Lists of New Zealanders

This is a list of well-known people associated with New Zealand.

Art

Architecture

William (Bill) Alington - 20th C architect
Ian Athfield - architect
Edward Bartley - 19th C architect
Vernon Brown - 20th C architect
James Walter Chapman-Taylor- 20th C architect
Frederick de Jersey Clere (1856 - 1952)
John Currie - 19th C architect
Matthew Henderson - 19th C architect
Robert Lawson
Isaac Luck - 19th C architect
Jack Manning - 19th Century architect
William Mason - 19th Century architect
John Mitchell - 19th Century architect
Benjamin Mountfort - 19th Century architect
Frederick Newman - 20th Century architect
Francis Petre - 19th Century architect
Edward Rumsey - 19th Century architect
Frederick Thatcher - 19th Century architect
George Troup - 20th C architect & engineer
Henry Wade - 19th Century architect
Miles Warren 20th Century architect
John Scott 20th Century architect

Commerce

Samuel Brown 1845-1909, Wellington merchant, mayor
Alfred Buckland 1825-1903, landowner, auctioneer, farmer, businessman
Sir John Logan Campbell 1817-1912, merchant, local politician, businessman, philanthropist, the Father of Auckland
George Court retailer, businessman, philanthropist
John Court 1846-1933 retailer, businessman, city councillor, philanthropist
Thomas Wong Doo 1903-1963, merchant, interpreter, community leader
Lewis Alfred Eady 1891-1965, music retailer, company director, benefactor
Josiah Clifton Firth 1826-1897, Flourmiller, politician, pastoralist, entrepreneur
Gregory Fortuin - businessman and Race Relations Conciliator (2001-2)
Sir Jack Harris - manufacturer, of Bing Harris
Murray Haszard - entrepreneur and businessman
Joseph Hatch 1837-1928, Invercargill businessman, "harvester" of penguins
Keith Wilson Hay 1917-1997, builder, businessman, local politician, morals campaigner
Dick Hubbard - founder of Hubbards Foods and Auckland mayor (2004-2007)
Sir Robert Jones, property tycoon, founder of New Zealand Party.
Henry Joseph Kelliher 1896-1991, businessman, publisher, art patron, credit reformer
Robert Laidlaw - retailer, founder of FTC, the Farmers Trading Company
David Levene - retailer
Thomson Wilson Leys 1850-1924, journalist, editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist
Sir John Luke 1858-1931, businessman, politician
Sir Roy McKenzie 1922-2007, retailer, philanthropist
Sir James Mills 1847-1936, founded the Union (shipping) Company
Sir Arthur Myers 1867-1926. businessman, politician, philanthropist
Douglas Myers - businessman, brewer
Sam Morgan - businessman, founder of Trade Me
David Nathan 1816-1886, merchant, auctioneer, shipping agent, community leader
Joseph Nathan 1835-1912, manufacturer, founded Joseph Nathan & Co. and Glaxo
Sir Charles Norwood 1871-1966, businessman, philanthropist
John Plimmer 1812-1905, businessman, the Father of Wellington
Thomas Russell 1830-1904, lawyer, businessman, politician, financier, land speculator
Marianne Smith 1851-1938, founder of Smith and Caughey's Businesswoman, community worker, philanthropist
Sir Angus Tait 1919-2007, businessman and electronics innovator
Stephen Tindall, ONZM - retailer, founder of The Warehouse
Edward Earle Vaile 1869-1956, Real estate agent, farmer, philanthropist
Eric Watson - businessman
James Williamson 1814-1888, merchant, landowner, financier, speculator
Jack Yan - publisher, designer and businessman (born in Hong Kong)

Craft, Design & Fashion

Frank Carpay - ceramicist
Len Castle - ceramicist
Garth Chester - furniture designer
Trelise Cooper - fashion designer
Bronwynne Cornish - ceramicist
John Crichton - interior designer
Elisabeth Findlay - fashion designer
Diana Firth - furniture designer
Mary Hardwick-Smith - ceramicist
Humphrey Ikin - furniture designer
Olive Jones - ceramicist
Elizabeth Lissaman - ceramicist
Douglas Lloyd Jenkins - Design Historian
William Mason - wallpaper designer
Liz Mitchell - fashion designer
Keith Murray - ceramicist
Patricia Perrin - ceramicist
Stephane Rondel - furniture designer
Margarita Robertson - fashion designer
Anton Seuffert - 19th C furniture maker
Ernest Shufflebottom - ceramicist
May Smith - fabric designer
Matthew von Sturmer - furniture designer and jeweller
Kate Sylvester - fashion designer
Rebecca Taylor - fashion designer (moved to USA)
Dorothy Thorpe - ceramicist
Warren Tippett - ceramicist
Karen Walker - fashion designer
Katy Wallace - furniture Designer

