- Edmund Hillary
- Mountain climber. First man to conquer Mt Everest with Nepalese
Sherpa Tensing Norgay.
- Ernest Rutherford
- Physicist. Famous for splitting the atom and pioneering nuclear
science, ironically New Zealand is a nuclear free zone.
- Richard Pearse
- First Man to 'Fly' a Mechanically Powered Aeroplane. His achievements
were remarkable in that, unlike the Wright Brothers who employed skilled
engineers and who later enjoyed the luxury of American Government sponsorship,
Pearse designed, financed, and built everything himself. Dating suggest
a first flight on 31st March, 1902. Other evidence also points to him flying
in the winter of 1903 - specifically on the 10'th of July, 1903, just a
few months before the Wrights' first flight. Apparently the plane 'landed'
on top of one of the many 12ft. high, mainly uncut, box-thorn or gorse hedges
surrounding the paddocks in the neighbourhood. He then left it there because
of a heavy fall of snow. Meteorological records for that time show that
snow fell on the 11'th of July 1903, but that there was no snow during any
of the years immediately before or after that date.
- John Britten
- Motorbike designer extrordinaire. He built a motor bike in his
backyard shed from scratch. Britten not only developed an entirely new fabrication
system using space age kevlar and carbon fibre, but designed the complete
engine, making the patterns for casting himself. The result was the fastest
motorbike in the world. In the Daytona Battle of the Twins, the Britten
team completely blitzed the opposition, including the cream of Italian and
Japanese factory machines.
- Alexander Aitken
- The Human Computer. He was one of the world's most brilliant mathematical
minds, able to multiply two 9-digit numbers together in his head and recite
the answer in 30 seconds, or render awkward fractions into decimals to 26
places in under five seconds. His extraordinary abilities were studied by
psychologists in Britain during the 1920s.
- Harold Williams
- Voice of the world. He is listed in the Guinness Book of Records
as the world's greatest linguist, said to have spoken over 58 languages
fluently. He was foreign editor of The Times, "the most brilliant foreign
correspondent" his generation had known. Friend of statesmen and companion
of writers HG Wells and Hugh Walpole.
- Robert Burchfield
- Dictionary Don. Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as "the greatest
living lexicographer", Dr Robert Burchfield is regarded as the pre-eminent
lexicographer and linguistic scholar of our age. As editor of the Oxford
English Dictionary and responsible for its revision, Burchfield has played
a crucial role in the study of the sources and development of the English
language.
- Nancy Wake -
The White Mouse. She was the Allies' most decorated servicewoman
of WWII, and the Gestapo's most wanted person. They code-named her 'The
White Mouse'. She led an army of 7,000 Maquis troops in guerrilla warfare
to sabotage the Nazis. Nancy Wake was born in Wellington in 1912.
- Keith Park
- Saviour of Britain. "If any one man won the Battle of Britain,
he did. I do not believe it is realised how much that one man, with his
leadership, his calm judgement and his skill, did to save, not only this
country, but the world." Lord Tedder - Chief of the Royal Air Force, February
1947.
- Katherine Mansfield
- Novelist. Famous for writing books in France. She revolutionised
the 20th Century English short story.
- Kate Sheppard
- Suffragist. The leader and main figurehead of the suffragist movement
in New Zealand, the first country in the world to grant universal adult
suffrage to men and women equally. Kate was a source of inspiration to suffragists,
both in New Zealand and throughout the world.
- Russell Crowe
- Actor. Movies include The Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. Now lives
in Australia.
- Sam Neil - Actor.
Movies include The Dish, Jurassic Park.
- Peter Jackson
- Film director. Films include King Kong and the 'Lord of the Rings'
trilogy. The Return of the King" set an Oscar record by winning all
11 awards for which it had been nominated, including best picture of the
year.
- Tim and Neil Finn
- Musicians. Famous for the bands, 'Split Enz' and 'Crowded House'.
- Kiri Te Kanawa - Opera singer. Highlights of her career include singing at Prince Charles and Diana's royal wedding.
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