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Marmaduke Bethell was born at Maitai Valley, Nelson, on 18 November 1876, the only son of Isabella Anne Lillie and her husband, Richard Bethell, a lawyer and sheepfarmer of Burnham, Canterbury. In 1877 Richard Bethell…

Alfred Buckland was born at Newton Abbot, Devon, England, probably on 17 December 1825, and was baptised on 12 January 1826. He was the fifth son of John Buckland, a broker, and his wife, Elizabeth Mortimore. Alfred…

Charles William Feilden Hamilton, known as Bill, was to achieve international acclaim for his work in developing the modern jet-boat. Born on 26 July 1899 at Ashwick, a 45,000-acre sheep station near Fairlie, South…

John Davies Enys, the second son of John Samuel Enys and his wife, Catherine Gilbert, was born on 11 October 1837 at Enys in Penryn, Cornwall, England, the family seat from the time of Edward I. His mother had, before…

Henry George Ell is primarily remembered in Canterbury as the tireless promoter of the Summit Road along the crest of the Port Hills, but he also championed many other social and environmental causes. He was born…

Nikola Nobilo was one of New Zealand’s most successful winemakers of the 1960s and 1970s, building a few vines on his Huapai farm into a winemaking dynasty. With his sons, Nobilo was one the leaders of the transition…

Walter Empson was born at Eydon, Northamptonshire, England, on 19 February 1856, eldest of the eight children of Anna Delicia Hook and her husband, Arthur John Empson, an Anglican clergyman. He was educated at…

Īhakara Te Tuku Rāpana, widely known as Ike Robin, was born, according to family information, on 8 November 1886 at Wairoa. His mother, Riripeti Te Auē Roberts (or McRobert), was of Scots and Ngāti Kahungunu descent.…

Agnes Carmont was born at Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, probably on 2 September 1829, the daughter of Elizabeth Caven and her husband, John Carmont. She was raised largely in the household of her uncle,…

Phyllis Constance Morris (later known as Kirimamae) was the first of five children of John Bentham Morris and his wife, Annie Isabella Gallagher. She was born at Gisborne on 31 March 1905. Her father was a sheepfarmer…

Te Aitū-o-te-rangi, the daughter of Te Whatahoronui and his first wife, Aromea, was born about 1820. She belonged to Ngāti Moe at Papawai, in Wairarapa, a hapū of Rangitāne and of Ngāti Kahungunu in Wairarapa. Her…

William Richmond was born at Campbeltown, Argyllshire, Scotland, on 8 August 1869, the son of Thomas Orr Richmond, a farmer, and his wife, Catherine (Kate) Stewart. William left school at the age of 13 and emigrated…

William Robinson was born near Warrington, Lancashire, England, on 4 May 1814 according to family information. He was the eldest son of Thomas Robinson, a tenant farmer, and his wife, Elizabeth Lyons. Robinson emigrated…

Selina Sutherland (whose name at baptism was Sutherland Sutherland) was born on 26 December 1839 at Culgower, Sutherlandshire, Scotland, the third child of Jane McDonald and her husband, Baigrie Sutherland, a farm…

John Jones, widely known as Johnny Jones, was born probably in Sydney, New South Wales, in 1808 or 1809, the son of Thomas Jones; his mother's name is unknown. He spent his early years in sealing and whaling ships,…

William John Polson was born at Whanganui on 6 June 1875, the elder of two children of Scottish immigrants Donald Gunn Polson, a farmer, and his wife, Janet Campbell Gillies. He grew up on his father's property,…

James Busby was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 7 February 1802, the second son of Sarah Kennedy and her husband, John Busby, a mineral surveyor and civil engineer. James Busby studied viticulture in France before…

Josiah Firth, later known as Josiah Clifton Firth, is said to have been born at Clifton, near Bradford, Yorkshire, England, on 27 October 1826. He was the son of Mary Bateman and her husband, the Reverend Benjamin Firth…

Walter Pettit Tricker was born in Stowupland, Suffolk, England, and baptised there on 18 August 1823. He was the son of Mary Edward and her husband, Walter Pettit Tricker, a husbandman. Nothing is known of his early…

Charles Hazlitt Upham was born in Christchurch on 21 September 1908, the son of John Hazlitt Upham, a lawyer, and his wife, Agatha Mary Coates. He boarded at Waihi School, Winchester, South Canterbury, between 1917 and…