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1810?–1881Businessman, educationalist, politician, Congregational leader, public trustee
Jonas Woodward was baptised at St Peter, Cornhill, London, England, on 29 April 1810. He was the son of Samuel Woodward, a coal-meter, and his wife, Elizabeth Pearson, formerly Day. Jonas was the eldest of the family, which consisted of four daughters and two sons. Jonas Woodward married...
Story: Woodward, Jonas
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1910–1998Artist, orchardist, salesman
Mountford Tosswill Woollaston was born at Toko, Stratford, on 11 April 1910, and raised with four brothers on a dairy farm near Huinga in the Taranaki backblocks. He was the son of John Reginald Woollaston, a sharemilker, and his wife, Charlotte Kathleen Frances Tosswill. Toss (as he was always...
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1872–1943Mariner, polar explorer, naval officer, writer
Frank Arthur Worsley was born at Akaroa, New Zealand, on 22 February 1872, the son of Vincent Georgiana Priscilla Fulton and her husband, Henry Theophilus Worsley, a labourer. After attending Fendalton School he joined the New Zealand Shipping Company in 1887, serving on sailing ships between...
Story: Worsley, Frank Arthur
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1847–1917Confidence trickster
Little is known about the early life of confidence trickster Arthur Bently Worthington. His real name was Oakley Crawford, but he was also known as Samuel Oakley Crawford. He was born to Samuel Crawford, a lawyer, and his wife, Susan Reynolds, on 1 March 1847 in Saugerties, New York state, USA...
Story: Worthington, Arthur Bently
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1861–1938Policeman, police commissioner
Arthur Hobbins Wright was born at South Hamlet, Gloucester, England, on 8 April 1861, the ninth and youngest child of Henry Wright, a prominent mechanical engineer, and his wife, Elizabeth Hobbins. In 1879 he arrived in New Zealand on the Fernglen. Settling in Auckland, he worked as a clerk...
Story: Wright, Arthur Hobbins
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1869–1928Shepherd, poet, journalist, Congregational minister
David McKee Wright was born at Ballynaskeagh, County Down, Ireland, on 6 August 1869, the second son of William Wright, a Presbyterian missionary, and his wife, Annie McKee. His mother remained only briefly in Ireland following his birth and he was raised by his grandmother, Rebecca McKee,...
Story: Wright, David McKee
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1831–1902Engineer, landowner, politician
Edward George Wright was born at Woolwich, Kent, England, on 14 June 1831, the son of Elizabeth and Thomas Wright. His father was a gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery. Edward Wright was educated at private schools and about 1847 joined Fox, Henderson and Company, engineers and contractors. In...
Story: Wright, Edward George
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1819–1887Potter
James Wright was born at Fenton, Staffordshire, England, on 11 April 1819, the son of Eleanor Bennet and her husband, William Wright, an engraver. On 9 March 1841, at Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, he married Mary Ann Tams. They were to have seven children, of whom three sons and a daughter...
Story: Wright, James
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1908–1982Nō Ngāti Kura; he āpiha Māori toko i te ora, he poutoko iwi
Nō te 27 o Āperira o te tau 1908 i whānau ai a Ruth Gray i Pipiriki i te awa o Whanganui. Ko ia tētehi o ngā tamariki maha a te tangata mahi pāmu nei, a Robert Gray, he Ingarihi, he Māori nei ōna tātai, rāua ko tana hoa wahine, ko Ngāraiti Tuatini o Ngāti Kura. Nō te taha ki tōna whaea me tōna...
Story: Wright, Rūmātiki Ruth
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1887–1973Chemical engineer, factory manager
Donald Frederick Wünsch was born on 16 January 1887 at Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester, England, the eldest son of Mary Sandys and her husband, Edward Wünsch, a shipping merchant. After going to school in Manchester, he studied natural science at New College, University of Oxford (1905–9),...
