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David Pinkerton was born in the small village of Kirknewton near Edinburgh, Scotland, probably in September 1836, the son of Margaret Hamilton and Benjamin Pinkerton, a corn merchant. He received a parish education and…

Takurua Tamarau, who sometimes used the name Takurua Mākarini, was born probably in 1871 or 1872 at Kohimarama in the Ruatāhuna district, shortly after the cessation of hostilities between the Tūhoe people and…

Abel Janszoon Tasman was born, probably in 1602 or 1603, at Lutjegast, Groningen, the United Provinces of the Netherlands (the Dutch Republic). His first wife was Claesgie Heyndrix, with whom he had a daughter named…

Mohi Te Ātahīkoia was born probably at Waimārama, Hawke's Bay, in the early 1840s. His mother was Maata Kōtakitaki, whose parents were Ngāti Whakaiti chief Tūāhu and his wife, Meretuhirangi. His ancestor Whakaiti was…

Te Tirarau Kūkupa, the son of Kūkupa and his first wife, Whitiao, was born probably in the late 1790s. He was descended from Rāhiri, an ancestor of Ngāpuhi; his grandmother was Te Toka-i-Tawhio, leader of Ngāti Ruangaio…

Rāhui Te Kiri was born at Pākiri, on the east coast of Northland, in 1830 or 1831. Her father was Te Kiri, a chief of Ngāti Wai, and of Te Kawerau and Ngāti Manuhiri hapū of Ngāti Whātua. Rāhui's mother was Pepei of…

Pāora Tūhaere is thought to have been born about 1825. His parents were Ātareta Tuha, the sister of Āpihai Te Kawau, and Whanararei, from Te Taou hapū of Ngāti Whātua. Te Taou cultivated land at Horotiu, which is now…

Alwyn Keith Warren was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 23 September 1900, the son of Thomas John Cory Warren, a merchant, and his wife, Lucy Frances Williams. Doreen Eda Laws was born at Portswood, near Southampton…

Joshua Strange Williams was born at Paddington, London, England, on 19 September 1837, the eldest son of Lucy Strange and her husband, Joshua Williams, a conveyancer who became an eminent barrister and wrote…

Content warning: This page contains information that readers may find confronting or distressing, including references to the sexual abuse of children. Commune leader Bert Potter was one of late-twentieth-century New…

Edward James Te Āika Tregerthen, later known as Eruera Tīhema Tirikātene, was born on 5 January 1895 at Te Rakiwhakaputa pā near Kaiapoi. His father, a carpenter, later a skipper of boats, wheat farmer and minister of…

Patricia Bartlett became a household name in 1970s New Zealand. Hers was a celebrity of an unusual kind: she stood against the tide of social change which promoted more relaxed attitudes to sexuality. A petite, neatly…

James Herries Beattie (known as Herries) was the son of Scots immigrants James Beattie and Mary Roden (Rodden) Thomson, who arrived in Otago in 1862 and were married in 1874. After some years of farming, James Beattie…

Kimble Bent, also known as Kimball Bent, was born in Eastport, Maine, USA, on 24 August 1837, the fourth of the seven children of John (or Waterman) Bent, a shipbuilder and carpenter, of Nova Scotian origin, and his…

Elsdon Best was born at Tawa Flat, New Zealand, on 30 June 1856, the sixth child of William Best, a farmer, and his wife, Hannah Haynes Nibbs. For the first nine years of his life he lived on the family farm, Grassleas…

Eveline Willett Leach was born on 23 April 1849 at Briton Ferry, Glamorgan, Wales, the youngest of 12 daughters of Ann Willett and her husband, Robert Valentine Leach, proprietor of a lunatic asylum. Eveline's father…

Minnie Dean was born Williamina McCulloch on 2 September 1844, at West Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the fourth in a family of eight girls of Elizabeth Swan and her husband, John McCulloch, an engine driver with the…

Joan Dingley was a mycologist, expert in plant taxonomy, horticulturalist and gardener who worked for 35 years in the Plant Diseases Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). Her…

Kate Milligan Edger, the first woman in New Zealand to gain a university degree, was born on 6 January 1857 at Abingdon, Berkshire, England, the daughter of Louisa Harwood and her husband, the Reverend Samuel Edger, a…

Alexander Galbraith was born on 15 February 1883 at Allday, near Otepopo, Otago, the youngest son of William Galbraith and his wife, Leah Rodgers. His Scottish parents had emigrated to New Zealand with their first three…