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The prolific publisher and writer Alexander Wyclif Reed was born on 7 March 1908 in Ponsonby, Auckland, the only child of Alexander John Reed, a Methodist minister, and his wife, Julia Carter. The Reed family was hard-…

Albert Oliphant Stewart, also known as Te Tāwhero Stewart (Tuati) and Arapeta Tuati, was born in Whakatāne on 16 July 1884, the son of Charles Edward Oliphant Stewart, a farmer, and his wife, Lily Agnes Te Tāwero, also…

Hirawanu Tapu (known also as Maitarawai and Taputehara Maitara) was born about 1824 at Te Awapātiki on the east coast of Chatham Island. He was a member of the Ōwenga Moriori tribe. His mother's name was either Rūnanga…

Hōne Mohi Tāwhai was the son of Mohi Tāwhai and his wife, Rāwinia Hineikoaia (also known as Hārata). His father belonged to Te Māhurehure, a hapū of the Ngāpuhi confederation, and the family was also connected with Te…

Tāmihana Te Rauparaha, known also as Katu, was the son of the great Ngāti Toa leader Te Rauparaha and his fifth and senior wife, Te Ākau of Tūhourangi. He was born at Pukearuhe, a Ngāti Tama pā in northern Taranaki,…

Edward Jerningham Wakefield, known as Jerningham, the only son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Eliza Anne Frances Pattle, was born in London, England, probably on 25 June 1820. His mother died 10 days after his birth,…

John Weeks, although one of the leading New Zealand painters of the 1930s and 1940s, has been rather neglected by art historians. He was born on 8 June 1886 at Sydenham Damerel, Devonshire, England, to farmer parents…

Johann Friedrich Heinrich Wohlers, known in New Zealand as John Frederick Henry Wohlers, was born on 1 October 1811 at Mahlenstorf, a village several miles from Bremen on the border of the kingdom of Hanover and the…

James Keir Baxter was born on 29 June 1926 at Nurse Ross’s maternity home, Dunedin, the second son of Archibald McColl Learmond Baxter, an Otago farmer, and his wife, Millicent Amiel Macmillan Brown. His brother,…

William Hobson was born in Waterford, Ireland, on 26 September 1792, the third of five sons of Samuel Hobson, a barrister, and his wife, Martha Jones. William joined the Royal Navy before his 11th birthday, signing on…

Colin John McCahon was born in Timaru on 1 August 1919, the second of three children of Ethel Beatrice Ferrier and her husband, John Kernohan McCahon, a commercial traveller, and later a company manager. Ethel McCahon…

Margaret Orbell was one of New Zealand’s leading authorities on traditional Māori literature. She published prolifically, for both academic and general audiences, and her books achieved critical and popular success.…

Te Wheoro, who was later also known as Wiremu Te Mōrehu (William Morris) or Rehu, and also as Maipapa, was born in Waikato. His mother was Ngāpawa, and his father was Te Kanawa. Through Ngāpawa, Te Wheoro was descended…

James Munro Bertram was born on 11 August 1910 at Auckland, the son of Ivo Edgar Bertram, a Presbyterian minister, and his wife, Evelyn Susan Bruce. At the start of the First World War the family moved to Melbourne and…

Samuel Butler was born probably on 4 December 1835 at Langar Rectory, Nottinghamshire, England, and was baptised on 17 December 1835. He was the second child of the Reverend Thomas Butler and his wife, Fanny Worsley. He…

Nola Luxford was a New Zealand-born actress, writer, pioneer broadcaster and founder of the Anzac Club in New York City during the Second World War. Born Adelaide Minola Pratt on 23 December 1895 at Hunterville, she was…

Nicholas Moore was a well-known figure in Masterton for 55 years and was the oldest priest in New Zealand when he died in 1985 at the age of 98. He was born in Kilmoganny, County Kilkenny, Ireland, on 16 September 1887…

Niniwa-i-te-rangi, often known as Niniwa Heremaia, was born at Ōroi, on the east coast of Wairarapa; the date of her birth is said to have been 6 April 1854. She was the eldest surviving daughter of Heremaia Tamaihotua…

Pōmare II, known as Whiria as a young man, was born in the latter part of the eighteenth century. He lived in the southern Bay of Islands, in the territory of Ngāti Manu, of Ngāpuhi. His connection to this hapū was…

William Russell Russell was baptised on 22 December 1838 at Sandhurst, Berkshire, England, the son of Lieutenant Andrew Hamilton Russell and his wife, Eliza Ann Howlett. A strong military strain was evident throughout…