Macfarlane, James Chicago
Mackay, Alice
Manning, John Katterns
Mansfield, Ernest
Marten, William Benjamin
Martin, Edward Ralph
May, James Thompson
McComish, James
McGlashan, John
McKee and Gamble
McKenna, James
McKinnon Bain, Donald
McLean, Alice
McNeill, John
McNeill, Robert
Medley, Adela Mary Constance
Meldrum, William Fowlie
Milner, John Joseph
Morison, Jane
Morley, Carmini
Morris, Wilhelm
Moss, Eric Rofe
Murray-Gibbs, Cuthbert
Neill, Maria
Neuzerling, William
Noall, Alexis Ashcroft
Norberg, Andrew John
Macfarlane, James Chicago
Surveyor and civil engineer, composer
Born: 1859, Chicago, U. S. A.
Died: 1945, Hokitika
Active in New Zealand: 1864-1945
Macfarlane’s father, Duncan Macfarlane, was a Scotsman who followed the gold trails to the U.S.A. and Australia before settling in New Zealand in 1864. James Macfarlane also lived in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island and outside his professional work as a surveyor was a keen sportsman. He published one piano piece but does not appear to have been particularly involved with music-making in Hokitika.
Compositions
Ida waltz. (Greymouth: West Coast Times, 1884)
Other resources
Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough and Westland provincial districts. 1906. p. 509. (photo source)
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Mackay, Alice – see Rowley, Alice
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Manning, John Katterns
Teacher, organist and choirmaster, composer
Born: 1854
Died: Whanganui, 1909
Active in New Zealand:
A teacher at Wanganui Collegiate for some years from 1885, J. Katterns Manning was organist at Christ Church and also St Paul’s , Whanganui. He was for a time conductor of the Wanganui Liedertafel and two of his songs were published. His musical setting of a Jubilee Ode written for the Wanganui Jubilee Exhibition was particularly harshly reviewed by one reviewer in the local paper.
Compositions
All hail to Britannia’s greatest queen. (Whanganui: Willis, 1887)
Jubilee Ode. (Unpublished, 1887)
Colonial patriots. (Whanganui: Willis, 1900)
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Mansfield, Ernest
Mining prospector, journalist, banjo player, composer
Born: 1862, London, Great Britain
Died: 1924, England
Active in New Zealand: 1878 – 1897
Ernest Mansfield’s one published song praises the benefits of the newly popular activity of cycling. He was a journalist for the Wanganui Chronicle and gave banjo lessons. He left Whanganui to pursue various mining expeditions including some in the far north of Norway.
Compositions
The wheel’s the life for me. (1892)
Resources
Barr, Susan. Gold – or I’m a Dutchamn! Ernest Mansfield 1861-1924. (Bergen: Fagbokforlaget, 2012)
EN
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Marten, William Benjamin
Methodist minister, composer
Born: 1847, Sussex, England
Died: 1907, Petone
Active in New Zealand: 186-? -1907
Marten ministered in a number of locations, mostly in the South Island. He had a long- standing interest in music and gave lectures in Timaru on Church music (1889) and the Weslyan Service of Song. A concert at the Petone Weslyan Church in December 1900 consisted of 16 works written by Marten. His anthem On wings of faith was written in the 1890s but not published until after his death.
Compositions
On wings of faith. (London: Music Journal Office, 1912?)
Resources
Alexander Turnbull Library. fMS-Papers-6123
Bassett, E. 1872-1972 A record of 100 years of Methodist witness in the township and district of Wakefield. (photo source).
EN
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Martin, Edward Ralph
Bass singer, guitarist, music teacher, composer, miner
Born: 1880?, USA
Died: 1961, New Zealand.
Active in New Zealand: 1910-1961
“Professor” E. R. Martin described his ethnicity as a mixture of native American and black American. He also claimed that his early education was in Edinburgh after which he went to the USA and then joined Fisk Jubilee Singers for their 1910 tour. He remained in New Zealand and taught music as well as touring widely with a number of different companies. He lived in in various parts of the country teaching music, piano tuning and repairing and had an unsuccessful foray into mining.
Compositions
Springtime melodies. (Napier: Venables, 190?)
As the Avon flows on through the meadow (Wellington: 191-?)
Be loyal to your king : an Englishman’s lesson to his son (Wanganui: A. D. Willis, 1914)
While I’m with you (Wellington: W. G. Williams, 1914)
For liberty, or, wait till the war is over. (Wellington: 1915)
The British capture of Jerusalem (Christchurch: Marriner, 1918)
When we get back to New Zealand (Wellington: 1918)
March song: a salute to General Birdwood. (Wellington: C M Banks, 1920)
A song of spring in a New Zealand forest : centennial concert waltz (Wellington: 1940?)
