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1887–1971Te Āti Awa leader, butcher, roading contractor, labourer
Īhāia Pōrutu Puketapu was a prominent leader of Te Āti Awa of the Wellington and Hutt Valley districts. He was born at Waiwhetū in the Hutt Valley on 7 February 1887, the eldest of four brothers and one sister. His father, Hapi Tūtūā Puketapu, and mother, Mihi Kōrama Woodgate, both belonged to...
Story: Puketapu, Īhāia Pōrutu
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1871–1951Headmistress, writer, anchoress
Mary Etheldred Pulling was founding headmistress of the Diocesan High School for Girls in Auckland. Born at Belchamp St Paul, Essex, England, on 26 July 1871, and baptised Mary Etheldreda, she was the daughter of the Reverend James Pulling and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Hodgson. James was master...
Story: Pulling, Mary Etheldred
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1836–1900Photographer
Elizabeth Chadd was born on 1 August 1836 at Lymm, Cheshire, England, the daughter of Mary Clayton and her husband, William Chadd, a bricksetter. On 2 May 1859 at St Mary's Church, Manchester, Elizabeth married George Pulman, a joiner and widower with two young sons. Elizabeth and George had...
Story: Pulman, Elizabeth
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1898–1982Shop assistant, trade unionist
Samuelene Purcell was born in Gundry Street, Newton, Auckland, on 25 July 1898, the daughter of Irish immigrant parents Michael Joseph Purcell and his wife, Jane Galbraith, who both worked in the tailoring trade. Details of her early life are obscure, but it appears that Michael Purcell left...
Story: Purcell, Samuelene
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1924–1979Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hine; land title officer, Māori welfare worker
Nau Pāraone Kawiti Pūriri, usually known as Brownie Pūriri, was born on 7 March 1924 at Ngāraratunua, north of Whāngārei, the son of Tītore Takiri Pūriri of Ngāti Kahu, a surveyor’s assistant of Kaikohe, and his wife, Wikitōria Kāterina Keretene (Cherrington), of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi....
Story: Pūriri, Nau Parāone Kawiti
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1890–1976Draughtsman, military leader
Edward Puttick was born in Timaru on 26 June 1890, the son of John Prior Puttick, a London-born railway platelayer, and his wife, Rachel Orpen, who came from County Kerry, Ireland. He was educated at Waitaki Boys’ High School, Oamaru, and in 1906 joined the engineering branch of the Roads...
Story: Puttick, Edward
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1916–1991Anglican bishop
William Allan Pyatt was born in Gisborne on 4 November 1916, the eldest of seven children of Albert Ernest Pyatt, a warehouseman, and his wife, Violet May Feldon. At Gisborne High School he was dux and head prefect, and played cricket in the school’s First XI and rugby for its First XV. At...
Story: Pyatt, William Allan
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1827–1894Administrator, politician, journalist, writer
Vincent Pike was born in Shepton Mallet, Somersetshire, England, on 4 February 1827, the son of James and Mary Pike. His father was a tinman. Little is known of Vincent's early life other than that he was a linen draper when, in the parish of Trinity, St Philip and Jacob, Bristol, on 7...
Story: Pyke, Vincent
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1798–1873Editor, Congregational minister, teacher, bookseller
Barzillai Quaife was born at Lenham, Kent, England, on 29 December 1798, the son of Thomas Quaife, a farmer, and his wife, Amelia Austin. He married Maria Smith on 4 November 1834, in the parish of St Anne, Soho, Westminster, London; they were to have four sons. Quaife was educated at Hoxton...
Story: Quaife, Barzillai
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1863–1923Farmer, photographer
Frederick George Radcliffe was born at Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 15 November 1863. His parents were Harriet Quilliam and her husband, Frederick Radcliffe, a well-to-do merchant in the West African trade. According to family information, he was educated at Audlem Grammar...
Story: Radcliffe, Frederick George
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1819–1821?–1894Painter, journalist, labour reformer
Charles Joseph Rae was born in London, England, probably sometime between 1819 and 1821, the son of Emma Lydyard and her husband, Joseph Rae, a stonemason. Little is known of his early life, but he became a painter by trade. Rae took an active part in the Chartist movement; he later joined the...
Story: Rae, Charles Joseph
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1888–1964Teacher, soldier, teachers’ college principal, politician, diplomat
Duncan McFadyen Rae was born at Glenham, Southland, on 2 June 1888, the son of Scottish parents Susan Ann McIntyre (née McFadyen) and her husband, William Rae, a shepherd, who was later a farmer. After attending Greenhills and Knapdale schools he worked on the family farm on the Awarua Plains...
Story: Rae, Duncan McFadyen
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1913–1996Teacher, nuclear chemist
Thomas Athol Rafter (known as Athol) was born in Wellington on 5 March 1913, the son of Grace Ella May Clarkson and her husband, Michael Edward Rafter, a postal clerk. He was educated at Marist Brothers’ School, St Patrick’s College, Wellington, and Victoria University College, where he...
Story: Rafter, Thomas Athol
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1885–1969Accountant, company director, local politician
Algernon Instone Rainbow was born on 13 January 1885 in Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, the second of three children of William Rainbow, headmaster of Heretaunga school, and his wife, Julia Baly. On 16 February 1889 his father drowned trying to save one of his pupils who had been carried out of his...
Story: Rainbow, Algernon Instone
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1831/1832?–1912Dressmaker, teacher, storekeeper, housekeeper, diarist
Catherine Hester Ralfe, whose reminiscences vividly illustrate the lives of colonial women, was born at Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland, probably in 1831 or 1832. She was the daughter of Ann Susannah Lamothe and her husband, Pilcher Ralfe, a naval officer. Both parents died when Catherine was...
Story: Ralfe, Catherine Hester
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1822/1823?–1913Landowner, businesswoman, matriarch
Margaret Ralph settled with her husband and children in Waikato, New Zealand, in 1865 and began a pioneering venture that was to influence the region for the next 70 years. She was born at Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, probably in 1822 or 1823, the daughter of John Reilly and his wife,...
Story: Ralph, Margaret
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1920–1995Marine biologist, university lecturer
Patricia Marjorie Ralph was born in Wellington on 5 April 1920, the daughter of Clarence John Ralph, an electrical engineer, and his wife, Elin Elfie Jacobson. She attended Brooklyn School then Wellington Girls’ College, where she won several prizes in scripture knowledge and was made a...
Story: Ralph, Patricia Marjorie
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1898–1962Journalist, writer, art critic
George Eric Oakes Ramsden was born in Martinborough, Wairarapa, on 1 August 1898, the eldest of three children of Henry Oakes Ramsden, an Englishman, and his New Zealand-born wife, Sophia Jane Harris. Henry Ramsden was a storekeeper who subsequently bought a farm near Martinborough. Eric was...
Story: Ramsden, George Eric Oakes
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1844–1930Companion help, church and community leader, landowner, businesswoman, benefactor
Amelia Mary Randall, although quiet and unassuming, was during the early twentieth century one of the wealthiest women in Hawke's Bay, and an important public benefactor. Born Amelia Mary Davenport at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, on 23 January 1844, she was the eldest daughter of Charlotte Tiffen...
Story: Randall, Amelia Mary
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1901–1998Weaver
Ilse Amalie Mathilde Henneberg was born in Giessen, Germany, on 12 June 1901, the second of three daughters born to Bruno Paul Eduard Henneberg, a university professor, and his wife, Helene Mathilde Fritze. Her parents were active in the cultural life of the community and Ilse grew up aware of...