Rina Matewai Ruru, better known as Lena, was born in Gisborne on 5 June 1902, the sixth of eleven children of Hēnare Keepa Ruru and his wife, Maata Rewanga Parāone. Her birth coincided with the death of her mother’s…
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Abraham Walley (Wali) Mahomed Salaman was born in Amritsar, Punjab, India, probably in 1885 or 1886, the son of Muslim parents, whose names he recorded in New Zealand as Asher Karrambox and her husband, Futha-Din, a…
Leo Paul Schramm was born in Vienna, Austria, on 22 September 1892, the son of Marie Hofmann; his father’s name is unknown. His mother subsequently married Gustav Schramm, a German, who adopted her son. He began musical…
Images and media for 'letters' in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB)
See 196 results in Te Ara Images & Media
See 196 results in Te Ara Images & Media
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…
Taiwhanga, the son of Tawatawa and his wife, Wāhi, was a direct descendant of Tamakiterā. His hapū was Ngāti Tautahi of Te Uri-o-Hua section of Ngāpuhi at Kaikohe. His first wife was Mata (Martha) Rawa, of Te Arawa, and…
Hoani Retimana Waititi, known as Johnny to his many friends, was only 39 when he died, but his short life was packed with achievement and his ideas, energy and humour were an inspiration to his people. He was born at…
In the first 40 years of the twentieth century James Cowan was one of New Zealand's most widely read non-fiction writers. He wrote over 30 books and hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines, mainly about New…
Early yearsJanet Frame was born on 28 August 1924 at St Helen’s Hospital, Dunedin, to Lottie Clarice Godfrey (who had worked as a maid in the Picton home of Katherine Mansfield’s family, the Beauchamps), and her husband…
Mōkena Kōhere was born at Waiora-ā-Tāne, Rangitukia. His father was Pākura, his mother Moahiraia. He belonged to Te Whānau-a-Rerewā, which has sub-tribal links with Ngāi Tuiti-Matua and Te Whānau-a-Tūwhakairiora of the…
Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana was the founder of a Māori religious movement which, in the late 1920s, also became a major political movement. He was the latest in a line of prophetic descent which included Te Ua Haumēne,…
Oscar Thorvald (Thorwald) Johan Alpers was born on 28 January 1867 at Copenhagen, Denmark, the only son of Søren Thorvald Alpers and his wife, Frederikke Emilie Philipsen. His education began in Copenhagen, but after he…
William Edward Barnard was born in Carterton, Wairarapa, on 29 January 1886, the son of Ellen Banks and her husband, Charles Leonard Barnard, a watchmaker. He attended Levin School and at 13 began work as an office boy…
John Bathgate was born on 10 August 1809 at Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Frances Hamilton Macdowall and her husband, Alexander Bathgate. His father had been a skinner, but rose to become a teacher in the day school…
Learmonth White Dalrymple was born to William Dalrymple and his wife, Janet (Jessie) Taylor, and was baptised at Coupar Angus, Angus, Scotland, on 21 July 1827. Her name at baptism was Larmonth Whyte Dalrymple. William…
Charles Oliver Bond Davis was born in Sydney, Australia, probably in 1817 or 1818, one of five children of Irish migrants Ann Calder and her husband, Joseph Davis, a cutler. His parents named him after the Irish patriot…
John Te Herekiekie Grace was typical of a group of Māori leaders that emerged in the 1950s. They represented a second generation of well-connected men who prided themselves on their loyalty to the Crown and their…
Thomas Morland Hocken, whose name is perpetuated in the Hocken Library, Dunedin, was born on 14 January 1836 in Rutlandshire, England. He was the third surviving son of Joshua Hocken, who was of Cornish descent, and his…
Leslie Knox Munro was born in Auckland on 26 February 1901, the son of Colin Robert Munro, a schoolteacher, and his wife, Maria Caroline Knox. He was educated at Remuera School and at Auckland Grammar School. At 19 he…
Parore Te Āwha, of the hapū Te Kuihi, was born at Mangakāhia, probably sometime in the 1790s. Through his father, Toretumua Te Āwha, he was descended from the high chief Toa of Te Roroa, kin of Ngāti Whātua, whose…
Gloria Jasmine Rawlinson was born in Ha'apai, Tonga, on 1 October 1918, the daughter of Ethel Rose (Rosalie) Jennings and her husband, Alexander John Rawlinson, a photographic artist. Although Gloria left Tonga when she…