Search

Herman Harry Jekeles was born at Dubauti, in the district of Cernauti, Romania (now Chernovtsy, Ukraine), on 5 August 1908. He was the youngest of five children of Jewish parents Mina Rosa Croon (Corne) and her husband…

Leslie Knox Munro was born in Auckland on 26 February 1901, the son of Colin Robert Munro, a schoolteacher, and his wife, Maria Caroline Knox. He was educated at Remuera School and at Auckland Grammar School. At 19 he…

Parore Te Āwha, of the hapū Te Kuihi, was born at Mangakāhia, probably sometime in the 1790s. Through his father, Toretumua Te Āwha, he was descended from the high chief Toa of Te Roroa, kin of Ngāti Whātua, whose…

George Eric Oakes Ramsden was born in Martinborough, Wairarapa, on 1 August 1898, the eldest of three children of Henry Oakes Ramsden, an Englishman, and his New Zealand-born wife, Sophia Jane Harris. Henry Ramsden was…

Harold Winston Rhodes was born on 21 July 1905 at Malvern, Melbourne, Australia, the son of Winifred Mary Short and her husband, Thomas Rhodes, a doctor. Winston attended Melbourne High School and then the University of…

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…

On 3 August 1870 17-year-old Marianne Allen Manchester arrived at Auckland on the Excelsior. She was one of a group of single women brought out from Britain on assisted passages by the Hawke's Bay provincial government…

Communist and trade unionist Bill Andersen was one of the best-known figures in New Zealand’s radical left in the middle decades of the twentieth century. An influential union leader in the 1950s and 1960s, he…

Carl August Berendsen was born at Woollahra, New South Wales, on 16 August 1890, the only child of Jurgen Ferdinand Plenge Berendsen, a Swedish immigrant then working as a bank clerk, and his Australian wife, Fannie…

Tomoana was born in the 1820s or early 1830s, probably in Heretaunga, Hawke's Bay. He was the third son of Te Rotohenga, also called Winipere, from whom he derived his high rank. Her father was Hāwea of Ngāti Te Whatu-i…

Geoffrey Thomas Alley, who became New Zealand’s first national librarian in 1964, was born in Amberley, North Canterbury, on 4 February 1903. He was the fourth son and fifth of seven children of Frederick James Alley,…

Millicent Amiel Macmillan Brown was the elder daughter of Helen Connon, an early woman graduate of Canterbury College, and her husband, John Macmillan Brown, one of its founding professors. She was born in Christchurch…

Frederick Revans Chapman was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on 3 February 1849. He was the fifth child of Henry Samuel Chapman, puisne judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and his wife, Catherine Brewer, the…

Charles Chilton was born on 27 September 1860 at Little Marstone, Pencombe, Herefordshire, England, the son of Thomas Chilton, a farmer, and his wife, Jane Price. The Chilton family emigrated to New Zealand in 1862,…

Henry Smith Fish was born in Pimlico, London, England, on 15 July 1838 to Mary Ann Passmore and her husband, Henry Smith Fish, a painter. Henry Fish, junior, as he was known for most of his life, received some education…

The author of a dozen novels and many scores of short stories that were widely read in New Zealand during the first four decades of the twentieth century, Edith Joan Lyttleton was born on 18 December 1873 at Clyne Vale…

Eruera Riini Mānuera was a far-sighted leader who for nearly 60 years was the main spokesman for Ngāti Awa in land dealings, court sessions, and social and sporting activities. This work, and the strong links he…

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…

Courtney Nedwill was born at Ballyronan, County Londonderry, Ireland, probably on 14 August 1837, the second son of John Nedwill, a farmer; his mother's name is unknown. He was educated in Belfast, and entered Queen's…

Thomas Philip Shand was born at Ngāpara, North Otago, on 16 April 1911, the son of Gilbert Esme Tressillian Shand and his wife, Constance Kippenberger. His parents, who were both from prominent Canterbury families, ran…