Wikipedia:Notability (New Zealand people)

Notability on Wikipedia is an inclusion criterion based on the encyclopedic suitability of an article topic, and notability of New Zealand people expands on Wikipedia:Notability (people) in areas specific to New Zealanders. The person who is the topic of a biographical article should be "worthy of notice" – that is, "significant, interesting, or unusual enough to deserve attention or to be recorded" within Wikipedia as a written account of that person's life. "Notable" in the sense of being "famous" or "popular", whilst not irrelevant, is secondary. Being included in some New Zealand reference books generally establishes notability, whilst inclusion in others is, by itself, insufficient. Inclusion in the current Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (DNZB), with a very limited number of exceptions, establishes notability.

Pākehā writing on Māori and Māori writing on Pākehā

Throughout the colonial period, there was substantial vested interests in the portrayal of the Māori people by European interests, which colours much of the available coverage. Any portrayal of New Zealand history or historical persons prior to the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 needs to be treated with a huge amount of caution as it is unlikely to be a WP:reliable source for anything but the most basic of facts or the point of view of the European authorities at the time. There is also body of Maori language material which is similarly challenged. There is a great body of recently published New Zealand history which is to be preferred.

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand was published in six volumes between 1897 and 1908. Being vanity press (articles were largely paid for by their subjects), inclusion in one of the volumes does not establish notability. Many articles do not include core biographical details (dates and places of birth; adequate distinctions between father and son; etc), but a good source of photos for those included.

Who's Who in New Zealand

The Who's Who in New Zealand collection of biographies was first published in 1908, and the latest version is from 1991:

• Scholefield, Guy; Schwabe, Emil, eds. (1908). Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific (1st ed.). Wellington: Gordon & Gotch.
• Scholefield, Guy (1924). Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific, 1925 (2nd ed.). Masterton.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Scholefield, Guy (1932). Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific, 1932 (3rd ed.). Wellington.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Scholefield, Guy (1941). Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific, 1941 (4th ed.). Masterton.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Scholefield, Guy (1951). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1951 (5th ed.). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed.
• Simpson, Frank A. (1956). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1956 (6th ed.). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed.
• Petersen, George Conrad (1961). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1961 (7th ed.). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed.
• Petersen, George Conrad (1964). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1964 (8th ed.). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed.
• Petersen, George Conrad (1968). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1968 (9th ed.). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed.
• Petersen, George Conrad (1971). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1971 (10th ed.). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed.
• Traue, James Edward, ed. (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1978 (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed Publishing.
• Lambert, Max; Traue, James Edward; Taylor, Alister, eds. (1991). Who's Who in New Zealand, 1991 (12th ed.). Auckland: Octopus.

Inclusion in these works does not automatically grant notability, but they are excellent sources for key biographical details.

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (1940)

Scholefield, the same person who instigated the Who's Who in New Zealand collection of biographies, was the primary editor of the two 1940 volumes of the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. For the two volumes, he received an honorarium from the government of ₤300. The 1940 edition was part of a series a state-funded publications celebrating the country's centenary.

In the foreword, Scholefield described the criteria for inclusion as follows:

Neither birth nor wealth in itself is a valid qualification. Significance in our national history, from whatever standpoint, is the sole consideration.

Some biographies are rather brief and sometimes lack core biographical information (for example, see Henry Adams on page 5 or William Allen on page 11), and they are generally of persons who were prominent in their province only. Scholefield justifies their inclusion as follows:

Many of the personalities included in the Dictionary may appear insignificant, particularly those whose activities were confined to the halls of some of the provincial councils... Yet even these men were the leaders in their day and generation, chosen by their fellow men ... to help to fashion the future of the nation.

Scholefield sometimes added a short biography of a person's child to their entry. For example, William Shepherd Allen's sons William Allen and Stephen Shepherd Allen are also listed, and between them, only nine lines of text are devoted to them (page 11). Another example is John Barnicoat, whose daughter Constance Barnicoat also receives a brief bio (page 49).

There is consensus that inclusion in the 1940 dictionary as a main entry establishes notability. It is not entirely clear whether all child entries are also notable, but there is a leaning towards those entries meeting the notability threshold, too.

An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand was an official encyclopedia about New Zealand, published by the Government of New Zealand in 1966. The editor was Dr Alexander Hare McLintock, the parliamentary historian, who was assisted by two others. The encyclopedia included articles written by 359 other authors. It contained over 1,800 general articles and 900 biographies. The encyclopaedia was more representative of minorities than previous New Zealand reference works. A number of women were present as representing firsts, including for example Kate Edger.

There is consensus that inclusion in the 1966 encyclopedia establishes notability.

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (current)

Work on the current version of the DNZB was started in 1983 under the editorship of W. H. Oliver. The first volume covered the period 1769–1869 and was published in 1990. The four subsequent volumes were all edited by Claudia Orange, and they were published in 1993 (1879–1900), 1996 (1901–1920), 1998 (1920–1940), and 2000 (1941–1960).

These later volumes made a conscious effort to move away from the male and Pākehā-dominated coverage of early works to a move representative view of New Zealand. Women who had done well in male-dominated fields were included, as were Māori, a range of ordinary people and criminals. The DNZB was put online in February 2002.

The print version contained over 3,000 biographies, and many more have since been added to the online version. There is consensus that inclusion in the current version of the DNZB establishes notability with the exception of a very small number of representative entries (maybe a dozen biographies). There is an intention of listing all these representative entries within the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography article.

Honorary Doctorates

The University of New Zealand and its successors award a variety of honorary higher degrees. These awards are career-capping awards to individuals who the institutions believe represent the best of what the institutions stand for; they are awarded amid a flurry of publicity in the mainstream press.

• List of Honorary Doctors of the University of New Zealand (1931–1961)
• List of Honorary Doctors of the University of Waikato (1967–present)
• List of Honorary Doctors of Victoria University of Wellington (1963–present)
• List of Honorary Doctors of Lincoln University (New Zealand)‎ (1993–present)
• List of Honorary Doctors of the University of Canterbury‎ (1962–present)
• List of Honorary Doctors of Massey University
• List of Honorary Doctors of the University of Otago‎
• List of Honorary Doctors of the University of Auckland

There is consensus that having received an honorary doctorate from a New Zealand university establishes notability.

See also

• WikiProject Missing encyclopedic articles: DNZB

References

• Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 10 July 2014.