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Wēpiha Apanui (also known as Wēpiha Te Mautaranui) was the son of Apanui Te Hāmaiwaho and Mīria Tārei of Ngāti Awa. He was the first-born of two brothers and two sisters; the date and place of his birth are unknown.…

Maud Ruby Taylor was born in London, England, on 30 August 1879. Known as Daisy from soon after her christening, she was the daughter of Eliza Taylor and her husband, Robert Taylor, a carpenter, who died when she was…

Constance Alice Rawcliffe, known as Connie, was born on 27 July 1898 at Haydock, Lancashire, England, the daughter of Catherine Williamson and her husband, John Rawcliffe, a police constable. Measles as a baby left…

William Watson Bird was born on 8 February 1870 at Crookham Common, Crondall, Hampshire, England, the sixth child of Harriet Hale and her husband, Alfred Bird, a carpenter. The family emigrated to Dunedin, New Zealand,…

Edward Musgrave Blaiklock was born on 6 July 1903 in Birmingham, England, the son of Florence Tromans and her husband, Edward Blaiklock, a foreman in the electrical department of a local steam engineering firm. The…

The eldest child and only son of Archibald Patrick Delargey and his wife, Kathleen May Fitzgerald, Reginald John Delargey was born on 10 December 1914 in Timaru. His father’s job as a bank manager involved several…

Thomas Hill Easterfield was born on 4 March 1866 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, the son of Susan Hill and her husband, Edward Easterfield, secretary and later manager of the local branch of the Yorkshire Savings Bank…

Mark Anthony Fagan was one of a number of Australian miners who arrived in New Zealand in the first decade of the twentieth century and had a profound influence on the development of the labour movement. The son of a…

Edward Oliver Haddon, later known as Ōriwa Tahupōtiki Haddon, was born at Waitōtara, South Taranaki, on 7 November 1898, the eldest son of a Māori Methodist minister, Robert Tahupōtiki Haddon of Ngāti Ruanui, and his…

Andrew Kennaway Henderson was born in London, England, on 25 May 1879, the son of Andrew Henderson, a commercial clerk, and his wife, Alice Otley. Around 1885 the family emigrated to New Zealand, where Henderson senior…

Hine-i-paketia was a leader of Heretaunga (Hawke's Bay), and of the district extending south to the Manawatū Gorge, during the nineteenth century. She was publicly consulted by influential chiefs. She did not hesitate…

William Noel Pharazyn was born in Wellington on 10 April 1894, the son of Maud Eleanor Kempthorne and her husband, Charles Pharazyn, a sheepfarmer from a prominent Wellington business and farming family. His grandfather…

Te Aritaua Pītama was born on 23 February 1906 at Tuahiwi, a Māori settlement north of Kaiapoi, the eldest of 12 children of Weretā Tainui Pītama, also known as Te Ruapōhatu or ‘Stone’ Pītama, and his wife, Te Hauraraka…

Thomas Henry Potts, one of New Zealand's earliest conservationists, was born in London, England, on 23 November 1824, the son of Thomas Potts, a gun maker, and his wife, Mary Ann Freeman. He was baptised at Brandon,…

William Ranstead was born on 8 December 1859 at Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, the son of John Ranstead, an engine fitter, and his wife, Margaret Morris. The Ransteads moved to Liverpool and William was educated at the…

Edward Joshua Riddiford was born on 7 August 1842 at the Hutt, Wellington, the third of 12 children of Harriot Stone and her husband, Daniel Riddiford, an emigration agent in the New Zealand Company. Around 1845 the…

One of New Zealand’s most popular and colourful local politicians, Dove-Myer Robinson was the longest-serving mayor of Auckland city, holding office for 18 years between 1959 and 1980. He was born Mayer Dove Robinson on…

James David Salmond was born in Queenstown on 1 May 1898, one of eight children of Sarah Cockburn and her husband, John Salmond, a carpenter. His parents were active in the Presbyterian church and the community, setting…

William Mein Smith is said to have been born on 7 September 1799 at Cape Town, South Africa, and was baptised there on 3 October 1799. He was the eldest son of William Proctor Smith, a naval purser, later secretary to…

George Gatonby Stead was born in London, England, on 17 August 1841, the son of George Stead, a tin plate worker, and his wife, Mary Gatonby. In 1849 he accompanied his parents to South Africa where he attended St…