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Fisherman Stewart Smith transformed the ecology of New Zealand’s freshwater lakes and rivers through his many introductions of exotic fish, some of which prospered as pests and permanently damaged native ecosystems. He…

Josiah Alfred Hanan was born in Invercargill, New Zealand, on 12 May 1868, the son of James Albert Hanan, a storekeeper, and his wife, Sarah Matilda Clarke. He was educated at the Invercargill Central School (later…

John Hislop, one of New Zealand's foremost pioneer educationalists, was born on 7 December 1821 and baptised at Lasswade, near Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the son of Walter Hislop, a ploughman, and his wife, Isabella…

Eileen Marjorie Fosbery Nancarrow, always called Marjorie, was born on 29 May 1906 in Sydney, Australia, the daughter of Fosbery Maunsell Nancarrow, a shipping clerk, and his wife, Violet Marjorie Campbell. Both parents…

Rodney Eric Kennedy was a friend of artists and a passionate advocate of what has become the modern canon of New Zealand art. He was also a leader in experimental theatre, a witty, acerbic host, and an accomplished cook…

Norman Lascelles Elder was born on 6 April 1896 in Wellington, the son of Henry Richardson Elder and his wife, Anne Wildman. He grew up in a frontier farming environment at Waikanae, where his father cleared the bush to…

Sarah Miller was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, on 27 November 1870, the daughter of Elizabeth Ann Dixon and her husband, Henry Miller, a cheese factor. Nothing is known of Sarah's early life, but she…

A gifted teacher and an educationalist concerned with increasing women's opportunities, Stephanie Grace Young was known and admired beyond the schools in which she taught. She was born on 13 July 1890 at Amberley…

Gordon Frederick Walters was born in Wellington on 24 September 1919, the son of Ethel Constance Mexted and her husband, Henry Frederick Walters, a tailor’s presser. Gordon grew up in Wellington, where he attended…

Percy Reginald Dix was born in Launceston, Tasmania, on 17 November 1866, the son of Richard Porrett Dix, a chemist, and his wife, Emma Elizabeth Nelson Thame. Intending to become a chemist Percy studied for and passed…

Thomas Wong Doo was born Wong Kwan Doo in Canton (Guangzhou), China, probably in 1903, to Unui Doo and her husband Thomas Wong Doo. Thomas Wong Doo senior had emigrated to New Zealand in 1884, where officials…

William Allan Armour was born at Dunedin, New Zealand, on 30 April 1880, the son of Elizabeth Allan and her husband, Hugh Armour, a shipwright; both had been born in Scotland. William attended Arthur Street School,…

Annie Maude Blackett was born on 30 July 1889 at Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the daughter of Annie Pile and her husband, Thomas Robert Blackett, a fitter. Her education, at public and private schools in Newcastle,…

Emmeline Freda Du Faur was born on 16 September 1882 at Croydon, Sydney, Australia, the daughter of Frederick Eccleston Du Faur, a stock, station and land agent, and his second wife, Blanche Mary Elizabeth Woolley.…

John Luck was born in Peckham, Surrey, England, on 18 March 1840, one of seven children of Alfred Luck, a warehouseman, and his wife, Clementina Golding. Theirs was a profoundly religious household. After the death of…

Charles Robert Norris Mackie was born at Avonside, Christchurch, New Zealand, on 30 April 1869, the son of Rebekah Malyon and her husband, Charles Norris Mackie, a sheepfarmer, who belonged to one of the original…

Edward Ker Mulgan was born at Ballynahinch, County Down, Ireland, probably in 1857 or 1858, the son of Arabella Maria Stringer and her husband, the Reverend William Edward Mulgan, later rector of Dunaghy, County Antrim…

James Ernest Strachan was born on 20 April 1883 in Dunedin, New Zealand. He was the son of James Cochrane Strachan, a tailor, and his wife, Helen Moir. Nothing is known of his early life, but at the age of 15 he became…

Benjamin Sutherland was born at Seaward Bush, Invercargill, on 22 October 1873, the son of John Sutherland, a farmer, and his wife, Mary Sutherland. After attending South School, Invercargill, he apparently taught for a…

Norman Hargrave Taylor was born on 9 June 1900 in Auckland, the son of Herbert Samuel Hargrave Taylor, a gum sorter and former armourer, and his wife, Ellen Medhurst. He attended Richmond Road School in Grey Lynn, and…