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John Andrew was born at Mosgiel, Otago, on 19 August 1896, one of four children of Margaret Constance Dunlop and her husband, David Andrew, a farmer. He attended Mosgiel District High School until his standard six year…

Bernard Carl Ashwin played a key role in transforming the New Zealand government's approach to economic management in the 1930s and 1940s. He was born in Paeroa on 22 September 1896, the second of eight children of…

Maud Ruby Taylor was born in London, England, on 30 August 1879. Known as Daisy from soon after her christening, she was the daughter of Eliza Taylor and her husband, Robert Taylor, a carpenter, who died when she was…

Charles Mackie Begg was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 13 September 1879, the sixth of nine children of Alexander Campbell Begg, an accountant and Free Church Presbyterian, and his wife, Katherine Clarke, both of…

Jeannie Begg was born on 7 October 1886 at Port Chalmers, one of 10 children of Scottish parents Eliza Johnstone and her husband, John Begg, a tanner and rug-maker. Her close-knit Presbyterian family considered her the…

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…

Charles Stephen Boreham, known as Stephen, was born on 19 December 1857 at Richmond, near Hobart Town, Tasmania. He was the eldest child of Stephen Boreham, a farmer, and his wife Ellen Lynch. There were at least three…

Rosina Buckman was born in Blenheim, New Zealand, on 16 March 1881, the second child of Henrietta Matilda Chuck, a skilled singer and organist, and her carpenter husband, John Buckman. Rosina showed early signs of a…

Ernest Bowyer Corbett was born on 7 May 1898 to William Corbett, a labourer, and his wife, Annie Bowyer, at Ōkato, Taranaki, where his parents later farmed. He attended Puniho Native School for four years and later…

The eldest child and only son of Archibald Patrick Delargey and his wife, Kathleen May Fitzgerald, Reginald John Delargey was born on 10 December 1914 in Timaru. His father’s job as a bank manager involved several…

Robert Atherton Edwin was born at Camden Town, London, England, on 16 August 1839, the son of Felix Edwin, a commander in the Royal Navy, and his wife, Marianne Atherton. After attending Wimborne Minster Grammar School…

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…

Robert Coupland Harding, as practitioner, historian and critic of printing, has a strong claim to be considered New Zealand's first and most eminent typographer. His father, Thomas Bennick Harding, was himself a printer…

Arihia Kane Tāmati, who was to become Arihia Ngata, was born at Whareponga on the East Coast of the North Island, according to family information in 1879. She was the fourth of nine children of Mere Arihi Kākano and her…

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…

George Spafford Richardson was born at Ashton, Northamptonshire, England, on 14 November 1868, and registered as the son of Mary Ann Richardson. He later declared his parents to be Mary Ann Baxter and George Richardson…

Leo Paul Schramm was born in Vienna, Austria, on 22 September 1892, the son of Marie Hofmann; his father’s name is unknown. His mother subsequently married Gustav Schramm, a German, who adopted her son. He began musical…

William Mein Smith is said to have been born on 7 September 1799 at Cape Town, South Africa, and was baptised there on 3 October 1799. He was the eldest son of William Proctor Smith, a naval purser, later secretary to…

Lauris Edmond was 51 when she began to publish poetry, and quickly won attention as a voice that was both mature and fresh. Identified at first with the 1970s upsurge of poetry by women, she was later recognised for her…

John Hall, the leading 'conservative' politician in nineteenth century New Zealand, was born at Hull, England, probably on 18 December 1824, and was baptised on 31 January 1825. He was the third son of George Hall and…