Film, Radio, Television, Theatre

Andrew Adamson - film director
Peter Arnett - TV journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
Alison Bell – TV journalist and former anchorwoman
Zoe Bell – Stuntwoman and actress
Judy Bailey - former TV news presenter
Martin Campbell - film director
John Campbell
Jane Campion - film director
Keisha Castle-Hughes - actress (born in Australia, moved to New Zealand at age 4)
John Clarke - actor, comedian (moved to Australia)
Lana Coc-Kroft - host, beauty queen
Ray Columbus
Russell Crowe - actor (moved to Australia at age 4 moved back at age 14)
Cliff Curtis - actor
Max Cryer - presenter, singer, writer
Aunt Daisy - radio broadcaster
Alan Dale - actor
Angela D'Audney
Tammy Davis actor
Roger Donaldson - director (born in Australia)
Roger Hall - playwright and scriptwriter
Rudall Hayward - pioneer film maker
Mark Hewlett - radio and television personality (born in Zimbabwe)
Martin Henderson - actor
Paul Holmes - radio and television presenter
Kim Hill
Peter Jackson - film director
Rowena Jackson - ballerina
Billy T. James - comedian, actor
Raybon Kan - columnist, comedian
Phil Keoghan - TV presenter
Peter Land - West End/Broadway Actor/Singer
Lucy Lawless - actress (Xena: Warrior Princess)
Bruno Lawrence - actor and musician with band Blerta (born in England)
Richard Long - Former TVNZ newsreader
Zane Lowe - BBC Radio One DJ (Moved to UK)
Melanie Lynskey - Hollywood actress
Anita McNaught - TVNZ and BBC World newsreader (born in England)
Stewart Main - Film Director
Robyn Malcolm actress
Ngaio Marsh - author and theatrical director
Temuera Morrison - actor
Ian Mune - actor, director, screenwriter
Geoff Murphy - director
Andrew Niccol - film director, screenwriter
Michael Parmenter - dancer
Brian Perkins - BBC Radio Four newsreader and announcer
Sam Neill - actor (born in Northern Ireland, raised in New Zealand)
Anna Paquin - actress (born in Canada, raised in New Zealand)
Antonia Prebble actress
Lew Prime
Grant Roa actor
Alison Routledge actress
Jessica Lee Rose - notable Youtube user
Caleb Ross - actor
Peter Sinclair - television presenter
Ewen Solon, actor
Chris Spence, award winning journalist
Lee Tamahori - film director
Hilary Timmins - television presenter
Selwyn Toogood - television and radio presenter
Karl Urban - actor
Vincent Ward, film director
Davina Whitehouse, actress (born UK)
Annie Whittle, actress and singer
Jeremy Wells host of Eating Media Lunch
Peter Wells - author & film director
Douglas Wright - dancer

Inventors

Godfrey Bowen - developer of an improved sheep-shearing technique
John Britten - designer of the Britten motorcycle
Morton W. Coutts - invented the revolutionary continuous fermentation method of brewing
A J Hackett - Bungy creator
Bill Hamilton - developed the modern jetboat
Colin Murdoch - inventor of the disposable syringe
Richard Pearse - outstanding early aviator/inventor
Alan Pritchard - pioneer of aerial topdressing

Literary

See: New Zealand literature

Military and Police

Baron Freyberg of Wellington - Governor-General of New Zealand and Victoria Cross winner
Sir Arthur Coningham - RAF Bomber Command
Sir Roderick Carr - RAF Bomber Command and Chief of the Indian Air Force
Sir William Gentry - Chief of Staff of New Zealand services
Stewart Graeme Guthrie - police sergeant posthumously awarded the George Cross
Hone Heke - Ngapuhi tribal chief
Hongi Hika - first military leader of the Musket Wars
Alfred Hulme - awarded the Victoria Cross
Edgar James "Cobber" Kain - RAF fighter ace (first pilot to win a DFC in WW II)
Sir Keith Park- RAF sector commander during the Battle of Britain
Leonard Trent - World War II pilot, Victoria Cross recipient.
Lloyd Alan Trigg - World War II pilot, (only person awarded the VC solely on recommendation of the enemy)
Charles Upham - World War II soldier (one of three awarded the Victoria Cross twice)
Nancy Wake - the most decorated servicewoman of World War II
James Allen Ward - VC winning sergeant pilot of 75 Squadron RNZAF.

Music

Politics

Religion

Lloyd Geering - theologian
Paul Reeves - Archbishop and Governor-General
Bishop Selwyn - first Anglican Primate

Science & Medicine

Alexander Aitken - mathematician/statistician, writer, mental calculator, musician
Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes - heart surgeon
Dr John Cade - Demonstrated usefulness of lithium salts in treating bipolar disorder
Leslie Comrie - computer pioneer
G. H. Cunningham - "father" of New Zealand mycology
Joan Dingley - mycologist
Doug Dye - plant bacteriologist
Charles Gifford - teacher and very successful promoter of astronomy
Sir Harold Gillies - pioneering plastic surgeon
Sir Fred Hollows - eye surgeon
Vaughan Jones - mathematician, awarded Fields Medal
Edward Kidson - eminent New Zealand scientist, latterly Director of Meteorological Services in New Zealand
Sir Archie McIndoe - pioneer plastic surgeon
Alan G MacDiarmid - co-winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Frank Newhook - plant pathologist
William Pickering, central figure and pioneer of NASA space exploration
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson - scientist and winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Robert Webster - discovered the link between human flu and bird flu
Maurice Wilkins - shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his part in elucidating the structure of DNA

