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Filter biographies using dates, occupations and places related to people's lives.
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1832–1836?–1917Writer, traveller
Caroline and Nicholas Chevalier visited New Zealand several times during the 1860s. Their impressions of the country, which they recorded in writings and in works of art, are of considerable historical interest.
Nicholas Chevalier is said to have been born in St Petersburg, Russia, on 9...
Story: Chevalier, Caroline
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1827–1844?–1920Merchant, fungus exporter, butter manufacturer
Chew Chong (Chau Tseung) was born in Canton (Guangzhou), China. Nothing is known of his parents except that they originated from Kaiping county, Guangdong province. His date of birth is unclear: Chong himself put it at various times between 1827 and 1844. After receiving a good education, which...
Story: Chew Chong
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1860–1929Teacher, zoologist, ophthalmic surgeon, university professor
Charles Chilton was born on 27 September 1860 at Little Marstone, Pencombe, Herefordshire, England, the son of Thomas Chilton, a farmer, and his wife, Jane Price. The Chilton family emigrated to New Zealand in 1862, settling in the East Eyreton district of North Canterbury. At an early age...
Story: Chilton, Charles
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1883–1948Anglican clergyman, tutor, organist
Ernest Chitty was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 6 December 1883. There is some mystery over his birth, and he did not know the names of his parents. Blind from birth, he was apparently sent to the Victorian Asylum and School for the Blind in Melbourne. In 1892 he was placed in the Jubilee...
Story: Chitty, Ernest
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1884–1957Journalist, political reformer, newspaper editor, Baptist missioner, community leader
Chiu Kwok-chun was born in 1884 at Leen Tong (Lian Tang), Gaoyao county, in the Chinese province of Guangdong. The third of four sons and a daughter of Chiu Pan-sing, a meat merchant, and his wife, Shen See, he received a traditional Chinese education. An outstanding student, he was chosen to...
Story: Chiu Kwok-chun
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1856–1929Lutheran pastor
Mads Christensen was born at Egvad, Aabenraa county, Slesvig, Denmark, on 10 May 1856, the son of Hagen Iversen Christensen, a farmer, and his wife, Marine Callesen. He received his education at a village school. His native province having been annexed by Germany, he migrated across the border...
Story: Christensen, Mads
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1881–1957Lawyer, local politician, scouting leader
Hector Christie was born in Wanganui on 7 December 1881, the son of Andrew Christie, a miller, and his wife, Hannah Leah Austin. After attending Wanganui Boys' High School he began working as a law clerk with the firm Burnett and Gordon and later joined Barnicoat, Treadwell and Gordon as...
Story: Christie, Hector
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1883–1955Nō Ngāti Rākaipaaka, nō Ngāti Kahungunu; he kaiārahi Mōmona, he tangata mahi pāmu, he kaiwhakamārama reo, he kaihautū hapori
Nō te 16 o Ākuhata i te tau 1883 i whānau ai a Hirini (Sidney) Whaanga Christy i Nūhaka, ka mokopuna ki a Īhaka Whaanga, he rangatira nō Ngāti Rākaipaaka, nō Ngāti Kahungunu. Ko tōna whaea, ko Mihi Mere Whaanga te mea pakeke o ngā tamāhine a Hirini Te Rito Whaanga rāua ko tana wahine tuatoru, ko...
Story: Christy, Hirini Whaanga
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1857–1932Clerk, poet, novelist
Hubert Newman Wigmore Church was born at Hobart, Tasmania, on 13 June 1857, the son of Mary Ann Newman and her husband, Hubert Day Church, a clerk who later became a barrister. In 1865 Hubert was taken to England where he was educated at schools in Guildford and Felstead. He may also have...
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1933–2013Type designer, graphic designer, businessman
Samoan-born graphic designer Joseph Churchward was an internationally renowned typeface designer whose work graced record covers, billboards, newspapers and popular literature such as posters and brochures around the world, both during his lifetime and beyond. He hand-created around 700...
Story: Churchward, Joseph
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1816–1886Soldier
Trevor Chute is said to have been born at Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, on 31 July 1816, the son of Francis Chute and his wife, Mary Ann Bomford. He entered the army in 1832, served first in the Ceylon Rifles and then in the 70th (Surrey) Regiment, and was a major by 1847. Duty in Ireland in...
Story: Chute, Trevor
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1925–1998Musician, cabaret owner, restaurateur, music teacher
Vernon Lawrence Clare was born at Wanganui on 17 April 1925, the son of Vera Mildred McNamara and her wool-store worker husband, Charles Henry Arthur Clare. He was educated at Wanganui East School and at Wanganui Technical College.
Vern Clare was a music-maker in public from the age of...
Story: Clare, Vernon Lawrence
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1885–1967Hockey player and administrator, nurse
Cora Mildred Maris Clark was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 3 March 1885 to Cora Juliett Meurant and her husband, Richard Maris Clark, an insurance manager. From about 1890 the family lived in Dunedin. With her younger sister Elvira, Cora attended Otago Girls' High School where the two girls...
Story: Clark, Cora Mildred Maris
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1833–1898Businessman, mayor
James McCosh Clark was born in Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland, on 12 August 1833, the son of Archibald Clark, a merchant, and his first wife, Margaret McCosh, whose father was a wealthy coal mine owner. James arrived in New Zealand with his father and stepmother (Archibald Clark's third wife) in...
Story: Clark, James McCosh
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1922–1964Trade unionist
Nada Hazel Ryan, or Nan, as she was always known, was born the eldest of four children in Sydney, Australia, on 10 October 1922. She was the daughter of Nada Naomi Nation and her husband, Richard Hazel Ryan, a general labourer. Around 1924 the family moved to Wellington, where her father became...
Story: Clark, Nada Hazel
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1905–1966Artist, illustrator, sculptor, university lecturer
Russell Stuart Cedric Clark (registered as Cedric Russell Stuart) was born in Christchurch on 27 August 1905, the son of Mary Elizabeth Wyatt and her husband, William Clark, a plumber and tinsmith. He was educated at Christchurch Normal School (1911–19) and Christchurch Boys’ High School (1920–...
Story: Clark, Russell Stuart Cedric
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1916–2005Industrialist
Tom Clark was one of New Zealand’s leading twentieth-century industrialists, and the driving force behind Crown Lynn pottery. As one of the fourth generation of Clarks to manufacture brick and pipes, he branched out to pioneer the mass production of tableware in New Zealand. He ran New Zealand’...
Story: Clark, Thomas Edwin
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1798–1875Missionary, teacher, public servant, politician, judge
George Clarke was born in Wymondham, Norfolk, England, on 27 January 1798. His parents were Mary Clarke and her husband, William Clarke, a gunsmith and builder. Between the ages of 11 and 20 he learnt carpentry and gunsmithry from his father, while receiving a sound basic education. In 1818 he...
Story: Clarke, George
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1931–1997Rugby player, farmer, rugby administrator
Ian James Clarke was born at Kaponga, Taranaki, on 5 March 1931, the eldest of five sons of Alexander James Clarke, a blacksmith, and his wife, Annie Marie Taylor. He attended Pīhama and Ōtākeho primary schools and Hāwera Technical High School before the family moved to the Morrinsville...
Story: Clarke, Ian James
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1948–2017Comedian, writer, actor, musician, director
John Clarke was a pioneering comedian, actor and writer, whose television appearances as farmer Fred Dagg in the 1970s marked the emergence of a distinctive home-grown style of New Zealand comedy. In 1977 Clarke moved permanently to Australia, where he was best known for the popular television...
Story: Clarke, John Morrison