By the willow tree : Centennial song souvenir (Wellington: John Thomas Hungerford, 1950)
Resources
Hart, Philip. Black Americans and Te Aroha Mining. (Hamilton: University of Waikato, 2017). Te Aroha Mining District Working Papers, No. 131, p34-44.
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May, James Thompson
Organist, teacher, composer
Born: c1803, Belfast, Ireland
Died: 1886, 5 November, Napier
Active in New Zealand: 1865-1886
James T. May was a pupil of Kalkbreuner and Moschelles and the organist at St Anne’s Church, Belfast from 1848. In 1862 he left for Australia where he went to Melbourne and then Bendigo. He first advertised as a teacher (professor of music) in Dunedin in 1865. While in Dunedin he had several compositions published, both in New Zealand and in London. In 1872 he moved to Napier where he continued to teach.
Compositions
Tui’s Song. (1870)
Otago Polka. (Dunedin: Begg & Co; London: Cocks & Co, 1870)
Forty Wines. (1872, unpublished)
The World is My Home. ( England: 1872)
I’ll Think on Thee. (England: 1872)
The Southern Cross (Dunedin: Begg & Co; London: Cocks & Co,1872)
Ianthe. (London: Cocks & Co, 1872)
The Mountain Stream Caprice. (Dunedin: C. Begg & Co; London: Weekes & Co, 1881)
Les Brilliantes. (Dunedin: C. Begg & Co, London: Weekes & Co,1882)
Serenata for the Pianoforte. (London: Weekes & Co, 1882)
Zealandia (Maori Land). (Dunedin: C. Begg & Co; London: Weekes & Co, 1882)
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McComish, James
Bandmaster, cornet player, composer.
Born: 1836, Northern Ireland
Died: 1894, Auckland.
Active in New Zealand: 1861-1894
A veteran of the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny, Band Sergeant McComish arrived with the 57th Regiment and served in the New Zealand land wars in New Plymouth from 1861 to 1864. He then retired from the army but joined the Taranaki mounted forces as a trumpeter until they were disbanded. In 1869 he relocated to Auckland where he was bandmaster of the Hobson Volunteer Rifle Corp (later Auckland Rifle Volunteers), part of the choir of St Benedict’s Church, was resident caretaker at the Auckland Choral Society Hall , and a member of the orchestra of the Auckland Opera House. He died as a result of a fall when descending the orchestral stage after a performance.
Compositions
The harvest: polka mazurka. (New Plymouth: Unpublished, 1867)
Swiss air, with variations. (Auckland: Unpublished, 1869)
Galatea: galop. (Auckland: Unpublished, 1871)
‘Tis hard to give the hand: march. (Auckland: Unpublished, 1871)
Treasures of home. (Auckland: Unpublished, 1871)
Silver threads. No. 1 of the Morgan waltzes. (New Plymouth: Budget, 1882)
Whip-poor-will. No.2 of the Morgan waltzes. (New Plymouth: Budget, 1882)
I love thee still. No. 3 of the Morgan waltzes. (New Plymouth: Budget, 1882)
EN
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McGlashan, John
Violinist, music teacher, band leader and conductor, composer
Born: 1847 (?), Elgin, Scotland
Died: 1917, Wellington
Active in New Zealand: 1885-1917
Pseudonyms used
Frank Leward
John McGlashan was prominant in establishing Caledonian concerts in Wellington and his compositions and poetry had strong Scottish themes. He led his own band, and also at times conducted the Scottish Society orchestra, the Wellington Masonic orchestra and the Wellington Working Men’s Club and Literary Institute orchestra.
Compositions
New Zealand anthem: Onward! New Zealand . (Wellington: Bock and Cousins, 1887)
Ken ye the glen. (London: Joseph Williams, 1888)
At the wheel. (As Frank Leward). (London: Beale, 1896)
The banner of Scotland. (?, 1898)
The lad that comes at e’en. (Wellington: McKee, 1898)
Resources
Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District, p. 443 (photo source)
EN
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McKee and Gamble
Printers and publishers
Active: Wellington, 1891-1903
McKee and Gamble was formed in 1891 on Lambton Quay, Wellington. They covered a wide gamut of printing and publishing. They later moved to Customhouse Quay and the partnership was dissolved in 1897, McKee continuing the printing business. The firm has been traced to have been responsible for printing twenty-four New Zealand music compositions between 1895 and 1902, and they may well have been responsible for more. During the 1890s they were reported as including on their staff an “expert draughtman who was also a music-composer of note”. This may go some way to explaining the high quality of some of their music printing. A fire destroyed the printing plant in 1903.