Sports

Chris Amon - racing driver
Anne Audain - runner
Todd Blackadder - rugby player
Sir Peter Blake - yachtsman
Possum Bourne - rally driver
Trent Bray - world champion swimmer
Zinzan Brooke- rugby player
Pero Cameron - basketball player
Michael Campbell - golfer
Hamish Carter - triathlete
Sir Bob Charles - champion golfer
Don Clarke - rugby player
Christian Cullen - rugby player
Russell Coutts - yachtsman (moved to Switzerland)
Rod Dixon - runner
Scott Dixon - racing driver
Caroline Evers-Swindell, champion rower
Georgina Evers-Swindell, champion rower
Ian Ferguson - kayaker
Sean Fitzpatrick - rugby player
Bob Fitzsimmons - world boxing heavyweight champion (born in UK, raised in NZ)
Tom Fyfe - mountaineer and mountain guide
Sir Richard Hadlee - cricketer
Murray Halberg - runner
Sir Edmund Hillary - mountaineer
Doug Howlett - rugby player
Denny Hulme - world champion racing driver
Ian Jones- rugby player
Brian Lochore - rugby player
Danyon Loader - double olympic champion swimmer
Jonah Lomu - rugby player
Jack Lovelock - runner
Arthur Lydiard - running coach
Justin Marshall - rugby player
Simon Maling - rugby player
Ivan Mauger - six time Motorcycle speedway world champion
Sean Marks - basketball player
Precious McKenzie - weightlifter (born in South Africa)
Bruce McLaren - racing driver
Colin Meads - rugby player
Stan Meads - rugby player; younger brother of Colin
Andrew Mehrtens - rugby player (born in South Africa)
Lorraine Moller - runner, won Boston Marathon
Dick Quax - runner
Taine Randell - rugby player
Melodie Robinson - rugby player Black Ferns, sports journalist, fmr Miss Canterbury
Allison Roe - runner, won Boston and New York City Marathons 1981
Joe Rokocoko - rugby player (born in Fiji)
Wynton Rufer - soccer player, voted Oceania Player of the Century
Peter Snell - runner
Wayne Shelford - rugby player
Carlos Spencer - rugby player
Mark Todd - horseman
Irene Van Dyk - netball player (born in South Africa)
John Walker - runner
Michael Walker - jockey
Adine Wilson - netball player(current captain)
Jeff Wilson - rugby and cricket player
Tony Wilding - tennis player
Jonathan Winter - world champion swimmer
Sarah Ulmer - cyclist
Tana Umaga - rugby player

Other

Bill Andersen - trade unionist
Rewi Alley - friend of China
Jean Batten - aviator
Kylie Bax - supermodel
Thomas Bracken - author of - God Defend New Zealand- and first to publish the phrase - God's Own Country
Ian Brackenbury Channell - The Wizard of Christchurch and of New Zealand (born in England)
Teresa Cormack - young murder victim
Nicola Brockie - magazine editor
Russell Brown - journalist, blogger
Graeme Cairns - performer, musician, and politician
Charlotte Cleverley-Bisman, ill baby who made news headlines worldwide
Derek Freeman, anthropologist
Eve van Grafhorst - AIDS patient and activist (born in Australia)
Ben (the Blanket Man) Hana - Wellington character
Hone Heke - Māori leader
Rachel Hunter - supermodel
Diamond Jenness - anthropologist
Marty Johnstone - Mr Asia
Pat Kelly - trade unionist
Michael King - historian
Te Kooti - Māori leader
Peter Mahon - lawyer
John Minto - activist
Burt Munro - speed record breaker
Sir Keith Sinclair - Historian
Kate Sheppard - suffragist
Frank Worsley - Antarctic explorer and mariner
Austin Leonard Walsh 1881-1951, Engineer, aviation administrator
Vivian Claude Walsh 1888-1950, Engineer, aviator

Fictional New Zealanders

Alex - Unbelievably overachieving schoolgirl hero of Tessa Duder's novels
Blondini gang - non existent criminals from Goodbye Pork Pie
Madge Allsop - bridesmaid and companion of Dame Edna Everage and supposedly a New Zealander from Palmerston North
Dr Ropata - You're not in Guatemala now, soap opera cliché from Shortland Street
the Dog - cartoon animal
Fred Dagg - fictional farmer and father of seven Trevs
Wal Footrot - cartoon farmer/owner of Footrot Flats and the Dog
Mazer Rackham- half Maori New Zealander, defeated the invading Bugger fleet in the Second Invasion in Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
Vale and Valea - cartoon schoolboys from Brotown

Other lists

Governor-General of New Zealand (for a list of Governors-General)
Prime Minister of New Zealand (for a list of PMs)
Culture of New Zealand (for a list of iconic characters)
New Zealand cinema (for a list of related people)
New Zealand literature (for a list of New Zealand writers)
List of people by nationality

References

The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

External links

NZEdge Heroes - Contains the biographies of many famous New Zealanders