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Thomas Burns, the most important religious leader in the early settlement of Otago, was baptised at Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland, on 17 April 1796, the son of Gilbert Burns, a farmer and estate manager, and his wife,…

James Gibb was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 15 June 1857, the son of James Gibb, a shoemaker, and his wife, Jane Greig, both devout members of the United Presbyterian church. James attended Aberdeen Grammar School…

John Robert Godley, founder of the Canterbury settlement, is said to have been born in Dublin, Ireland, on 29 May 1814, the eldest son of John Godley, a prosperous landowner of Killegar and his wife, Katharine Daly. On…

Walter Baldock Durrant Mantell was born at Lewes in Sussex, England, on 11 March 1820, the second child of Mary Ann Woodhouse and her husband, Gideon Algernon Mantell. Gideon Mantell, a medical practitioner, was also a…

William Hillier Onslow was born at Old Alresford, Hampshire, England, on 7 March 1853, the only son of George Augustus Cranley Onslow and his wife, Mary Harriet Anne Loftus. He was educated at Eton College and then…

Haimona (Simon) Pātete (also known as Haimona Turi) was born on Rangitoto (D'Urville Island), in the Marlborough Sounds, probably in 1863 or 1864. Te Putu, his grandfather, and Turi Te Pātete, his father, were among the…

James Thorn was born in Christchurch on 1 June 1882, the son of John Thorn, a master butcher, and his wife, Jessie Alston. John Thorn had apparently possessed modest means, including racehorses, but lost much of his…

William Thomas (Tom) Young was born in Karori, Wellington, New Zealand, on 27 April 1870, the son of Jessie Dykes and her husband, William Young, a farmer. Tom Young began work when he was 11 and went to sea soon after…

Andrew Joseph Francis Brown (known as Joe) was born at Naseby, Central Otago, on 3 October 1907, the son of goldminer George Bernard Brown and his wife, Mary Josephine Downes. He attended Naseby School, and later…

Gordon Forlong was the second son of William Forlong, a merchant, and his wife, Crawford Gordon. He was born on 14 February 1819, according to family sources in Pollok Castle, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and raised in the…

Samuel Aaron Goldstein, son of Woolf Goldstein, a jeweller, and his wife, Sarah, was born in London, England, by his own account on 12 June 1852. He received his rabbinical training at Jews' College, London, and was…

Frank Haydn Haigh, born at Lower Hutt on 2 May 1898 and reared in Invercargill, brought radical liberal substance and style to the practice of law in Auckland over five decades. Registered at birth as Francis, he was…

Robert Noble Jones was born at Belfast, Ireland, on 1 August 1864, the son of Robert Jones, a painter, and his wife, Eliza Rae. Brought to New Zealand as an infant, he was educated in public schools in Auckland and…

James MacGregor was born on 6 January 1829 in Callander, in the Gaelic-speaking area of Perthshire, Scotland. He and his twin brother were the last of 10 children born to Duncan MacGregor, a builder, and his wife, Helen…

Isabella Malcolm was born in Hoxton, London, England, on 22 June 1850, one of five children of Scots parents Jemima Crawford Souter and her husband, Andrew Wilson Malcolm, a brewer's clerk. The family moved to Dublin…

Mary Josephine Crampton was born, probably in 1857 or 1858, in County Kilkenny, Ireland, the daughter of Mary O'Brien and her husband, Patrick Crampton, a shoesmith. Mary was brought up in the Catholic faith and,…

Dugald Louis Poppelwell was born on 2 July 1863 at his parents’ farm, Sunwick, at Tokomairiro, South Otago, New Zealand. He was the 10th of 12 children of William Poppelwell, a Scottish mariner turned farmer, and his…

Annie Lee Rees was born at Beechworth, Victoria, Australia, on 24 April 1864, the eldest of seven children of Hannah (Annie) Elizabeth Staite and her husband, William Lee Rees, a congregational minister who was…

Helmut Herbert Hermann Rehbein was born in Potsdam, Germany, on 15 February 1913, the son of Hermann Carl Heinrich Rehbein, a government clerk, and his wife, Martha Lucie Hedwig Haupt. In 1919 the family moved to Berlin…

Hans Madsen Ries was born at Stenderup, Haderslev, Denmark, on 5 December 1860, one of 18 children of Andreas Madsen Ries, a farmer, and his wife, Kjestine Marie Hansen. After an education in public schools, Hans became…