Resources
Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District, p. 733-737
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McKenna, James
Coal miner, composer
Born: 1846?
Died: 1911, Runanga, West Coast
Little is known of coal miner James McKenna and his musical interests. Success to the men of the coast was described as the first song to be written, composed and lithographed on the West Coast (West Coast Times, 31 December 1885, p2).
Compositions
Put on the break. (Melbourne?, 1884)
Success to the men of the coast. (?, 1885)
EN
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McKinnon Bain, Donald
Music retailer, band leader, pianist, brass band administrator, composer
Born: 1865, Glasgow, Scotland
Died: 1909, New Plymouth
Active in New Zealand: 1894-1909
After initially working in the insurance industry on his arrival in New Zealand, McKinnon Bain settled in New Plymouth where he became manager of the Colonial Piano and Organ Import Company. He established his own dance band which appeared frequently at local gatherings. In 1904 he opened McKinnon Bain’s Music Warehouse. After managing the local agency for the British and Continental Piano Company he moved to Nelson in 1907 as a hotel manager. He returned to Taranaki in 1908.
McKinnon Bain was also active supporting the Brass Band movement, being a Vice-President of the North Island Brass Band Association and manager of the New Zealand Band tour of England in 1903.
Compositions
Exhibition Waltz (1895, although reportedly earlier performed at the Edinburgh Exhibition)
Scottish fantasia (1896)
Cyclist Mazurka (New Plymouth, 1899)
EN
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McLean, Alice – see Rowley, Alice
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McNeill, John
Piano tuner, instrument repairer, teacher
Born: c1818, Scotland
Died: 1890, Dunedin
Active in New Zealand: 1860-1890
Operated a business in Rattray Street, Dunedin tuning and regulating pianos as well as undertaking repairs on a variety of instruments. Father of Robert McNeill, also active musically in Dunedin.
CG
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McNeill, Robert
Music teacher, composer
Born: 1853, Alva, Scotland
Died: 1924, Dunedin
Active in New Zealand: 1858-1924
The son of John McNeill, Robert McNeill received his musical education in Dunedin with teachers including Mr Twining (piano), Mr Kelly (violin) and Mr A. J. Towsey. He started teaching music in 1873 and taught from his school of music in York Place for many years. In 1894 Begg’s published one of his compositions, although it was noted that he also composed a number of unpublished instrumental pieces.
Compositions
Maypole dance and mazourka. (Dunedin: Beggs, 1894)
Photo source
Toitu : Otago Settlers Museum
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Medley, Adela Mary Constance (later took the name Adela Spencer Medley)
Musician, concert pianist, teacher, composer, artist, conductor
Born: 1864, 8 September, Parnell, Auckland
Died: 1934, 3 October, Wellington
In 1865 with her parents, she went to England where her father was posted to Portsmouth.
The family returned to New Zealand in 1883/4 and settled firstly at Whanganui, then Wellington.
After her father died in January 1893 she devoted herself to the teaching of music, making several trips back to London. She was also involved with music teaching at Wellington Girls College. A pianist,she held the Certificate of the Royal Academy of Music, with Honours. She accompanied Alfred Hill at series of Musicales and chamber music concerts – Hill dedicated his Slumber Music to her. Soloist in the Mendelsohn Piano Concerto with the Wellington Orchestral Society in 1895.
A number of her sketches are held in the National Library of NZ, and she exhibited a set of hand-painted screen bellows at the NZ Industrial Exhibition in Wellington 1885.
Compositions
Coo-ee. (Unpublished, 1897)
The Bumble Bee’s Buzz. Junior Unison Song. (London: Novello’s School Songs. No. 637 [b]1900)
My Dove. Junior Unison Song. Words by H Didsbury. (1900, Novello’s School Songs No 634)
Poor Humpty Dumpty. Junior Unison Song. (1900, Novello’s School Songs. No. 637 [a])
Swinging: Junior Unison Song (1900, School Music Review No101)
Woodland Melodies. Junior Unison Song. (1900, Novello’s School Songs. [Book 110] No. 581)
Cradle Song. (London: Novello, 1903)
Through the Day. Hymn by T Kelly, etc. (London and New York : Boosey & Co, 1908)
Twilight’s Hour. Song. With violin accompaniment. (London and New York : Boosey & Co, 1908)
Battle Song of the Unionists. (London: Novello and Co, [1911])
English Posies. (Unpublished, 1920)
Land of my Heart. (Unpublished, 1931)
My Kite. (Unpublished, 1932)
Photo credit
MISS ADELA MEDLEY, an old resident of Wellington, who died suddenly on Wednesday at her home on Upland Road, Kelburn. (Evening Post, 05 October 1934). Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/19134567
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Meldrum, William Fowlie
Music retailer, violinist
Born: Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 6 February 1867
Died: 21 December 1926, Oamaru
Active in New Zealand: 1892-1919+
William Meldrum established his music business in Oamaru in 1892 . He sold musical instruments and printed music and acted as agent for the Dresden. The business operated until at least 1919.
