Search

Pēpene Eketone was born probably in 1855 or 1856, possibly in the Mōkau district of north Taranaki. His parents were Hōne Eketone and Hera Mahina, both of Ngāti Maniapoto. Pēpene Eketone was of Ngāti Uekaha and various…

Charles Frederick Goldie was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 20 October 1870. The second of eight children born to David Goldie and his wife, Maria Partington, he was second-generation colonial on both sides. His…

Frederic Truby King, the fifth of seven children, was born in New Zealand on 1 April 1858 on the Mangorei farmstead, just outside New Plymouth. Both his mother, Mary Chilman, and his father, Thomas King, were among the…

Korokī Te Rata Mahuta Tāwhiao Pōtatau Te Wherowhero was the elder of two sons of Te Rata, the fourth Māori King, of Ngāti Mahuta. His mother was Te Uranga of Ngāti Korokī and he was named for the eponymous ancestor of…

Elsie Locke was a writer, environmentalist, historian, peace activist, one-time communist, and a battler for women’s rights. She is best known as a writer for children, though her writing encompassed adult non-fiction,…

Early life Alan Graham MacDiarmid, New Zealand’s third Nobel Laureate, was born in Masterton on 14 April 1927, the youngest of five children of Archibald Campbell MacDiarmid and his wife, Ruby Noel Willis Graham. Alan…

Ernest Marsden was born in Rishton, Lancashire, England, on 19 February 1889, the son of Phoebe Holden and her husband, Thomas Marsden, a cotton weaver. From his earliest schooldays Ernest showed unusual ability and won…

Ngātuere was born at Te Pāparu, a Wairarapa pā near Te Ahikōuka, in the vicinity of the Waiōhine River. His father was Tāwhirimātea and his grandfather Te Ātāhuna, both leaders of Ngāti Kahukura-awhitia, one of the most…

Paraire Karaka Paikea was the great-grandson of Paikea Te Hekeua, a prominent chief of Te Uri-o-Hau and Ngāti Whatua. His father was Karaka Eramiha Paikea, and his mother was Tuhi Harirū Maihi, daughter of Wereti and…

Pana-kareao was an influential leader of Te Pātū hapū of Te Rarawa. At the time of his birth his father, Te Kaka, was involved in intertribal wars. Driven from Ōruru, near Mangonui, Te Kaka fled towards North Cape.…

James Roberts was born in Lissangle, County Cork, Ireland, on 21 February 1878, the son of Thomas Roberts, a farmer, and his wife, Bridget Driscoll. At a young age he was sent to work with an uncle, but after a…

Thomas Edward Skinner was born in Mangaweka on 18 April 1909, the eldest son of Alice Chalk and her husband, Thomas Edward Skinner, a tinsmith and plumber. He had two elder sisters and two younger brothers. Skinner’s…

Whāea (mother) Betty Wark worked with ‘at risk’ Māori youth in Auckland for more than 30 years. The product of a difficult childhood, she struggled to provide a family environment to many young people whose lives had…

According to family information Henry Williams was born on 11 February 1792; he was baptised on 13 April at Gosport, Hampshire, England. He was the fifth child and third son of Thomas Williams, a lace manufacturer, and…

Robin Williams was an influential administrator who helped shape New Zealand’s late twentieth century public service. His ability as a mathematician earned him a place in the Manhattan Project in California, part of the…

William Fox was born at Westoe, Durham, England, and was baptised on 2 September 1812 at South Shields. He was the third of five surviving sons of George Townshend Fox and his wife, Ann Stote Crofton. His father was a…

Alistair Te Ariki Campbell was one of New Zealand’s most distinctive poetic voices from the 1950s to the 2000s. His work, which combined lyricism and darkness, was shaped by an idyllic Rarotongan childhood, early family…

Marie Clay was an influential literacy researcher and educationalist whose pioneering Reading Recovery programme changed the experience of learning to read for many children in many countries. She sometimes quoted Allen…

James Edward FitzGerald is said to have been born in 1818 at Bath, England. He was the youngest son of Gerald FitzGerald, landowner, of Kilminchy, Queen's County, Ireland, and his second wife, Catherine O'Brien. Though…

Charles Heaphy was born in London, England, probably in 1820, the youngest of five children. His father, Thomas Heaphy, was a professional watercolourist and miniaturist of considerable social prominence. Charles's…