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1880–1966Botanist, agricultural scientist and administrator
Alfred Hyde Cockayne was born on 23 May 1880 in Dunedin or Oamaru. His parents, Leonard Cockayne and Maria Maude Blakeley, married in February 1881. Leonard went on to become an internationally noted botanist, and his broad appreciation of botany and his interest in man's complex interaction...
Story: Cockayne, Alfred Hyde
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1855–1934Teacher, horticulturist, botanist
Leonard Cockayne, New Zealand's greatest botanist and a founder of modern science in New Zealand, was born at Norton Lees, near Sheffield, England, on 7 April 1855. He was the youngest of seven children of Mary Shepherd and her husband, William Cockayne, a well-to-do owner of a drapery business...
Story: Cockayne, Leonard
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1917–2003Industrial designer, artist
Industrial designer James Coe was a passionate advocate of applied ergonomics, the design of products to suit human anatomy and activities. Coe developed the secondary school art curriculum after the Second World War, and then shaped New Zealand’s first full-time tertiary design courses. His...
Story: Coe, Herbert James Bowkett
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1849–1928Journalist, newspaper editor, educationalist, social reformer
Mark Cohen's origins explain both his incessant desire to improve the world and the restless drive he brought to the task. Born on 26 November 1849 in the Stepney district of London, England, he was the eldest child of Hyman Cohen, a paper stainer, and his wife, Caroline Benjamin, a hatmaker's...
Story: Cohen, Mark
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1892–1959Barber, dental assistant, entertainer, milliner
Myra Cohen was born at Reefton, Westland, New Zealand, on 12 May 1892, the third and youngest child of Julia Dimant and her husband, Charles Cohen, proprietors of a stationery and fancy-goods business. Her parents were central figures in local community organisations. From 1898 to around 1905...
Story: Cohen, Myra
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1836–1885Feminist, social reformer
Mary Ann Barnes was born in London, England, on 20 February 1836, the daughter of Susan Barnes and her husband, John Thomas Barnes, a carpenter. She arrived in New Zealand in 1859. At Onehunga on 9 May 1861, aged 25, she married Thomas Caesar Colclough, a farmer of 54 or 55, first in St Peter's...
Story: Colclough, Mary Ann
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1922–2011Writer, publisher, educator, activist
The distinguished writer and journalist Christine Cole Catley was one of New Zealand’s leading independent publishers of the late twentieth century. She was co-founder of the Parents Centre movement in the 1950s, and an influential teacher and shaper of broadcasting policy.
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1897–1965Mechanic, motor-cycle racer, businessman, aviator
Percy Roderick Coleman was born at Mountain Road, Ngaere, Taranaki, on 26 January 1897, the only child of Sarah Jane Gifford and her husband, William Coleman, a traction-engine driver. He attended school, mainly at Takapau, in central Hawke's Bay, until he was 12, when he became a motor...
Story: Coleman, Percy Roderick
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1821–1904Missionary, teacher, translator
Elizabeth Fairburn was born on 29 August 1821 at the Church Missionary Society station at Kerikeri, the daughter of Sarah Tuckwell and her husband, William Thomas Fairburn, a CMS lay missionary. The family moved to Paihia in 1823 to help set up a new mission station; when her parents moved...
Story: Colenso, Elizabeth
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1811–1899Printer, missionary, explorer, naturalist, politician
William Colenso was born probably on 17 November 1811 and was baptised on 13 December 1811 in Penzance, Cornwall, England. He was the eldest child of Samuel May Colenso, a saddler and town councillor of Penzance, and his wife, Mary Veale Thomas, the daughter of a solicitor. Privately educated...
Story: Colenso, William
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1885–1964Artist
Edith Marion Collier was born on 28 March 1885 at Whanganui, the eldest of 10 children of Eliza Catherine Parkes and her husband, Henry Collier, a music shop proprietor and substantial landowner. The Colliers were a musical family and active members of St Paul's Presbyterian Church. Edith...
Story: Collier, Edith Marion
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1869–1955Teacher of the blind, church worker
Jane Annie Collier was born on 28 September 1869 at Springston, Canterbury, New Zealand, the daughter of Mary Ann Nankervis and her husband, Titus Close Collier, a clerk. From 1875 Jane was educated at a small private school run by two sisters in Cranmer Square, Christchurch. In 1888 she...
Story: Collier, Jane Annie
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1791/1792?–1861Runholder
Jeanie Collier was born probably in 1791 or 1792, at Monimail, Fife, Scotland, one of a family of seven children. Her father, Robert Collier, was a soldier, who had served in Holland with the 94th Regiment of Foot. His wife, Antonia Ewing, was from Yorkshire. Little is known of Jeanie Collier's...
Story: Collier, Jeanie
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1898–1970Seaman, bushman, photographer, businessman, farmer
Tudor Washington Collins was born on 9 March 1898 at Towai, Northland, one of 10 children of Henry Collins, a small farmer and general labourer, and his second wife, Sarah Wilson; Henry also had six children from his first marriage. The family later moved to the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn,...
Story: Collins, Tudor Washington
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1853–1923Rationalist lecturer, politician
William Whitehouse Collins was born at Harborne, Staffordshire, England, on 4 September 1853, the son of Joseph Collins, a die-sinker, and his wife, Elleanor Whitehouse. William inherited advanced ideas from his grandfather, John Collins, an English working-class radical imprisoned for his part...
Story: Collins, William Whitehouse
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1878–1954Businessman, racehorse breeder and trainer, community leader
Leopold Henry Collinson was born in Palmerston North on 13 May 1878, the son of Frances Elizabeth Gittings and her husband, Henry Clement Collinson, a carpenter, professional photographer and farmer. After attending Campbell Street School, Leo was employed at the United Farmers Co-operative...
Story: Collinson, Leopold Henry
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1882–1960Teacher, educationalist, editor
Frank Livingstone Combs was born on 19 July 1882 at Napier, the son of Annie Clara Coles and her husband, Willis Edmund Combs, a draper. The family knew hard times during the late 1880s and early 1890s, and Frank’s elder brother, Harry, later recounted its transient life in Growing up in the...
Story: Combs, Frank Livingstone
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1902–1982Policeman, police commissioner, farmer
Eric Henry Compton was born at Hastings on 14 March 1902, the son of Harriett Morgon and her husband, William Henry Compton, a cook. Educated at Hastings District High School, he became a rifle marksman and left to become a clerk in a solicitors’ office in October 1918. A year later he took...
Story: Compton, Eric Henry
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1891–1981Economist, university professor, economic consultant
John Bell Condliffe was one of the first generation of students trained in economics under James Hight at Canterbury College, Christchurch, and went on to become one of New Zealand's best-known international economists. He was born at Footscray, Victoria, Australia, on 23 December 1891, one of...
Story: Condliffe, John Bell
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1859/1860?–1903University graduate, school principal
Helen Connon was born in Melbourne, Australia, probably in 1859 or 1860. She was the second child of George Connon, a carpenter from Wales, and his wife, Helen Hart, who came from Scotland. Around 1862 the family moved to Dunedin, New Zealand.
'Never grudge any trouble that is taken for...
Story: Connon, Helen