The names of the NZers who have biographies and photos, as at June 2011, at Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB). It is the foremost reference work on the lives of people who shaped this country’s history and culture from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries. It includes more than 3000 biographies, written by specialists and produced to a high standard by a team of researchers and editors. The DNZB’s 500 biographies on Maori subjects are also available in te reo Maori, which – together with the te reo sections of Te Ara – forms the largest Maori-language publishing programme yet undertaken.
The DNZB was originally published in five print volumes between 1990 and 2000, covering the lives of people who came to prominence before 1960 and died before 1998. All the biographies were released on a stand-alone website in 2001, and relaunched as part of Te Ara in 2010. Since that time the Dictionary has been solely digital. Fifteen new biographies were launched in 2010–11 and a new batch of 25 biographies of women were published in 2018 to celebrate 125 years of women’s suffrage. New batches of entries have been published twice yearly since 2019. Go to their link above for recent additions


Abbot-Ayton ~ Baber-Bell ~ Bellamy-Bragge

Braithwaite-Buxton ~ Cabot-Chapman/Taylor

Chapple-Copeland ~ Corban-Cussen ~ Dacre-Dyson

Eady-Eyre ~ Fabish-Fyffe ~ Gage-Guthrie/Smith

Haast-Hayes ~ Hayward-Hodgson ~ Hofmann-Hyde

Ihaka-Ivey ~ Jack-Jury ~ Kaaro-Kynnersley

La Trobe-Lyttleton ~ Maaka-Mann ~ Mannering-McCormick

McCullough-Merton ~ Messenger-Myers ~ Nahe-Nutsey

O'Brien-Otway ~ Paewai-Peters ~ Petersen-Pyke

Quaife ~ Radcliffe-Rigg ~ Rikihana-Rymill

Salaman-Sladden ~ Slattery-Syme ~ Taglicht-Te Rauparaha

Te Rei Hanataua-Tyree ~ Ulrich-Uru ~ Vaile-Vosseler

Waaka-Wynyard ~ Yate-Yue ~ Zedlitz-Zotov

B
Braithwaite, John
1885?1916
Journalist, soldier, convicted mutineer

Braithwaite, William Garnett
1870?1937
Military leader

Brandon, Alfred de Bathe
1883?1974
Lawyer, military aviator

Branigan, St John
1823/1824??1873
Police commissioner

Brasch, Charles Orwell
1909?1973
Poet, editor, teacher, translator, lecturer

Brash, Thomas Cuddie
1874?1957
Dairy factory manager, dairy board administrator, Presbyterian layman

Brassington, William
1837-1841??1905
Stonemason, builder, sculptor

Brees, Samuel Charles
1809/1810??1865
Artist, surveyor, engineer

Brett, De Renzie James
1809?1889
Soldier, farmer, politician

Brett, Henry
1843?1927
Journalist, newspaper proprietor, publisher, writer, politician

Bridson, Gordon
1909?1972
Hardware merchant, swimmer, naval officer, farmer

Briggs, Margaret Jane
1892?1961
Show‑ring rider

Briggs, Mark
1884?1965
Labourer, auctioneer, pacifist, socialist, politician

Brind, William Darby
1794?1850
Master mariner, whaler

Broad, Charles
1828?1879
Goldfields administrator, magistrate

Broberg, Charles Robert
1870?1937
Policeman

Brodrick, Thomas Noel
1855?1931
Surveyor, public servant

Broham, Thomas
1840?1900
Police officer

Brooke, Evelyn Gertrude
1879?1962
Civilian and military nurse, matron

Brooke, John Balmain
1907?1992
Teacher, yacht designer and manufacturer, mechanical engineer, engineering administrator

Broome, William Henry
1873?1943
Clothier, tailor

Broughton, Rangiāhuta Alan Herewini Ruka
1940?1986
No Nga Rauru; he tohunga, he pirihi Mihinare, he pukenga whare wananga

Broughton, William James
1913?1990
Jockey

Broun, Thomas
1838?1919
Soldier, farmer, teacher, entomologist

Brown, Alexander
1830?1913
Marine engineer, foundry and shipping company manager

Brown, Alfred Nesbit
1803?1884
Missionary

Brown, Andrew Joseph Francis
1907?1986
Mechanic, entrepreneur, entertainment promoter, businessman, racehorse owner

Brown, Byron Paul
1866?1947
Storekeeper, businessman, community leader, broadcaster, entrepreneur, philanthropist

Brown, Charlotte
1795/1796??1855
Missionary, teacher

Brown, Gordon Alexander
1907?1982
Accountant, co-operative retail manager, businessman, rugby administrator, local politician

Brown, James
1819??1877
Engraver, caricaturist, drawing tutor

Brown, John Macmillan
1845?1935
University professor and administrator

Brown, John Vigor
1854?1942
Businessman, politician

Brown, Robert
1821-1824??1906
Bootmaker, botanist

Brown, Vernon Akitt
1905?1965
Architect, university lecturer

Brown, William
1809/1810??1898
Merchant, writer, newspaper proprietor, politician,
provincial superintendent

