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Arnold Paul Pascoe (registered at birth as Edward Arnold, but always known as Paul) was born at Christchurch on 26 September 1908. He was the younger of twin sons of Guy Dobrée Pascoe, a solicitor, and his wife, Effie…

Edna Bertha Pearce was born at Christchurch on 26 March 1906, the daughter of Lucy Elliott Allison and her husband, Ernest Walter Pearce, a farmer. She attended St Albans School until, aged seven, she moved with her…

Arthur William Baden Powell was born at Wellington on 4 April 1901, the son of Arthur Powell, a driver, and his wife, Minnie Sablofski. After attending primary schools in Parnell and Mount Eden, he went on to Auckland…

Hōri Pukehika, a leader of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi of the lower Wanganui River, was a noted carver and one of the last of his people skilled in the old traditions. In later years he was particularly associated with…

William George Niccoll Searancke, later known as William Nicholas Searancke, was baptised on 11 April 1817 at St Albans Abbey, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Harriet Smith and her husband, Francis Searancke,…

William Arthur Sewell was born on 9 August 1903 in Goole, Yorkshire, England, the son of William John Sewell, a chemist, and his wife, Ada Mary Hill. Arthur's family were devout Methodists, and from the age of seven he…

Hugh Crawford Dixon Somerset (known as Crawford) was born in Belfast, North Canterbury, on 29 August 1895. He was the eldest of four children of Jane Dixon and her husband, George Crawford Black Somerset, a blacksmith…

Eileen Louise Service was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 14 December 1900, the eldest of six children of Edwin Curwen Service, a chemist's assistant, and his wife, Olga Louise Varcoe, both of whom were born in…

William Thomas was born on 8 December 1879 in Dunedin, the eldest child of Jane Little and her husband, Nicholas Thomas. Nicholas had been a goldminer in Australia before coming to New Zealand in 1863. Here he…

Crosbie Ward is said to have been born on 10 February 1832 at Killinchy, County Down, Ireland, and was baptised there on 11 August 1833. He was the third son of Henry Ward, rector of Killinchy, and his wife, Anne Mahon…

Harold William Wellman was born in Devonport, Devon, England, on 25 March 1909, the son of May Kinglake Hoare and her husband, Evan Edward Wellman, an engineer in the Royal Navy. He went to primary school in Chard,…

Anna Lois White was born in Auckland on 2 November 1903, the daughter of Annie Phillipps and her husband, Arthur Herbert White, an architect. Both the White and the Phillipps families had helped establish Methodism in…

Cecil Walter Wood was born at Christchurch on 6 June 1878, the sixth of nine children of Robert Haswell Wood, a merchant, and his wife, Margaret Amelia Tribe. His mother died when he was seven and his father later…

Bay of Plenty sawmill worker Joe Harawira was the leader and organiser of Sawmill Workers Against Poisons (SWAP), a group which sought official recognition of, and remedies for, the environmental pollution and human…

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…

James Clendon (Himi Te Nana) Tau Hēnare was born at Mōtatau in the Bay of Islands on 18 November 1911, the youngest of six sons and one of eight children of Hera Paerata and her husband, Taurekareka (Tau) Hēnare, then…

Iris Guiver Wilkinson, better known as Robin Hyde, her chosen name as poet and writer, was born on 19 January 1906 in Cape Town, South Africa. She was the second daughter of Edith Ellinor (Nelly) Butler, an Australian…

Gifford Jackson was an important pioneer in the field of industrial design in New Zealand. After training as a naval architect in Glasgow, post-war employment with Fisher & Paykel and 17 years working as a designer…

Thomas McDonnell, eldest son of Thomas McDonnell and his wife, Anna Patterson, was born probably some time between 1831 and 1833, possibly at Manila in the Philippines while his parents were on a trading voyage. His…

Pioneer aviators Leo and Vivian Walsh were mainly responsible for New Zealand’s first successful powered, controlled aeroplane flights in 1911. The brothers designed and built New Zealand’s first successful seaplane and…