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Margaret Escott is best remembered as the author of the novel Show down. Born Cicely Margaret Escott on 9 July 1908 at Eltham, London, England, and usually known as Peg, she was the daughter of Emily Allen and her…

Thomas Hall was born at Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, probably in 1847 or 1848, the son of Thomas Williamson Hall, a farmer, and his wife, Sarah Young. The family arrived in Timaru, New Zealand, about 1865 and…

Thomas Macdonald, later known as Thomas Kennedy Macdonald and familiarly as 'Kennedy Mac', was born at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, on 6 April 1847, the son of Scottish parents Thomas Rhine Macdonald, a flax-dresser, and…

Born in New Plymouth on 24 February 1918, Daniel Anthony Watkins was the fifth child and third son of Augustus Edward Watkins, a self-employed accountant, and his wife, Alice Mary Kyngdon. He attended West End School…

Muriel Grace Widdowson was born in Christchurch on 14 June 1892, the third of four children of Emma Matilda Lawrence and her husband, Howell Young Widdowson, a solicitor. The family moved to Dunedin in 1905 when Howell…

Ulric Gaster Williams was born at Putiki, Wanganui, on 22 May 1890, the son of Alfred Owen Williams, an Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Alice Gaster. He was educated at the Wanganui Collegiate School from 1900 to 1909…

Lincoln Arthur Winstone Efford, who played an important role in the organisation and development of the New Zealand peace movement, was born in Christchurch on 4 August 1907, the second of three children of William…

Daniel Marcus Davin was born in Invercargill on 1 September 1913, the second son and fourth child of Mary Magdalene Sullivan and her husband, Patrick Davin, a railway guard. His parents were working-class Irish…

Ruth Dallas, one of New Zealand’s most distinguished and widely read poets, had a deep connection to the southern South Island. This shaped her reputation as a regional poet, but her work was also strongly influenced by…

Marie Henriette Suzanne Aubert (known first as Suzanne Aubert and later in religion as Mary Joseph Aubert) was born at Saint-Symphorien-de-Lay, Loire, France, on 19 June 1835. She was the daughter of Henriette Catherine…

James Malcolm Mason was born in the Scottish fishing port of Arbroath, Forfarshire, on 22 August 1864, the son of Sarah Malcolm and her husband, Thomas Mason, a railway labourer who later became a librarian. In the…

Tūtere Wī Repa was one of a group of Māori who, in the early twentieth century, set out to put their professional training at the disposal of their people. Less well known than men such as Apirana Ngata, Peter Buck and…

John (Hoani) Te Rangiāniwaniwa Rangihau, known to his hapū and iwi as Te Nika and in the wider Māori world as Te Rangihau, was born at Kūhā, south of Waikaremoana, on 5 September 1919, to Karu Rangihau, a labourer, and…

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…

Muriel Emma Bell was born on 4 January 1898 at Murchison, the daughter of Thomas Bell, a farmer, and his wife, Eliza Sheat. She began her education at Murchison School, where she was a reluctant pupil. Her childhood was…

Ian Athfield was an award-winning Wellington architect whose practice, Athfield Architects, designed distinctive and innovative houses that challenged suburban norms, as well as celebrated commercial, public and…

Iris Guiver Wilkinson, better known as Robin Hyde, her chosen name as poet and writer, was born on 19 January 1906 in Cape Town, South Africa. She was the second daughter of Edith Ellinor (Nelly) Butler, an Australian…

Vincent Aspey, popularly known as Vince, was the first leader of New Zealand’s National Orchestra. He was born in Hindley, Lancashire, on 5 January 1909, the second of two sons of Thomas Aspey, a coalminer, and his wife…

Walter Lawry Buller was born at the Wesleyan mission, Newark, at Pākanae, Hokianga, New Zealand, on 9 October 1838, the son of Jane Tonkin Martin and her husband, James Buller. He married Charlotte Mair at Whāngārei on…

Georgina Burne McKellar was born at Battersea, London, England, on 27 May 1832, the second daughter of Annette Clarke and her husband, Dugald McKellar, a doctor. When Georgina was about 10 years old the family moved to…