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Apprenticed as a printer to his father's firm at about the age of 14, for more than 70 years Bertie Ernest Hawkes Whitcombe was associated with Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, which for most of that time dominated…

Bernard Cyril Freyberg was born at Richmond, London, on 21 March 1889. The youngest son of James Freyberg, a surveyor, and his wife, Julia Hamilton, he was nicknamed ‘Tiny’ as a child. He came to Wellington with his…

William Mason was a prominent mid-twentieth-century New Zealand artist and designer best known for his riotous, high-style handprinted interior textiles, and for wallpapers that helped  radically reform the way New…

Adam Hamilton was born at Forest Hill, Southland, on 20 August 1880, the son of Scottish parents John Hamilton, a farmer, and his wife, Mary McIlwrick. He attended school at Forest Hill and Lochiel, leaving from…

Henry (Harry) James Hopkins was born on 11 August 1912 in the tiny Western Australian town of Dwellingup, the son of Emma Eliza Watts and her husband, Harold Hopkins, a yard foreman and later forestry department…

John Alan Edward Mulgan was born in Christchurch on 31 December 1911, the elder son and second of three children born to Marguerita Blomfield Pickmere and her husband, Alan Edward Mulgan. His father was a journalist on…

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…

Sir Leonard Thornton was New Zealand’s outstanding military leader in the second half of the twentieth century. He demonstrated leadership, administrative skill, and diplomacy in both war and peace, becoming New Zealand…

Peter David Mulgrew was born on 21 November 1927 at Lower Hutt, the elder son of Edith Matthews, a woollen industry worker, and her husband, William John Mulgrew, a boilermaker. He attended Petone West School and Epuni…

Brian Matauru Poananga was born in Palmerston North on 2 December 1924. His father, Henare Matauru Poananga, was the great-grandson of Wikiriwhi Matauru, a noted warrior of Ngati Porou, who had fought for the Crown…

Arthur Henry Adams was born at Lawrence, Otago, New Zealand, on 6 June 1872, the son of Eleanor (Ellen) Sarah Gillon and her husband, Charles William Adams, a surveyor and a talented astronomer. He attended Otago Boys'…

Francis Oswald Bennett (always known as ‘Os’) was born on 19 February 1898 in Christchurch, the son of William Francis Bennett and his wife, Rose Maria Harrow. His childhood was spent on his parents’ small farm at…

William Garnett Braithwaite, a senior officer in the New Zealand Division in the First World War, was born on 21 October 1870 at Kendal, Westmorland, England. He was the son of Garnett Braithwaite, gentleman, and his…

George Raymond Davis-Goff was born on 24 September 1905 at Renwicktown (Renwick), Marlborough, the son of William Francis Davis-Goff, a labourer, and his wife, Emily Asterson (Assesen), who was of Swedish descent. By…

James Mackay Drummond was born in Thames, New Zealand, on 17 October 1869, the son of John Drummond, a surveyor, and his wife, Annie Mackay. He received his secondary education at Napier Grammar School, was apprenticed…

Keith Elliott was born (auspiciously) on 25 April 1916 in the backblocks settlement of Āpiti, north-east of Feilding, the eighth of nine children of Thomas Frank Capper Elliott, a farmer, and his wife, Ethel Marie…

William Maxwell Hamilton was born on 2 July 1909 at Warkworth, the youngest of four children of William Hamilton and his wife, Isabella Wilson. He grew up on the east bank of the Mahurangi River on the family dairy farm…

Robert Hogg was born in Blochairn, Glasgow, Scotland, on 28 January 1864, the son of Samuel Hogg, an iron puddler, and his wife, Elizabeth Pearson. Robert began his working life at the post office at Musselburgh, where…

Frederick John Lucas was born at Dunedin on 18 August 1915, the second child of Ethel Jean Smith and her husband, Charles Frederick Lucas, a farmer. He attended Tuapeka Mouth School and had one year’s secondary…

Haane Te Rauawa Manahi was born in Ōhinemutu, Rotorua, on 28 September 1913, the youngest son of Neti Mariana Insley and her husband, Manahi Ngākahawai Te Rauawa. Haane’s father belonged to Te Arawa and Ngāti Raukawa…