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Freda Mary Pym was born on 9 November 1896 at Alvescott, Oxfordshire, England, one of four children of Emma Bertha Harrison and her husband, Samuel Arnott Pym, a solicitor. Freda attended Cheltenham Ladies' College from…

Frederick Riley Cooke (registered as Cook) was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, on 28 April 1867, the son of Samuel Riley Cook, a tailor, and his wife, Mary Schorah. He started work at the age of seven and was almost…

James Copland was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 3 February 1834, the son of George Copland, a clothier, and his wife, Catharine Pearson. He studied arts and theology in Edinburgh and Berlin, obtained a PhD from…

Harry Delamere Dansey and Roger Ingram Dansey were sons of Englishman Roger Delamere Dansey, a postmaster, and his wife, Wikitōria Ngāmihi Kahuao. Harry was born at Tapuae-haruru (Taupō) on 7 November 1874 and Roger at…

Winifred (Winnie) Kathleen Joan Gonley was born in Ōtautau, Southland, on 27 July 1909, the daughter of Winifred Cecilia Crowe and her husband, Michael Gonley. She grew up in the house behind her parents’ main-street…

Maurice Noel Duggan ranks with Katherine Mansfield and Frank Sargeson as one of New Zealand’s greatest short-story writers and literary stylists. He was born in Auckland on 25 November 1922 and grew up on the North…

James Henry Edwards was born at Islington, London, England, on 19 February 1892, the son of Ellen Sellman and her husband, James John Edwards, a printer. He began work as a telegraph boy at 13, then served as a steward…

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…

Henry George Ell is primarily remembered in Canterbury as the tireless promoter of the Summit Road along the crest of the Port Hills, but he also championed many other social and environmental causes. He was born…

Mary Isabel Fraser was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 20 March 1863. She was the daughter of Mary Austin Graham and her husband, Hugh Fraser, a saddler. Isabel, as she was known, was the eldest of three sisters:…

Oscar Garden was born at Tongue, on the north coast of Scotland, on 21 August 1903, the second son and fourth child of Robert Garden, a merchant from Orkney, and his wife, Rebecca Jane Ward, a Salvationist and later…

Doris Clifton Jolly was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 10 July 1890, the daughter of Lucy Clifton Crouch and her husband, Alfred Jolly, a clergyman. Her family emigrated to New Zealand in 1894, settling first in…

Rudall Hayward was New Zealand's most prolific pioneer film-maker in an era when local film-going was dominated by American westerns. Inspired by New Zealand's ‘rough-hewn story’, he made seven local feature films, four…

John Henry Howell was born in Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire, England, on 31 October 1869, the son of William Mends Howell, a Congregational minister, and his wife, Harriett Brown. He was educated at Caterham…

Jean François Langlois was born on 26 June 1808 in La Luzerne, near St Lô, Manche, France, the son of Jean François Langlois and his wife, Anne Mauroird (also spelt Maurouard). In his teens Langlois registered as a…

Robert Lee was born at Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, where he was baptised on 1 July 1837. He was the son of Ann Hatfield and her husband, John Lee, a hatter and furrier. Robert was educated at the Grantham national…

John MacGregor was born, probably in 1849 or 1850, at Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland, the son of James MacGregor, a stonemason, and his wife, Isabella MacGregor. After receiving his primary education at the Breadalbane…

Lucy Beatrice Moore was born in Warkworth on 14 July 1906, the fifth of eight children of Janet Morison and her husband, Harry Blomfield Moore. Their farm, Huamara, produced fruit and poultry and Harry was also a…

William Charles Nation was born in Sydney, Australia, on 18 February 1840, the eldest child of William Nation, a printer, and his wife, Mary Jenkin Howe. In 1857 the family moved to Nelson, New Zealand. On arrival…

George Maurice O'Rorke was born on 2 May 1830 at Moylough, County Galway, Ireland, the third son of John O'Rorke, an Anglican clergyman and large landowner, and Elizabeth Dennis, his third wife. George O'Rorke received…