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Harold Beauchamp was born at Ararat, Victoria, Australia, on 15 November 1858, the son of Arthur Beauchamp, an auctioneer, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Stanley. At the age of two Harold sailed to New Zealand with his…

From the late 1950s through to the first decade of the twenty-first century, Peter Beaven was one of the most prominent figures in New Zealand architecture, both as the designer of instantly recognisable buildings and…

John Beck was born on 22 January 1883 at Kirkcudbright, Scotland, the son of Thomas Fazakerly Beck, a railway guard, and his wife, Margaret Darsie Smith. The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1886 and settled in Otago…

Harry Dodgshun Bedford was born in Hunslet, Yorkshire, England, on 31 August 1877, the only son of Walter Scott Bedford, a tailor, and his wife, Ellen Dodgshun. He attended Morley School until 1886, when he emigrated to…

Clarence Edward Beeby was born at Meanwood, Leeds, Yorkshire, on 16 June 1902, the second son of Anthony Beeby and his wife, Alice Rhodes. His forebears on both sides were working class but his father had been…

Estelle Girda Beere was born in Wanganui, New Zealand, on 23 July 1875, one of five children of Edward Holroyd Beere, a surveyor, and his wife, Mary Brewer. When she was 11 years old her family moved to 76 Hill Street,…

Bruce Beetham was one of New Zealand’s best-known politicians during the 1970s and early 1980s. Under his leadership the New Zealand Social Credit Political League mounted a sustained but ultimately unsuccessful third-…

Charles and Neil Begg came from a well-known Dunedin family, their paternal grandparents having been among the early Scottish settlers of Otago. Their father, Charles Mackie Begg, was a physician and surgeon, who…

Charles Begg was baptised at Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on 23 July 1825. He was the son of William Begg and his wife, Margaret Hunter. On 19 July 1855 at Old Machar, Aberdeenshire, he married Jessie Milne,…

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…

Robert Campbell Begg was born on 11 April 1886 in Dunedin, the son of Katherine Clarke and her husband, Alexander Campbell Begg, an accountant. He attended Kaikorai School, and then Otago Boys’ High School from 1898 to…

William Belcher was born in London, England, probably in 1859 or 1860, the son of Mary Ann Bull and her husband, William John Belcher, an engineer. Little is known of his early years before he went to sea in 1872. In…

Allen (Allan) Bell was born at Southbridge, Canterbury, New Zealand, on 14 February 1870. He was the son of Allen Bell, a farmer, and his wife, Mary Mathews. Allen senior was apparently forced off his land in the…

Elizabeth Viola Bell was born on 4 June 1897 at San Francisco, California, the daughter of English parents Elizabeth Brown and her husband, John William Bell, a boilermaker. The family moved to Canada, Australia and…

Francis Dillon Bell, usually called Dillon, is said to have been born in France on 8 October 1822. His father, Edward Bell, was a merchant and the British consul at Bordeaux. His mother, Frances, was the daughter of an…

Francis Gordon Bell was born on 13 September 1887 at Grovetown, Marlborough, the son of Scottish-born William Bell, who ran merino sheep in the Wairau Valley, and his wife, Emma Amelia Dolamore, a schoolmistress and…

Francis Henry Dillon Bell, known to his friends and family as Harry, was born at Nelson, New Zealand, on 31 March 1851, the eldest son of the former New Zealand Company agent Francis Dillon Bell and his wife, Margaret…

Shag Valley station in eastern Otago is an unlikely setting for a sister and brother to become world radio pioneers. Margaret Brenda Bell was born there on 18 October 1891; Francis Wirgman Dillon Bell was born in…

George Bell was born at Hull, Yorkshire, England, on 9 January 1809, the son of John Bell, a customs landing waiter, and his wife, Hannah Armitage. Until the age of eight George was educated at home by his mother, and…