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Filter biographies using dates, occupations and places related to people's lives.
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1931–1994Carpenter, athlete, salesman
Norman Richard Read was born at Portsmouth, England, on 13 August 1931, the son of Marjorie Ellen Luff and her husband, Richard Frederick Read, a Royal Navy stoker who later became a painter and decorator. He was brought up at Portsmouth and later Steyning, and after leaving school completed an...
Story: Read, Norman Richard
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1824–1826?–1894Gold prospector, farmer
Thomas Gabriel Read, known as Gabriel, was born probably in Tasmania, Australia, some time between 1824 and 1826, the eldest of 10 children of George Frederick Read, a merchant and banker, and his second wife, Margaret Terry, the daughter of a miller. Read was well educated, particularly in the...
Story: Read, Thomas Gabriel
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1839–1935Catholic archbishop
Francis William Redwood was born on 8 April 1839 in the parish of Tixall, Staffordshire, England, the son of Henry Redwood, a farmer, and his wife, Mary Gilbert. The family emigrated to Nelson, New Zealand, on the George Fyfe in 1842. Henry took up farming at Waimea West.
When Father...
Story: Redwood, Francis William
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1823–1907Farmer, politician, racehorse breeder
Henry Redwood was born in the parish of Tixall, Staffordshire, England, on 24 January 1823. He was the son of Mary Gilbert and her husband, Henry Redwood, a farmer. With their nine children and son-in-law, Joseph Ward, the Redwoods sailed for New Zealand on the George Fyfe in June 1842. Henry...
Story: Redwood, Henry
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1908–1979Publisher, writer
The prolific publisher and writer Alexander Wyclif Reed was born on 7 March 1908 in Ponsonby, Auckland, the only child of Alexander John Reed, a Methodist minister, and his wife, Julia Carter. The Reed family was hard-working and God-fearing and believed in education, social duty and decency....
Story: Reed, Alexander Wyclif
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1875–1975Bookseller, publisher, writer, philanthropist
Alfred Hamish Reed, the founder of one of New Zealand's first large publishing firms, was born on 30 December 1875 at Hayes, Middlesex, England, the second of four children of Elisabeth Wild and her husband, James William Reed, a foreman in a brick-field. In 1881 James Reed bought his own brick...
Story: Reed, Alfred Hamish
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1831/1832?–1898Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper proprietor
George McCullagh Reed was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, probably in 1831 or 1832, the son of James Reed, a farmer, and his wife, Jane Ann Lewis. Little is known of his early life. He graduated from Queen's College, Belfast, in 1856, and after being ordained as a Presbyterian minister spent...
Story: Reed, George McCullagh
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1903–1971Ngāti Porou leader, farmer, soldier
Hānara Tangiāwhā Te Ōhakī Reedy (commonly known as Arnold Reedy) was born on 16 August 1903 at Whareponga, a somnolent seaside village on the East Coast of the North Island. He was the eldest of 10 children of Materoa Ngārimu, an ariki of Ngāti Porou, and her husband, John Marshall Reedy....
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1881–1944Ngāti Porou woman of mana
Materoa Ngārimu was born at Maraeke, Whareponga, on the East Coast, according to family information on 8 August 1881, the first of two children of Tuta Ngārimu, a sheepfarmer, and Mākere Rāiri. She came from the senior lines of descent of the leading hapū of Ngāti Porou, which included Te...
Story: Reedy, Materoa
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1864–1949Writer, teacher, lawyer, community leader
Annie Lee Rees was born at Beechworth, Victoria, Australia, on 24 April 1864, the eldest of seven children of Hannah (Annie) Elizabeth Staite and her husband, William Lee Rees, a congregational minister who was subsequently a notable lawyer and Liberal politician in New Zealand. The family...
Story: Rees, Annie Lee
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1875/1876?–1963Actress, theatre producer, novelist
In 1936 Rosemary Rees described herself, with a mixture of pride and self-deprecation, as 'the "best selling’’ New Zealand author'. This claim may have been debatable, but there was no questioning her international reputation as a romance novelist. In addition, she could look back on a...
Story: Rees, Rosemary Frances
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1836–1912Lawyer, politician
William Lee Rees was born probably on 16 December 1836 at Bristol, England, the son of James Rees, a surgeon, and his wife, Elizabeth Pocock. Rees's father died when he was young, and he was brought up by his mother and his uncle. He was educated by a private tutor.
Rees emigrated to...
Story: Rees, William Lee
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1879–1953Cricketer, engineer, businessman
Daniel (Dan) Reese was one of the most prominent cricketers in New Zealand in the early twentieth century. He was born in Christchurch on 26 January 1879, the seventh of eleven children. His parents, Daniel Reese and his wife, Cecilia Wilson, were born in Lanarkshire, Scotland. Daniel senior...
Story: Reese, Daniel
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1885–1927Jeweller
Alice Elsie Reeve, known as Elsie Reeve for most of her life, was one of the first women to pursue a career as a professional jeweller in New Zealand. She was born in Ascot Vale, Melbourne, Australia, on 23 March 1885, the eldest daughter of Cornelia Petty and her husband, Alfred Reeve, a...
Story: Reeve, Alice Elsie
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1865–1953Suffragist, social reformer, writer
Magdalene (Magdalen) Stuart Robison was born on 24 December 1865 at Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia, the daughter of Mary Magdalene Saunders and her husband, William Smoult Robison, a bank manager. In 1868 the family moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, where William Robison was manager of...
Story: Reeves, Magdalene Stuart
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1825–1891Politician, newspaper editor
William Reeves was born in Clapham, Surrey, England, probably on 10 February 1825, the son of Jane Elizabeth Lamb and her husband, William Reeves, a civil servant. He was educated privately, worked as a bank clerk and became a member of the London Stock Exchange. On 21 April 1853, at Clapham,...
Story: Reeves, William
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1857–1932Politician, historian, poet, high commissioner, banker
William Pember Reeves was born at Lyttelton on 10 February 1857, three weeks after his parents arrived in New Zealand. He was later to say that, although he was born a New Zealander, he only just managed it. His parents were William Reeves and his wife, Ellen Pember. She was one of a wealthy...
Story: Reeves, William Pember
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1923–1997Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha, Ngāti Raukawa; researcher, health, human rights and environmental campaigner
Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie was a Ngāi Tahu (or Kāi Tahu) leader and woman of mana, and a prominent activist in the fields of Māori welfare and health from the 1970s to the 1990s. She was a long-serving member and president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, and an acclaimed researcher in the area...
Story: Rehu-Murchie, Erihapeti
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1853–1938Farmer, inventor
The son of a carter, Alexander Walker Reid was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, on 14 September 1853. His parents, Helen Reid and her husband, Alexander Reid, emigrated to New Zealand with young Alexander in 1860. They arrived at Lyttelton aboard the William Miles on 21 August, and took...
Story: Reid, Alexander Walker
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1833–1919Farmer, politician, businessman
Donald Reid was born on 16 July 1833 at Newton farm, Pitcastle, in the Strathtay district of Perthshire, Scotland, the third son of Donald Reid, a farmer, and his wife, Margaret McGregor. He was educated at a local school, the Burns' Academy in Edinburgh and then an endowed school in Strathtay...
Story: Reid, Donald