Browne, Harriet Louisa
1829?1906
Political hostess, community leader, letter-writer

Browne, Thomas Robert Gore
1807?1887
Soldier, colonial governor

Bruce, Alexander
1838/1839??1917
Engineer, trade unionist, baker, goldminer, local politician

Bruce, David
1824?1911
Presbyterian minister, journalist

Brunner, Thomas
1821??1874
Surveyor, explorer

Bryce, John
1833?1913
Farmer, soldier, politician

Brydone, Thomas
1837?1904
Land company manager, farm manager, freezing industry developer

Buchanan, John
1819?1898
Draughtsman, botanist, artist

Buchanan, Walter Clarke
1838?1924
Stock dealer, storekeeper, runholder, politician

Buck, Peter Henry
1877??1951
No Ngati Mutunga; he takuta, he ngarahu taua, he kaiwhakahaere hauora, he kaitorangapū, he tohunga tikanga tangata, he tumuaki whare taonga

Buckingham, George
1810???
Actor, theatre owner, entertainer

Buckingham, Rosetta
1843/1844??1864
Actor, singer, entertainer

Buckland, Alfred
1825?1903
Landowner, auctioneer, farmer, pastoralist, businessman

Buckland, Jessie Lillian
1878?1939
Photographer

Buckley, Patrick Alphonsus
1840/1841??1896
Lawyer, politician, judge

Buckman, Rosina
1881?1948
Opera singer and teacher

Buddle, Thomas
1812?1883
Missionary, Methodist leader

Buddo, David
1853?1937
Engineer, farmer, politician

Buick, Thomas Lindsay
1865?1938
Politician, journalist, historian

Buller, Walter Lawry
1838?1906
Interpreter, magistrate, ornithologist, lawyer

Bullock, Margaret
1845?1903
Journalist, writer, feminist, social reformer

Bulstrode, Emily Mary
1867?1959
School principal, missioner

Bulstrode, Jane Helena
1862?1946
School principal, missioner

Burdon, Randal Mathews
1896?1965
Soldier, sheepfarmer, historian

Burgess, Georgina Jane
1836-1841??1904
Hotel-keeper, midwife, postmistress

Burgess, Richard
1829?1866
Criminal, murderer

Burgin, Annie Mona
1903?1985
Girl Guide and Peace Scout leader, teacher, headmistress

Burling, Henry
1801?1911
Mail carrier, farmer

Burn, Margaret Gordon
1825?1918
Teacher, school principal

Burn, William Wallace Allison
1891?1915
Military aviator

Burnand, John Henry Davis
1850?1919
Engineer, sawmiller

Burnard, Norah Telford
1902?1979
School dental supervisor, journal editor

Burns, Barnet
1806/1807???
Trader, Pakeha-Maori, showman, lecturer

Burns, Charles Ritchie
1898?1985
Doctor, medical administrator

Burns, Joseph
1805/1806??1848
Murderer

Burns, Malcolm McRae
1910?1986
Agricultural scientist, university lecturer and administrator

Burns, Thomas
1796??1871
Presbyterian minister, coloniser, community leader

Burns, Violet Alberta Jessie
1893?1972
Journalist, political activist

Burrows, James Thomas
1904?1991
Teacher, sportsman and administrator, military leader

Burt, Alexander
1840?1920
Plumber, metalworker, engineer

Burt, Gordon Onslow Hilbury
1893?1968
Photographer

Burt, Thomas
1842??1884
Plumber, metalworker, engineer

Burton, Alfred Henry
1833-1835??1914
Photographer, elocutionist

Burton, Ormond Edward
1893?1974
Teacher, soldier, war historian, pacifist, Methodist clergyman, writer

Burton, William John
1908?1985
Lithographic draughtsman, rifleman, archer

Bury, Maxwell
1825?1912
Engineer, architect

Busby, James
1802?1871
Viticulturalist, British Resident, farmer, politician, newspaper editor

Bush, Alice Mary
1914?1974
Doctor, paediatrician, family planning activist

Bush, Walter Ernest
1875?1950
Civil engineer

Butchers, Arthur Gordon
1885?1960
Principal, educationalist, historian

Butler, George Edmund
1872?1936
Artist, war artist

Butler, Grace Ellen
1886?1962
Artist

Butler, Joseph
1862?1934
Sawmiller, timber merchant

Butler, Margaret Mary
1883?1947
Sculptor

Butler, Peter Michael
1901?1995
Seaman, trade unionist, communist, local politician

Butler, Robert
1844-1851??1905
Criminal, murderer

Butler, Samuel
1835?1902
Explorer, pastoralist, writer, artist, musician

Butler, William James
1858?1932
Sawmiller, timber merchant

Button, Isabel
1863?1921
Horse driver and trainer, equestrian

Buxton, Alfred William
1872?1950
Landscape gardener, nurseryman

Buxton, Mary Ann
1795/1796??1888
Teacher, businesswoman