Adria Locke Langley
Locke was born in Iowa, 1899, as the youngest of three children. When she was young her family moved to Stanton, Nebraska and that is where she grew up. Her father William Locke, was president of the Omaha livestock market and a Quaker. He had certain ideas of what a woman should be. Because of this Adria's grandfather, Thomas Glendenning, took over in teaching her what would later be a great social consciousness.
Keith Locke
Locke was born and grew up in Christchurch, to Jack and Elsie Locke, prominent lifelong political activists for a wide variety of causes. Their four children were brought up in this environment and followed their parents into a life of activism, (as well as Keith, his sister Maire Leadbeater is a well-known activist and former city councillor for Auckland City Council). His father Jack was under surveillance during the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute.
Former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon is said to have described the Lockes as the most "notorious Communist family in New Zealand". The Lockes lived in the Avon Loop area of the Christchurch Central City and were very active in the community notably organising Avon River clean-ups and native tree planting and arguing against development of the area, and in favour of retaining the character of the area.