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Milner, John Joseph
Organist, music retailer, composer
Born: 1844, Brixton, England
Died: 1904, Christchurch
Active in New Zealand: ? – 1904
John Milner was organist at Holy Trinity Church, Avonside, Christchurch and from the late 1860s worked for John Lewis at the Canterbury Music Depot, which he later managed. In 1874 he and Robert Thompson went into partnership and purchased the business which then became Milner & Thompson. The partnership only lasted five years although it remained Milner & Thompson after John Milner was no longer associated with it.
Composition
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. (London, publisher unknown, 1890)
CG
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Morison, Jane
Piano, harmonium and singing teacher, kindergarten teacher
Born: 1855, Elgin, Scotland
Died: 1939, Masterton
Active in New Zealand: 1870 – 1939
Jane Morison was a music teacher in Masterson and Hastings, and her family farmed at nearby Manaia. Morison’s first published compositions were two piano works published in the 1890s. With the advent of World War One she produced a number of patriotic songs which were published. Her interest in Maori music and the development of New Zealand music was expressed in the short paper to the Hawke’s Bay Philosophical Society in November 1892 titled ‘National Melodies’, later published in the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Compositions:
Maori-land valse. (Brighton: Chester, 1887)
Maori haka rondoletto. (Whanganui: Willis, 1896)
The Wellington Washington Post Dance. (Wellington: McKee, 1898)
Four little stars in blue. (Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1916)
We’ll never forget our boys. (Auckland: Whitcombe and Tombs, 1917)
Spinning. (Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn, 1918)
Two green isles (our Dominion). (Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn, [192-?)
Recordings
Four little stars in blue. Recording (2016) available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SnGlROSNh8g
Resources:
Turner, P. “New Zealand Music during the First World War: the Songs of Miss Jane Morison” Journal of New Zealand Literature, No. 33, Part 2: New Zealand and the First World War (2015), pp. 72-88
EN
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Morley, Carmini (William Robert Morley)
Singer, teacher, composer
Born: 1838, Portugal
Died: 1900, Australia
Active in New Zealand: 1876-c1890
Carmini Morley, who styled himself as Signor, was born in Portugal to British parents. He arrived in Dunedin in 1876 with the Simonsen Opera Company. In Dunedin he ran operatic classes and was a leading singing teacher. His opera The Two Brides premiered at the Princess Theatre in June 1876 and was concerned with the deceitful actions of an amorous Italian nobleman and his eventual comeuppance. In 1886 he left Dunedin for Australia, teaching singing in Sydney. He died after an accidental fall from a Sydney tram.
Compositions:
O love of mine. (Dunedin: Charles Begg & Co, 1879)
CG
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Morris, Wilhelm
Doctor, violinist, pianist, composer
Born: 1861, Poland
Died: 1916, New Zealand
Active in New Zealand: c1889-1916
Wilhelm Morris trained as a doctor in Bavaria before coming to New Zealand c1889 where he was registered in 1889 and was naturalised in 1892. He worked in Ashburton and Auckland. In 1916 he committed suicide. His brother Hermann was an accomplished violinist who toured with Madame Patey.
Compositions
Liedertafel march. (Dunedin: Charles Begg & Co, 1897)
CG
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Moss, Eric Rofe
Clarinetist, organist, violinist, music adjudicator
Born: 1892, Greymouth
Died: 1965, Greymouth?
Eric Moss came from a musical family and his father George was conductor of the Greymouth Orchestral Society and a cornet player. Eric’s ability on the clarinet was recognized as a child and he performed at a number of concerts while a child and a boarder at Waitaki Boys High School. He returned to Greymouth and continued to perform on the clarinet as well as the piano and violin. He was also appointed sub-organist at St John’s Presbyterian Church, and eventually took over the conductorship of the Greymouth Orchestra Society from his father. Later he also became an adjudicator at various music competitions including those at Greymouth, Nelson, Ashburton and Wellington.