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?–1913Nō Rongowhakaata; he wahine whai mana
I kō paku mai i Waerenga-a-Hika wāhi o Tūranganui-a-Rua (Poverty Bay) ko Tūtoko. Ko te whakaaro i whānau a Kate (Keita) Halbert i reira i ngā tau tōmua o te tekau tau atu i 1840. Ko ia te tamāhine a te kaihokohoko, a Tāme Poto (Thomas Halbert) rāua ko tana wahine tuarima, ko Keita Kaikiri (...
Story: Wyllie, Kate
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1802–1864Soldier, artist, administrator, provincial superintendent
According to family information, Robert Henry Wynyard was born on 24 December 1802, at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England; he was baptised in London on 13 February 1803. He was the younger son of Jane Gladwin, lady-in-waiting to Queen Charlotte, and her husband, William Wynyard, colonel of the...
Story: Wynyard, Robert Henry
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1802–1877Missionary, writer
William Yate was born on 3 November 1802 and baptised in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England, the son of Betty and John Yate of the parish of St Mary Magdalene. He was brought up in Bridgnorth, and at the age of 14 was apprenticed to a grocer. After finishing his apprenticeship, he determined to...
Story: Yate, William
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1840–1848?–1918Mayor, local politician
Elizabeth Oman was born in Caithness, Scotland, probably sometime between 1840 and 1848, the elder daughter of George Oman and his wife, Eleanor Lannigan. She arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, around December 1853 with her parents and sister Eleanor.
Little is known about her early life...
Story: Yates, Elizabeth
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1852/1853?–1910Nō Te Rarawa, nō Te Aupōuri; he wahine whai mana, he kaiwhiwhi whenua, he wahine ahuwhenua, he kaihokohoko
Ko tā Ngāwini rāua ko Samuel Te Ieti (Yates), he whakahaere i tētahi pāmu nui me tētahi toa i te hiku o Te Ika-a-Māui i ngā tau whakamutunga o te rau tau mai i 1800 ki 1899. I whānau a Samuel Yates ki Rānana (London), i Ingarangi i te tau 1829 pea; he tama ia nā Saul Yates, he rōia, rāua ko tana...
Story: Yates, Ngāwini
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1893–1967Soldier, wildlife ranger
George Franklyn Yerex was born in Wellington on 30 January 1893. His parents, Clara Pinny and her husband, George Manley Yerex, a Canadian-born importer, raised four boys and two girls in a large home on the hills above Lower Hutt. George attended Wellington College briefly, before moving with...
Story: Yerex, George Franklyn
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1888–1962Hotel employee and manager, trade unionist, soldier, politician
Frederick George Young was born in the East End of London, England, on 9 June 1888, the son of Emily Judge and her husband, William Young, a police constable. Fred arrived in New Zealand around 1905 and found work as a bellboy in an Auckland hotel. By 1911 he was a porter at a Rotorua boarding...
Story: Young, Frederick George
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1888–1952Baker, policeman, unionist, police commissioner
John Bruce Young was born at Kaiapoi, Canterbury, on 25 August 1888, the son of Mary Ann Brundell and her husband, Charles James Young, a farmer. Educated at Kaiapoi Borough School, Bruce Young passed the standard six examination in July 1902 and left to drive a Woodend storekeeper’s cart....
Story: Young, John Bruce
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1890–1983Headmistress, educationalist
A gifted teacher and an educationalist concerned with increasing women's opportunities, Stephanie Grace Young was known and admired beyond the schools in which she taught. She was born on 13 July 1890 at Amberley Rectory, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England, the daughter of an Anglican clergyman...
Story: Young, Stephanie Grace
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1885–1962Architect
William Gray Young was the son of Matthew Gray Young and his wife, Agnes Anderson Barclay, and was born in Oamaru on 21 June 1885. His father had arrived in New Zealand from Scotland as a watchmaker, and developed skills as a jewellery retailer in partnership with his brother. They moved their...
Story: Young, William Gray