 1858, the son of Catherine Campbell Leckie and her husband, John Rigg, an accountant. The family emigrated to Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1863 or 1864,…
George and Herbert Cook came from a seafaring family. Their grandfather, William Cook, came to New Zealand as third mate on an English whaler. He took as his wife Tīraha, who was of Ngāpuhi and Kapotai and kin to…
Elijah Carey was born in the goldmining town of Gympie, Queensland, Australia, on 20 August 1876, a twin son of Catherine Newman and her husband, Elijah Carey, a miner. Elijah junior, who later added the name John and…
Born in London, England, on 29 August 1872, Edith Annie Howes was one of the five surviving children of Cecilia Brown and her husband, William Howes, a post office clerk who later became an accountant. The family…
Bill Wilson was a key figure in Group Architects, an Auckland collective instrumental in developing a modern architecture responsive to New Zealand’s culture and conditions. This interest informed the buildings he…
Rēweti Tūhorouta Kōhere was born on 11 April 1871 at Orutua, Horoera, near East Cape. He was the first of five children of Hone Hiki Kōhere and Henarata Peretō, the daughter of Umutahi, who belonged to Te Whanau-a-…