Richard Cockburn Maclaurin was born in Galashiels on 5th June 1870 and emigrated with the family to New Zealand when he was four.

See a short biography on his educational achievements and life's work.

He married Margaret Alice Pairman Young in Auckland on 27th December 1904. Alice was the daughter of William Young.

Richard and Alice had two children:

• William Rupert Maclaurin b. 25th July 1907. William died in August 1959 in Boston, Massachusetts.

• Richard Colin Maclaurin b. 1915. Richard died in May 1959.

He died on 15th January 1920 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.