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Henry Gilbert Bennett (better known as Harry Scott Bennett) was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, on 1 June 1877, the son of a radical carpenter, James William Bennett, and his equally radical wife, Charlotte Mary…

William Noel Benson was born at Penge, Surrey, England, on 26 December 1885, the son of William Benson, of independent means, and his wife, Emma Elizabeth Mather. Shortly after their son's birth the couple moved to…

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…

William and John Deans, first and third of four sons of John Deans, a notary, and his wife, Catherine Young, were born in the parish of Kirkstyle, Riccarton, Scotland. William was baptised on 31 January 1817; John was…

Oliver Duff was born at Waitāhuna Gully, Otago, on 28 May 1883, the 10th of 13 children of English-born William Duff and his Scottish wife, Margaret Shepherd. His parents had kept a general store at Waitāhuna since the…

Roger Shepherd Duff was born in Invercargill on 11 July 1912, the son of Jessie Barclay and her husband, Oliver Duff, a schoolteacher who later became well known as a journalist and first editor of the New Zealand…

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…

George Gage, or Hōri Te Kou-o-rehua Keeti as he was known to Māori, was born probably in 1895 or 1896 at Kihikihi, Waikato. His father, John Gage (Hōne Keeti), was of Ngāti Maniapoto. His mother, Rea Waitāuhi Nikorima…

Alfred Augustus Grace was the youngest of 12 children of Agnes Fearon and her husband, Thomas Samuel Grace, a Church Missionary Society missionary who lived among the Māori of the Taupō region. Although Alfred was born…

Elizabeth Parker, or Betty (as she was usually known), was born on 3 December 1814 and baptised at Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. Her parents were Harriott and Stephen Parker. In about 1819 Harriott Parker went…

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…

Jane Elizabeth Francis was born in St John's Wood, London, England, probably in 1852 or 1853, the daughter of Harriett Francis and Adelbert Sevyney Frantz, a silk merchant. On 11 January 1866 Harriett Francis married…

Alexander Hatrick was born at Smythesdale, Victoria, Australia, on 29 August 1857, the second of ten children of Scottish parents Alexander Hatrick, a carpenter, and his wife, Margaret Sinclair. In 1875, at the age of…

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…

Hikapuhi (Te Hikapuhi) Poihipi was born at Rotorua probably sometime between 1860 and 1871. She was the 10th and youngest child of Wiremu Poihipi and Hārete Ngāputu (also known as Hārete Manuhuia). Her mother, and…

Henry Hill, sometimes known as Henry Thomas Hill, was born at Wollescote, in the district of Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England, on 24 October 1849. He was the son of Benjamin Hill, a horse-nail maker, and his wife,…

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…

John Lomas was born in Disley, Cheshire, England, on 27 February 1848. He was the son of Ann Burgoine and her husband, George Lomas, a collier. Tradition has it that he began his working life in the nearby potteries at…

Wīremu Parata Te Kākākura Waipunaahau was born on Motungārara, a small island off Kāpiti Island, probably in the mid-1830s. He grew up during a time of unprecedented and irreversible social change, of which he…

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…