Marsh, Ngaio

The New Zealand author Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh was born in Merivale, Christchurch. Her father was an immigrant English bank manager and her mother was born in New Zealand, although her family too originally came from England. Ngaio is the Maori word for "reflection on water". A somewhat eccentric and confused man, Marsh's father did not report his daughter's birth to the authorities until 1900, giving the year of birth as 1899. Marsh later had to spend a considerable amount of time and effort correcting it, and some sources still quote the wrong date of birth.