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1853–1951Singer, nurse, secretary, war graves conservator, community worker
Edith Mary Statham was born on 13 April 1853 at Bootle, Lancashire, England, the daughter of William Statham, a solicitor, and his wife, Ellen Allen Hadfield. Edith came to New Zealand with her parents and her two brothers when she was 10. The family settled in Dunedin. It is not known where...
Story: Statham, Edith Mary
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1849–1930Rabbi, philanthropist
Herman van Staveren was born Manus van Staveren in Bolsward, Friesland, the Netherlands, on 26 January 1849, the son of Isak Barends van Staveren, a rabbi, and his second wife, Seentje Simons Adelaar. He was educated in Antwerp and London, and was ordained as a rabbi in 1868. Van Staveren...
Story: Staveren, Herman van
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1881–1949Engineer, horticulturist, ornithologist, marksman
Edgar Fraser Stead was born in Christchurch on 22 October 1881, the son of George Gatonby Stead and his wife, Lucie Maria Wilkinson. His father was a grain and export merchant, president of the local chamber of commerce and a successful racehorse owner. Edgar was educated at Christ's College...
Story: Stead, Edgar Fraser
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1841–1908Grain merchant, racehorse owner and breeder, businessman
George Gatonby Stead was born in London, England, on 17 August 1841, the son of George Stead, a tin plate worker, and his wife, Mary Gatonby. In 1849 he accompanied his parents to South Africa where he attended St Andrew's College, Grahamstown. He became a competent marksman and rider. After...
Story: Stead, George Gatonby
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1842–1918Artist, engraver
Louis John Steele was born in England at Reigate, Surrey, on 30 January 1842, the son of Harriet Thompson and her husband, John Sisson Steele, a surgeon. His mother was said to have been a cousin of the French painter William Haussoullier.
Louis was educated at Reigate and at the École...
Story: Steele, Louis John
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1896–1980Teacher, chemist, potter
Oswold Counsell Stephens was the proprietor of the Handcraft Pottery workshop in Dunedin, which made a major contribution to the studio pottery movement in New Zealand. The son of Mary Duke and her husband, John Jefferson Counsell Stephens, a solicitor, he was born on 11 December 1896 at...
Story: Stephens, Oswold Counsell
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1874–1918Auctioneer, rugby player, theatrical company manager and entrepreneur
George Stephenson was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 4 February 1874, the youngest of six children of Laura Gould and her husband, John Stephenson, an auctioneer and partner in the stock and station company Wright Stephenson. Educated at Otago and Waitaki Boys' high schools, he was a member...
Story: Stephenson, George
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1837–1915Land agent, businessman, sportsman, politician
Edward Cephas John Stevens was born on 18 October 1837, at Salford, Oxfordshire, England, the youngest son of the local rector, the Reverend William Everest Stevens, and his wife, Mary James. He was educated at Marlborough College and at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Stevens...
Story: Stevens, Edward Cephas John
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1900–1967Wholesale florist, nurserywoman, iris hybridiser
Emily Jean Burgess was born to Fanny Eleanor Hollard and her husband, Alfred Henry Burgess, a farmer, on 3 September 1900 at Stratford. Her parents later grew fruit and flowers at Kaiti, Gisborne, and Jean attended Kaiti School, winning a scholarship in 1913. When her mother and baby sister...
Story: Stevens, Emily Jean
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1908–1990Teacher, university professor of English
Joan Stevens was born on 10 December 1908 at Southwick, Sussex, England, to William John Stevens, a bookseller’s manager, and his wife, Florence Mary Herbert, daughter of a West Hartlepool journalist. When Joan was five the family emigrated to New Zealand, where her father eventually...
Story: Stevens, Joan
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1893–1963Mechanic, radio broadcaster
Percy Ronald Stevens was born at Napier, Hawke's Bay, on 10 April 1893, one of five children of Frederick Henry Stevens, a carpenter, and his wife, Mary Burton. Percy was apprenticed to a baker; he also worked as a fisherman. He then trained as a cycle mechanic, an occupation that allowed him...
Story: Stevens, Percy Ronald
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1893–1975Military leader, diplomat
Although born in London (on 11 December 1893) William George Stevens had deep New Zealand roots: his grandfather was an early settler of Southland, and his father, William Stevens, was an employee of the New Zealand Shipping Company. His mother, Catherine Sclanders, was a teacher in London...
Story: Stevens, William George
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1911–1990Botanist, mycologist, mountaineer, teacher
Greta Barbara Stevenson was born on 10 June 1911 in Auckland, the eldest of four children of William Stevenson, a clerk, and his wife, Grace Mary Scott. In 1914 the family moved from Auckland to Dunedin, where Greta's father became managing director of the family's food-processing company,...
Story: Stevenson, Greta Barbara
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1881–1948Community worker and administrator
Jane (known as Jean) Stevenson was born in Dunedin on 7 November 1881, the eldest of 13 children of William Stevenson, a grocer, and his wife, Barbara Irvine. Her father was a successful businessman, who went into partnership with her maternal grandfather in a jam-making and canning firm that...
Story: Stevenson, Jean
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1865–1941Baha’i
Margaret Beveridge Stevenson was born in Onehunga, Auckland, on 30 November 1865, the daughter of Margaret Turnbull and her husband, William Stevenson, a storekeeper who was later a photographer. Nothing is known of her early life. She never married, and was never in paid employment. By 1900...
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1846–1910Homemaker, writer
Adela Blanche Anderson was born on 1 January 1846 at Clifton, Bristol, England. Her parents were James Anderson and his wife, Eliza Catherine Dick. As a child and young woman Adela lived in England, Scotland, Ireland and the Channel Islands, and was educated partly in Paris. On 28 April 1870,...
Story: Stewart, Adela Blanche
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1884–1958Ngāti Awa and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui leader, law clerk, interpreter, local politician, rate collector
Albert Oliphant Stewart, also known as Te Tāwhero Stewart (Tuati) and Arapeta Tuati, was born in Whakatāne on 16 July 1884, the son of Charles Edward Oliphant Stewart, a farmer, and his wife, Lily Agnes Te Tāwero, also called Awhiahua Hetaraka. His father was of Scottish and Ngāti Pūkeko of...
Story: Stewart, Albert Oliphant
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1881–1957Welfare worker, political activist, politician
Catherine Campbell Sword was born on 15 August 1881 in Glasgow, Scotland, the daughter of Margaret Christina Neilson and her husband, William Baird Sword, a journeyman iron-fitter. After attending Rockvilla school she worked in the weaving industry. On 23 March 1900, at Glasgow, she married...
Story: Stewart, Catherine Campbell
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1840–1916Social activist
Frances Ann Carkeek was born on 18 June 1840 at Sydney, Australia. She was the daughter of Martha Piotti and her husband, Stephen Carkeek, commander of a revenue cutter. The family moved to Nelson, New Zealand, after Stephen Carkeek was appointed sub-collector of customs there in 1842.
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Story: Stewart, Frances Ann
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1885–1955Wool and fur skin exporter, businessman
Born in Dunedin on 23 December 1885, George Stewart was the son of William Stewart, a Scottish-born confectioner, and his Irish wife, Ellen O'Sullivan. He left High Street School shortly before his 13th birthday and his first job, as a rabbiter, set the direction of his career. In 1901, aged...
Story: Stewart, George