1868 in New Zealand explained

The following lists events that happened during 1868 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — Sir George Grey is recalled by the British government and is replaced on 5 February by Sir George Ferguson Bowen.

Government and law

The 4th Parliament continues. The first four Māori MPs are elected in 1868.

• Speaker of the House — Sir David Monro
• Premier — Edward Stafford
• Minister of Finance — William Fitzherbert
• Chief Justice — Hon Sir George Arney

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Christchurch — William Wilson
• Mayor of Dunedin — John Hyde Harris followed by Thomas Birch

Events

• 1–6 February: The Great storm of 1868 sweeps across the country causing major damage and loss of life.^[1]
• 1 June: The New Zealand Advertiser, which had been absorbed into the New Zealand Times in 1867, is revived. It ceases publication for good in December.^[2]
• 13 August: A tsunami caused by the 1868 Arica earthquake in South America causes the only fatalities recorded from tsunamis in New Zealand, with about twenty people swept away in the Chatham Islands.
• 24 August: Wanganui Horticultural Society established.^[3]
• Nelson Football Club founded.^[4]
• 2 November: New Zealand Mean Time adopted throughout the colony; New Zealand may be the first country to have adopted a standard time throughout the country.
• Coromandel Gold Rush (1867–68)

Sport

Cricket

The Basin Reserve is first used for cricket.^[5]

Horse racing

Major race winners

• New Zealand Cup: Flying Jib
• New Zealand Derby: Flying Jib

Shooting

Ballinger Belt: Sergeant Taylor (Otago)

Births

• 23 February Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell, soldier.
• 19 March: Alfred Ransom, politician and cabinet minister.

Full date unknown

• Asajiro Noda, seaman, cashier, gum-digger and farmer (d. 1942)

Deaths

• 9 October: George Macfarlan, politician

See also

• History of New Zealand
• List of years in New Zealand
• Military history of New Zealand
• Timeline of New Zealand history
• Timeline of New Zealand's links with Antarctica
• Timeline of the New Zealand environment

References

General

• Romanos, J. (2001) New Zealand Sporting Records and Lists. Auckland: Hodder Moa Beckett.

Specific

Notes and References

1. Web site: February 1868 New Zealand Storm – HWE. NIWA Historic Weather Events Catalog. 23 March 2015.
2. Web site: Chapter 2: Early Statistical Sources – 19th Century. Statistical publications 1840–2000. 13. PDF. Statistics New Zealand. https://web.archive.org/web/20071125112530/http://www.stats.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/9E78F21A-EF20-4C82-934B-1587FC7489CC/0/StatPubschapter2.pdf. 25 November 2007.
3. Web site: Horticultural Society. Wanganui Herald. 15 August 2018.
4. Web site: RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL . from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. . Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand . 9 February 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090220161822/http://teara.govt.nz/1966/R/RugbyUnionFootball/History/en . 20 February 2009 . live .
5. Todd, S. (1976) Sporting Records of New Zealand. Auckland: Moa Publications.