David Russell Lange ONZ CH PC

Beloved, magnetic, and polarizing, David Lange was arguably the most outstanding New Zealand political figure of his generation. Becoming Prime Minister in 1984 at just 41, Lange was a larger-than-life presence.

Esther James

It was on June 18, 1932, that a fiercely independent Aucklander named Esther James stepped into Bluff, completing an extraordinary 2,500 km journey on foot. Starting in Spirits Bay in the Far North and continuing her trek across Stewart Island, she became the first person ever recorded to walk the length of New Zealand.

Florence Ann Humphries

Meet Florence Ann Humphries, better known as "Flo." Born in 1915, Flo’s life was defined by hard graft. Flo's deepest understanding of the struggle came from her own home: she raised her first child for five years as a single mother in an era when society offered solo mums almost no financial or social safety net

Leila Winifred Bridgman

Leila Bridgman was involved in YWCA work at a national and international level. During WWII she went to work in Singapore and become a Prisoner of War under the Japanese.

Dr. Joseph Williams QSO

Joseph Williams was a medical practitioner, researcher, and politician, serving as the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands.

Bill Endean

William Phillips Endean was a lawyer and a politician for the Reform Party and the National Party, and served in the Legislative Council. He was part of the so-called Suicide Squad tasked with ending the Legislative Council as an institution. 

Sir Harold Eric Barrowclough (KCMG) (CB)

Major General Sir Harold Eric Barrowclough was a decorated military leader and Chief Justice of New Zealand from 1953 to 1966.

Duncan McFadyen Rae

Duncan McFadyen Rae represented Parnell and Eden in New Zealand's Parliament. He was instrumental in the passage of the Historic Places Act of 1954 creating the National Historic Places Trust and served as Consul-General to Indonesia from 1961 to 1963.

Frank Langstone

Frank Langstone was a member of the New Zealand Parliament and was widely regarded as the leading figure of Labour Party's radical wing.

Alfred Kidd

Alfred Kidd was the 18th Mayor of Auckland and an MP for Auckland serving as Chief Whip under the Seddon and Ward Governments. Earlier, he was one of the first arrivals to the Thames Goldfields.

Eric Henry Halstead

Eric Henry Halstead was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for Tamaki and served as ambassador to Thailand, Laos, Italy, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. He also held several important government portfolios including, Minister for Social Security, Minister for Industry and Commerce and Minister for Customs.

David Goldie

Tasmania-born David Goldie was a member of New Zealand's Parliament and a popular and esteemed Mayor of Auckland City from 1898 to 1901. A devout Christian and firmly committed to the principles of temperance, he famously stood down from certain re-election in 1901 rather than give the required champagne toast to the Duke of Cornwall (who would be King George V).

Seymour Thorne George

Abraham Boardman

Abraham Boardman was mayor of Auckland for a brief period beginning in 1896. Died in 1897, having resigned the office due to ill health. Abraham previously served as headmaster at a notable church school in his native Bolton, England. Migrating to New Zealand he served as superintendent of the

Sir Ronald Macmillan Algie

Sir Ronald Macmillan Algie was a self-described "Tory in the old tradition." He served as New Zealand's Speaker of the House of Representatives for six years. Known as a formidable debater, he was nonetheless praised for his politeness and civility. Earlier in his career he was director of the conservative Freedom Association, and also served as Minister of Education,  Minister of Broadcasting and Minister for Science and Industrial Research. In 1953, Algie was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal and appointed Knight Bachelor in 1964.

Sir Frank Leon Aroha Götz (KCVO)

Sir Frank Leon Aroha Götz was a politician of the National Party, serving as the representative for Otahuhu from 1949. He was Minister for Internal Affairs and was knighted for his services to the Queen on her 1963 royal visit. Commonly referred to as "the pirate" for the black patch he wore over a missing eye, Sir Leon also served as the High Commissioner to Canada, where he distinguished himself in the Arctic Circle as a prolific hunter of bears.

Sir Thomas (Tom) Skinner

Skinner was President of the Federation of Labour (the umbrella organisation of New Zealand Trade Unions) in a period when the inalienable rightness of unionism went largely unchallenged and strikes were a habit rather than an exception. Skinner build a firm political base within the Union movement when he emerged from the 1951 waterfront dispute as a leader who could rebuild a credible union presence.

Sir Robert David Muldoon

Muldoon was the most controversial politician of his era. He saw service during World War II and trained as an accountant, famously taking his final examinations while in Italy. As a politician, he was an able debater with a quick tongue and a willingness to counter-punch that left his enemies wary. Muldoon managed to instinctively straddle what was then the political middle ground, midway between a social and moral conservatism on the right (anti-abortion and moral standards organisations were at their peak) and a more permissive, politically liberal, environmentally aware movement on his left.

Sir Edwin Mitchelson (KCMG)

Edwin Mitchelson was a politician who seemed to be associated with virtually any and every Board and Committee available. He was an M.P, and briefly was acting-Premier of New Zealand. Originally a carpenter, Edwin worked for a time for Dargaville and Company prior to founding his own shipbuilding business with his brothers.

Sir William Fox

William Fox arrived in New Zealand, newly married and already admitted to the Bar. He was a supporter of Wakefield’s New Zealand Company settlements and served for a time as one of its leaders. The Company sponsored migration from England and through colonial settlements aimed to replicate English Society, including a class-based hierarchy, on Maori land acquired for the purpose.

William Crush Daldy

Member of Parliament for Auckland City in the second Parliament; Cabinet Minister in the government of Sir William Fox (1856); secretary and agent of the Auckland Provincial Council; Chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board; an Auckland City Councillor; a founder and captain of the Auckland Fire Brigade;

Sir Edward Denis Blundell GCMG, GCVO, KBE, QSO

Sir Denis Blundell (as he was known) while perhaps best remembered as a former Governor General of New Zealand had been a distinguished member of the legal profession and diplomat before assuming this high profile but largely ceremonial role.

William Crowther

William Crowther was born in England in 1834 and as a youth was apprenticed as an iron worker. At the time of the Crimean War he and several other apprentices were told by their employer to go to Russia to fit some machinery, but afraid to go, they sailed for the Victorian gold fields in Australia. After working in various occupations in Melbourne, William Crowther arrived in Otago attracted by gold mining prospects, but he engaged in carrying stores to the goldfields.