1875 in New Zealand explained

The following lists events that happened during 1875 in New Zealand.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

• Head of State — Queen Victoria
• Governor — The Marquess of Normanby

Government and law

The 1875 general election begins on 29 December but does not finish until 4 January the following year. The election marks the end of the 5th New Zealand Parliament.

• Speaker of the House — The sitting Speaker, Sir Francis Dillon Bell, does not stand in the 1875 election at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Sir William Fitzherbet in 1876.
• Premier — Daniel Pollen becomes Premier on 6 July replacing Julius Vogel.
• Minister of Finance — Harry Atkinson takes over from Julius Vogel on 6 July.
• Chief Justice — Hon Sir George Arney retires and is replaced on 1 April by Hon Sir James Prendergast

Main centre leaders

• Mayor of Auckland — Frederick Prime followed by Benjamin Tonks
• Mayor of Christchurch — Fred Hobbs
• Mayor of Dunedin — Andrew Mercer followed by Keith Ramsay
• Mayor of Wellington — William Sefton Moorhouse

Events

• Contract let for construction of the Rimutaka Incline railway using the Fell system.

Sport

Athletics

The first club in the country, the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club, holds its first meeting.^[1]

Cricket

The Wellington Cricket Association is formed.^[1]

Horse racing

• New Zealand Cup winner: Nectar
• New Zealand Derby winner: Daniel O’Rourke
• Auckland Cup winner: Kingfisher
• Wellington Cup winner: Tambourini

see also .

Rugby union

• Rugby union begins in Timaru, Temuka, Blenheim, Picton, Greymouth (with the formation of new clubs) and Napier where the club formed in 1874 adopted rugby rules.^[2]
• A combined Auckland clubs team toured Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and New Plymouth. They lost all matches, despite some of their opposition having only learned rugby rules for a few weeks in preparation for the tour – the Christchurch and Dunedin clubs had primarily been playing football (soccer).

Shooting

Ballinger Belt: Lieutenant Skinner (Auckland)

Births

• 19 January: Ethel Benjamin, first female lawyer in NZ.
• 23 March: Alexander Young, politician.
• 6 June: William Polson, politician.
• 16 June: Richard Lawson, teacher, university professor and educationalist.
• 25 July: Elsie Dohrmann, scholar, teacher and temperance campaigner^[3]
• 7 November: Frank Milner, headmaster and educationalist.

Unknown date

• John Robertson, politician.

Deaths

• 15 March: William Turnbull Swan, politician (born 1828)
• 29 May: James Mackay, politician (born 1804).
• 31 July: Thomas Beckham, politician (born 1810)
• 8 August: William Tolmie, politician (born 1833).
• 12 August: John Parkin Taylor, politician (born 1812).
• 17 October: Archibald Clark, politician (born 1805).
• 23 December: Felix Wakefield, colonist (born 1807)

See also

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

References

General

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

Specific

Notes and References

1. Todd, S. (1976) Sporting Records of New Zealand. Auckland: Moa Publications.
2. 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 . 10 February 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090220161822/http://teara.govt.nz/1966/R/RugbyUnionFootball/History/en . 20 February 2009 . live .
3. Web site: Dohrmann, Elsie . teara.govt.nz . 12 November 2019 . en.