As a composer he wrote several unpublished works and three of his pieces were published by Allan’s in Australia. Of these, Dream thoughts achieved wide popularity and was also published in arrangements for piano duet, violin and brass band.
Compositions
Kingsbury, waltz (Unpublished, 1911)
El Dorado, march for organ (Unpublished, 1912)
Tommy lad. (Unpublished, 1914)
Dream thoughts: intermezzo. (Melbourne: Allan, 1914)
Melodie, for organ. (Unpublished, 1915)
Love’s romance. (Melbourne: Allan, 1916)
Sunset glow for the pianoforte. (Melbourne: Allan, 191-?)
Sahara nights. (Unpublished, 1923)
EN
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Murray-Gibbes, Cuthbert Gascoyne
Baritone singer, composer, music teacher
Born: 1887, New Plymouth
Died: 1931, Lithgow, Australia
Active in New Zealand: 1909
C. Murray-Gibbes’ connection to New Zealand was through his birth in New Plymouth where his father was a doctor. Although the family moved to Australia while he was a small child Murray-Gibbes toured of New Zealand as part of the J. C. Williamson’s Opera Company. Trained in France and Great Britain, he performed for a number of years alongside his music teaching.
He composed a number of songs, one of which, A red rosebud, was written and first published in New Zealand and went on to have multiple editions produced in Australia and England. It was also arranged as a piano solo. He died as the result of a car accident near Lithgow, New South Wales.
Compositions
A red rosebud. (Auckland: A. Eady, 1910)
Six songs of sentiment. (Sydney: Paling, 1912)
Sad eyes. (Melbourne: Allan, 1916)
Can you forget. (Sydney: Paling, 191-?)
A rose in your hair. (Sydney: Paling, 191?)
So long ago. (Sydney: Paling, 191-?)
That grey-headed mother of mine. (Sydney: Paling, 191-?
Just memories. (Sydney: Paling, 1917)
No man’s land. (Sydney: Drain’s Music Depot, 1917)
Rose of memory. (Sydney: Paling, 192-?)
Recordings
A red rosebud, and, That grey headed mother of mine. C. Murray-Gibbes with instrumental accompaniment. COL 01269. 78 rpm (Nga Taonga Sound & Vision Ref: 28380)
EN
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Neill, Maria (nee Monteith) – Mrs G. J. Neill
Music teacher, composer
Born: 1844. Wellington
Died: 1918.
Maria Monteith was raised and educated in Wellington and was the daughter of Wellington’s provincial surgeon. Her marriage to Captain George James Neill was violent and she successfully sued for divorce in 1883. She lived in Wellington and Napier and made her livelihood by teaching and holding a number of concerts. She remarried and continued to teach.
Compositions
Our mazurka. (Wellington: Burrett, 1873)
My spirit king. (Wellington: Burrett, 1880)
Resources
Bishop, C. Women means business. (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2019). pp. 66-67
EN
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Neuzerling, William
Band master
Born: 1820, Germany
Died: after 1872, England?
Active in New Zealand: 1864-1866
William Neuzerling came from a family with a tradition of service as army band masters. He joined the British Army 68th Regimental band as a bugler in 1851 and was their Band master in New Zealand during 1864-1866. He left with the regiment in 1866 and was discharged from the army in 1872.
Compositions
Light Brigade. (Auckland: Varty, 1864)
EN
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Noall, Alexis Ashcroft
Pianist, music teacher
Born: 1867?, Melbourne, Australia
Died: 1907, Auckland
Active in New Zealand: 1896 – 1907
Lex Ashcroft Noall studied in Melbourne under Louis Pabst, formerly of the Conservatorium in Riga. He was a music teacher in Napier from 1896 and later in Palmerston North. He died of pneumonia soon after moving to Auckland.
Compositions
If love and I ne’er meet. (Napier, 1906)
EN
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Norberg, Andrew John
Violinist, pianist, music teacher, piano tuner, conductor
Born: 1834?, Sweden
Died: 1904, Wellington
Active in New Zealand: 1866-1904
Migrating to New Zealand via Ballarat in Australia (where he arrived in 1859), Norberg resided in Hokitika, Blenheim, Marton, Palmerston North and Wellington. Herr Norberg reportedly studied atthe Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm and performed on the violin in a number of solo and orchestral concerts. His one published composition was dedicated to Mrs Arckwright, the wife of the owner of the house Overton, which is now a Category 1 Historic Place. Norberg was naturalised in 1901.
Compositions:
Overton waltz. (Palmerston North, Park, 1888)
EN
Musical Notables of New Zealand 